New Years Wishes for 2012

With the New Year almost here I wanted to do something none of you have ever seen before.

This ground breaking idea that no one has ever thought of doing (I am very, very smart and forward thinking) is a "Wish List for 2012".

Get ready and fasten your seatbelts, because here we go........

I hope in 2012 I don't get any more hits on my blog from someone searching for "Chantal Sutherland Nude"

I hope in 2012 someone wins the NHC in Vegas, stands up on a chair and goes completely nuts like Howard Dean did in Iowa a few years ago.

I hope in 2012 I get a DQ that helps me cash a ticket.

I hope in 2012 all out of town harness drivers use a travel agent before the Breeders Crown.

I hope in 2012, NYRA takes some of that slot cash and invests $0.49 in a big red pen so they can mark any prospective takeout changes on a calendar.

I hope in 2012 I figure out an angle that no one else is on, for more than a week.

I hope in 2012 Tampa announcer Richard Grunder pronounces every horse correctly.

I hope in 2012 when the horse crosses the finish line in the Derby, we don't read an article with the headline "Is this the year for a triple crown winner?" for at least 48 hours.

I hope in 2012 Ron Pierce quits moose hunting (that one is on behalf of moose everywhere).

I hope in 2012 I get Jerry Jam emails with no colors or crazy fonts.

I hope in 2012 I hear more from Chickenhead.

I hope in 2012 I don't get any more hits on my blog from someone searching for "Chantal Sutherland Shirtless on Horse"

I hope in 2012 I'll run into the uber-classy Horseplayers Association VP Mike Maloney and he'll be in a bad mood after a bad beat, just so I'm sure he's human.

I hope in 2012 we see more from "Railbird".

I hope in 2012 Mountaineer announcer Peter Berry's catch phrase of "he put the cue in the rack" catches on, like everywhere.

I hope in 2012 Twitter's Sid Fernando has a good year.

I hope in 2012 we see a good handle meet at the Meadowlands.

I hope in 2012 we find a long term home for our five claimer.

I hope in 2012 if Charles Hayward pushes down an old lady and she falls in a puddle, there won't be a NYRA supporter on chat boards blaming the old lady.

I hope in 2012 the Daily Racing Form gets its horseplayer focused editorial groove back on.

I hope in 2012 Jason and Nick from Tioga get a raise.

I hope in 2012 Moira Fanning gets a raise.

To finish the trifecta of raises, I hope Mike from Balmoral gets one too.

I hope in 2012 someone finally gets hired to do some good for California racing.

I hope in 2012 Ken Warkentin uses the line "these two gladiators flash swords" again, when two horses are battling it out.

I hope in 2012 I will not have to write stories about a 14 year old horse passing away a week before his mandatory retirement.

I hope in 2012 Chris Christie is right and horse racing can stand on its own two hooves.

I hope in 2012 horseplayer Barry Meadow enjoys his retirement.

I hope in 2012 everyone that took a shot at a yearling gets at least one thing to smile about.

I hope in 2012 o_crunk gets more twitter followers.

I hope in 2012 Normf66 on twitter - World's Number One Harness Fan - finds some more obscure tracks and tells me about them.

I hope in 2012 Caroline from Socal Thoroughbred Rescue finds homes for all her horses, fills her barn with new ones, and finds homes for them, too.

I hope in 2012 I win an Ebay auction item from Socal Thoroughbred Rescue.

I hope in 2012 my horses are all healthy.

I hope in 2012 your horses are all healthy.

I hope in 2012 everyone has a healthy and happy year.

Best wishes and happy new year everyone.

PS: I gave out my Harness Awards for 2011 today in HRU, so give it a look if you're interested (pdf). 

Racing Must be Pretty Complex eh?

Today in the Saratogian, NYRA board member Charles Wait said:

• Wait said he doesn’t believe anyone at NYRA should lose their job. "I don’t think so," he said. "It’s something for the (board’s) Audit Committee to review."
  
  Asked if firings would follow a similar mistake at the bank — Adirondack Trust Co. — that he chairs, Wait said, "It’s not comparable. The racing laws are quite complex. We (NYRA) missed it and made a mistake. The first thing you do is apologize, which we’ve done."

That's pretty interesting, because I just had a look on Wikipedia about the US Banking System, then drilled down to the recently passed Dodd Frank Act . \With the latter and its gazillion sections, and 243 new rules, my head almost exploded. It's a wiki version of War and Peace.

It seems that "we have to lower takeout back to 25% in September 2010" is much easier to understand, but maybe that's just me.

o_crunk was somewhat less politically correct.

Enjoy your Friday folks!

PS: Steve Crist chimes in

NYRA Lowers Rake; Could Spur Handle Increases in New York

Dana Byerly of Hello Race Fans looked into her winnings from exotics at NYRA tracks (which are eligible for a 1% rebate) not soon after the overcharge was announced.

She came up with the following:

$46 back might not sound like a whole lot of money, but it illustrates the power of that 1%, even for one person, with regards to handle bumps.

Dana clearly will not ask for a $46 check in the mail. If she does get it back, she'll do like we all do; she'll rebet it. When she does rebet, she will win a little money back more than likely, and perhaps churn it five times. If she does that, her handle has gone up by $230.

It's why we've always said takeout reductions do more than just churn - they make the game more fun, and a fun game is a game people want to play. Dana will have some fun with that money, because she will have $230 in free bets. 

That's only "1%"

She isn't the only one, of course, as it was reported that $8.6 million was overcharged. If those people all bet it like Dana does (if they get a refund), handle will go up by $43,000,000. That's a lot of fun for a lot of people.

This is being illustrated pretty well in California, on the other side. Their handles have fallen since they raised the takeout last year, but not only because "X" number of horseplayers boycotted - although I am sure that made a difference. When you take 2% out of the players pocket, they have a lot less to rebet. The game is less fun, too, and nickel money lines for a baseball game start to look pretty good.

It's no secret that when slots come to racetracks, handle can still go in the dumper as witnessed in many jurisdictions. On-track handle is especially at risk because now on the way home from the track, gamblers who made a score in the last can lay $500 of tomorrow's racings bankroll in a slot machine.

For New York in 2012 this may not be the case.

Charles Hayward, NYRA CEO, announced today that the 2% takeout decrease to make up for this mess will not be only for 15 months, it will be permanent. 

With a 2% reduction in takeout starting January 1st and a small bump in field size, NYRA may have a very good year in the handle department. If they expand it and spread some of this new found slots money to a 1% across the board reduction in churnable WPS or exacta pools, it could even be a great year.

Whatever happens, we do know that this season people like Dana won't have to wait 15 months to get back the money owed to her so she can rebet. She'll get it back when she hits her first grand slam, and she'll keep getting it back every exotic hit after that.