Viewed from afar, things look no better

San Jose, Costa Rica

UPDATE: Late reports on Tuesday indicate that an agreement has been reached in Albany that will forestall the shutdown of Aqueduct.

Sometimes, not often and always accidentally, my timing is perfect and this vacation, scheduled more than a month ago when is seemed likely that by now the issues that swirled around the New York racing franchise and the future of the greatest game played outdoors would be settled, reason would prevail and the winter weather was staunchly mild. Because none of these things has come to pass, it seems now to be an even better idea. Pathos is best viewed from afar.

The weather has turned bitter in New York and those left by Sen. Joe Bruno to twist in an icy wind are in Albany today, pleading for sanity or at least honesty in a town where the noted curmudgeon Harvey Pack once underestimated the price of a law at $500. It is a good time to be 2,500 miles away from New York.

Bruno has at least twice told the upstate press that an agreement between the Senate and NYRA was at hand, but the intransigent, obstructionist Republican senate majority leader has obviously been negotiating in front of a mirror. According to NYRA, a deal was no closer at the beginning of the week in which racing at Aqueduct is 2-5 to be suspended after nine races are run on Wednesday.

Bruno, obviously, seeks control the NYRA board through political appointees, though good Republican, in theory, is not in favor of bigger government. He also appears intent upon installing the Australian betting firm, Capital Play, as operator of the video lottery casino approved six years ago for Aqueduct and expand the plan to Belmont, which is supported by fellow Long Island Republicans -- more money for the operator and a political victory, albeit hollow and wrongly motivated, for a party that faces irrelevance in Nassau County.

This is a particularly interesting stance since Capital Play, which is essentially a betting operation in Australia now with ties to the Mohegan Sun casino, has is prohibited from doing business in New York based upon integrity issues cited by the State Racing and Wagering Board. Do we need a foreign firm with integrity issues running casinos in New York? The Mohegan Sun operators can obviously do this job without Capital Play.

It is a mild surprise that Bruno, once seen as a supporter of the racing industry as well as a breeder, has taken this fight to the brink of a showdown that would bring racing to a standstill, expand the unemployment rolls and threaten the economy of the district he represents, all at great cost to his own public image.

There is something very important to the senator at stake here. Draw your own conclusions.

I have decided to make no selections for Wednesday at Aqueduct, though a racebook here in the world capital of Internet gambling makes it is possible to get a bet down on the races in New York. Until this is over, I’m not contributing a penny of pari-mutuel tax to a government that would toy so cavalierly with so many people.
I would suggest that you do the same.