You cannot make this up

New York Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) – a very big guy in Queens -- is calling on the state to close an off-track betting shop near his office following Mayor Michael Bloomberg's recent request for the city's OTB board to close its operations this summer and at the very same time displaying a troubling lack of knowledge concerning the structure of off-course wagering, particularly the division of funds, things you would think a politician would know about.

The OTB's board of directors announced at a Feb. 19 meeting that it would close two storefront parlors, one of which is located in Astoria, the other on Staten Island, by the end of the month. The board voted to shut down the city's 62 OTB sites by June 15, when its 1,500 employees will be laid off. Some people think that’s good. Some people support Hillary Clinton. There is no shortage of bad opinion.

Vallone praised the closing of the Astoria OTB parlor, which he said has caused tensions between patrons. Tension? He must be referring to those people screaming numbers at television screens. Some of them may be inclined toward profanity. But tense? The boys are just having some fun. OTB causes no more tension than anything else in New York. It’s a city fueled by tension. You want tense. Friday on Wall Street was tense. Nonsensical, babbling politicians, however, are often the source of great and angst.

Then, according to a Queens weekly, Vallone said: The city's OTB gives millions to the New York Racing Association, which results in a $14 million deficit that city residents are forced to fund.

Gives millions to NYRA? Gives? It pays (though not enough) for the product, perhaps, but OTB gives nothing to NYRA. OTB has rarely paid NYRA, falling at one point several million in arrears. OTB produces nothing and contributes nothing. It may be victim of a requirement to pay more than 100 percent of its profit to the state, but OTB is giving nothing away to the racing industry. Vallone needs to get out of Queens once in a while.

"New York City already gives billions more to Albany than it gets back," he said. True. "Now we find out that [the city's] OTB is forced to send millions of dollars that it doesn't have to support the upstate racing industry.”

(Sorry. That sound was my jaw hitting the desk.)

Holy @#**!!?

Can a person be this ignorant and hold a job?

The City sends money to the “upstate racing industry?

Obviously, Vallone has no idea about how OTB works, only that he wants it out of his neighborhood and it is quite likely that he will see his wish become reality. But in the grand scheme, OTB will not be shut down in New York City. Like any process, the solution will come at the 11th hour and hopefully it will be favorable to the racing industry that Vallone resents. Racing has suffered and fed a parasite for more than three decades now. Perhaps relief is at hand, but no one is optimistic at this point. The best-case scenario is always a longshot in New York.

West Coast Derby preps raise only questions

The presence of El Gato Malo and Colonel John in Saturday’s Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park demands attention but it is also a reminder of the puzzle that lies ahead. For the first time, horses coming to the Kentucky Derby from the West Coast will be making their first starts on dirt in the first leg of the Triple Crown.

El Gato Malo is undefeated and very well may arrive in Kentucky with record intact. There is no question that he is a very good horse while running over recycled refuse, but drawing any conclusion from these races is impossible. While it is encouraging that Santa Anita officials are considering replacement of the current science project with a dirt course after the meeting, it will be impossible to either support or oppose the West Coast Derby horses with any degree of confidence

Aqueduct: March 1

March has not come in like a lion. Quite the opposite. No play today.