Other News
Michael Gill claimed his twelfth straight Pimlico owner’s title on Sunday when Spring Rush won the $50,000 Skipat Stakes. Gill last made news in May when he announced he was getting out of racing for good, but don’t expect Gill to go anywhere for a while. Although he has scaled his operations back to about 200 horses, Gill is enthusiastic about a two-year-old named Traveling Leroy, who he recently purchased for $250,000 and is considering for the 2006 classic races. (Baltimore Sun)
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NYRA is positioning itself as best it can to maintain its franchise come 2007:
New York Racing Association officials intend to be among those bidders and have been exploring several models they hope can entice the state government to enter into a private-public partnership. They are also willing to take a harder line, if necessary, by entering into what could be long and costly litigation over who owns the land on which the three tracks stand.
The association maintains that it possesses the deeds to the three properties and has paid more than $422 million in state property taxes since 1955, when it was established as a nonprofit corporation to run the tracks under a state franchise.
“We bought the tracks and have the deeds, and it would be an interesting case to see if the legislature can take away private property,” said C. Steven Duncker, the association’s co-chairman. “But our primary focus has been changing this organization and running it the way the state would want it run.” To that end, the association has replaced top management and implemented a business culture to reverse the $20 million it lost in 2003. For the first time, for example, the association sold a presenting sponsorship, to Argent Mortgage, for this year’s Belmont Stakes. (New York Times)
