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The Week in Review: Suspension of NYRA Clocker a Disgrace

The New York Gaming Commission has made so many bad decisions of late that it would be laughable if not for the fact they keep going after good people who have done nothing wrong.

The latest chapter is the story of NYRA clocker Richie Gazer.

Back in May, Gazer was handed a 30-day suspension and fined $2,500 “for altering a published work of a horse to make the horse eligible to race.” The horse in question, Papi On Ice (Keen Ice) was originally credited for a five-furlong workout on May 1 in the time of 1:04.60. At the time, the horse was on NYRA's “poor performance” list, the result of his having been eased in a Mar. 19 race and then losing by 26 3/4 lengths in a Apr. 16 race. In order to get off the list and to be able to race again, he needed a published four-furlong workout in:53 or faster. Oddly, the rule, which is a NYRA rule, requires that the work must be at four furlongs and at no other distance. When made aware that the work had to be a half-mile in order for the horse to get off the list, Gazer changed the distance to four furlongs and the time to what was Papi On Ice's split for a half-mile, :51.33. The Gaming Commission then stepped in and cited a rule that prohibits “improper, corrupt or fraudulent acts or practices in relation to racing or conspiring or assisting others in such acts or practices,” pretty harsh language for a case where all the clocker did was shorten the distance of a workout by an eighth of a mile.

Gazer refused to roll over, hired a lawyer and filed an appeal. A seven-hour hearing was held and the hearing officer recommended that the case be thrown out and that Gazer should not be penalized. It appeared that Gazer had won. But the case took a 180-degree turn last week when the Gaming Commission rejected the hearing officer's recommendation and voted 6-0 to uphold the original suspension. Karen Murphy, the lawyer representing Gazer, told the TDN that in the 30 years she has been dealing with New York racing regulators never before had she had a commission reject a decision from a hearing officer. Why even use a hearing officer if you are going to ignore what they have to say?

This all comes down to a matter of common sense. Gazer used his when he approved changing the distance of the workout, which was necessary to allow the horse to race and, otherwise, affected nothing. The rule is in place to keep clockers from playing games, giving a horse a five-furlong workout in 1:03 when they actually went in :58. That's not what happened here.

But common sense is in short supply when it comes to the Gaming Commission. Perhaps by the very letter of the rule, Gazer was guilty of some sort of infraction. The best way to handle this would have been to issue a warning and to tell him not to do it again. Use common sense. Don't fine him, suspend him and try to sully his reputation with outlandish charges of corruption and fraud. Don't go to such great lengths that the commission, by a 6-0 vote, ignored the findings of a hearing officer.

“Everybody is horrified,” Murphy said. “Richard Gazer has been doing this for 40 years and is respected by everyone. You should be pinning a medal on someone like him, not telling the world he is fraudster.”

It's all part of a troubling pattern. Since April, the Gaming Commission and its steward, Braulio Baeza Jr., have sanctioned four NYRA employees a total of five times and levied fines totaling $14,500. In most cases, it was nothing more than a case of the person making an honest mistake.

In June, Frank Gabriel, the New York Racing Association senior vice president of racing operations, was fined $4,000 for “failing to follow proper claiming protocol” resulting in the track stewards voiding the claim of the horse Battalion (Tiznow) on May 28. There was a mixup regarding the claim of the horse. The horse was claimed for $25,000 by trainer Rob Atras, but the claim was not relayed to the clerk of scales, so the horse was not brought to the test barn. That led to the voiding of the claim.

Someone made a mistake. It happens. And never mind that Gabriel had nothing to do with this. Nonetheless, Baeza saw reason to sanction him because, he told the Daily Racing Form, Gabriel was the head of the racing department.

NYRA Racing Secretary Keith Doleshel has been fined twice since April, on one occasion $2,000 for “failing to conduct business in a professional manner.” According to NYRA, here's what happened: “Due to an unintentional administrative error, an unauthorized agent claimed a horse. . . . NYRA subsequently discovered the error and notified the NYSGC of its findings.” A horse was claimed at Saratoga by someone who was not licensed by the Gaming Commission or registered with the Jockey Club. But, again, it was an “unintentional error” committed by someone who has never previously been accused of being unprofessional and the mistake was caught. Doleshel has appealed the ruling through his attorney, Drew Mollica.

As for Gazer, there doesn't appear to be a path whereby the fine and suspension can now be overturned. Murphy says she plans to make the point that the Gaming Commission didn't follow procedure when it comes to transparency. The commissioners did not debate or discuss the details of the case during the open, public meeting, which she says is required.

“The chairman knows nothing about racing and shouldn't have done what he did,” she said of Gaming Commission Chairman Brian O'Dwyer. “We all should be upset about this on legal grounds.”

But that's probably not going to help Gazer. He will have to pay his fine and sit out 30 days, the latest example of an overreach by the New York Gaming Commission and its steward. Someone who has been doing this a long time and has earned a reputation for being a straight shooter, Gazer deserved far better.

The Woodward and Cigar Mile Downgraded

The American Graded Stakes Committee showed some tough love to NYRA last week, downgrading the Woodward S. and the Cigar Mile H., from Grade I races to Grade II's. The move wasn't without controversy. The Woodward is a prestigious race with a long, rich history. Twenty of its winners are in the Hall of Fame. During a seven-year stretch beginning in 1974, the race was won by Forego (four straight), Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Spectacular Bid. This year's Cigar Mile included four Grade I winners, including the winner Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), which made the timing of the downgrade a bit puzzling.

As tough as this may have been for NYRA to swallow, it was the right move. Everyone complains that, considering the declining number in the foal crop and that top horses usually only race four or five times a year, there are too many graded races and too many Grade I's. You can't have it both ways and complain about the Woodward and the Cigar. The committee is to be commended for making some tough decisions. There are still 440 graded races and 97 Grade I's. That's too many.

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‘All Aqueduct Needs is a Power Wash and a Paint Job’: A Day at the Big A, While It’s Still Here

The writing is on the wall for Aqueduct Racetrack.

There has been no official announcement, but the New York Racing Association has made clear with its plans to 'winterize' Belmont Park that Aqueduct, New York's stalwart winter racing home for decades, is on borrowed time. And while the logic of continuing to operate two racetracks just nine miles apart is undeniably questionable, don't let anyone fool you into thinking that nothing of value will be lost or that no one will mourn when Aqueduct becomes the latest American racing staple to bite the dust.

Opened all the way back in 1894 during a golden era when racetracks were popping up all over New York City, Aqueduct has managed to outlive them all but Belmont. The track was humbly named after a nearby conduit owned by the Brooklyn Water Works that delivered water to New York City from the Hempstead Plain. Over the years, fans have packed the Big A, as it was so nicknamed after its last major renovation project in 1959, to see the great Secretariat's retirement ceremony, the second edition of a fledgling endeavor called the Breeders' Cup, multiple Triple Crown winners, even a Pope, when John Paul II led a 75,000-strong mass on a picture-perfect autumn day in 1995.

Most importantly, though, Aqueduct has long served as New York's blue-collar racetrack. Saratoga is the crown jewel of the state's racing schedule, the party destination for fans where NYRA makes the money to fund the rest of the year's operations. Belmont has the allure of the Belmont Stakes, which, if there is a Triple Crown on the line, provides the most exciting day in our sport. It also has the distinction of housing the country's biggest racetrack and the added benefit of running during the city's most pleasant weather months.

Aqueduct, on the other hand, mostly races in the freezing cold. Situated near Jamaica Bay and John F. Kennedy airport, the winds often make conditions even more brutal. Purse money drops. The throngs of fans and festive summer atmosphere of Saratoga could not be further away, both on the calendar and in the psyche.

But what the Aqueduct meet lacks in glamour, it makes up for in opportunity when it comes to New York's proletarian horsemen. The big barns and more decorated riders all understandably head south, mostly to Gulfstream Park in Florida, for the winter. If you can brave the harsh conditions at Aqueduct, you can compete and win races, certainly much more frequently than when Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher, Irad Ortiz, Jr., et al return north and resume their domination in the spring.

Aqueduct racing is the rough equivalent to the National Football League's practice squad–a bunch of players who rarely get their chance on the big stage, but who can serve a critical role to the greater product and earn a decent paycheck.

“As a lower-level owner, I look forward to the winter racing,” said Aron Yagoda, who races mostly in the claiming game in New York. “It's been a part of my culture and become our winter home. It's actually our longest-running stretch of the circuit that we have in New York, and a part of that is going to go away when Aqueduct goes away. Aqueduct doesn't just have the blue-collar horses, it has the blue-collar workers there and it's more of a die-hard crowd. It's going to be sorely missed, at least for me.”

Though only separated by nine miles as the crow flies, the crowd and vibe at Aqueduct differ from the one at Belmont. The Big A is the city's track, a concrete plant residing in the working-class Queens neighborhood of Ozone Park, accessible via a $2.75 subway ride on the A express train. Belmont more resembles a giant park, lies outside of the city limits and is associated more closely with Long Island, accessible only by car or part-time via the Long Island Rail Road.

“They're the die-hard racing fans [at Aqueduct],” said Yagoda. “It's one of the only tracks in the country you can take a subway to. You'll see a lot of the Belmont fans at Aqueduct, but you don't see a lot of the Aqueduct fans at Belmont.”

Yagoda has been racing horses in New York for over 30 years and has attended Aqueduct since he was a baby. Spending a day at the track has been in his family for generations.

“My grandfather had a box–D17–and I still watch races from that box whenever I run a horse,” he said. “When Aqueduct closes, part of my childhood and some of my great racing memories are going to close with it.”

It's not all bad for fans of the Big A, however. Though the track's story is entering its final chapter, there still is and will be some spectacular racing at Aqueduct for several years to come. The construction project that began this summer at Belmont, which forced its Fall Championship Meet to be moved to Aqueduct and re-branded as Belmont at the Big A, is a major overhaul, and it's unclear whether or not it will be completed by the time racing is supposed to resume at Belmont in late April. If it's not, Aqueduct would be set to have another moment in the sun like it did this fall, hosting more Grade I races than it ever has and attracting bigger crowds in refreshingly favorable weather.

That's the environment that brought me out to the Big A one Saturday this October, shamefully my first pilgrimage on that familiar A-train ride since before the pandemic.

I met up with two of my oldest racetrack friends, Frank Henry, 35, who I went to high school with, and Sean Smith, 40, who I met through Frank dozens of track hangouts ago. As longtime Aqueduct racegoers, we knew we had to take advantage of seeing major Grade I racing at our maligned old light blue-painted friend under clear skies and comfortable fall conditions.

We posted up in our usual spot, at the far end of the second-floor grandstand, just before the clubhouse turn, among a variety of characters, mostly of West Indian and Caribbean descent. I didn't know the majority of them, but the sights, sounds and, yes, smells of the section were as familiar as a warm, increasingly tattered hoodie you bring out of the closet every winter. Slow-swaying reggae music blared from a speaker.

“This is the real Aqueduct,” Henry said.

Without any prompting, the conversation quickly turned to the future of the place where we used to watch simulcasts of Saratoga before we'd ever made it through the gates of the Spa.

“All Aqueduct needs is a power wash and a paint job,” said Smith, who recently moved to Ozone Park. “You have two turf courses, finally have a dirt main track [for the winter], I don't get it. I finally get a track close to my house and they want to take it away from me.”

After watching eventual GI Breeders' Cup Sprint hero Elite Power (Curlin) cruise to a victory in the GII Vosburgh S., next up was the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Invitational S. Seeing those top-class horses run in historic Belmont-held races, I briefly had to remind myself where I was. As the horses came through the stretch for the first time in the three-turn, 1 1/2-mile Hirsch, I quickly remembered, as one particularly loud fan started feverishly rooting for the leader, unaware the field had another lap to go. The crowd had a great laugh at his expense, savoring like a sweet nectar the moment when he realized they were going around again.

Following a stunning 47-1 upset in the GIII Matron S. that killed any multi-race tickets we played, I went down to the first-floor bar to grab consolation beers for the crew. Naturally, there was a stereotypical animated New Yorker bragging through a heavy Brooklyn accent about having the winning horse. True to form, within a few sentences, he was off on another topic and making sure to tell everybody where he's from.

“Go-Go Gomez for [John] Terranova!” he shouted to no one in particular, getting the winning trainer right but the jockey (Eric Cancel) wrong. “Hundred-dollar horse. My boy hit the double. I might go talk to [the jockeys]. I like to go talk to them sometimes because I'm from Brooklyn. I get pictures with [Javier] Castellano. People say, 'What the [expletive] is the matter with you?' I say I'm from New York.”

Before I headed back upstairs, I caught a hopeful glimpse of racing's future. Standing out amongst the hardened Aqueduct regulars was a group of young people, likely in their early 20s, decked out in suits and dresses. The kind of kids you usually only spot at Saratoga, taking in a day of racing at the least glamorous, but most accessible track in the city.

So how much longer does Aqueduct realistically have before downstate racing in New York becomes a one-track circuit, the same way Gulfstream has slowly subsumed the racing at Hialeah and Calder in South Florida?

“I still think we'll be at Aqueduct for at least four or five more years,” said Yagoda, a New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association board member. “They put the second turf course back in, which they used to have until 1976 when they got rid of one of them to put in the inner dirt track. They went back to one main track, so I really think that they're going to have racing at Aqueduct for quite a while longer.”

No, it's not Belmont and it's sure as hell not Saratoga. There are legitimate reasons why Aqueduct is mostly an afterthought. It's outdated, especially when compared to the Resorts World casino next door. It's cold. The racing quality is generally spotty.

But Aqueduct provides a raw, authentic slice of New York City, the kind that the city's ever-increasing gentrification is making harder and harder to find. That alone is worth holding onto. And rest assured, all us die-hards will hold onto it, for however long we can.

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Trainer, Clocker Stunned as NYSGC Rejects Advice of from Hearing Appeal Officers

by T.D. Thornton & Bill Finley

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) on Monday adjudicated two unrelated penalty appeals by a clocker and a trainer by flat-out rejecting two separate hearing officers' recommendations that those cases be dismissed without penalization.

In both instances, the commissioners voted unanimously to impose the original penalties that had been handed down by Braulio Baeza, Jr., the NYSGC state steward at the three New York Racing Association (NYRA) tracks.

Monday's vote means trainer Orlando Noda now must pay a fine of $5,000, serve a 90-day suspension, and complete an anger management course prior to being reinstated for “for striking a horse excessively while working the horse out at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 5, 2021,” according to the NYSGC.

And Richard Gazer, a longtime NYRA clocker, has been fined $2,500 and suspended 30 days “for altering a published work of a horse to make the horse eligible to race,” the NYSGC ruled.

The outright rejections of the officers' combined days of conducting the hearings and their months spent writing up the reports is somewhat unusual. But in a number of jurisdictions, racing commissioners are not bound to accept the opinions of the officers they hire to hear appeals.

Drew Mollica, who represents Noda, told TDN in a phone interview he was stunned by the NYSGC's decision.

“This is crazy. I was just telling my colleagues, 'I win, but I lose,'” Mollica said.

“This is madness. The hearing officer is the one who heard the evidence. On what basis, what evidence, did the commission use to overturn the hearing officer's recommendation?” Mollica asked rhetorically.

Noda, who has been training since 2019, is also licensed as an exercise rider.

In his reading into the record of the decision, NYSGC chairman Brian O'Dwyer said that, “The commission duly deliberated and considered this matter, and determined by a 6-0 vote to reject the hearing officer's report and recommendations. In doing that, commissioners reviewed the entire record, and established by a preponderance of evidence that Noda's conduct was improper and detrimental to the best interest of racing, and determined that the appropriate penalty was that which was given by the stewards.”

Mollica said he will confer with Noda about using “every legal remedy at his disposal” to fight the commission's order, “because the hearing officer vindicated him and found that he did nothing wrong.”

Gazer's penalty stems from a May 19, 2022, ruling in which the commission stated he “alter[ed] a horse's workout time while training at Belmont Park.”

The horse in question, Papi On Ice (Keen Ice), was initially credited with a five-furlong work in 1:04.60. The work was later changed to a half-mile in :51.33.

Because Papi On Ice had been beaten more than 25 lengths in a previous start, that result triggered a precautionary placement on NYRA's “poor performance” list. In order to get off that list, a horse must work a half-mile in :53 or faster. But the rule does not allow for a workout farther than a half mile.

Because Papi On Ice's workout was initially published as a five-furlong move, the racing office would not accept the colt's entry for a race.

Gazer told DRF.com back in May that the time of the work was not changed, but that the distance was shortened to comply with NYRA's rule. He did not time Papi On Ice himself, but a subordinate clocker told him the horse did work a properly timed half mile as part of the longer five-eighths breeze.

“This is a joke. It really is,” Gazer told TDN Dec. 12. “I've been doing this for 40 years. The horse was on the other training track, went a half-mile, and galloped out five-eighths and the trainer, Randi Persaud, wanted the five-eighths time. But they have that rule where he had to have a half-mile workout. It's a stupid rule. They called me up and I said I would change it. It was no big deal. It was either :51 for the half or 1:04 and something for five-eighths.”

Gazer continued: “We had a seven-hour hearing, [the hearing officer] recommended that they drop all the charges. And then they do this. It doesn't make any sense.”

Chairman O'Dwyer said Monday that the commissioners saw it differently.

“The commission reviewed the entire record [and] established the violation as a matter of fact,” O'Dwyer said. “And in particular, found that the conduct was improper in relation to commission rule 4042.1(f).”

That rule prohibits “improper, corrupt or fraudulent” acts or practices in relation to racing or conspiring or assisting others in such acts or practices.

Along with O'Dwyer, NYSGC commissioners John Crotty, Peter Moschetti, Jr., Christopher Riano, Marissa Shorenstein and Jerry Skurnik all voted in favor of rejecting the hearing officers' recommendations not to penalize the two licensees.

The commissioners did not debate or discuss the details of the two cases during the open, public meeting, which is standard for the way the NYSGC usually issues appeal outcomes after a hearing officer issues a report.

Based on past practice, the NYSGC generally receives such reports and takes its vote on the hearing officer's recommendation at some point before the meeting, and the chairman then reads the results into the record when the meeting goes into session, explaining the vote in one or two sentences.

Karen Murphy, an attorney who represents Gazer, told TDN in an email that, “In the 30 years that I have been practicing before the Gaming Commission (and its predecessor) this has never happened….The decision in this matter was dependent on the credibility of the proffered witnesses. In recommending that all the charges be dismissed, including a 'fraudulent, corrupt act' charge, the designated Hearing Officer made a determination in favor of Mr. Gazer's credibility. Today, the Commission rejected that credibility [and] did so without giving any specific reasons or findings…”

Murphy added that the NYSGC's ruling against her client amounted to a failure of the open-government test, “and in doing so abjectly failed in its obligations under law to Mr. Gazer. We look forward to righting this wrong.”

The penalties for Noda and Gazer will go into effect within a few days upon formal issuance of the commission's findings and order.

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Letter to the Editor: Jingle Bells Ring for the Backstretch Families!

The Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA) annually hosts a Holiday Shopping Day for all of the families of backstretch workers at Belmont Park and Aqueduct Race Track. This year, BCCA held its event on Saturday, Dec. 3 in the clubhouse at Belmont Park. The Belmont Cafe was transformed into a Winter Wonderland which included a Sugar Plum Cafe and Holiday Shop. Thanks to the New York Racing Association (NYRA), BCCA was provided with a beautiful venue to host its event and NYRA's facilities and security departments provided much needed support on all levels.

This year, 500 children were escorted by elves who assisted them as they chose presents for themselves and for everyone in their families. Over 100 volunteers assisted the children while they shopped. Other elves helped to select merchandise for the Holiday Shop and personally baked treats for the Sugar Plum Cafe. Our children met elves at the wrapping station where they watched while their gifts were prepared.

The shopping experience was complete when they stopped to visit Santa in the Reindeer Court. Santa was assisted by elves as the children received candy canes, took photos, and told Santa what was on their wish list. The day was filled with smiling faces as the children and elves sang along with the carols playing in the lobby and in the shop.

This event day was made possible thanks to the incredibly generosity of donors who participated in BCCA's call-to-action at its annual Racing for the Children dinner and auction, held each year in Saratoga Springs in late August. The funds raised that evening were used to purchase new coats, vests, sweaters, robes, kitchen appliances, beauty accessories, and tool boxes, to name a few. BCCA received donations of new toys thanks to a new partnership with Jazwares Inc. through their philanthropic arm, Jazwares Cares, in addition to donations from the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots Foundation with whom BCCA has shared a long-lasting partnership.

BCCA's volunteers are essential to the success of the event beginning with the planning stage, set-up day, day of event operations, and clean up and break down. BCCA recognizes all its volunteers from the Thoroughbred racing industry and its bountiful group of volunteers from the National Charity League, New York Chapter of Garden City.

This year, as BCCA celebrates 20 years of providing an early childhood education and development program for children year-round at Anna House and during the summer race meet at Faith's House at Saratoga Race Course, BCCA is grateful to our donors for their incredible support of our most important programs. The generosity of our donors allows us to fulfill our commitment to the families of the backstretch workers with the knowledge that their children will receive a great start toward a better future. You really can't put a price on giving a child a great start in life and a gift of any size matters.

We invite you to Think BIG for BCCA because when we come together, we can make a great impact on the lives of our children and their families. To join our year-end appeal, please visit us at www.belmontchildcare.org.

The mission of the Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA) is to provide a safe, supportive, and academically inspiring environment for the children of parents working in the Thoroughbred racing backstretch area located at New York's historic Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack, and Saratoga Race Course. We are committed to promoting early childhood education, molding young minds, and encouraging the fulfillment of dreams.

Joanne K. Adams is the Executive Director of the Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA), a 501 c 3 organization.

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