Finley Calls for Horsemen to Rally Around N.Y. Racing

New York racing has not been immune to the ills the world is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has suffered the loss of a backstretch worker, Martin Zapata, who died April 7, and has seen five others hospitalized since the coronavirus outbreak began to ravage New York City and Nassau County in early March.

From a business perspective, the New York Racing Association has been without racing since March 15, and though it is hopeful of resuming racing without fans as soon as possible, there's no firm date for reopening, and the situation has created a financial hardship for everyone involved in the sport.

Yet at the same time, prominent New York horseman Terry Finley sees it as a moment when the people who have collectively made the circuit an industry leader need to remain supportive of racing in the Empire State.

"New York has been the center of racing for a long time. It faces a pretty good threat right now, and we have to rally around New York," said Finley, the president and CEO of the West Point Thoroughbreds partnership, as well as a board member of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and a member of The Jockey Club. "It might sound partisan, but as New York racing goes, so goes the vast majority of American racing. No one likes a preacher, but I'd say to New York horsemen, 'Now is not the time for our community to break down in factions. We need to stay together.'"

Finley's comments come at a time when Churchill Downs is preparing to begin racing behind closed doors May 16, and the Louisville track can be viewed as a locale where New York horsemen can send their Florida-based runners who typically would be at Belmont Park by now. While West Point has divisions across the country, including Kentucky, Finley said his group's horses with New York-based trainers will not be shipped to different jurisdictions and will head to Belmont Park once restrictions are lifted.

"The horses we have with Kentucky trainers are going there. We have several in Florida who would normally be in New York, and there is no way in the world I will let them go anywhere but New York," said Finley, who has about 12 horses in New York now and would usually have about 35 in the summer. "You have to rely on your leaders. They are smart people in that food chain in New York. There's no doubt we have some serious challenges there, but the big thing is that we get horses back to New York and put on a good product. I urge people to think about that and think about the greater good."

His words came on the same May 7 afternoon that NYRA officials held a teleconference with more than 100 trainers. NYRA CEO and president Dave O'Rourke, senior vice president of racing operations Martin Panza, and senior vice president of operations and capital projects Glen Kozak answered questions and briefed horsemen on the efforts to resume racing at Belmont Park and detailed some of the protocols necessary now, when horses are training on a daily basis, and in the future, when racing ultimately resumes.

"We didn't really break any news or have any new announcements on the call. There was a lot of reiterating," NYTHA president Joe Appelbaum said. "It was a great opportunity for NYRA to talk through issues both strategic and operational with our trainers directly. So far, the response has been positive, and we're going to try to have these meetings more often. We went through a range of topics from plans for reopening to safety protocols to the state of training. Martin Panza told us they will write a condition book as fast as humanly possible once they get a date to reopen. 

"They also covered the safety protocols, such as everybody had better wear a mask. … People need to use gloves and wipe things down. They will be checking health all over. Everyone is in agreement that our team is willing to jump through whatever hoops it must to resume racing."

In its May 4 newsletter, NYTHA reported there were 15 active coronavirus cases on the Belmont Park backstretch, with no current hospitalizations and 40 workers released from quarantine. Those figures represent a drop from April 26 figures of 20 active cases, with one hospitalization and 30 released from quarantine.

Besides a wide range of safety protocols already in place, beginning next week, NYRA backstretch workers will have their temperatures taken each day, and trainers must send a daily roster of their employees to the New York State Gaming Commission, listing which ones reported for work that day and their temperatures.

Linda Rice, the leading trainer at the abbreviated Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet with 40 wins, said the teleconference was beneficial and welcomed the opportunity for more of them.

"I thought it went over very well," she said. "I thought (NYRA officials) answered questions to the best of their ability, and hopefully it gives a lot of comfort to the horsemen as well as an understanding of what's happening and why. We're all shooting for the same thing."

At a time when bills are mounting without purse money to help balance them, Ed Boden, the managing partner of Drawing Away Stable, said the more than 200 investors in his stable are mindful of the need for safety measures and being cautious during the pandemic but are also "anxious" for racing to resume.

"We all know NYRA is doing a good job under the conditions, but a lot of our people are average guys who lost their jobs or their businesses had to close, and they are in need of money. When people have asked, we've sent them their money on account," Boden said. 

Though Drawing Away has been able to race in Florida and Arkansas, about 40-45 of the stable's horses are in New York, spread among a collection of trainers that includes A.C. Avila, Rob Atras, John Toscano, Dominick Schettino, Rob Falcone Jr., and Rice. Drawing Away was the runaway leader at the Aqueduct winter meet in both wins (19) and starts (81). The runner-up in each of those categories had six wins and 40 starts.

The financial situation for Drawing Away is relatively unique because in its business model, partners make only a one-time payment to cover the purchase of a percentage of the horse and the group's management fee. To help the stable's trainers, Boden said he has worked out new deals.

"We met with them and came up with a financial agreement," Boden said. "Our trainers are getting a double hit, so we are trying to help them."