NYRA Chairman Skorton Stepping Down
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New York Racing Association chairman Dr. David Skorton announced Dec. 3 he is stepping down from the post to spend more time getting ready for his new job as head of the Smithsonian Institution.
Skorton, president of Cornell University, told his fellow board members that he believes NYRA is in a better position the past two years since the state took over temporary control of the racing corporation.
Skorton said he "went from knowing nothing about Thoroughbred racing to next to nothing.'' He thanked everyone from Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the news media for educating him about the industry.
The state in late 2012 created the New York Racing Association Reorganization Board, a 17-member panel dominated by appointees of Cuomo and the Legislature. NYRA has said it will end the fiscal year with $1.4 million in the black, the first surplus in 13 years. NYRA also has been more transparent in some ways than the previous, privately run entity; it has held its board meetings in public since the state takeover.
Skorton, a cardiologist, stayed on the NYRA board longer than some in the industry predicted. He announced earlier this year he was leaving Cornell to take the Smithsonian post. He departs before NYRA is scheduled to produce a plan early next year for Cuomo and lawmakers for going from its state-run period to some sort of new private entity.