by Paul Post

Wagering through October at New York’s racetracks and Off-Track Betting facilities was down 4% and 6%, respectively, from the same time last year, according to the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.

The New York Racing Association said that daily average all-sources handle declined 8.3% at the Belmont Park fall meet, coming on the heels of a 10.2% all-sources decline during the Saratoga Race Course meet.

There are six regional Off-Track Betting corporations in New York, with New York City OTB accounting for more than half of all wagers. Its handle is down 8% through October.

“These are very challenging times,” New York City OTB President Raymond Casey said. “The whole gaming sector is being hit in a similar way. It’s an unprecedented situation.”

Casey recently returned from the Global Gaming Expo (G2E), a major gaming conference in Las Vegas, where he gave a presentation about the impact of Northeast racinos on racing.

In New York, there are currently eight Standardbred racinos and another at Finger Lakes, a Thoroughbred venue near Rochester. Before gaming was introduced, combined purses were approximately $35-million. By 2010, purses are expected to reach $120-million, Casey said.

Breeding programs have benefited significantly and should do so even more once Aqueduct’s video lottery terminal center opens in late 2009 or early ’10, Casey said. More mares are being bred and more stallions are moving into New York, he said.

The purse increase has benefited trainers and owners, but there has not been a corresponding increase in handle or field size, according to Casey. Some money now allocated for purses should perhaps be used for marketing programs to boost fan interest, he said.

In some instances, he added, trainers are reluctant to put horses in high-purse races because they will not be able to compete against top-quality entrants.

“Maybe we need to look a little harder at how we write the races,” Casey said.

September was New York City OTB’s worst month, when wagering was down 14%.

Earlier in the year, Off-Betting reported the same number of patrons, but less money was being spent. By early autumn, there were fewer transactions as well.

“It was almost like the economy shut down,” Casey said. “People still had money, but they got scared.”

In October, however, perhaps because of plummeting gasoline prices, wagering rebounded again.

NYRA operates Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct.

“We have seen declines, particularly in the second half of the year,” spokesman John Lee said. “We had record bad weather during the first of the Saratoga meet and record high gasoline prices.”

 Finger Lakes is owned and operated by Buffalo-based Delaware North Cos., which was recently chosen to run Aqueduct’s VLT facility. State officials are discussing whether to allow an expansion of gaming to include electronic table games in addition to VLTs.

“I’m totally against it unless OTB is included in the mix,” Catskill Regional OTB President Donald Groth said.

Paul Post is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent