- All of the charges in the absurd 'fat jockeys' case against Braulio Baeza and Mario Sclafani have been dismissed.
After five days of testimony, county Judge Jerry Scarano ruled that the state Attorney General's case against Mario Sclafani and Braulio Baeza was based on faulty evidence, including a scale at Saratoga Race Course that was old and not calibrated. [Albany Times Union]The state insisted on pressing on with the sham charges not only once, but twice - even after a juror in the first case correctly called it out. I think that NYRA owes it to the exonerated defendants to reinstate them with back pay, and that the Governor, who initiated the case when he was Attorney General, owes them an apology. (Fat chance.)
- The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments that falsified petition signatures that helped get the slots referendum on the ballot should nullify the results that have led to slots in Broward County. The case has long been festering under the surface, and, in theory, could cause those racinos to be shuttered. A lower court judge had ruled that the results of the vote made the question of invalid signatures moot; but an appeals court disagreed. The matter of whether there were invalid signatures - possibly a significant number of them - does not seem to be the main issue, at least at this point. Instead, the questions are:
Can the signatures be challenged even after election supervisors have certified them, and after the ballot has been printed and absentee voting has begun? And can an amendment to the state Constitution be invalidated post-election if a portion of the signatures on the petition that authorized the vote turn out to be fraudulent? [Miami Herald]An attorney representing gambling interests told the paper: "In the long run, this is much ado about very little....We can rest assured that parimutuels will continue to operate." Given the fact that facilities have already been built and opened at much expense, I'd expect that, one way or another, he's right. But this must be a nervous time for those racinos now nonetheless.
Voters in Miami-Dade County will have a second chance to approve the machines in January for its pari-mutuels, including Calder.
2 Comments:
I liked NYRA to continue running the racing franchise until this summer when I heard Frank Mauro speak at the Albany Law Saratoga institute.
Then I read the MOU between Spitzer and NYRA and watch the Senate Racing Committee meeting last Wednesday and I say based on today's news it's really too bad NYRA's broke, or Braulio and Mario could sue them and Neil Getnick (Getnick's got assets and a steady tax payer financed deep pockets making im the 'deep pocket').
They threw these guys to the wolves to protect the trustees and the management at NYRA.
I have seen the future -- 30 years of 7000 and less at Belmont on a beautiful Saturday in September with a giveaway, a great filly and the chance to see how fast $16 million runs. There was no meaningful promotion of Green Monkey or the giveaway that I saw.
Some extra curricular reading for the NYRA fans.
http://www.albanylaw.edu/media/user/glc/inspector_general.pdf
That case may have been full of lard, but the one in Kentucky has seen Biancone's vet receive a 5 YEAR BAN!
Hooray!
Now let's see Biancone be disallowed from being on the grounds of KEE, BEL, and MTH.
Let's hear from Terry Finley on this thing, too. Will he move (fire?) Biancone from Irish Smoke...coming off the graded win at the Spa?
Let's hear from Gary Stevens who rode for Biancone.
According to an item in the DRF, Biancone's vet knew Biancone possessed cobra venom.
It's a no brainer..........Biancone should NOT be allowed to have any part of the 2007 Breeders' Cup. If he is guilty, he should receive an equal 5 year ban or more.
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