Yonkers Raceway Casino Reopening
Yonkers Raceway has the capacity to entertain individuals across the region with its diverse gaming and live entertainment products. Along with the live horse racing available on the premises of the racecourse individuals also have the chance to explore the racino.It has electronic video terminals up for grabs and players are often drawn to them whenever they visit Yonkers Raceway. Located just 20 miles north of Times Square, Empire City casino is easily accessible from all locations. Located just 20 miles north of Times Square, Empire City casino is easily accessible from all locations.
by Debbie Little
Gov. Andrew Cuomo came through for harness racing, as New York State casinos have been given the green light to reopen, saving Yonkers Raceway from shutting down at the conclusion of racing this weekend.
In mid-August, a joint press release from Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts and the Standardbred Owners Association of New York (SOA) announced an agreement to extend racing only through Saturday, Sept. 12, which is New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) Night of Champions (full story here).
“It was great news that the casino can reopen and begin to get back to normal,” said Yonkers Raceway director of racing Alex Dadoyan. “The first step is the 25 per cent that we start at and it’s great for everyone. There were so many employees that were out of work and can now get back to what they do, as well as the horsemen that were racing with an uncertain future.”
Racing would have ceased in August if not for MGM Resorts agreeing to continue to pay operating expenses while the SOA contributed $1.2 million to purses.
“We’ll keep the purses how they are until we see how it goes,” said SOA president Joe Faraldo. “So next week we’ll only race four days, same purse level, then we’ll go to five days, same purse level, until we see how much money we’re generating and what has to happen.”
Even though some casinos in the state reopened on the first day possible, Sept. 9, Empire City chose a different path.
“It’s never been our goal to reopen first or fastest, but safest,” said Taryn Duffy, VP corporate communications & public affairs for Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts. “We want to ensure we are opening safely for our employees and guests. There are numerous new operating procedures and protocols in place and we want to give our employees the time to be well-versed in this new way in which we will be operating – for their safety and the safety of our guests. Our extended soft opening for invited Mlife members leading up to the public opening on Sept. 21 allows us to manage the number of visitors in the first week and work towards the smoothest transition to our full opening.”
There had been rumors that racing at Yonkers might take a few weeks off to let the purse money build up, or race four – rather than five – days a week, but they turned out to be just that, rumors.
Racing five days a week, nine races a day, Faraldo thinks is the winning combination for his horsemen as well as those watching and betting on their product.
“You want other tracks or outlets to take your signal,” said Faraldo. “There’s something to be said for a continuity of signal. When people buy a signal, their customers want to see horses and races for a longer period of time throughout the course of the year so they can bet and they can get to know the horses. When you have 234 race dates it generates interest, it generates handle, it’s all off track, but it’s handle. So, I’m not about to give that up.”
As for the Night of Champions, Kelly Young, executive director of the Agricultural and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund, expects extremely competitive racing.
“It’s an unusual year capped off with an unusual Night of Champions, but there are many great horses to celebrate and we’re looking forward to some awesome performances on Saturday,” said Young. “We have done our best to make this season as fulfilling for the horsemen and horses as possible. Horses are earning good money in New York.”
Yonkers Raceway News
Each final for 2- and 3-year-olds competing at the Hilltop Oval goes for the usual $225,000.
Even though listed owners are allowed to attend, they cannot bring their friends and family as has been the norm, but again, there is no norm during a pandemic.
Owners that wish to attend need to call Young at 518-388-0224 by this morning (Sept. 11) to be put on an admissions list. As per state guidelines, owners will only be allowed on the apron and not in the grandstand or the paddock, but can be part of a winner’s circle presentation as long as they are wearing a mask and adhering to social distancing.
Fans are still not allowed to attend, as they are in neighboring states, and there is no timeline for when that will change.
Yonkers is scheduled to race until Tuesday, Dec. 22.
Related Stories
Empire Casino Yonkers Raceway
Standardbred Owners Association of New York recently made it clear that horse racing enthusiasts might see the return of live racing in the foreseeable future. Yonkers Raceway could reopen by the end of this month, as President Joe Faraldo recently confirmed. He also pointed out that this comes with its various challenges and requirements.
Horse people across New York State have been looking forward to the moment when they would return to live horse racing once again and be able to rely on the steady income of regular Standardbred races. Over the past couple of months, they were unable to do so, as physical distancing is still the recommended practice and live races were postponed. Now it is time for some changes.
Standardbred Owners Association of New York
Yonkers Raceway has the capacity to entertain individuals across the region with its diverse gaming and live entertainment products. Along with the live horse racing available on the premises of the racecourse individuals also have the chance to explore the racino. It has electronic video terminals up for grabs and players are often drawn to them whenever they visit Yonkers Raceway.
Empire City Casino saw about 1,000 workers put on furlough mid-March, as the situation across New York State was dynamically changing. There are 4,700 slot machines sprinkled across its gaming floor overseen by MGM Resorts. The casino operator is willing to see the reopening of both the gaming venue and the Standardbred racetrack, as this would support their future operation, the local horse people, as well as the community.
The willingness to see live racing return to Yonkers Raceway is among the main engines that would see it happen in the upcoming weeks. Projections made by Mr. Faraldo are that locals could see live racing events return in the second or third week of this month. The President made it clear that the racetrack’s situation is rather complicated at the moment.
What’s to Come?
It does not feature a substantial number of racehorses as it is, but at the same time the safety measures it should comply with are more restricting than the ones mandatory for horse racetracks to the likes of Vernon Downs, Tioga Downs, Buffalo Raceway, Saratoga Downs, and Batavia Downs. Those racetracks have their racehorses on their premises.
When it comes to Yonkers Raceway, racehorses are being shipped in, which would then require the physical distancing of the individuals taking care of this. Mr. Faraldo stated that this is making the situation more complicated for the racetrack in comparison to rival horse racing hotspots. In the meantime, MGM Resorts is working on ways in which it could alleviate the process. This includes the installation of new faucets optimizing the process of washing hands.
Plexiglass screens are also going to be installed at the race office on the premises of Yonkers Raceway. In the meantime, Monticello Raceway refuses to open without horse people giving up their on-track handle, off-track betting revenue, and more. Mr. Faraldo expressed concerns that casino gambling would take advantage of local horse racing and undermine its future success.