RMTC
By Tom Precious
New York regulators March 23 said they want to hold a forum to consider the future use of anti-bleeding medication furosemide in the state.
Led by New York State Gaming Commission member John Crotty, regulators said they will move ahead with some kind of forum or meeting with industry experts and representatives involving the issue of furosemide, also known as Salix or Lasix. Crotty said there have been ideas put forward about looking into the use of the drug, for now, in grade I events and stakes for 2-year-olds.
“I think it would be good for us to understand the science behind what would make sense for us as a state to put forward,” Crotty said.
The NYSGC didn’t give a timetable for a forum. Regulators cited the attempt by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to permit the state’s tracks to card races that ban the use of the drug 24 hours before a race; the KHRC was scheduled to act on the regulation March 23.
The NYSGC also approved a brief extension of the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet by three days to March 28, and launched a new bidding process for another commercial casino in upstate. The three days would be run to make up for weather- and track-related cancellations earlier in the meet.
The casino bidding process is for a facility in the Southern Tier region of upstate New York near the Pennsylvania border.
Lawmakers had believed the intent of New York’s 2013 casino law was to site one of the gambling resorts in the economically battered Southern Tier. Two bids for that region–including one to be located at Tioga Downs, a harness track with video lottery terminals–lost out to the one selected for the town of Tyre, located between Rochester and Syracuse and about 25 miles from Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack.
After the December decision, amid much criticism from Southern Tier politicians and business interests, Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked his gaming agency regulators to reopen the bidding for a facility in that region.
Regulators have made clear that the two previous bids for the Southern Tier aren’t adequate, and they hope new bidders come forward with more ambitious plans. The NYSGC’s decision March 23 led to the immediate release of a new request for application, which kicks off a new bidding process designed to keep development plans restricted to Southern Tier. Bidders will have to pay a $1 million application fee to New York.
