NYRA Touts Finances, Customer Service
Oct 21, 2015 21:38:06 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on Oct 21, 2015 21:38:06 GMT -5
Ugh - I can't stand Kay because he knows nothing about racing and hasn't made much of an effort to learn. His speeches indicate that.! And the dumbest job in all of NY - The Chief Experience Officer - should take her little survey to the Big A! Distributing it at the Spa was dealing with a stacked deck. Wonder if she approached anyone other than tourists - doesn't sound like it! Her huge salary is one way to reduce the budget overage because she's not only not necessary, she's another racing know-nothing! Notice Kay mentions the weather and Am PO's being in the Travers. He had nothing to do with either one. He should give Zayat special treatment!
NYRA Touts Finances, Customer Service
By Teresa Genaro
BloodHorse
On the day that an extension of his contract was announced, Christopher Kay, president and chief executive officer of the New York Racing Association, presented a report to the organization's board of directors that highlighted the financial and customer service successes implemented since he was appointed in July 2013.
This year's Saratoga Race Course meet showed substantial gains in all-sources pari-mutuel handle (up 13.2%) and attendance (up 9.7%) from 2014. Kay attributed the increases to a variety of factors, including customer-service enhancements such as a new reserved table policy and upgraded hospitality areas, and an increase in the quality of the racing product, including an emphasis on big-event days.
Kay also noted that both the summer's outstanding weather and the appearance of American Pharoah for the Travers Stakes (gr. I), both factors beyond NYRA's control, contributed to the increases. This year only 10 races were taken off the turf at Saratoga, compared with 30 last year. Average field size was up 0.38%.
Handle numbers for Belmont Park are also up over last year. Through 28 racing days as of Oct. 18, fall-meet handle has risen 5% from last year.
The positive business numbers for the year to date, including net revenue from racing operations of $133.7 million—$4 million higher than was budgeted—has Kay confident that NYRA will once again be profitable this year exclusive of revenue from the video lottery terminals at the Resorts World Casino New York City at Aqueduct Racetrack. He estimated a profit of $2.1 million for 2015, $400,000 higher than last year's profit.
Equally encouraging were results of a survey of Saratoga customers distributed by NYRA chief experience officer Lynn LaRocca to 6,500 customers, 37% of which responded. Of those that participated, 49% identified themselves as over 60 years of age, 2% between the ages of 18 and 25, and 12% between 26 and 44 years of age.
Also, 90% of respondents said they bet races while at Saratoga, with 69% reporting that they wager on eight or more races daily and 33% reporting they wager $20 to $50 on average per race.
On the Net Promoter Score, a metric that measures potential for business growth, LaRocca said, NYRA earned a score of 78 on a scale of -100 to +100, with 82% of survey respondents rating their experience at Saratoga as a 9 or 10 on a scale of 10.
Kay's contract expired in October, coinciding with the originally scheduled time for NYRA to come out from under control of New York State. In the fall of 2012, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with the consent of the NYRA board then in place, took control of the organization for a term supposed to expire at the end of three years. Last spring Cuomo announced he was extending the period of state control for another year.
Kay's contract was extended through the end of December 2016 at its current terms. Kay's salary is $300,000, and he is eligible each year for a $250,000 bonus, which he received in both 2014 and 2015.
The racing committee, headed by Thoroughbred owner and breeder Len Riggio, announced that it had approved a proposed schedule of racing dates for 2016. Though not yet approved by the New York State Gaming Commission, that schedule has been given the endorsement of both the New York Thoroughbred Breeders and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and is expected to include a reduction in winter racing dates at Aqueduct.
Riggio also reported that the committee strongly believes NYRA needs to be a leader in medication reform, including supporting the model rules set forth by the Association of Racing Commissioners International and increasing its own authority to deal with medication violations. He said the committee would seek to find "common ground" with the NYSGC, which creates and enforces medication rules.
Equine safety committee chair Marc Holliday reported that NYRA had agreed to the Grayson-Jockey Club's request for a $15,000 contribution to help fund that organization's study of the efficacy of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide, also called Lasix or Salix, administered the day before, rather than the day of, a race.
NYRA director of facilities Glen Kozak updated the board on the progress of a variety of capital improvements, including the continued renovation and construction of dormitories on the backstretches of Saratoga and Belmont and the upgrading of barns at Belmont.
Under the initial reorganization plan, NYRA would have returned to private control. Under Cuomo's extension, the NYRA board is required to submit a plan for re-privatization by next April, a plan Kay said earlier this year was largely in final form before the extension was announced. He said he didn't expect any substantial changes to the plan the board will submit to the governor in April 2016 in preparation for returning to private control a year from now.
NYRA Touts Finances, Customer Service
By Teresa Genaro
BloodHorse
On the day that an extension of his contract was announced, Christopher Kay, president and chief executive officer of the New York Racing Association, presented a report to the organization's board of directors that highlighted the financial and customer service successes implemented since he was appointed in July 2013.
This year's Saratoga Race Course meet showed substantial gains in all-sources pari-mutuel handle (up 13.2%) and attendance (up 9.7%) from 2014. Kay attributed the increases to a variety of factors, including customer-service enhancements such as a new reserved table policy and upgraded hospitality areas, and an increase in the quality of the racing product, including an emphasis on big-event days.
Kay also noted that both the summer's outstanding weather and the appearance of American Pharoah for the Travers Stakes (gr. I), both factors beyond NYRA's control, contributed to the increases. This year only 10 races were taken off the turf at Saratoga, compared with 30 last year. Average field size was up 0.38%.
Handle numbers for Belmont Park are also up over last year. Through 28 racing days as of Oct. 18, fall-meet handle has risen 5% from last year.
The positive business numbers for the year to date, including net revenue from racing operations of $133.7 million—$4 million higher than was budgeted—has Kay confident that NYRA will once again be profitable this year exclusive of revenue from the video lottery terminals at the Resorts World Casino New York City at Aqueduct Racetrack. He estimated a profit of $2.1 million for 2015, $400,000 higher than last year's profit.
Equally encouraging were results of a survey of Saratoga customers distributed by NYRA chief experience officer Lynn LaRocca to 6,500 customers, 37% of which responded. Of those that participated, 49% identified themselves as over 60 years of age, 2% between the ages of 18 and 25, and 12% between 26 and 44 years of age.
Also, 90% of respondents said they bet races while at Saratoga, with 69% reporting that they wager on eight or more races daily and 33% reporting they wager $20 to $50 on average per race.
On the Net Promoter Score, a metric that measures potential for business growth, LaRocca said, NYRA earned a score of 78 on a scale of -100 to +100, with 82% of survey respondents rating their experience at Saratoga as a 9 or 10 on a scale of 10.
Kay's contract expired in October, coinciding with the originally scheduled time for NYRA to come out from under control of New York State. In the fall of 2012, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with the consent of the NYRA board then in place, took control of the organization for a term supposed to expire at the end of three years. Last spring Cuomo announced he was extending the period of state control for another year.
Kay's contract was extended through the end of December 2016 at its current terms. Kay's salary is $300,000, and he is eligible each year for a $250,000 bonus, which he received in both 2014 and 2015.
The racing committee, headed by Thoroughbred owner and breeder Len Riggio, announced that it had approved a proposed schedule of racing dates for 2016. Though not yet approved by the New York State Gaming Commission, that schedule has been given the endorsement of both the New York Thoroughbred Breeders and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and is expected to include a reduction in winter racing dates at Aqueduct.
Riggio also reported that the committee strongly believes NYRA needs to be a leader in medication reform, including supporting the model rules set forth by the Association of Racing Commissioners International and increasing its own authority to deal with medication violations. He said the committee would seek to find "common ground" with the NYSGC, which creates and enforces medication rules.
Equine safety committee chair Marc Holliday reported that NYRA had agreed to the Grayson-Jockey Club's request for a $15,000 contribution to help fund that organization's study of the efficacy of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide, also called Lasix or Salix, administered the day before, rather than the day of, a race.
NYRA director of facilities Glen Kozak updated the board on the progress of a variety of capital improvements, including the continued renovation and construction of dormitories on the backstretches of Saratoga and Belmont and the upgrading of barns at Belmont.
Under the initial reorganization plan, NYRA would have returned to private control. Under Cuomo's extension, the NYRA board is required to submit a plan for re-privatization by next April, a plan Kay said earlier this year was largely in final form before the extension was announced. He said he didn't expect any substantial changes to the plan the board will submit to the governor in April 2016 in preparation for returning to private control a year from now.