MONTICELLO – The state legislature next Monday is coming to Albany for a special session and one of the agenda items is a bailout plan for New York City Off-Track Betting.  It’s a plan the New York State harness horsemen don’t like.

Joseph Faraldo, president of the Standardbred Owners Association of New York and general counsel to the Monticello Harness Horsemen’s Association, said his group has filed legal objections to the bailout plan in federal court.

They are asking state lawmakers to hold off on approving the governor’s proposed OTB bailout, which he calls “bordering on scandalous.”

Faraldo said OTB owes Yonkers Raceway $22 million, 52 percent of which belongs to the horsemen. At Monticello Casino and Raceway, he said OTB owes $7 million, half of which is owed to the horsemen.  But, in both cases, he said the raceways traded off the entire debt with OTB for an interest in an advanced deposit wagering system.

He also said under the governor’s plan, Monticello’s racing dates would be cut by 30 percent, and that “stinks to high heaven,” said Faraldo.

“That negatively impacts the horsemen at Monticello, the harness racing industry, the community, because with 30 percent less racing, there is going to be 30 percent less people going on those occasions to the people who provide goods and services to the horsemen,” he said.

Faraldo was also critical of Governor Paterson for calling the special session with the OTB agenda item immediately after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.