Yonkers Raceway horsemen demand $13.4M from Newburgh gambling

Owners, trainers and drivers of harness racing horses at Yonkers Raceway are demanding $13.4 million from Monticello Raceway Management Inc., in Orange County, for allegedly violating a state tax law.

Standardbred Owners Association Inc. says that Monticello’s Resorts World Hudson Valley video lottery gaming facility in Newburgh is required to compensate the Yonkers horsemen for lost business at Yonkers Raceway and the adjacent Empire City Casino.

“The Resorts World Hudson Valley operation causes a reduction in gambling revenue at Empire City Casino,” according to a complaint filed on July 30 in Westchester Supreme Court, “which in turn causes a reduction in the amount paid to the Yonkers Raceway horsemen.”

The dispute concerns the purse, the portion of bets at horse races that is distributed to the competitors in each race. A significant chunk of the purse money at Yonkers Raceway is derived from gambling revenue at Empire City Casino.

When Resorts World sought a state license for video lottery gaming, according to the complaint, the legislature recognized that a new gambling business in Newburgh could reduce the number of gamblers 43 miles away at Yonkers Raceway and Empire City Casino.

The state enacted a tax law, as a condition of granting the license. Monticello Management was required to account for the difference between the Yonkers Raceway purse in 2018 and now, plus inflation.

Resorts World in Newburgh generated more than $1 billion in wagering revenue in 2023, its first year of operations, the complaint states.

The purse at Yonkers Raceway was $50.8 million last year, down by more than $2.1 million from 2018.

Including a $11.3 million purse adjustment for five years of inflation, Standardbred Owners Association calculated that Monticello Management owes the Yonkers horsemen $13.4 million.

Resorts World spokesperson Meghan Taylor did not reply to a message asking for its side of the story.