A New York state judge has temporarily halted the bidding process for the Aqueduct casino project to give time to consider a lawsuit brought by a consortium that had won the casino rights in a previous bidding round.

The latest in a long line of legal, political and financial twists that the project has taken is being seen by industry insiders as another factor that could delay any final decision on the casino until the next governor takes office in January.

“It’s a good thing when the court can recognize that administrative agencies are doing screwy things,” said Latif Doman, a lawyer for Aqueduct Entertainment Company, formerly known as Aqueduct Entertainment Group.

Aqueduct Entertainment beat out several other bidders last year, but then was suddenly rejected earlier this spring by the state Lottery Division on the grounds that it was not licensable for the racetrack casino. At the time, investigations had already begun by federal and state agencies into the bidding process used to select the company.

The state has subsequently started another bidding process–the fourth since the casino was first okayed by the Legislature in 2001–that has taken its own strange twists. Genting New York, a subsidiary of a large Malaysian-based casino company, is the sole remaining bidder in that process after the lottery agency tossed out two other groups for not complying with its bidding rules.

State Supreme Court Judge Barry Kramer in Schenectady County, which is home to the Lottery Division’s headquarters, issued a temporary restraining order blocking the state from continuing with the current process involving Genting. The state is vetting the company and its officials and had been expected to make a decision by early August.

But Kramer has approved Aqueduct Entertainment Company’s request for a July 23 hearing. The company is seeking to overturn the Lottery’s decision that tossed out its award this spring.

Lottery officials declined comment.

Doman said the temporary restraining order stops Lottery from its vetting process of Genting or making any final decisions. Aqueduct Entertainment–a consortium whose major investor later moved on to join another group in the bidding process–wants to be reinstated as the casino winner.

“Everything has to wait until the judge decides if the injunction is going to be made permanent,” said Doman, a partner with Doman Davis LLP. He said there was “no basis” for Lottery’s decision to oust Aqueduct Entertainment.

“The court has recognized that there is a likelihood that we’re going to be successful,” Doman said.

Aqueduct Entertainment has filed its litigation against the Lottery Division, as well as Gov. David Paterson and legislative leaders.

The first foal by two-time Horse of the Year Curlin has died less than a month after she was born, it was confirmed Feb. 9.

New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. officials on Jan. 25 moved another step nearer to shutting down with approval of letters to employees giving them the legally required notice of a March 30 closure.

“I want to be hopeful that it can be done,’’ NYCOTB Chairman Meyer Frucher told board members of a move to prevent the shutdown if state officials approve a reorganization plan that includes a controversial change in the formula on how the OTB’s revenues are shared with tracks, the state and local governments.

The OTB filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in December, citing the same sorts of financial complaints about the entity that New York City voiced when it unloaded the NYCOTB onto the state in 2008.

The OTB wants to reduce its staff, close parlors while constructing new entertainment centers in each of the five boroughs. Its most controversial plan, though, is to change the way its proceeds are distributed from its gross revenues to net revenues. Tracks, including the New York Racing Association, have complained that the formula change would result in a sharp drop-off in revenue-sharing.

“For us, gross-to-net is an absolute necessity,’’ Frucher said at the board meeting.

TrackNet Media Group and the MidAtlantic Cooperative announced Jan. 22 that they have reached an agreement with MidAtlantic members of the simulcast signals of racetracks affiliated with TrackNet, ending a dispute that disrupted simulcast wagering at several racetracks and off-track betting outlets. 

When it comes to horse racing, a lot of people get credit for a horse’s performance. We hear about the horse of course, the trainer, the jockey, the owner, the breeder, the vet and sometimes even the exercise riders.

But as Sports Jamaica points out, we never hear about the grooms. Yet thinking about it, they’re right. No one spends more time with a horse than the groom. Besides the daily care given, I would imagine that the grooms offer valuable input into a horse’s condition.

In any case, it is an interesting viewpoint and a small peek behind the scenes at a job that is too often invisible to the horse player and racing fan.

Trainer Steve Asmussen eclipsed his own North American record for number of wins in a single season when Poppin won a claiming race at Woodbine Racecourse Dec. 6, pushing the Texas native’s 2009 win total to 623 with three weeks remaining in the year. The victory surpassed Asmussen’s previous record total of 622 set in 2008.

Calder Race Course placed a fourth barn under quarantine Dec. 3 after a track veterinarian determined that a horse in the barn was showing neurological signs of illness. 

John Marshall, Calder vice president and general manager of racing, said the symptoms were similar to those of a horse that became ill at Calder over the Nov. 28-29 weekend and tested positive for Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1).   That unidentified horse was transported to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville, Fla., where it was euthanized Nov. 30.

New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. plans to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in an attempt to reorganize its business.

Chapter 9 bankruptcy is about reorganization, not liquidation.  NYCOTB Chairman Meyer Frucher said it would cost a minimum of $600 million to shut down NYCOTB, and in addition, its benefits to the state, city, and horse racing industry would be lost.

Frucher said the plan is to pay existing debts and build a foundation for growth. Taxpayers wouldn’t be asked for money, he said, noting there is a “misconception” NYCOTB has been subsidized by taxpayers. “We have been a contributor,” Frucher said.

Frucher said the way distributions—to the state, city, racetracks, horsemen, and breeders are paid is at the heart the problem. State statute requires NYCOTB to make such payments before operating costs are paid.

Frucher said NYCOTB, as part of the reorganization, will ask the legislature to revise the “distribution” system. He also said the corporation doesn’t lose money; NYCOTB handles about $1 billion a year in bets.