Nassau OTB settles with NY harness tracks

Nassau Off-Track Betting Corp. has agreed to pay harness racing tracks an untold amount of money to settle a long-running, multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

OTB officials have refused to say how much will be paid.

At issue is a claim filed by harness tracks against Nassau OTB and other regional OTBs for annual payments the tracks say they are owed dating to 2004. The payments, mandated by state law, reflect a share of the proceeds OTBs get by simulcasting races from outside the state.

All told, the regional OTBs faced forking over about $10 million. Nassau is liable for $4.5 million -- the largest tab for any of the regional OTBs in New York State. Nassau's payments are earmarked, by law, to go to Yonkers Raceway -- which says OTB owes it more than $4 million since 2004 -- and Monticello Raceway.

Nassau OTB president Joseph Cairo said Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with Yonkers but that the parties agreed to not discuss terms publicly. "We came to what we felt was a fair settlement," Cairo said.

Nassau OTB counsel Arthur Walsh said publishing the amount "could prove to be detrimental in the future" because Yonkers still has outstanding claims with other OTBs.

Walsh added that Monticello's claim also would be resolved when the Yonkers settlement is entered in state court.

Yonkers Raceway general manager Robert Galterio didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Last year a state court ruled in favor of the harness tracks, ordering more than $10 million in payments statewide. OTBs had argued unsuccessfully for lowering the amount, saying, among other things, that it shouldn't have to pay Yonkers for racing rights for a 16-month period when the Westchester venue was closed.

The state Racing and Wagering Board, however, had sided with the harness tracks.