NYRA tracks raided by state authorities

Officials from the New York State Attorney General's Office and state police

raided all three of the New York Racing Association (NYRA) tracks on Wednesday.

The officials seized documents from the racing and horsemen's bookkeeper's

office and the jockeys' room at Aqueduct, which is currently conducting a race

meet.

The focus of the investigation apparently involves whether horses carried the

correct weight in races.

Charlie Hayward, who was recently named NYRA president and chief executive

officer, told Daily Racing Form the search warrants were "very broad. Anything

they asked for we gave them."

NYRA was raided four years ago as part of a probe into illegal activities in

its pari-mutuel department. That investigation resulted in the arrest and

conviction of 19 pari-mutuel clerks, the indictment of two department heads, a

$3 million fine and a deferred federal prosecution agreement announced in

December 2003 that is under the supervision of a court-appointed monitor until

July 1, 2005.