2023 New York Laws › PML - Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law › Article 3 - Harness Racing and Breeding › 307 - Licenses for Harness Race Meetings.

§  307.  Licenses  for  harness  race  meetings. 1. Any association or
corporation  desiring  to  conduct  harness  race  meetings   at   which
pari-mutuel  betting  shall  be  permitted  may  apply  annually  to the
commission for a license so to do. If, in the judgment of the commission
the public interest, convenience or necessity will be served thereby and
a proper case for the issuance of such license is shown consistent  with
the  purposes  of  sections two hundred twenty-two through seven hundred
five of this chapter and the best interests of racing generally, it  may
grant such license for a term ending not later than the thirty-first day
of  December  next succeeding the granting thereof, specifying dates and
hours during which  and  the  place  where  the  licensee  may  operate;
provided,  however,  that  any  harness  racetrack  which applies to the
commission for permission to make one or more capital improvements  may,
in connection with such application or before or after such application,
also  apply  to  the  commission  for,  and  the commission shall, as an
inducement  for  or  in  recognition  of  the  making  of  such  capital
improvement,   grant   a  capital  improvement  license,  which  may  be
conditioned on the completion of the  capital  improvement  if  not  yet
made,  for  a period of not more than twenty-five years, but in no event
for a period longer than is necessary to amortize any loan  for  capital
improvements and shall specify for each year of the term of said license
the  minimum number of days on which, and the minimum number of hours on
each such day, and the places  where  said  licensee  may  conduct  such
harness  race  meetings at which pari-mutuel betting shall be permitted.
Such a capital improvement license shall be issued if in the judgment of
the commission the public interest, convenience  or  necessity  will  be
served  thereby  and a proper case for the issuance of such a license is
shown consistent with the purposes of sections  two  hundred  twenty-two
through  seven  hundred  five  of this chapter and the best interests of
racing generally, and in determining the period and other terms of  such
capital  improvement  license,  the  commission  shall  be guided by the
nature of the capital improvement and the  cost  thereof.  Such  capital
improvement license shall automatically expire, irrespective of the term
thereof,  when the loan of funds upon which it has been issued, has been
paid off by  the  licensee.  Where  a  capital  improvement  license  is
granted,  the  commission shall specify annually the dates on which, but
not beyond the thirty-first day of December, and hours during which such
licensee may operate, at the places and for the full number of days  and
hours specified in its capital improvement license.
2. Every such license shall be issued upon condition:
a.  that every harness horse race meeting at which pari-mutuel betting
is conducted  shall  be  subject  to  the  supervision  of  and  to  the
reasonable  rules  and  regulations  from time to time prescribed by the
commission, and
b. that pari-mutuel betting conducted thereunder shall also be subject
to the supervision of and to the reasonable  regulations  from  time  to
time  prescribed  by  the  department  of taxation and finance. Any such
license may also be issued upon any other condition that the  commission
shall  determine  to be necessary or desirable to insure that the public
interest, convenience or necessity is served.
3. Applications  for  licenses  shall  be  in  such  form  as  may  be
prescribed by the commission and shall contain such information or other
material or evidence as the commission may require. Each application for
renewal  of  a  license  shall  be deemed to be an application for a new
license. The fee for such licenses shall be one hundred dollars for each
racing day payable in installments in  advance  of  each  week's  racing
which  sums shall be paid into the general fund of the state treasury by

the commission. The term "racing  week"  shall  include  those  days  as
defined by the rules and regulations of the commission.
4.  In considering an application for a license under this section the
commission may give consideration to  the  number  of  licenses  already
granted  and  to the location of the tracks previously licensed. No such
license  shall  be  granted  to  any  track  which  has  not   conducted
pari-mutuel  harness racing during at least ten calendar years and which
is located within ten miles of a state, county or town  fair  conducting
harness  racing  for  the  three consecutive years immediately preceding
April second, nineteen  hundred  fifty-three,  which  license  shall  be
operative  during the racing dates of such fair, unless the association,
corporation or society conducting such fair  shall  affirmatively  waive
objection  to the issuance of such license for dates within such period.
No such license shall  be  granted  to  any  track  located  within  the
corporate  limits of a city of the first class. No such license shall be
granted to any harness horse racetrack located within twenty-five  miles
of  any  track already licensed for the same dates and hours except with
the consent of the licensee located within such twenty-five mile area.
5. The commission may refuse to grant a license to an  association  or
corporation if it shall determine that:
a. Any officer, director, member or stockholder of such association or
corporation applying for a license, or of any association or corporation
that  owns  stock  in  or  shares in the profits, or participates in the
management, of the affairs of such applicant, or  that  leases  to  such
applicant the track where such applicant will operate has:
(i) been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
(ii) engaged in bookmaking or other forms of illegal gambling;
(iii)   been  found  guilty  of  any  fraud  or  misrepresentation  in
connection with racing or breeding;
(iv) been guilty of any violation or attempt to violate any law,  rule
or  regulation  of  any  racing  jurisdiction  for which suspension from
racing might be imposed in such jurisdiction;
(v) violated any rule, regulation or order of the commission; or
b. The experience,  character  or  general  fitness  of  any  officer,
director  or  stockholder  of  any  of  the  aforesaid  associations  or
corporations is such that the participation of such  person  in  harness
racing  or  related  activities  would  be  inconsistent with the public
interest, convenience or necessity or with the best interests of  racing
generally;  but  if  the  commission determines that the interest of any
stockholder referred to in this paragraph or  in  paragraph  a  of  this
subdivision  is  insufficient in the opinion of the commission to affect
adversely the conduct of pari-mutuel harness racing by such  association
or  corporation  in  accordance with the provisions of this article, the
commission may disregard such interest in determining whether or not  to
grant a license to such association or corporation; or
c.  The  applicant  is  not  the  owner  of the track at which it will
conduct pari-mutuel harness racing pursuant to the license applied  for,
or  that  any  person,  firm,  association or corporation other than the
applicant shares, or will share, in the profits of the applicant,  other
than  by dividends as a stockholder, or participates or will participate
in the management of the affairs of the applicant.
5-a. The commission shall not issue a license pursuant to this section
to any harness racing association or corporation that does not apply  to
conduct  at  its facilities a minimum number of pari-mutuel programs and
pari-mutuel races at its  facilities  equal  to  at  least  seventy-five
percent  of  the programs and races so conducted during nineteen hundred
eighty-five or  during  nineteen  hundred  eighty-six,  or  one  hundred
percent  of  the  programs  and  races so conducted during two thousand,

whichever is greater; provided,  however,  that  for  a  harness  racing
association  or  corporation  located  in Westchester and Erie counties,
such minimum number of pari-mutuel programs and pari-mutuel races at its
facilities  shall equal at least one hundred percent of the programs and
races conducted during two thousand. If the track did not conduct  races
during  two  thousand,  such  minimum number of pari-mutuel programs and
pari-mutuel races at its facilities shall equal at least ninety  percent
of  the  programs  and  races  conducted  during two thousand at Buffalo
raceway, in the town of Hamburg and county of Erie, unless  cancellation
of  a race day because of an act of God, that the commission approves or
because of weather conditions that are  unsafe  or  hazardous  that  the
commission  approves  shall  not  be construed as a failure to conduct a
race day; provided further, the commission shall not grant a license  to
such  association  or  corporation upon application unless such programs
and races are conducted during the same calendar  year  period  as  were
conducted during the applicable period above used to measure the minimum
number of pari-mutuel programs and pari-mutuel races, as approved by the
commission.   Nothing  in  the  foregoing  paragraph  shall  affect  any
agreement in effect on or before the effective date of  this  paragraph.
The commission may grant a license to such association or corporation to
conduct  fewer  such  programs  and  races  for  good cause shown due to
factors beyond the control of such association or corporation, and  upon
consent  of  the  representative  horsemen's  association, as determined
pursuant to section three hundred eighteen of this article.
5-b. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of subdivision  five-a
of  this  section  and article ten of this chapter, where the commission
certifies by December first of the proceeding year that  the  number  of
standardbred  horses  eligible  for competition is less than that of the
base year as defined in subdivision five-a of this section, and only  if
the  authorized horsemen's association concurs as evidenced by a written
agreement between the track and the horsemen's association,  a  licensee
pursuant  to  this  section  may  submit and the commission may accept a
license application requesting a reduced number of race dates  where  it
is  in  the  best interest of racing within this state and provided that
the licensee shall not be penalized or required  by  the  commission  to
diminish  simulcasting activities or incur an increased tax liability as
a result  of  a  commission-sanctioned  reduction  in  its  live  racing
activity under this subdivision.
6. The commission shall also have power to refuse to grant a license:
a.  to  any  association or corporation, the charter or certificate of
incorporation of which  fails  to  contain  a  provision  requiring  any
stockholder,  upon  written demand of the association or corporation, to
sell his, her or its stock to the association or corporation at a  price
to  be  fixed  in  the  manner  otherwise provided by law, provided such
demand be made pursuant to written direction of the commission; and from
and after the date  of  the  making  of  such  demand,  prohibiting  the
transfer  of  such  certificate  of  stock, except to the association or
corporation; or
b. to any association or corporation that, having been a licensee, has
failed in the opinion of the commission to properly maintain  its  track
and plant in good condition or has failed to make adequate provision for
rehabilitation and capital improvements to its track and plant.
7. Pending final determination of any question under this section, the
commission  may issue a temporary license upon such terms and conditions
as it  may  deem  necessary,  desirable  or  proper  to  effectuate  the
provisions of sections two hundred twenty-two through seven hundred five
of this chapter.
8. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the commission
may,  no  more  than  once  in any calendar year, grant a license to any
authorized harness racing association or corporation to hold and conduct
one additional  harness  race  meeting  of  not  more  than  seven  days
duration, with pari-mutuel betting, on any mile track within this state,
to  enable  said authorized harness racing association or corporation to
conduct a special stakes race not limited to the Hambletonian stakes and
associated events.
9. The commission shall have power to direct that every certificate of
stock of an association or corporation licensed under the provisions  of
sections  two  hundred  twenty-two  through  seven  hundred five of this
chapter shall bear a legend plainly and prominently imprinted  upon  the
face   of  the  certificate  reading:  "This  certificate  of  stock  is
transferable only subject to the provisions  of  section  three  hundred
three of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law".
10. Notwithstanding the provisions of section three hundred twenty-one
of this article, the refusal of an application for such license shall be
preceded  by  notice  and  an opportunity to be heard. In the conduct of
such hearing the commission shall not be bound  by  technical  rules  of
evidence but all evidence offered before the commission shall be reduced
to  writing,  and  such evidence together with the exhibits, if any, and
the findings of the commission, shall be permanently preserved and shall
constitute the record of the commission in such case. Such  hearing  may
be  presided  over by the chair of the commission or by any member or by
an officer of the commission designated by the chair in writing  to  act
as  hearing  officer  and such person or persons may issue subpoenas for
witnesses and administer oaths to witnesses. The hearing officer, at the
conclusion of the hearing shall make findings which, if concurred in  by
a  majority  of  the  commission,  shall  become  the  findings  of  the
commission. The action of the commission in refusing a license shall  be
reviewable in the supreme court in the manner provided by the provisions
of article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.