Labor dispute at Belmont threatens to scratch I'll Have Another's Triple Crown bid
(AP) NEW YORK - A mediator was trying to settle a labor dispute at Belmont Park that threatens to scratch I'll Have Another's chance of winning thoroughbred racing's first Triple Crown in more than 30 years.
An official with the union representing maintenance and starting gate workers at the New York racetrack said the mediator was meeting Tuesday morning with the New York Racing Association and union leaders.
About 150 union members at NYRA's Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga tracks have been working without a contract since February 2011, a year after the previous contract was given a one-year extension. The workers last month authorized a strike to begin Friday, a day before the running of the Belmont Stakes, the final jewel in the Triple Crown. I'll Have Another is trying become the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.
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The racing organization — recently touched by scandals, government investigations and last month's firing of its president and the state's takeover of its board — called the union's strike threat "very troubling" because it could disrupt a race expected to draw about 100,000 to the track, plus a worldwide television audience in the millions....
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-400_162-57447468/labor-dispute-at-belmont-threatens-to-scratch-ill-have-anothers-triple-crown-bid/
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