Landry leaves NYRA position

Just a little more than a year after being hired, Gavin Landry is no longer the senior vice president for sales and market development for the New York Racing Association.

NYRA management would not comment on Landry other than to confirm that he longer is an employee. Landry oversaw marketing, group sales, customer service, and the NYRA Store.

Landry, 43, said Wednesday he and NYRA reached "an amicable and mutual understanding" for his departure.

Landry joined NYRA on July 2, 2007 following a 12-year stint as the president of the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau. At the time, NYRA's president, Charles Hayward, lauded Landry as having "a thorough command of hospitality management and business development."

While Landry brought in some new corporate sponsors - Dime Savings Bank chief among them - the NYRA lost a sponsorship agreement for the Test Stakes with Darley under Landry's regime. Also, Landry brokered a deal that made the New York Post the official paper of NYRA, but attempts to ban other papers from being sold on track were quashed.

Landry said he was proud of several things he did at NYRA, including increasing NYRA Rewards account-wagering membership from 6,000 to 17,000.

NYRA officials would not say if Landry would be replaced.