Mahony represents end of a mutuel line

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When wagering concludes at Aqueduct Sunday it will mark the end of an era in the annals of parimutuel wagering.

On Sunday, Pat Mahony retires as the director of mutuels for the New York Racing Association. Starting Monday, there will not be a Mahony supervising wagering in North America for the first time in over a century.

Mahony, 69, has worked in the mutuel department of racetracks for 50 years, the last 47 as a manager and the last 13 at NYRA. Mahony is a third-generation mutuel manager, having followed the career path of his father, Riggs, and his grandfather Mortimer. Pat Mahony’s extensive research shows that his grandfather Mortimer has ties to the men who started the process of mutuel wagering in this country in the 1870s. Articles show that Mortimer Mahony began working in mutuels in 1905.

“As far as consecutive years of supervising betting in North America, the Mahonys have been doing that for 111 years that I’m aware of,” Pat Mahony said. “Consecutive is important; there were no breaks in that. During two World Wars, during the Depression, my grandfather kept right on going.”

Mortimer Mahony supervised betting at every track east of Kentucky where wagering was legalized. He started parimutuel betting at Belmont and Saratoga and debuted the first tote in America at Hialeah and introduced the first mutuels in Canada at Woodbine in 1911, according to the article “He Knew the Odds.”

He managed the betting for the Seabiscuit-War Admiral match race at Pimlico in 1938.

Mortimer Mahony worked in mutuels at the time of his death in 1949. His son Riggs started working for his father in 1926 in Pimlico and continued in the business, working primarily in New Jersey and Florida, until his death in 1974.

Pat Mahony got his start in mutuels in 1966 at Monmouth Park. In 1969, he became the mutuel manager at Atlantic City Harness and has been a mutuel manager in New Jersey, New England, Florida, and New York ever since.

From 1979 through 2002, Mahony was the mutuel manager at Calder, Hialeah, and Gulfstream Park, not an easy assignment considering all three tracks were owned independently.

“You’re not working for one organization like NYRA,” Mahony said. “There were three different owners and sometimes they were at odds. I was able to walk a fine line and manage mutuels at all three.”

Mahony, who joined NYRA in January 2003, came at a turbulent time in the organization’s history. In December 2003, NYRA and two mutuel managers were indicted for a money laundering and tax fraud scheme that occurred over a 20-year period from 1980-99, which pre-dated Mahony’s arrival. Sixteen mutuel tellers were convicted of tax evasion and three of money laundering.

NYRA was placed under deferred prosecution and Mahony helped clean things up.

“Pat is probably the best mutuel manager in the country,” said Terry Meyocks, a former NYRA COO and president who had worked with Mahony at Calder and helped bring him to New York. “I have the utmost respect for him and the most confidence in him. He was a great person, very well respected, and integrity was very important to him.”

Mahony said he “feels pride inside” when people tell him his role in helping NYRA turn things around. “There were a lot of good people that helped in that,” he added.

Mahony’s greatest pride is the length time of his family has been in the business. By his count, a Mahony was the mutuel manager for 11 of the 36 races for North America’s 12 Triple Crown winners.

“I’m proud I was able to continue on the legacy,” Mahony said. “My father gave me that opportunity. I hope I made him proud.”