Two key racing officials no longer with NYRA
Two New York Racing Association officials whose roles are vital to race-day operations are no longer with the corporation, a NYRA spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
Hector Soler, the starter at NYRA tracks since December 2020, was fired on Sunday. No cause for his dismissal was given.
“Hector Soler’s employment as NYRA Head Starter was terminated on Sunday, March 2,” NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna wrote in an e-mail. “As is consistent with NYRA policies, Soler is precluded from accessing NYRA properties for a period of 90 days.”
Meanwhile, Jack Welsh, NYRA’s clerk of scales since sometime in 2021, “resigned his position effective Saturday, March 1,” McKenna wrote.
Soler, a native of Puerto Rico, had worked with the NYRA starting gate crew for about 23 years before being named starter in December 2020, according to feature story on him published in Blood Horse. He was the subject of complaints from a handful of trainers last summer, though it is not clear if those complaints played a role in his dismissal.
Jeff LaRue, the current Finger Lakes starter who has served as substitute head starter at NYRA since November, will fill the role permanently for the foreseeable future.
As for Welsh, he resigned from his post before Saturday’s races. Brian Pochman, who currently serves as assistant clerk of scales, will move into Welsh’s role, at least on an interim basis.
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