The New York Racing Association announced today that its chief operating officer, Hal Handel, will be leaving NYRA this September after the Saratoga racing meet

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An article by the Daily Racing Form has quoted the 63-year-old Handel as saying, "I have been managing racetracks continually for more than 25 years, and the time has come to do some different things. This decision was made before the Kentucky Derby, and the timing was agreeable to NYRA.”

(With files from the Daily Racing Form)