Verdict will move defendants to seek deals

John Crudele

Who’s next?

If you are employed on Wall Street and happen to be dishonest, then you are probably pretty nervous right now after the quick-decision conviction of former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta for insider trading.

By someone else’s count there are 120 cases of insider trading pending around the country, many in the jurisdiction of Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, who prosecuted both Gupta and his pal, Raj Rajaratnam.

Rajaratnam was convicted of getting tips from Gupta. Raj made millions, while Rajat scored brownie points with his friend, who was the head of the Galleon hedge fund. Raj is serving his 11-year sentence in a federal prison in Massachusetts. Now, Rajat will also be imprisoned.

You can expect many of those 120 other defendants to now seek deals. The mood in America today is decidedly anti-Wall Street, and anyone foolish enough to take his case to trial will not only face huge legal fees but also juries that simply aren’t very sympathetic.

Gupta didn’t have a chance. Even if the handsome, sophisticated and rich 63-year-old former head of McKinsey & Co. had testified on his own behalf, jurors are no longer swayed by the argument that it was illogical for someone like Gupta to have cheated to make money he didn’t need.

Americans have experienced Wall Street greed firsthand and none of the financial crimes we’ve seen over the past many years are very logical.

Gupta faces a possible 25 years in prison. In all likelihood, Judge Jed Rakoff, who defended inside traders when he was a lawyer, will sentence Gupta to less than the maximum. Rakoff, according to a former prosecutor I know, is known for giving sentences below the federal guidelines.

Even so, Gupta will likely be imprisoned right after he is sentenced, even if he decides to appeal. That could be the end of it, except that Gupta has one card he could play.

As a director of Goldman, Gupta was a fly on the boardroom wall at a time of chaos in the financial markets. He could easily snitch about what that company was up to and win himself a handsome reward — part of his life back.

It’s possible that Goldman did nothing wrong, in which case the card Gupta is holding is really a joker. But federal investigators are actively looking into Goldman’s actions during the 2007 and 2008 financial crisis. And until that investigation is complete, Gupta’s card is aces.

Gupta had better hope he can barter information that investigators consider valuable for precious time off his sentence.

Gupta could soon be the one deciding who is next.

john.crudele@nypost.com

Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta, Raj Rajaratnam.Rajaratnam, Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, insider trading, Wall Street, federal prison

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Derby entrants to be rated on points system

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Churchill Downs simplified the path leading to the Kentucky Derby on Thursday, announcing a new points system pegged to three dozen races that will set the field for the country’s most famous thoroughbred race.

The track scrapped a more complicated system in place since 1986 based on graded stakes earnings that determined which horses reached the Derby starting gate. The discarded system was tied to 185 stakes races worldwide that confounded many casual fans, track officials said. The Derby is limited to 20 horses.

“Our goal is to create a compelling story ... that all culminates on the first Saturday in May,” track President Kevin Flanery said. “It’s easy to understand for the horsemen, for the hardcore fan and for the casual fan.”

The points system will set the fields for the 2013 Derby and Kentucky Oaks, a race for 3-year-old fillies run the day before the Derby at Churchill. The Oaks field of up to 14 starters will be based on points earned from 35 designated races.

Derby hopefuls can start accumulating points as 2-year-olds, but the greatest number of points will be awarded for the traditional Derby prep races in the weeks leading up to the Run for the Roses.

Those races include the Florida Derby, Louisiana Derby, Wood Memorial, Santa Anita Derby, Arkansas Derby and Blue Grass Stakes.

“We have really ... respected the traditions and the history of racing in the United States and the path to the Kentucky Derby,” said Flanery, who discussed the change following the annual shareholders meetings for the track’s parent, Churchill Downs Inc.

The top four finishers in the 36 races will receive points on a sliding scale. Victories in those key Derby prep races will be good for 100 points, compared with 10 points for wins in 19 races typically run late in the 2-year-old and early 3-year-old seasons.

Another eight races during the 3-year-old campaign are good for 50 points per victory. Those races include the Risen Star, Fountain of Youth, Gotham, Tampa Bay Derby, San Felipe, Rebel, Spiral and Sunland Derby.

All the designated races cover at least one mile, and all are run on dirt or synthetic surfaces with one exception — England’s Royal Lodge, which is run at one mile on the turf at Newmarket. The Derby is a 1 ¼-mile race.

Churchill Downs is calling the new points system the “Road to the Kentucky Derby.” The goal is to spur more fan interest leading up to the Derby, Churchill officials said.

“We’re implementing a more fan-friendly, cohesive and simplified system that should create compelling drama and appeal to a wider customer base,” Churchill Downs Inc. Chairman and CEO Bob Evans said in a statement.

This year’s Derby, the 138th rendition, drew a record crowd of 165,307. All-sources handle for the 13 Derby Day races at Churchill totaled a record $187 million. This year’s Oaks drew its second-largest crowd of 112,552.

Churchill said it will review which races are tied to the Derby entry points system each year. Flanery said he could foresee adjustments being made and acknowledged the series could easily be tied to as many as 40 races.

The top 20 point earners will earn spots in the Derby if more than 20 horses enter the race. At least 20 horses have entered the Derby every year since 2004 and in 12 of the past 14 years. Up to 24 horses may enter the race and four horses can be listed as “also eligible” and would be ranked in order, the track said. They could join the field if any horses scratched leading up to the race.

The new system will allow fillies to earn their way into the Derby, Flanery said, but they’ll have to compete with the boys in the lead-up races. He noted that the Derby’s three female winners — Regret, Genuine Risk and Winning Colors — all ran against the boys before the Derby.

Any points earned by a filly in pursuit of a Derby start could be credited to her point total for a berth in the Oaks, track officials said.

Long-shots will still be part of the Derby as well with the new points system, Flanery predicted.

If two or more horses have the same number of points, the tiebreaker to get into the Derby or Oaks would be based on earnings in non-restricted stakes races, whether graded or not, the track said.

Churchill Downs, Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs Inc., points system, points system, points system, LOUISVILLE, Ky., stakes races, stakes races, Derby, Kevin Flanery, Flanery, Flanery, track officials, track officials, traditional Derby prep races

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Manhattan baseball star signs with Orioles organization

Manhattan College star baseball player Anthony Vega is going pro.

The junior center fielder, taken in the 30th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft last week by the Orioles, has signed a professional contract and will forego his final year of eligibility, the school announced Wednesday.

Vega, who helped lead the Jaspers to a second straight MAAC tournament title and its fourth berth into the NCAA tournament, is the first Manhattan player to sign with a MLB franchise since Archbishop Molloy alums Matt Rizzotti and Nick Derba and Jesse Darcy and Josh Santerre all did so in 2007.

Vega, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound Patchogue, L.I., native, was an All-MAAC first team selection, leading the Jaspers in batting average (.326), runs scored (41), triples (4), total bases (108), stolen bases (32) and slugging percentage (.476). He’ll start his professional baseball career with Baltimore’s short-season Class A affiliate the Aberdeen IronBirds.

mraimondi@nypost.com

MLB, Anthony Vega, Josh Santerre, Jesse Darcy, the Orioles, junior center fielder, Nick Derba, Jaspers, Matt Rizzotti, Manhattan College, professional baseball, MAAC, professional contract, NCAA tournament

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Mets shortstop Tejada's stay on DL a long stop

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There is still no indication the Mets will see Ruben Tejada anytime soon.

What the Mets eventually thought would be a two-week trip to the disabled list with strained right quadriceps has turned into 37 days and counting as the shortstop prepares to begin a running program in Port St. Lucie.

“Maybe it was worse than we thought in the beginning,” manager Terry Collins said before Tuesday night’s 11-2 win over the Rays.

BOX SCORE

Tejada is slated for running drills today, but will not be tested on the bases immediately. Ronny Cedeno (calf) also remains on the DL, keeping journeyman Omar Quintanilla entrenched as the starting shortstop.

“We miss [Tejada] a lot,” Collins said. “Omar has come up and done a good job, Ronny did a good job, we have caught the ball, but Ruben is an offensive force, and right now it’s obvious we’re missing that.”

***

Jon Rauch said he was amused by the personal attacks directed toward him on Twitter after he surrendered the game-winning homer to the Yankees’ Russell Martin on Sunday.

The veteran reliever re-tweeted some of the venom, including a message that told Rauch to kill himself.

“If you’re going to be bold enough to say that kind of stuff and stand behind it, I’m going to let everybody see it,” Rauch said. “It gives people a lot more insight to what we go through as players and people that are in the public eye.”

Josh Thole was on Twitter last year, but closed his account because of personal attacks.

***

Jenrry Mejia will begin pitching from the bullpen at Triple-A Buffalo. He has been placed on a two-week schedule after which he will be evaluated for a possible promotion to the Mets as a reliever.

Mejia, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, had been working as a starter in the minors since last month to build up innings.

The right-hander worked as a reliever for the Mets in 2010 before becoming a starter late in the season.

***

REO Speedwagon will perform a concert after Friday night’s Reds-Mets game at Citi Field as part of a Friday Night Postgame Concert Series. Tickets are on sale at Mets.com or by calling (718) 507-TIXX.

***

Ramon Ramirez (hamstring) has begun long-tossing. Justin Turner (ankle) is taking batting practice, but still not running the bases.

mpuma@nypost.com

Ruben Tejada, Ronny Cedeno, Mets, the Mets, the Mets, manager Terry Collins, Omar Quintanilla, ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Russell Martin

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Judges must explain Pacquiao-Bradley scoring; Arum wants inquiry

The executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission will review a video of Saturday night’s controversial fight between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley with the three judges who scored the bout, but promoter Bob Arum took the proceedings a step further yesterday.

Arum submitted a formal request to the Nevada Attorney General’s office for a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the scoring.

“The public has a right to know,” Arum said in a statement released by Top Rank. “The fighters have a right to know. The only way to restore fans’ confidence in boxing is by letting an independent body investigate every detail of the fight, no matter how big or small.”

Getty Images

FIGHT FLUB: Manny Pacquiao (right) throws a punch to the head of Tim Bradley during Saturday’s controversial WBO welterweight title bout.

Keith Kizer of the Nevada Athletic Commission told The Post judges C.J. Ross, Jerry Roth and Duane Ford will convene in his office in Las Vegas sometime in the near future to watch the 12-round WBO welterweight championship and discuss why they scored each round the way they did.

Kizer — who said he doesn’t plan to impose any disciplinary action against the judges — said he asked all three to gather as a group in light of the controversy that has erupted over Bradley being awarded a split decision when most ringside observers thought he had lost. Roth scored the bout 115-113 for Pacquiao, while Ross and Ford saw Bradley a 115-113 winner. The Post scored the bout 116-112 for Pacquiao.

Kizer said he has spoken with each of the judges individually and encouraged them to meet as a group.

“They want to review the fight, and I want to review it with them,” Kizer said. “It’s something I’ve done before. It’ll be almost like a training session we all can learn from.”

Despite the outcry over the decision that resulted in Pacquiao’s first loss in seven years, Kizer said the judges won’t be disciplined.

“There’s no wrong-doing that would merit discipline,” Kizer said. “The judges are the final decision-makers. They’re very experienced and very good judges. There’s no call for discipline on this and there’s no basis to overturn their decision.”

In separate interviews with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Ford, 74, and Roth, 71, defended their scorecards.

“I thought Bradley gave Pacquiao a boxing lesson,” Ford told the newspaper. “I thought a lot of the rounds were close. Pacquiao missed a lot of punches and I thought he was throwing wildly.”

Roth, the lone judge to score the fight for Pacquiao, said: “I’m looking for effective aggressiveness. I thought Pacquiao won a lot of the early rounds and I thought Bradley came on in the end. That’s why I gave Bradley the last three rounds. But I still thought Pacquiao had done enough to win.”

Ford has been a judge since the 1970s and often conducts seminars on judging, sponsored by the Association of Boxing Commissioners. In fact, it was Ford who conducted a seminar in Hawaii earlier this month that was attended by Al Bennett, one of the three judges put on indefinite suspension in New Jersey after Paul Williams was awarded a controversial majority decision against Erislandy Lara last July in Atlantic City.

Reached yesterday at his home in Avenel, N.J., Bennett told The Post, “Somebody needs to put [Ford] in a class. They robbed Pacquiao.”

Conspiracy theorists have little to go on. There was no significant late action on Bradley. The final betting line -450 to +350 for Pacquiao was the same as it was after the weigh-in Friday.

“We took normal [underdog] money the day of the fight,” said Jay Rood, the VP of Race and Sports at MGM Resorts. “From my standpoint the action was pretty light.”

A Bradley victory also seems to compromise what would be the biggest fight in boxing history should Pacquiao face Floyd Mayweather either this fall or next spring.

It would make more sense if the fight were fixed in Pacquiao’s favor, something that was floated when the Filipino earned a majority decision over Juan Manuel Marquez last November.

If there’s a lesson to be learned it’s not to promote a rematch before the first fight has even taken place. Rematch clauses within contracts are not uncommon, but Bradley took the unusual measure of waving an oversized ticket to the rematch during the Wednesday press conference before Saturday’s fight. It was a publicity stunt conjured by Top Rank’s publicity team to raise awareness of Bradley.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, has the right to invoke the rematch tentatively set for Nov. 10. But Top Rank is still trying to gauge whether a rematch would sell in light of the controversy.

george.willis@nypost.com

Manny Pacquiao, Pacquiao, Tim Bradley, Nevada Athletic Commission, Top Rank, Duane Ford, Jerry Roth, promoter Bob Arum, Ford

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The Post's All-Bronx softball honors

Bronx softball is on the upswing.

The perfect example for that is Preston, which won CHSAA Bronx/Westchester and advanced to its first Archdiocesan final since 2004, where it almost knocked off Staten Island powerhouse St. Joseph by the Sea. Cardinal Spellman had one of its best years recently, finishing second in Bronx/Westchester.

The PSAL was wild as usual, with Adlai Stevenson winning the Bronx A division title, but Clinton advancing further in the playoffs, into the quarterfinals. Morris made the PSAL Class B championship game.

In the Ivy League, Fieldston won a share of the division title and advanced to the NYSAISAA semifinals. Horace Mann, though, knocked the Lions off, making their third straight NYSAISAA finals.

William Thomas

Fieldston's Kate Miller is The Post's All-Bronx softball Player of the Year.

Robert Cole

Preston's Rachel Mazza is The Post's All-Bronx softball Coach of the Year.

All-Bronx softball Player of the Year: Kate Miller, Fieldston

Miller was already the best position player in the city and an incredible defensive shortstop. This year, she added pitching – where she never played before – to her repertoire, getting tips off YouTube and becoming pretty effective in the circle. That just speaks to how gifted the Princeton-bound Miller is as an athlete.

This year, she finished her incredible career by helping to lead Fieldston to a share of the Ivy Prep League title and a trip to the NYSAISAA semifinals.

“I never expected anything less for her,” Fieldston coach Stefanie Gozdziewski said of Miller playing at Princeton. “I knew she would be able to play D-I. She really stepped it up and proved herself.”

All-Bronx softball Coach of the Year: Rachel Mazza, Preston

Mazza knew she had something special in this young group and just had to bring the potential out of them. She played as challenging a schedule as anyone in New York City and her team even exceeded her expectations.

“Did we expect championship?” Mazza said of this year. “They made us believe. We could only get better. They’re so young.”

The Panthers reclaimed the CHSAA Bronx/Westchester title, picked up a win over CHSAA city champion Molloy and lost a heartbreaking, 1-0 game to St. Joseph by the Sea in the program’s first Archdiocesan final since 2004. The best is still yet to come for Mazza and this group.

“I knew they had the talent to do it,” Mazza said. “This year I really focused on the mental game. I tried to get it into their heads that they had to stay mentally in the game.”

FIRST TEAM

CF Keyana Brown Wiggins, Stevenson

A phenomenal athlete, Brown Wiggins excelled in just about every aspect of the game this year. The senior had 33 RBIs, 23 stolen bases and slugged .770 to lead Stevenson to its first PSAL Bronx A title since 2005.

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Rachel Mazza, Kate Miller, PSAL, Fieldston, NYSAISAA, Adlai Stevenson, CHSAA, CHSAA, Cardinal Spellman, Bronx softball, Ivy League, Staten Island powerhouse St. Joseph, Keyana Brown Wiggins

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