The Horsemen's Journal - Fall 2018

HORSEMEN’S THE

JOURNAL

FALL 2018

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL CONTENTS | FALL 2018 | VOLUME 65/#3

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

40

24

02

The Legend of Citation

Message from the National HBPA

One of the greatest horses in history won the Triple Crown 70 years ago

32

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: An Immigration Update in Turbulent Times

07

The Ultimate Equine War Hero The Marine mare Sgt. Reckless is being recognized again with statues and books

48

Lasix Lessons Learned Science confirms what American horsemen knew 50 years ago

What horsemen need to know about ever-changing immigration issues

Industry News

24 14

HBPA News

18

Research & Medication Update

52

Affiliate News The Legend of Citation THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

1

MESSAGE FROM

THE CEO NATIONAL HBPA 3380 Paris Pike Lexington, KY 40511 P (859) 259-0451 F (859) 259-0452 racing@hbpa.org www.hbpa.org

I

t is clear to me that the Thoroughbred racing

awareness for our equine athletes after their racing careers are

industry has surpassed most, if not all, other

complete. This year, on October 4-7, the RRP event is back in

equine sports and breeds in showing both

Lexington, Kentucky, at the famed Kentucky Horse Park for the

genuine concern and financial commitment to

Thoroughbred Makeover, presented by Thoroughbred Charities

the welfare of its horses as they exit the racetrack. But make no

of America. If you are asking #WhereIsThePositive, look right

mistake: In my opinion, more can and should be done. We must

here. For 2018, almost 800 trainers have been accepted to

continue to remind the public and non-racing horse people that

compete in the event.

racing industry participants are the leaders in taking care of our horses when they are retired.

Many of you know the story of my own off-the-track Thor-

PRESIDENT/ CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOARD Leroy Gessmann SECRETARY/ TREASURER Lynne Schuller CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Eric J. Hamelback VICE PRESIDENT EASTERN REGION Stephen Screnci VICE PRESIDENT SOUTHERN REGION Rick Hiles VICE PRESIDENT CENTRAL REGION Joe Davis VICE PRESIDENT WESTERN REGION J. Lloyd Yother

2

oughbred (OTTB) named Remington. I hope you read about him in the spring issue of The Horsemen’s Journal (if not, you can

Many more organizations than I can list and even some state breeders associations such as Pennsylvania and Louisiana are stepping up to support our industry’s need for OTTB aftercare. And, of course, so are countless individual horsemen.

My hope is more organizations will incentivize owners,

view it online at hbpa.org). The excellent article was written by

breeders and members to make an investment in the future of

my friend Jen Roytz, who serves as executive director of the

our Thoroughbreds by committing to programs such as these.

Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) and as a National HBPA

We all hold a responsibility to aid retired horses in securing

Aftercare Committee advisor.

productive lives after their time on the track is complete.

While I do not have a record of Remington’s races or even

Programs such as the RRP give retired racehorses the ability to

his pedigree, I know that he was a registered Thoroughbred

show the versatility and beauty of the Thoroughbred while also

because of his lip tattoo, which was not fully legible. He might

highlighting their continued usefulness.

have been a stakes winner on the track, or maybe he never

It is up to those of us in the industry to continue the

started a race. More than likely, he was somewhere in between,

conversation about transitioning good, valuable and sound

but to me, it didn’t really matter. I had to put Remington down

horses into second careers. I believe there are very few horses

on July 13 after being partners since 1996. I didn’t even know

out there in the racing industry that are in need of “rescue.”

his exact age due to his illegible tattoo, but I do know he was

Rather, I see and imagine the off-track Thoroughbred as a horse

well into his 30s and that he lived a great life. He was a special

who is being trained for a second career and who is in transi-

Thoroughbred with whom I shared a special bond, much like the

tion. What these horses need are people seeing and under-

bond I trust everyone reading this also shares with their horses.

standing the value in owning an OTTB. It is through events like

Success or lack thereof on the track shouldn’t matter when

the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover that we must continue to raise

it comes to a horse’s life after the track. While major stakes

the awareness and value for these horses, thus proving how

winners or those with million-dollar pedigrees often get the

successful an OTTB can be in a second career and beyond.

headlines when they end up in unfortunate situations after

I hope you will agree with me on how important it is to

leaving the track, should that distinction really matter? As Mr.

make sure we plan for our horses to be treated well after their

Ed taught us (Google his name if you don’t know him), a horse

racing careers are done and to help facilitate their transition

is a horse, of course. So we need to strive to take care of as

into their second career.

many horses as we can, regardless of what their race records say.

Many organizations have successfully transitioned OTTB

Let us not forget the reason most of us are in this industry: It is because we love horses. We need to not only remind ourselves but also continue to broadcast to others that our equine

horses into new lives after their days at the track are complete.

athletes are remarkable animals and that without them we do

One of those, in particular, has been the Retired Racehorse

not have an industry.

Project, which since 2010 has helped inspire thousands to invest in OTTB horses. There is no doubt the popularity and value of the OTTB has helped our entire industry raise positive

SINCERELY, ERIC J. HAMELBACK

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

THE

AFFILIATES

NATIONAL HBPA WOULD LIKE TO THANK ITS CORPORATE

SPONSORS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AFFILIATES Dr. David Harrington, Alabama Robert Hutton, Arizona Linda Gaston, Arkansas David Milburn, Canada Randy Funkhouser, Charles Town Kent Bamford, Colorado Dave Brown, Finger Lakes Stephen Screnci, Florida Eddie Essenpreis, Illinois Joe Davis, Indiana David McShane, Iowa Rick Hiles, Kentucky Benard Chatters, Louisiana George Kutlenios, Michigan Jack Walsh, Minnesota Jami Poole, Mountaineer Park Barry Lake, Nebraska Anthony Spadea, New England Joe Poole, Ohio David Faulkner, Oklahoma Sue Leslie, Ontario Ron Sutton, Oregon Sandee Martin, Pennsylvania Robert Jeffries, Tampa Bay Downs David Ross, Virginia Pat LePley, Washington

CONTRIBUTORS Rick Capone Dr. Clara Fenger Craig McDougal Dr. Steve Selway Dr. Thomas Tobin William Velie PHOTOGRAPHERS Ackerley Images Denis Blake Rick Capone Coady Photography NYRA/Bob Coglianese Keeneland Library Cook Collection Keeneland Library Meadors Collection Keeneland Library Morgan Collection olehslepchenko – stock.adobe.com Paul – stock.adobe.com Cheryl Ann Quigley – stock.adobe.com Jennie Rees Jana Tetrault volgariver – stock.adobe.com STAFF Denis Blake Editor P (512) 695-4541 hj@hbpa.org Jennifer Vanier Allen Advertising Director P (716) 650-4011 F (509) 272-1640 jallen@hbpa.org Limb Design www.limbdesign.com Graphic Design THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL 3380 Paris Pike Lexington, KY 40511 P (512) 695-4541 F (859) 259-0452 hj@hbpa.org HBPA WEBSITE: www.hbpa.org COVER PHOTO: Mark – stock.adobe.com

The opinions, representations and viewpoints expressed by the authors in the articles contained in The Horsemen’s Journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions, representations and viewpoints or the official policies or positions of The Horsemen’s Journal, National Horsemen’s Administration Corporation or National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association Inc. and its affiliates (collectively “HJ”). HJ is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims all liability for, damages of any kind arising out of use, reference to or reliance on any information contained within this issue. Information in this issue may become outdated due to the rapidly changing nature of the horse industry. The publication of any advertisements or articles should not be construed as an endorsement of any product, service or position unless specifically stated.

The Horsemen’s Journal, Volume 65 #3.

Postal Information: The Horsemen’s Journal (ISSN 0018-5256) is published quarterly by the National Horsemen’s Administration Corporation, with publishing offices at P.O. Box 8645, Round Rock, TX 78683. Copyright 2018 all rights reserved.

The Horsemen’s Journal is the official publication for members of the Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association, a representative association of Thoroughbred owners and trainers. HBPA is a non-profit 501(c)6 Kentucky corporation. Members receive The Horsemen’s

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

Journal as a benefit of membership paid by the national office from affiliate dues. Annual non-member subscriptions are $14. Single-copy back issues, if available, are $7. Canadian subscribers add $6. All other subscriptions outside the U.S. add $20 payable in U.S. funds. To order reprints or subscriptions, call (866) 245-1711.

The HBPA National Board of Directors has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required of the association.

Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and/or advertisers and do not necessarily represent the opinion or policy of the publisher or HBPA board or staff. Query the editor prior to sending any manuscripts.

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3

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NEWS

INDUSTRY NEWS

Breeders’ Cup Announces Host Sites for 2019–21

B

reeders’ Cup has announced host sites for the upcoming 2019, 2020 and 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. In 2019 the season-ending, two-day World Championships will be hosted at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The event will then return to Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2020 and Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California, in 2021, following highly successful debuts in 2015 and 2017, respectively. The announcement reflects Breeders’ Cup’s forward-thinking growth strategy to showcase the best racetracks across the country and allow for ample lead time to engage with local communities ahead of each event.

“We are extremely proud and excited to bring the Breeders’ Cup back to three of the country’s most beloved racetracks in California and Kentucky, all of which share our commitment to providing an exceptional race-day experience for horse racing enthusiasts and first-time guests alike,” said Craig Fravel, president and CEO of Breeders’ Cup Ltd. “Breeders’ Cup events at Santa Anita, Keeneland and Del Mar have resulted in record success and overwhelming support from our fans around the world. We look forward to building upon past triumphs and to bringing the world’s best two days of Thoroughbred racing to these great racetracks and communities.”

In 2019 Santa Anita will host the Breeders’ Cup on Friday, November 1, and Saturday, November 2, for a record-breaking 10th time. The event will then return to

Keeneland on November 6-7 in 2020 followed by Del Mar on November 5-6 in 2021.

Situated by the San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Anita Park is one of the most iconic sports and horse racing venues in the world. In previous years, the world-renowned racetrack has invested more than $35 million toward improved premium seating areas, racing surfaces and enhanced wagering product.

Additionally, Santa Anita Park will be investing $5 million to add new premium seating prior to the 2019 Breeders’ Cup with renovations to the fourth- and fifthfloor restaurants as well as new outdoor suites installed above the grandstand seating. Box seats and dining tables also will be added just past the finish line.

The 2016 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita established a two-day attendance record of 118,484 spectators. Santa Anita is also the only track to have hosted the Breeders’ Cup for three consecutive years (2012–14).

The return of the Breeders’ Cup to Keeneland will mark the second time in five years for the Lexington track. In preparation for the 2015 Breeders’ Cup, Keeneland underwent a miraculous transformation to accommodate the event’s large crowds, with luxury chalets and lounges set up on a temporary basis to provide fans with unique venues and experiences. The Friday and Saturday races drew a cumulative crowd of 95,102 attendees, breaking attendance records for Keeneland.

In 2021 Del Mar also will host its second Breeders’ Cup just four years after hosting the event for the first time. Known for its scenic locale and prestigious summer meets, Del Mar underwent an extensive development process to expand its luxury seating options and infield experiences for its first Breeders’ Cup. The Breeders’ Cup debut at Del Mar ultimately boasted a two-day on-track wagering record while also generating an estimated $96.8 million in economic benefits for San Diego County.

Go to breederscup.com/future-sites to sign up for ticket information.

NBC Sports Group’s Jon Miller to Deliver Keynote at Thoroughbred Owner Conference

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

NBC and NBCSN aired more than 30 hours of coverage in support of this year’s Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.

“Jon Miller and his team at NBC Sports Group have been tremendous ambassadors for horse racing through their increased national coverage of our sport,” said James L. Gagliano, president and COO of The Jockey Club. “We are thrilled that he is able to speak at the Thoroughbred Owner Conference and share his insights on the most JON MILLER effective strategies for broadcasting horse racing and growing the sport.”

In addition to the variety of panels and speakers, conference attendees will have the opportunity to attend Breeders’ Cup events such as the post-position draw and reception and workouts from the Breeders’ Cup Trackside Breakfast Marquee. Attendees also will be able to tour farms in the Lexington Bluegrass region and are invited to an evening reception at the Kentucky Derby Museum.

Conference registrations include reserved seating tickets for both days of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

The full schedule of events and registration information is available at ownerview.com.

COURTESY NBC SPORTS GROUP

J

on Miller, the president of programming for NBC Sports Group, will deliver the keynote address at the fifth Thoroughbred Owner Conference, to be held from October 30 through November 1 in Louisville, Kentucky. The conference leads into the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which are scheduled for November 2-3 at Churchill Downs.

The goal of the Thoroughbred Owner Conference, which is co-hosted by OwnerView and BloodHorse and presented by Churchill Downs and Breeders’ Cup, is to educate, inform and entertain new, prospective and current Thoroughbred owners through a series of panels, networking opportunities and social events.

As president of programming, Miller oversees nearly 9,500 hours of annual programming for NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), including the Triple Crown races, Breeders’ Cup, NFL, NHL, French Open, Notre Dame football, Tour de France, IndyCar and NBC’s golf properties.

In 2011 McKinsey & Company’s study “Driving Sustainable Growth for Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding,” which was commissioned by The Jockey Club, found that horse racing was suffering from a lack of television coverage. Under Miller’s leadership, NBC Sports Group has significantly expanded its national coverage of horse racing from 23 hours in 2011 to 85 hours this year. For the fifth year, NBC and NBCSN are airing races from the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, presented by America’s Best Racing, and NBC hosted a record five hours of live coverage on this year’s Kentucky Derby day. In total,

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TCA Announces 2018 Grants

T

T

he 18th annual Track Superintendent Field Day will be hosted at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in historic Charles Town, West Virginia, on June 24-26, 2019. The event is open to all track superintendents and their staffs.

The superintendents are an independent group that meets annually to discuss best practices related to maintenance, safety and operational issues for racing and training facilities worldwide.

“We welcome and urge tracks to invest in sending your team,” said Roy Smith, the event’s founder. “Time has proven that the information shared and the industry networking are valuable resources relied upon long after the event concludes.”

In furtherance of that, numerous speakers and topics discussed will provide rewarding educational experiences for the attending racing surfaces professionals.

Sponsors pay for the event to be conducted with attendees responsible for just lodging and travel expense.

“We look forward to welcoming all of the conference’s participants to Charles Town,” said Charles Town Vice President of Racing Operations Erich Zimny. “We are proud to host and support such a group of dedicated professionals. Our track superintendent, Doug Bowling, has attended this event for years and is likewise honored to host the event coming up in 2019.”

Visit tracksupers.com for updates and registration information.

DENIS BLAKE

horoughbred Charities of America has announced that grants totaling $689,414 have been awarded to 69 approved Thoroughbred industry-related nonprofits that work to uphold TCA’s mission. Additionally, $73,165 was expended from the Horses First Fund within the organization’s last fiscal year to aid in natural disaster relief efforts, bringing total support provided to nearly $762,580. Grant recipients from the last three years can be found at tca.org.

TCA distributes grants to several categories of Thoroughbredrelated nonprofits including retirement, rehabilitation and rehoming organizations; backstretch and farm employee programs; equine-assisted therapy programs; and research organizations. Grants are provided to organizations that successfully meet the criteria set forth in TCA’s annual grant application. Applications for the 2019 grant cycle will be available in early January.

The Horses First Fund was established by LNJ Foxwoods in June 2016 in support of horse rescue efforts in Mercer County, Kentucky. To date, the Horses First Fund has expended nearly $100,000 in emergency relief for Thoroughbreds and their caretakers.

“Our grants and aid would not be possible without the generous support of our donors,” said Erin Crady, executive director of TCA. “Our donors make our work possible, and for that we are extremely grateful.

We are also very proud of our 2018 approved grant recipients who work tirelessly on behalf of Thoroughbreds and backstretch and farm workers.

We appreciate and applaud their tremendous efforts.”

TCA President Mike McMahon added, “I am particularly proud of our board, our staff and our relationship with TOBA [Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association]. TCA is a very agile force for good in the industry. As the only organization that supports approved aftercare, equine-assisted therapy and Thoroughbred incentive organizations, health and human services initiatives for backstretch and farm workers, and emergency relief efforts for Thoroughbreds in need, TCA is able to provide our industry with a safety net for both horses and people.”

TCA’s mission is to provide a better life for Thoroughbreds, both during and after their racing careers, by supporting qualified repurposing and retirement organizations and by helping the people who care for them.

Since its inception in 1990, TCA has granted more than $23 million to more than 200 charities. TCA is the charitable arm of TOBA.

Charles Town to Host Track Superintendent Field Day in 2019

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

NTRA Federal Legislative Briefing Covers Wide Swath of Industry Issues

A

n NTRA legislative briefing held August 9 provided updates on a diverse range of topics impacting Thoroughbred breeding, racing and handicapping. Alex Waldrop, NTRA president and CEO, and Greg Means, principal and CFO at The Alpine Group, which represents the NTRA and the industry’s lobbying interests in Washington, provided updates on the following topics: Federal Withholding and Reporting—Long-sought Treasury and IRS regulations that modernize federal withholding and reporting of pari-mutuel winnings have resulted in a 90 percent to 95 percent reduction in the filing of IRS W-2G forms. The changes have led to a drastic reduction in the reporting and withholding of winning wagers, which in turn has helped fuel handle increases. During the first six months of 2018, overall handle increased 5.5 percent. Average handle per race day in 2018 has increased 8.7 percent through June (versus a 3.7 percent gain in all of 2017). Overall, U.S. pari-mutuel handle in 2018 is on course to exceed $11 billion for the first time since 2010.

Tax Reform—The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that became law in December 2017 contains a number of incentives that promote investment in Thoroughbred breeding and racing. Positive changes in the bill include the following: • An increase in immediate expensing to 100 percent and expansion of the definition of “new property.” Buyers would be able to write off 100 percent of all horses purchased, including breeding stock, as long as the asset purchased has not been previously owned by the purchaser.

• An increase in the Section 179 limit from $500,000 to $1 million and an increase in the cost of property subject to the phase-out from $2 million to $2.5 million, which would be beneficial to industry participants that generate net taxable income.

• Inclusion of a new 20 percent deduction for certain pass-through business income. Owners of businesses such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, trusts and S corporations now may be able to deduct 20 percent of their qualified business income when filing their tax returns. Qualified business income includes domestic income from a trade or business but does not include employee income, capital gains, interest and dividend income.

Additionally, business owners can combine their businesses into a single unit to claim the benefit, thereby making the process of filing more efficient and less costly.

Waldrop stressed the importance of each taxpayer consulting with a tax advisor to assess how the bill will specifically affect their operations.

Sports Betting—The Monmouth Park/New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association Supreme Court victory put horse racing at the epicenter of sports betting. It also extends the industry’s reach from online wagering under the Interstate Horseracing Act—space it has occupied since 2000—into a vast new area of the American gaming market, where sports betting is estimated to be a $400 billion business. While the primary activity since the Supreme Court decision has been at the state level, Means noted that the major sports leagues, in particular, are already advocating on Capitol Hill for a uniform federal bill aimed at consumer protections, among other issues. Means projected that it is unlikely that Congress will consider any legislation on this topic this year. However, the issue will likely arise in more force in 2019. Both Means and Waldrop noted that Thoroughbred racing must be aggressive in defending its interests relating to sports betting and be ready to take advantage of new opportunities on Capitol Hill should they arise.

Credit Card Transactions Involving Advance Deposit Wagering (and Potentially Sports Betting)—While many banks permit Visa and MasterCard credit cards to be used in funding an advance deposit wagering (ADW) account, up until this year four of the largest banks that are significant card issuers have refused to allow this legal use. In January, JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest issuer of credit cards, began allowing this activity, and the NTRA continues to work with the three other large banks to secure a reversal of their exclusions.

The same challenges to ADW may affect those who seek to fund sports betting accounts via credit card, meaning that those in our industry that offer ADW and sports betting will have multiple banking issues.

On the same front, ADW is being blocked by search engines such as Google that do not readily turn up direct links to horse racing betting sites but simply link to informational stories about wagering or horse races. The advent of sports betting will change this landscape rapidly, again posing potential threats—and opportunities—for the Thoroughbred industry.

Immigration—There is strong disagreement on Capitol Hill over immigration policy. Efforts earlier this summer to pass immigration bills failed, and it is unlikely that Congress will take any major action on immigration prior to the November elections. Thoroughbred trainers continue to face major labor shortages due to a lack of H-2B visas available to backstretch employees. While comprehensive immigration reform will be necessary if Thoroughbred racing is to receive the relief it needs from the current guest worker program, Waldrop and Means acknowledged that such reform is not likely to occur in the near term due to the current political environment in Washington.

The Jockey Club Projects Foal Crop of 21,500 in 2019

T

he Jockey Club is projecting a 2019 North American registered Thoroughbred foal crop of 21,500, the same number that was projected for the 2018 foal crop in August 2017.

The foal crop projection, traditionally announced in midAugust, is computed by using Reports of Mares Bred (RMBs) received to date for the 2018 breeding season. RMBs are to be filed by August 1 of each breeding season.

“We estimate that approximately 85 percent of reports of mares bred, which the foal crop estimate is based on, have been received,” said Matt Iuliano, The THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

Jockey Club’s executive vice president and executive director.

Additional foal crop information is available in The Jockey Club’s online fact book at jockeyclub.com/factbook.asp and in the online state fact books.

Stallion owners who have not returned their RMBs for the 2018 breeding season are encouraged to do so as soon as possible. Interactive registration, which enables registered users to perform virtually all registration-related activities over the internet, is the most efficient means of submitting RMBs and is available at registry.jockeyclub.com.

9

Round Table Recap: The Jockey Club Offers to Support Additional Industry Initiatives

I

n response to findings from McKinsey & Company’s latest analysis of the Thoroughbred industry, Stuart S. Janney III, the chairman of The Jockey Club, announced at the Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing that The Jockey Club will look to support several industry initiatives in an effort to improve the sport and foster fan development.

Dan Singer, leader of the Global Sports and Gaming practice for McKinsey & Company, and Mike Salvaris, a senior external advisor for the organization, presented their findings earlier at the conference, which was held at the Gideon Putnam hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Singer and Salvaris focused on four key areas of potential fan development in their report, which was commissioned

by The Jockey Club: • Ensuring major league cities have major league tracks • Digital fan development and engagement • Advanced analytics • Capitalizing on the legalization of sports betting Singer noted the importance of the track experience in developing new fans. More than 60 percent of fans say that the most significant driver of their becoming a fan was their friends or relatives taking them to the track.

“Other major league sports have dramatically raised the bar on the game-day experience, with amenities such as nightclubs, bars that allow social viewing of the game and nonstop interstitial entertainment,” Singer said. “We believe it is imperative for the future of racing that the industry innovate and upgrade the track experience in the major population centers.”

Regarding digital fan development and engagement, Salvaris revealed that horse racing’s online engagement on social media platforms lags compared to other major sports and that racing needs to do a better job of capturing fan data from social media to create targeted, personalized digital marketing campaigns.

Singer then led a discussion with Chris Pollak, head of sales strategy and operations for Google, who discussed how Google can be used to identify and learn about potential customers as well as strategies for effectively marketing to customers. Knowing a customer’s digital footprint aids in the marketing process.

“Understand your audience and break it down into specific segments by their interests, and speak to them based on their interests,” Pollak said. “Be authentic, consistent and experiment and learn relentlessly every day. Be specific in what your objectives are.”

Salvaris touched on the utility of advanced analytics in areas such as race scheduling, takeout rates, simplifying handicapping and adjusting trainer metrics to encourage increased entries and fuller fields. Based on McKinsey’s data, he advocated for racetracks to experiment with lower takeout rates for win, place and show pools.

10

“We think [our] initial analysis makes a case for tracks to experiment with lower takeout rates for win/place/show pools, recognizing that it could take six to 12 months for bettors to adjust to new takeout rates,” Salvaris said. “In the short term, lowering takeout rates may simply lower revenue for the track and purse, with the ultimate gain in handle coming a year or more later.”

Singer closed the McKinsey portion of the Round Table with an examination of the potential effects of the legalization of sports betting on horse racing. He identified the need for racing to be cross-sold to sports bettors, innovation in the betting experience and the introduction of fixed-odds wagering at American racetracks.

“The argument for fixed odds is that virtually all sports bets are fixed odds, and therefore sports bettors are accustomed to locking in their odds at the time they place the bet,” Singer said. “Although pari-mutuel betting has significant advantages for the race book, many horse bettors dislike the odds changes that can happen in pari-mutuel, especially big moves in the odds just before, or even after, the race has started. The experience of Australia and the UK, which offer pari-mutuel betting in parallel with fixed-odds betting, suggests that bettors prefer fixed odds when they have a choice.”

In accordance with McKinsey’s findings and recommendations, Janney stated that The Jockey Club’s board of stewards has approved further investigation into the following projects: • Develop plans to consider becoming a track owner, lessor or partner when a racing venue is imperiled.

• Develop a capital improvement grant fund for HD (high-definition) conversion.

• Expand America’s Best Racing into a full-fledged digital media services company.

• Further invest in live racing on national television.

• Fund a permanent office of race-day scheduling.

• Advocate for tracks to experiment with decreased win, place and show takeout rates.

• Partner to fund a U.S. pilot of single-pool betting.

• Promote cross-marketing of sports betting and betting on horse racing.

• Lobby for a fixed-odds betting pilot.

Laura Barillaro, executive vice president and chief financial officer of The Jockey Club, delivered the activities of The Jockey Club report. In her remarks, she announced the Thoroughbred Safety Committee’s latest recommendation, which calls for “all licensed racing and training facilities to include monitoring and recording information in the Equine Injury Database concerning fatalities and horses observed lame by an official veterinarian during training hours in addition to recording relevant information related to soundness issues of the horse.”

The conference was attended by approximately 300 people and was livestreamed on The Jockey Club’s website. It was also shown on TVG2 and tvg.com. Official transcripts, a video replay and slide presentations from the conference are now available at jockeyclub.com.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

TCA Named Title Sponsor of the Thoroughbred Makeover

T

he Retired Racehorse Project and Thoroughbred Charities of America jointly announced that TCA will be the title sponsor of the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, which will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, on October 4-7.

The TCA Thoroughbred Makeover features trainers from across North America who are working throughout the year to prepare recently retired Thoroughbred racehorses to compete for more than $100,000 in 10 equestrian disciplines. Between 400 and 500 horses are expected to compete, an increase in entries of about one-third over 2017. Fifteen teams also will be taking part in the new Starting Gate College Consulting Team Competition pilot program at this year’s event.

“We are very pleased to be the top supporter of the Thoroughbred Makeover for the sixth consecutive year,” said TCA Executive Director Erin Crady. “Thoroughbred Charities of America believes strongly in not only supporting approved aftercare organizations but also in supporting organizations working to create a market for Thoroughbreds. Over the last six years, the makeover has not only successfully increased the demand for retired racers but has also given them skills in a new discipline thereby increasing their value.”

TCA’s support for the Thoroughbred Makeover is part of its annual grant-making activity. The organization announced earlier that grants totaling $689,414 were awarded to 69 approved organizations that provide Thoroughbred aftercare, equine-assisted therapy, equine research and health and human services for backstretch and farm workers.

“The Thoroughbred Makeover has experienced record-breaking growth each year since its inception and has quickly developed into the premier racehorse retraining competition in the world,” said RRP Executive Director Jen Roytz. “Putting on a competition of this scope and caliber each year would not be possible without the support and generosity of our sponsors, especially TCA, who recognized the potential of such an event early on and worked alongside us over the past six years to help it grow into the movement it is today. Trainers spend an average of $8,000 to prepare each horse for the Thoroughbred Makeover.

They’re not only putting a solid foundation of training on these horses, which will give them value for the long term, but they’re also becoming better trainers in doing so, especially considering that so many of our competitors are junior or amateur riders.”

The Thoroughbred Makeover includes trainers and horses from 40 states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces. Each will perform in one or two disciplines and be scored on performance. Barrel racing, competitive trail, dressage, eventing, field hunter, freestyle, polo, show hunter, show jumper and ranch work will be featured. Top scorers will compete in a Saturday finale, and an overall champion will be crowned America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred.

The weekend includes a full schedule of seminars, a sponsor fair to include both organizations and vendors and special demonstrations. Many of the horses will be available for sale by their owners at the end of the weekend. Horse shoppers are encouraged to attend and to take time on Sunday for trial rides and veterinary pre-purchase exams.

For more information, go to retiredracehorseproject.org. HJ

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FALL 2018

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NEWS

HBPA NEWS

20TH RUNNING OF CLAIMING CROWN SET FOR DECEMBER 1 AT GULFSTREAM PARK The Claiming Crown will celebrate its 20th renewal on Saturday, December 1, to kick off the Championship meet at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. This will mark the seventh straight year that the Miami-area track has hosted this special day for blue-collar horses that has proven to be a hit with handicappers because of the full fields and with horsemen because of the rich purses. calendar,” said Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA. “It’s great to see that both horsemen and the betting public have embraced this celebration of the bread-and-butter horses of our industry, and we are looking forward to raising the bar again as the Claiming Crown turns 20 years old.”

To be eligible to compete in the Claiming Crown, a horse must have started for the specified claiming price (or less) at least once since January 1, 2017. For the Iron Horse and Express races only, there is no date requirement, so a horse can be eligible for those races if it starts for $8,000 or less at any time during its career.

The nomination deadline is November 4 with the supplemental fee deadline set for entry day on November 28. The nomination fee for any of the Claiming Crown races is $100, while the supplemental fee is $2,500 for the six races with purses of $110,000. For the Tiara and Emerald, the supplemental fee is $3,000, and for the Jewel, $5,000.

Nomination forms and complete conditions are available at claimingcrown.com. HJ

ACKERLEY IMAGES

Presented by the National HBPA, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and Gulfstream Park, together with the Florida HBPA, the Claiming Crown again will feature nine races with more than $1.1 million in purses.

The Claiming Crown has consistently set handle records at Gulfstream, with last year’s handle of $11.925 million not far from the high mark of $12.2 million set in 2012. The Claiming Crown races are run under starter allowance conditions based on claiming levels from $8,000 to $35,000 with events going short and long and on dirt and turf. Three of the races are restricted to fillies and mares.

As was the case last year, six races will offer purses of $110,000 apiece, while the Tiara and Emerald on the turf for horses from the $25,000 claiming level will offer purses of $125,000 apiece. As usual, the biggest race of the day will be the $200,000 Jewel at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt for horses from the $35,000 level.

“Since being launched at Canterbury Park in 1999, the Claiming Crown has grown to become one of the biggest events on the national racing

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FALL 2018

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A DV ERT ISEMEN T

From Bleeding

to Winning

New Natural Approach Can Stop Bleeding In Its Tracks // BY MARK HANSEN

There it was again. A trainer’s worst nightmare.

Suddenly not just one, but two of his best horses were bleeding from EIPH (Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage). They were in danger of being banned from racing, even though they were still in their prime.

Lasix (Salix) wasn’t cutting it this time.

The trainer was at a loss. What can be done?

EIPH is a rough deal for any trainer, horse owner, and horse. After all, it can lead to poor performance, lost training days, costly treatments, or worse — a very sick horse that’s banned from racing for life.

Facing these concerns for two of his horses, the trainer (who asked us to withhold his name for competitive reasons) was willing to try anything.

So, he searched for another option.

He gave his horses an alternative

to bleeder drugs and treatments; something he had read about called BleederShield. This natural respiratory horse supplement helps control bleeding. It is just as effective in improving the health and performance of bleeders but without any of those “drug issues” that come with most race-day bleeder medications.

“I used BleederShield paste on two horses that had been bleeding. Now, neither horse has bled. This is a great product; it saved the careers of two very good horses.”

The Science Behind BleederShield To understand how the paste works, we looked at a controlled study run by veterinarians at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.

They investigated the effects of the active ingredient in BleederShield,

yunnan baiyao, which has been shown to help reduce bleeding in people and animals.

The veterinary team wanted to see how this active ingredient specifically affected bleeding in horses. They measured template bleeding times in horses before and after receiving a supplement with the active ingredient.

The researchers reported that the supplement significantly reduced bleeding time. They concluded that the active ingredient in BleederShield was effective at minimizing blood loss in horses.1 What surprised us the most about BleederShield is its effectiveness without the use of drugs. Having a drug-free option is critical in countries that ban most race-day EIPH medications. And even though Lasix/Salix isn’t banned in the USA yet, its day may be coming.

There’s a serious need NOW for a natural solution that can help control bleeding in performance horses.

Trainers and owners alike are impressed with the results they are seeing from BleederShield. One winning trainer told us: “I have horses that bleed and when I use this product I have no problems. I’m sure there are a lot of products on the market but I stand behind this one all the way.”

Now you can improve the health of your horses while protecting the investment in their racing careers.

With the results from the scientific studies, you can expect BleederShield to reduce bleeding events in horses during intense exercise… repair damaged blood vessels … and provide support for normal lung function and normal blood flow.2 Best of all, BleederShield is easy AND affordable. It could be the smartest investment you make to avoid pricey problems related to EIPH. It’s well worth the small price to avoid a banning risk or losing a great horse.

A company spokesperson confirmed an exclusive offer for Horsemen’s Journal readers: if you order BleederShield this month, you’ll receive $10 off your first order by using promo code HJ10 at checkout.

You can order BleederShield today at www.BleederShield.com or by calling 800-557-9055.

1. Graham L. et al. J Vet Emerg Crit Care. 12:4 (2002) 279-282.

2. Graham L. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract. 2006.

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FALL 2018

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800-780-4331 17

NEWS

RESEARCH AND MEDICATION UPDATE

Eighth Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit Highlights Integrity, Injury Rates and Disaster Preparedness The eighth Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, held June 27 at the Keeneland Sales Pavilion in Lexington, Kentucky, featured insightful discussions on topics ranging from disaster preparedness, jockey injuries and equine injuries to racing integrity, Thoroughbreds as sport horses and racing surfaces.

The summit, which was organized and underwritten by Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and The Jockey Club, drew approximately 200 observers as well as an international audience who watched a live video stream.

A video replay of the summit is available at grayson-jockeyclub.org/ WelfareSafety/includes/2018Wss_agenda.asp.

Dr. Roberta Dwyer, an extension veterinarian at the University of Kentucky, discussed the importance of having a plan for yourself and your horses in case of a natural disaster. She recommended that all horses be microchipped to help with identification in instances when they are separated from their owners.

Participants on the panel “Impacts of Weather—Equine Health and Business Decisions” agreed with Dwyer’s point and that it also applied to racetracks, which must have plans in place when extreme weather occurs. It also was noted by Sal Sinatra, president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club, that large, day-to-day fluctuations in weather can be extremely disruptive to race days.

In the session focused on safety initiatives for jockeys, Dr. Peta Hitchens, research fellow in the Equine Orthopaedic Research Group, University of Melbourne, discussed the link between horse injury and jockey injury and the importance of acclimating horses, ensuring a good jockey/horse combination, understanding racehorse injuries, record-keeping and regular analysis with regard to decreasing the incidence of both.

“One of the most important things to me has been the standardization of both record-keeping and the regular analysis of this data,” Hitchens said.

“We will never know if our interventions are successful unless we can go back and look at whether our incidence of jockey falls and injuries and racehorse fatalities have reduced and the reasons for both.”

Also discussing jockey safety, Dr. Carl Mattacola, associate dean of academic and faculty affairs at the University of Kentucky, remarked that the lack of centralization in horse racing has made it difficult to implement national concussion protocols.

In an update of the Equine Injury Database, Dr. Tim Parkin, professor of veterinary epidemiology at the University of Glasgow, reviewed risk factors for fatal injuries and focused on the time a horse spends with one trainer and a horse’s presence on the vet’s list with respect to a horse’s risk for injury. For horses that have spent time with more than one trainer, risk of injury decreases with every extra month spent with the same trainer, and horses that have been put on a vet’s list are at a greater risk of suffering a fatal injury than horses that have never been on a vet’s list.

Parkin also remarked on the challenges of analyzing data from the Equine Injury Database.

“We’re not lacking data; statistical power isn’t an issue,” he said. “The issue is the frequency of outcome [low rate of fatal injuries] and the scope of data.”

He also stressed the need to increase the reporting of non-fatal injuries 18

during racing and training.

Graham Motion, a Kentucky Derby and multiple stakes-winning trainer, provided insight into the responsibilities of the trainer to the welfare of the horse in a Q&A session with Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation President Edward L. Bowen.

“Don’t be afraid to pass on bad news,” Motion said. “You have to know when it’s time to stop on a horse. We are there to protect [horses]. I think that’s a tremendous responsibility that I take very seriously.”

In the portion of the program that focused on integrity, viewers had the chance to learn about protocols that have been put in place in California, Kentucky and at the Breeders’ Cup. For example, California’s program to monitor horses that are deemed to be “at-risk” has resulted in a 35 percent drop in fatalities.

Dora Delgado, senior vice president of racing and nominations for the Breeders’ Cup, went into detail about the organization’s security and outof-competition testing protocols and efforts to enable best practices in the industry no matter where the event is held.

“Whatever circumstances we can come up with, we’ve got a plan and a protocol for it,” said Delgado. “We want to make sure that everybody has the ability to get the best program available to them.”

One of the afternoon sessions focused on the success of Thoroughbreds as sport horses after their racing careers end and promoting the abilities of Thoroughbreds. One point of emphasis was avoiding the “one last race” mentality sometimes seen with Thoroughbreds.

According to Jen Roytz, executive director of the Retired Racehorse Project, trainers should have a discussion about aftercare with new owners as part of an “on-board” protocol.

Katie Ruppel, the owner of Yellow Rose Eventing, also put responsibility on trainers to look out for their horses to give them a chance at a second career.

“I’d like trainers to be a little more understanding and have a little more afterthought as to what their horses can do when they’re done racing,” she said.

The last presentation of the day was given by Dr. Mick Peterson, executive director of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory and director of Ag Equine Programs at the University of Kentucky. He noted the importance of consistent surfaces and proper moisture, especially on dirt tracks. He also highlighted the increased incidence and popularity of turf racing in the United States.

“We need to invest in ways to increase safe turf racing,” he said. “It should be a priority for the sport.”

According to Bowen, “This year’s summit offered an excellent mix of discussions on a variety of issues that demonstrate the industry’s dedication to the welfare of both humans and equines. It is encouraging to see the progress that the industry has made in areas from equine and jockey injuries to track surfaces and safely transitioning Thoroughbreds to second careers.”

The event was once again emceed by Donna Barton Brothers, former jockey and current NBC racing analyst, and was free and open to the public.

It attracted a cross-section of Thoroughbred industry representatives, including owners, breeders, horsemen, regulators, veterinarians, racetrack officials, jockeys and media.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

AAEP Convention Calls Practitioners to San Francisco to Transform Equine Practice

SINGLE, GREEN TRACTOR SEEKS LOYAL COMPANION

The American Association of Equine Practitioners’ 64th annual convention, to be held December 1-5 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, will bring equine veterinarians and veterinary students together to gain new clinical knowledge that promotes the highest standard of care for their patients.

The convention is the world’s largest continuing education event dedicated to equine practice, offering approximately 130 hours of CE presented by renowned researchers, academicians and practitioners and a 300-exhibitor trade show showcasing the latest technologies, services and products to improve practice.

A diverse selection of sessions will be available in the educational program, covering topics such as lameness, dentistry and theriogenology. In addition, esteemed physician, educator and bestselling author Dr. Abraham Verghese will discuss the need to refocus on the doctor-patient relationship and its foundation in the physical exam when he gives the keynote presentation. Acclaimed equine cardiologist and ultrasonography pioneer Dr. Virginia B. Reef will help practitioners diagnose and treat equine cardiovascular conditions when she delivers the Frank J. Milne State-of-the-Art Lecture.

New this year, AAEP member-attendees can register to participate in up to two small-group dry labs. The labs will take place Monday, December 3, on the topics of radiology, wound management, ophthalmology and neonatal medicine.

The educational program also will integrate daily, non-scientific sessions of importance to veterinary professionals focused on business, ethics and addiction.

Among the many social and networking events will be the inaugural After Party on Tuesday, December 4. At this free event on the final night of the convention, attendees and exhibitors will enjoy games, a DJ, dancing and complimentary hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine, along with a fully stocked cash bar.

To register, view the complete educational program or book a hotel room, visit convention.aaep.org.

In addition, the American Association of Equine Veterinary Technicians will hold its annual meeting in conjunction with the convention. For more information, visit aaevt.org. HJ

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FALL 2018

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Royal Posse Luis Saez Royal Posse Trainer | Rudy Rodriguez Luis Saez Owners | Michael Dubb, Trainer | Rudy Rodriguez Bethlehem Stables LLC & Gary Aisquith Owners | Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables LLC & Gary Aisquith

CRO

DECEMBER 1, 2018 DEC CLAIMING RACE

CONDITIONS

DIST/TURF

PURSE

ENTRY DAY NOVEMBER 29

Jewel

3yo & up

1 1/8 M

$200K

Tiara

3yo & up (F&M)

1 1/16 M (T)

$125K

REGULAR NOMINATIONS NOVEMBER 4

Emerald

3yo & up

1 1/16 M (T)

$125K

Iron Horse

3yo & up

1 1/16 M

$110K

Express

3yo & up

6F

$110K

Glass Slipper

3yo & up (F&M)

1M

$110K

Rapid Transit

3yo & up

7F

$110K

Canterbury

3yo & up

5 F (T)

$110K

Distaff Dash

3yo & up (F&M)

5 F (T)

$110K

SUPPLEMENTAL NOMINATIONS NOVEMBER 29

For qualification criteria and nomination deadlines, call Michael Costanzo at 954-457-6260, www.gulfstreampark.com or the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) at 888-606-8622. Visit our website at claimingcrown.com or e-mail claimingcrown@toba.org. The Claiming Crown is a partnership between the National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association & Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

CRO CLAIMING CROWN DEC DECEMBER DECEMBER 1, 2, 2018 2017

CLAIMING RACE CLAIMING RACE

CONDITIONS CONDITIONS

DIST/TURF DIST/TURF

PURSE PURSE

ENTRY DAY ENTRY DAY

Jewel Jewel Tiara Tiara Emerald Emerald

3yo & up 3yo & up 3yo & up (F&M) 3yo & up (F&M) 3yo 3yo&&up up

1 1/8 M 1 1/8 M 1 1/16 M (T) 1 1/16 M (T) 11 1/16 1/16 M M (T) (T)

$200K $200K $125K $125K $125K $125K

REGULAR NOMINATIONS NOMINATIONS REGULAR

Iron IronHorse Horse Express Express

3yo 3yo&&up up 3yo 3yo&&up up

11 1/16 1/16 M M 66 FF

$110K $110K $110K $110K

Glass GlassSlipper Slipper Rapid RapidTransit Transit

3yo 3yo&&up up(F&M) (F&M) 3yo & up 3yo & up

11 M M 77 FF

$110K $110K $110K $110K

Canterbury Canterbury Distaff DistaffDash Dash

3yo 3yo&&up up 3yo & up 3yo & up(F&M) (F&M)

55 FF (T) (T) 55 FF (T) (T)

$110K $110K $110K $110K

NOVEMBER 29 NOVEMBER 29 NOVEMBER 54 NOVEMBER

SUPPLEMENTALNOMINATIONS NOMINATIONS SUPPLEMENTAL NOVEMBER 29 29 NOVEMBER

For qualification orthe theThoroughbred ThoroughbredOwners Ownersand andBreeders BreedersAssociation Association(TOBA) (TOBA) For qualificationcriteria criteriaand andnomination nominationdeadlines, deadlines,call callMichael Michael Costanzo Costanzo at at 954-457-6260, 954-457-6260, www.gulfstreampark.com www.gulfstreampark.com or atat 888-606-8622.

The Claiming Claiming Crown Crown isis aa partnership partnershipbetween betweenthe theNational NationalHorsemen’s Horsemen’sBenevolent Benevolent& & 888-606-8622.Visit Visitour ourwebsite websiteatatclaimingcrown.com claimingcrown.comor ore-mail e-mail claimingcrown@toba.org. claimingcrown@toba.org. The Protective ProtectiveAssociation Association&&Thoroughbred ThoroughbredOwners Ownersand andBreeders BreedersAssociation.

Association.

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Experience World-Class Thoroughbred Racing

.

CHAMPIONSHIP MEET December 1 - March 31 901 S FEDERAL HIGHWAY I HALLANDALE BEACH 954.454.7000 I GULFSTREAMPARK.COM THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

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KEENELAND LIBRARY COOK COLLECTION

FEATURE

THE LEGEND OF CITATION

ONE OF THE GREATEST HORSES IN HISTORY WON THE TRIPLE CROWN 70 YEARS AGO

By Rick Capone

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T

here is no question that it takes a superior Thoroughbred to capture the Triple Crown. Historically, and perhaps coincidentally, Triple Crown winners have come in clusters: Gallant Fox, Omaha and War Admiral in the 1930s; Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault and Citation in the 1940s; Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed in the 1970s; and now American Pharoah and Justify have done it in the past three years.

Still, winning those three races also can be elusive, as proven by the 11 years between Sir Barton, the first Triple Crown winner in 1919, and the second, Gallant Fox, in 1930; the 25 years between Citation and Secretariat; and the 37 years between Affirmed and American Pharoah.

The 13 Triple Crown winners have all earned their place in the history books. Where the newest Triple Crown winner, Justify, ranks among the group, and all the other great Thoroughbreds in history, is open to debate. However, one thing is certain: He will have a tough time measuring up to Citation.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Citation’s Triple Crown run in 1948. Even after all those decades, he’s still remembered as one of the sport’s greatest horses, as his accomplishments were, and still are, some of the most impressive in history.

Citation was part of the great Calumet Farm legacy in the 1940s and 1950s, earning 2-year-old champion honors in 1947 and the Horse of the Year and 3-year-old champion titles in 1948. He was also the first Thoroughbred to earn more than $1 million, blazed through a then-record 16-race winning streak, was enshrined in the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in 1959 and was ranked No. 3 in the book Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century by BloodHorse.

What is sometimes forgotten today is that during the 1948 season Citation was sharing headlines and Kentucky Derby favoritism with his Calumet stablemate Coaltown.

Coaltown did not race as a 2-year-old in 1947 due to health issues, but he won his first four races in 1948 in impressive fashion. This included a win in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in track-record time of 1:49 1⁄5 for 1 1⁄8 miles.

According to the Citation entry in Joe Palmer’s 1948 edition of American Race Horses, “Many Kentucky horsemen believed that the less heralded colt [Coaltown], then unbeaten in four starts, could hold the track even from Citation.

“The two Joneses [father Ben and son Jimmy] maintained a decent reticence about the comparative merits of the two. ‘You can hardly tell until they meet,’ they would say.”

While Coaltown was winning his first four races, Citation came into his 3-year-old season already much more accomplished.

At two, Citation, a son of Bull Lea (as was Coaltown), won eight of nine starts with a second while earning $155,680.

His biggest wins that year included the Elementary Stakes at Washington Park in Chicago on July 30, the Futurity Trial at Belmont Park

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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NYRA/BOB COGLIANESE KEENELAND LIBRARY MORGAN COLLECTION

NYRA/BOB COGLIANESE

JIMMY JONES LEADS CITATION AND JOCKEY EDDIE ARCARO TO THE WINNER’S CIRCLE FOLLOWING THEIR TRIPLE CROWN-CLINCHING WIN IN THE BELMONT STAKES.

WITH EDDIE ARCARO UP, CITATION WINS THE KENTUCKY DERBY, WHILE HIS CALUMET STABLEMATE COALTOWN FINISHES SECOND.

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FALL 2018

on September 30, the Futurity Stakes at Belmont on October 4 and the Pimlico Futurity at Pimlico Race Course on November 8.

Interestingly, he could have and probably should have won all nine of his starts. The lone defeat came in the Washington Park Futurity on August 16.

In that race, it was a three-horse sweep by Calumet, as Bewitch, who would become 2-year-old champion juvenile filly that year, won the race, with Citation second and Free America third.

In Thoroughbred Champions, the three-horse sweep was explained, with some humor, by Citation’s trainer Jimmy Jones.

“We told the riders before the race we’d split the fees three ways between them, and whoever was in front was to be allowed to win the thing without anybody whipping anything to death. Well, Bewitch got out there. She could go fiveeighths in :58 any time, so Citation just sort of went along. Bewitch kind of eased up, though, in the stretch, and Citation picked up five lengths on her. She won by a neck [actually a length], Citation finishing a head in front of Free America.

“When the riders came back to us after the race, Doug Dodson, who was on Bewitch, says he could have gone on and pulled away any time he wanted, but Steve Brooks [on Citation] says, ‘Naw, Citation was just loafing.’ About that time Jackie Westrope comes back with Free America and says, ‘You guys are just kidding yourself, I coulda taken both of you without even going to the whip.’”

AN UNORTHODOX START TO A 3-YEAR-OLD CAMPAIGN After being named 2-year-old champion, Citation didn’t lose a step coming into 1948, as he won his first four starts with Al Snider riding.

Surprisingly, the first two wins came over older horses at Hialeah Park in an allowance race on February 2 and the Seminole Handicap on February 11, where he defeated Armed, the 1947 Horse of the Year and another Calumet stablemate.

Now, a 3-year-old running against older horses so early in the year is very hard to do and was, and still is, rarely done. According to Edward L. Bowen, former editor of BloodHorse, horse racing historian and president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, those two races came about in an interesting way.

In his later years, Jimmy Jones would come to the Churchill Downs backstretch during Derby week and tell some wonderful stories. One of those stories was about how Citation’s first two races in 1948 came about.

Bowen noted that Warren Wright, owner of Calumet Farm at the time, had a friend with a very good horse at Hialeah in the early winter of 1948. Citation was on a break after his championship season, but Wright made it obvious that he wanted to beat his friend’s horse.

“And Jimmy Jones always said, ‘You know I was young enough at the time that I kind of took that as an order.’ So, he cranked up Citation on the sort of spur of the moment and wound up [running him in those two races against] older horses.”

How hard is it on a horse to win against older horses early in its 3-year-old season?

Palmer explained in American Race Horses: “A 3-year-old hardly figures to beat older horses in the winter, even if he is potentially the best horse. It is something like asking a high school football player, even if he eventually proves the better athlete, to handle a mature college player. The odds are a little too great for inherent class to win over maturity and experience.”

One important thing that did happen with Citation’s wins over older horses, especially over Armed in the Seminole, is that people started paying much closer attention to him as the Kentucky Derby approached. In fact, according to Palmer, after Citation’s win over Armed, Hall of Fame trainer James E. “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons was asked in the Hialeah paddock, “How good is Citation?”

Fitzsimmons replied, “Up to this point, Citation’s done more than any horse I ever saw.” He paused a moment and shot point-blank: “And I saw Man o’ War!” Citation’s next two wins also came at Hialeah with Snider aboard in the Everglades Handicap on February 18 and then the Flamingo just 10 days later.

Then, tragedy struck, as Snider disappeared in a boating accident.

Palmer wrote that, a few days after the Flamingo, Snider went “fishing [in] the Florida Keys, was swept away in a freak squall and was never authentically heard from again.”

With the young jockey’s death, Eddie Arcaro got the mount on Citation and promptly lost the first race riding him in the April 12 Chesapeake Trial at Havre de Grace in Maryland. The loss, which came less than a month before the Kentucky Derby, was to Saggy by a length on a muddy track. But according to Arcaro, there was a good reason.

“I guess I could have caught him,” Arcaro said in Palmer’s book. “But, I

KEENELAND LIBRARY MORGAN COLLECTION

CITATION CAPTURES THE PREAKNESS STAKES BY 5 ½ LENGTHS AS THE 1-10 FAVORITE.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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27

knew Jimmy didn’t want me to beat up his horse. You know you can’t tell how much you’re taking out of a horse in mud, and with the big races just ahead, I didn’t want to kill him to win that one.”

Five days later, Citation got redemption over Saggy, winning the Chesapeake Stakes by 4 ½ lengths, while Saggy finished last. With that win, which was also the first in Citation’s 16-race win streak, he went to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.

the stakes record set by Count Fleet in 1943.

Citation raced nine more times in 1948, with two of his best wins coming at Belmont. On September 29, he won the Sysonby Mile by three lengths over First Flight in 1:36. Then, amazingly, just three days later, he won the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup by seven lengths over Phalanx in 3:21 3⁄5.

Citation had a walkover in the Pimlico Special at Pimlico on October 29 and, after two wins at the West Coast track Tanforan, ended 1948 with 19 wins in 20 races and earnings of $709,470.

LAUNCHING A TRIPLE CROWN RUN Now, up to this point, Jimmy Jones was listed as the trainer for Citation, but once they reached Churchill, the trainer of record became Jimmy’s dad, Ben. He held that position for two races, the Derby Trial, which Citation won by 1 ½ lengths on April 27, and the Kentucky Derby just four days later, and then Jimmy got the official training job back. The switch allowed Ben to tie H.J. Thompson for most Derby training wins at the time.

With his Kentucky Derby victory this year, Justify broke the “jinx” of Apollo, becoming the first horse since 1882 to win the Run for the Roses without running as a 2-year-old. As for Citation, he also broke a jinx of sorts. At that point in history, no horse had won the prestigious Futurity at Belmont, which you could say was the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile of the era, and the Kentucky Derby.

So, with Arcaro riding and going for his fourth Kentucky Derby win, Citation put that jinx to rest with an emphatic 3 ½-length victory over Coaltown.

In the six-horse race, Coaltown took an early lead and held it going into the final turn. Then Citation caught up to him, took the lead and went on to win the 1 ¼-mile contest in 2:05 2⁄5. Ben Jones ultimately went on to win six Kentucky Derbies, which is still the record, though Bob Baffert is getting close after his fifth Derby win with Justify.

After the Derby, Coaltown took a back seat to Citation for the rest of 1948.

However, Coaltown went on to prove just how good he was the next year. With Citation sitting out the 1949 season due to injury, Coaltown won 12 of 15 races and finished second the other three times. He earned $276,125 and was named champion handicap horse and co-Horse of the Year with Capot.

Meanwhile, after his Derby win, Citation went to Pimlico for the Preakness, where on May 15 he sailed to a 5 ½-length win over Vulcan’s Forge. He finished the 1 3⁄16-mile race in 2:02 2⁄5.

Then, before going on to the Belmont, Citation ran in the Jersey Stakes at Garden State Park on May 29 and won the 1 ¼-mile race by 11 lengths in a track-record time of 2:03.

While today you would never see a horse run a race between the Preakness and Belmont stakes, according to Bowen, it did happen a few times in those years. And it should be noted that in 1948 there were four weeks between the last two jewels of the Triple Crown as opposed to three weeks today.

“There was precedent,” Bowen said. “Sir Barton ran in the Withers during the Triple Crown. And Whirlaway ran [an allowance race] between the Preakness and the Belmont. Count Fleet also won the Withers between the Preakness and the Belmont.

“And the fact that the Joneses had such confidence in [Citation’s] soundness and his ability to bounce back from a race. Like I say, to me, Thoroughbreds are such glorious creatures, that I don’t really like calling him a machine, but it’s hard to express it any other way than [that]. We know they’re not machines, but he seemed like one.”

Following that win, Citation traveled to New York, where on June 12, he not only won the Belmont Stakes but became the eighth winner of the Triple Crown.

He was also the third Derby winner of eight for Calumet, as well as the second Triple Crown winner for the farm after Whirlaway in 1941.

In the Belmont, Citation stumbled out of the gate but regained his balance quickly to take the lead over seven other horses. It was a lead he never relinquished. By the final turn, he was ahead by a length and went on to defeat Better Self by eight lengths. He ran the 1 ½-mile race in 2:28 1⁄5, which equaled 28

AN INJURY AND THE RACE TO $1 MILLION After his final start at Tanforan that December, Citation came out of the race with a sore left foreleg. He would end up missing the 1949 season.

Citation did come back in 1950 for his 5-year-old season and won his first race back on January 11, an allowance race at Santa Anita that extended his winning streak to 16 races. He lost his next race, a January 26 handicap at Santa Anita, while carrying 130 pounds to winner Miche’s 114. That ended the historic streak, and by the close of 1950, Citation had run nine times with two wins and seven seconds.

In 1951, he returned to the track with the goal of breaking the $1 million earnings mark. According to Bowen, Wright was not doing it for the money. Instead, the owner had his eye on history and loved his horse so much he wanted to see him make that record.

“I think sometimes Mr. Wright gets a bum rap in that he seems to say … he kept him going for the money,” Bowen said. “I think it’s different to say he kept him going for the distinction of being the first to win the million dollars. It’s a milestone, as opposed to cash in his pocket. Mr. Wright had set that part of his life up pretty well years before. So, I don’t think it was greed so much as just wanting to [get the record] … even though [Citation wasn’t in his] prime anymore.”

On July 14, 1951, at Hollywood Park in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Citation defeated Bewitch by four lengths and became horse racing’s first seven-figure earner. He won the 1 ¼-mile race in 2:01.

Following that win and with nothing left to prove, Citation was immediately retired. He finished his career with 32 wins, 10 seconds, two thirds and $1,085,760 in 45 starts. He would spend the rest of his life at Calumet Farm, where he died on August 8, 1970, at age 25.

CITATION’S PLACE IN HISTORY As spectacular as he was a racehorse, Citation was rather ordinary as a stallion with a record that included 12 stakes winners, although he did sire champion 3-year-old filly and fellow Hall of Famer Silver Spoon. That 1956 foal defeated males in the Santa Anita Derby and was the only filly from 1945 to 1980 to run in the Kentucky Derby, finishing a respectable fifth.

So, just how good was Citation compared to some of the sport’s other great Thoroughbreds?

As mentioned previously, BloodHorse ranked him No. 3 in the 20th century behind only Man o’ War and Secretariat. In addition, some horsemen at that time, before Secretariat, believed Citation just might have been better than Man o’ War. In Thoroughbred Champions, Jimmy Jones was quoted about Citation’s legacy, saying, “He was the best horse I ever saw. Probably the best anybody else ever saw, I expect.”

Ben Jones also was quoted in that publication, comparing Man o’ War and Citation and saying, “Citation is a better horse.”

Bowen, who notes that Citation is one of his all-time favorite horses, said, “In his first two years, he was as close to perfection as any horse has ever been.

People who saw him were just so impressed. And the way they expressed themselves, both in print and in being quoted, has helped convince people who didn’t see him of his greatness. … Really, he was just so spectacular. I don’t mean spectacular in winning by huge margins but just such a spectacular horse.”

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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NYRA/BOB COGLIANESE

CITATION BEING LED TO THE WINNER’S CIRCLE FOLLOWING HIS KENTUCKY DERBY VICTORY, WITH JIMMY JONES, LEFT, AND BEN JONES, RIGHT.

front with the smooth grace that is the admiration and despair of any man who has ever saddled a horse.” HJ Rick Capone is a freelance writer in Versailles, Kentucky, just down the road from Keeneland. He is also a volunteer at Old Friends, where he is part owner with friends Michael Blowen and Tim Ford of Miss Hooligan, a lovable retired mare at the farm.

KEENELAND LIBRARY MEADORS COLLECTION

In a 1948 New York Herald Tribune article that was noted in Bill Mooney and George Ennor’s The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing: The Illustrated Guide to the World of the Thoroughbred, Palmer eloquently summed up Citation’s career the best of all: “At a mile and a quarter or thereabouts, Citation can win over slop, goo, plowed fields, broken bottles or swampland. With Arcaro up, he flows along in

NYRA/BOB COGLIANESE

A CONFORMATION PHOTO OF CITATION TAKEN AT CALUMET FARM IN SEPTEMBER 1956.

CITATION WINS THE BELMONT BY EIGHT EASY LENGTHS TO SECURE THE TRIPLE CROWN.

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BAD AND THE UGLY

AN IMMIGRATION UPDATE IN TURBULENT TIMES WHAT HORSEMEN NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVER-CHANGING IMMIGRATION ISSUES

By William Velie and Craig McDougal

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

H

ello, horsemen! We are sending you a dispatch live from the front lines of the immigration debate, which runs right through most every backstretch and horse farm in the racing industry.

On the surface, it doesn’t seem intuitive that immigration would be such a central topic in the horse racing world; however, as with many other industries in this successful economy, the availability of American workers simply does not exist to meet the labor needs of the sport.

Despite the extensive efforts of the National HBPA and Groom Elite Program to train Americans to fill groom, galloper and assistant trainer roles in the sport, the need for essential workers continually and chronically outstrips the domestic market’s ability to provide the sufficient numbers of workers to perform the work the sport needs to be viable. Fortunately, horse racing is an international sport with many interested horsemen in countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Panama, Ireland, France and beyond who would love the opportunity to come to the United States temporarily to work in the world’s greatest horse racing nation.

The solution of bringing international horsemen to perform essential tasks temporarily when Americans are not available to do the work is a classic win-win for American and international horsemen. The challenge to delivering this win-win solution is navigating through extreme political mood swings, bureaucratic inertia and a climate of increased enforcement that at times ranges from making this commonsense solution nearly impossible to being existentially dangerous for trainers just trying to get their horses to the starting gate.

In the current political climate, immigration has become a lightning rod attracting fierce national debate that rages at an atmospheric level often missing the ground-level consequences the political fighting inflicts upon everyday working people. Between the far-left and far-right edges of the political aisle, a sensible middle is working to craft commonsense immigration solutions that increase border security and protect American workers while also meeting the needs of industries that are facing existence-threatening labor shortages.

In the past months, H-2B visa cap relief has passed a major hurdle toward becoming law, and an agricultural immigration bill called H-2C has been proposed that will address the shortcomings of the current H-2A agricultural visa and extend some opportunity for farm workers here illegally to fix their status.

In addition, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows undocumented youth who entered as children to stay here legally, has been upheld as legal by the federal district court in Washington, D.C. However, while we see the political middle working to craft solutions to help businesses, we are simultaneously seeing a massive increase in enforcement actions being levied on employers and removals of workers in unprecedented numbers. While it is cliché to talk about a perfect storm, the combination of very low unemployment, a dysfunctional visa program and hyperactive targeting of enforcement actions on businesses has the very real possibility of swamping our industry along with many other similarly situated sectors. The immigration debate in 2018 provides a useful metaphor for the overall state of American political affairs with the sensible folks in the middle trying to make sure that their good intentions are not overwhelmed by the bad and the ugly.

THE GOOD

H-2B VISA RETURNING WORKER EXEMPTION

After several years of H-2B chaos resulting from a strong economy, labor shortages and a visa system that limits visa issuance through very tight

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

quotas, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee included a provision in the FY 2019 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill that will exempt workers who have held H-2B visas in the past two years from the overall quota.

The amendment provides for the following: · Exempting H-2B workers from the 66,000 annual cap if they received an H-2B visa during one of the previous two fiscal years; · Allocating the 66,000 visas for new H-2B workers on a quarterly basis to assist employers whose seasons do not align with the current spring/fall quota allocation; and · Creating a system in which 66,000 H-2B visas for new workers are allocated on a proportional basis if the cap is reached so that all employers will receive a percentage of H-2B workers.

The effect of this H-2B amendment will be felt immediately by the industries with viabilities linked to obtaining enough labor during their peak business cycles. Provided that the Senate also adopts the provision and the president signs the FY 2019 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill into law, there should be enough workers available through the annual quota of 66,000 per year and the additional numbers of workers who have been approved in the previous two years.

To illustrate just how chronic the shortage of visas was in 2018, the following numbers provide a startling picture. The winter allocation of 33,000 visas was used up in just a few weeks. The spring allocation of 33,000 visas received applications for 81,600 spots on the first day the filing window opened, meaning that if an employer filed on that day, they had little better than a 40 percent chance of receiving their workers for the season. Congress added an additional 15,000 visa spots in June; however, applications exceeded visa numbers again on the first day they were made available.

It is truly encouraging that bipartisan members of the House got together and passed a very simple commonsense fix that will more truly reflect the needs of the business community by providing a flexible cap that can decrease and increase in reaction to market needs and not arbitrary political limits. There is still a long way to go, and it is not a given that the amendment will not be stripped out in the Senate or in conference committee or even vetoed by the president. However, at least we are in the race, and at present, it looks like the amendment has the legs to make it across the finish line.

H-2C: AGRICULTURAL GUESTWORKER VISA

While the bill called the Agricultural Guestworker Act, or H-2C, has not passed, it presents some innovative ideas that have broad support in both parties and among agricultural and urban representatives. The H-2C visa replaces the H-2A program and allows agricultural operations with year-round needs to participate in the visa program. Workers will be able to stay up to 18 months per visa visit, there will be a 500,000 annual cap allocation with returning workers exempt from the quota, and most importantly for many supporters, H-2C allows undocumented farm workers with job offers in the agricultural sector to become legal visa holders if they pass a criminal background check and return to their home country to touch base and obtain the visa from a U.S. Consulate.

The one variable that our industry has not accounted for yet is whether trackside equine operations will be included in the definition of agriculture for the purposes of qualifying to participate in the visa. Under current H-2A regulations, trackside operations are not legally allowed to participate in the H-2A agricultural visa and instead must apply for the H-2B laborer visa.

33

DACA: DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS

When we wrote the introduction to this article, the program that allows undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, known as DACA, had just won an important victory in federal court. A federal judge on August 6 ruled that the Trump administration must fully restore the program that protects from deportation some young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Importantly, the judge ordered the immigration service to resume accepting new applications for the program.

A week later, Texas-based U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who is the same judge that killed President Obama’s Deferred Action Program for Parents of U.S. Citizens (DAPA), was hearing arguments from 10 states that say DACA is unconstitutional. The states that are arguing against DACA are using the same reasons Hanen used in his previous ruling that killed DAPA in 2014.

At the time of this writing, Hanen has stated he will hold off ruling on the constitutionality of DACA for now and consider only the request to immediately stop DACA. Hanen is considered unfriendly to DACA, given his previous ruling on DAPA. If Hanen rules DACA should be ended, the conflict between the multiple court rulings will likely send the case on a fast track to the Supreme Court for a fall hearing. Given the makeup of the Supreme Court, it is likely that DACA will be ended and the 800,000 DACA “dreamers” who have been legally present in the U.S. since the program went into effect in 2012 will once again become illegal in the country where they grew up.

In all three of the immigration issues we have mentioned in this section—H-2B, H-2C and DACA—your congressional representative can make a difference in the outcome of the program. Congressional representatives listen to their constituents, and in my experience, they have a pretty deep respect for horsemen. A personal story that you can share with a congressional member or staffer in which you explain why a program personally affects you or individuals you know can make a great difference in the way that representative votes.

Never miss an opportunity to reach out to your representative when they are back in town to let them know you are paying attention and expect them to do right by the horsemen.

Along those same lines, it is important to give a big shout out to National HBPA CEO Eric Hamelback for the tireless advocacy he has given on behalf of horsemen in Washington and Kentucky, urging our representatives to do the right thing by trainers and workers and pass commonsense H-2B and H-2C legislation. We have seen Eric in action with lawmakers; he eloquently never takes no for an answer and always leaves the representative a lot smarter about horse racing than before the meeting started.

THE BAD

INCREASED ENFORCEMENT TARGETED AT BUSINESSES

There are several approaches to stem the flow of undocumented workers into the United States. Our favorite is to craft commonsense temporary visa programs that are triggered to contract or expand with market conditions, protect U.S. and international workers and are fair to businesses. Another approach is to “build the wall” and deport as many undocumented workers as can be apprehended. A third is to punish the American businesses that employ the undocumented workers, making it so dangerous to break the law that the American businesses stop hiring undocumented workers and the temptation for people to cross illegally for work goes away. The current administration has decided to focus on apprehension of undocumented workers and targeting American businesses who employ them.

34

Since October 2017, when Trump’s new enforcement emphasis was put into full motion, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has increased worksite enforcement actions by more than 50 percent. Administrative arrests have increased 400 percent, and worksite investigations have risen nearly 250 percent from approximately 1,500 to more than 3,500. ICE has publicly stated that its goal is to increase employer-targeted enforcement by 400 to 500 percent from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2018. It appears evident ICE is on track to meet its goals.

In addition to doubling its worksite investigations, I-9 audits have jumped from approximately 1,000 to 2,000 in the same period. ICE announced recently that it planned to increase the number of open audits to 5,000 by the end of September. For comparison, during the Obama administration, the highest number of audits ever conducted in a single year was 3,100 in 2013. The current president has also unveiled a super audit organization of sorts called the Employer Compliance Inspection Center. The centralized audit location is developing artificial intelligence technology to electronically scan and review I-9 documents, and the agency plans to staff the center with hundreds of auditors and attorneys to audit 10,000 to 15,000 companies every year.

It is important to remember at this point in the conversation that fines can be issued for up to $1,100 per I-9 paperwork violation and that an employer doesn’t have to be guilty of employing an undocumented worker to be fined but can be fined for merely completing their paperwork incorrectly! In the no-tolerance enforcement approach that we are witnessing right now, ICE is issuing maximum fines to employers for paperwork violations as simple as failure to complete the form within the three days of hire limit or an employer forgetting to sign the document.

If ICE audits an employer, that employer must produce properly completed I-9s for all employees and any employees terminated within the last 12 months prior to audit. ICE will often require production of the employer’s payroll tax records for the previous three years to compare the number of I-9s with the number of workers declared on payroll tax filings.

To prepare your business for possible I-9 audit, you should establish procedures for completing the I-9 within three days of hiring a new employee, make sure you carve out centralized storage space for the I-9 documents and provide for annual spot checks of your I-9 files to make sure you are compliant.

These best practices can save a lot of time and worry if ICE ever stops by to ask to see your files.

THE UGLY

INCREASED REMOVALS OF THE NONCRIMINAL UNDOCUMENTED

Under the previous administration, ICE and other immigration agencies instituted something called “prosecutorial discretion.” Prosecutorial discretion simply means to prioritize who should be prosecuted. In the immigration world, this meant to go after people considered to be public or national security threats and allow people with U.S. citizen children or families who had never been in trouble with immigration or for criminal behavior to remain in the U.S. while Congress and the president worked out a comprehensive solution. Under the previous policy, immigrants who were threats to national security, border security and public safety, such as criminals, were a priority for removal. Importantly, ICE was further directed to offer prosecutorial discretion to immigrants who were not a threat to public safety.

Immediately following the election of Trump, the new administration issued an executive order called Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.

This executive order considers any noncitizen who has been charged with any crime—including being in the United States without legal authorization, which by definition includes all undocumented immigrants—as priority for removal.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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As a result, nearly every noncitizen immigrant, except for perhaps the DACA kids, is now considered an enforcement priority. As the NBC News article, “Under Trump, arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record have tripled,” stated on August 13: “Federal arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record have more than tripled under President Donald Trump and may still be accelerating, according to an NBC News analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement data from his first 14 months in office.

“The surge has been caused by a new ICE tactic of arresting—without warrants—people who are driving or walking down the street and using large-scale ‘sweeps’ of likely immigrants, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by immigration rights advocates in Chicago.”

Since the time of Trump taking office, ICE arrests of immigrants without criminal convictions have risen more than 200 percent in the first full 14 months of his presidency compared to the final 14 months of the Obama administration, growing from 19,128 to 58,010, according to NBC’s review of ICE figures.

It appears the trend is accelerating, as arrests of immigrants without criminal records have increased by nearly 20 percent in the second half of the Trump administration.

CONCLUSION

The immigration picture under the Trump administration is still coming into focus. There are many factors that will determine whether the current trend of ramped-up enforcement will continue or if a more moderate approach to the immigration debate, such as pro-business immigration policies and regularization of noncriminal undocumented immigrants, will prevail. Much of the future course of the administration’s actions will be determined by the outcome of the midterm elections. If Trump is successful in the midterm elections, he will likely accept the results as a mandate and accelerate enforcement, eliminate DACA and ignore business concerns for visa programs. If voters flip control of either the House of Representatives or the Senate, Democrats likely will act as a block to Trump initiatives and perhaps even Trump will look to make a grand compromise to address a comprehensive immigration reform package that will address the border, enforcement, business concerns and millions of undocumented immigrants already living and working here for decades. Whatever the outcome, it is certain not to be dull. Until then, we will keep you posted from the front lines! HJ

William Velie and Craig McDougal are attorneys with Horseman Labor Solutions, an immigration services company that represents horsemen throughout the United States in immigration matters. Horseman Labor Solutions, a sponsor of the National HBPA, can be reached online at horsemanlabor.com or by phone at 1-877-678-RACE.

PAUL – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

CREATED BY ARTIST JOCELYN RUSSELL, THE 1,000-POUND BRONZE STATUE OF RECKLESS IS FILLED WITH RICH, BEAUTIFUL DETAIL, RIGHT DOWN TO THE TEXTURE OF THE MARE’S COAT OF HAIR AND HER STRAINING MUSCLES AS SHE CARRIES EQUIPMENT TO BATTLE.

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COURTESY U.S. MARINE CORPS

FEATURE

THE

ULTIMATE EQUINE

WAR HERO

THE MARINE MARE SGT. RECKLESS IS BEING RECOGNIZED AGAIN WITH STATUES AND BOOKS

By Rick Capone

40

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COURTESY WWW.SGTRECKLESS.COM

RECKLESS STANDS WITH SGT. JOSEPH LATHAM IN KOREA. LATHAM PUT RECKLESS THROUGH “HOOF CAMP,” TEACHING THE MARE THE THINGS SHE WOULD NEED TO KNOW TO ACCOMPLISH HER MISSION.

“S

he’s not a horse; she’s a Marine!”

With those words, James E. “Ted” Bassett III, a World War II Marine Corps combat veteran and the former president and chairman of the Keeneland Association, initiated a fundraising campaign to bring a statue of Sgt. Reckless to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Who was Sgt. Reckless? She was indeed a horse but perhaps a horse unlike any other, as she was a U.S. Marine and a Korean War hero.

Some months after those words were spoken, on May 12, 2018, the statue was unveiled in front of some of the people instrumental in getting it accomplished, including Bassett; Robin Hutton, author of the New York Times bestseller Sgt. Reckless: America’s War Horse; Jocelyn Russell, the statue’s sculptor; and Laura Prewitt, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park.

Also present were a number of former Marines who served with Sgt. Reckless (they lovingly called her “Reckless”) in the Korean War; current Marines, who were respectful of the soldiers and mare and impressed by what they accomplished; and fans of Reckless.

The 1,000-pound bronze statue is the third to honor Reckless, all thanks to Hutton’s tireless work to garner recognition of the mare. The original statue is located at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia, and a second is at Camp Pendleton in California, where Reckless lived out her life after the war.

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A HORSE UNLIKE ANY OTHER The story of Reckless is an equine rags-to-riches tale. A small chestnut Mongolian-bred mare, she was running races—and winning them—at a Korean racetrack for Kim Huk Moon, a young trainer who truly loved her. Her lineage and year of birth are not known, and while she was not a pure Thoroughbred, she likely had some Thoroughbred blood running through her veins.

In 1952, when Sgt. Reckless was around three or four years old, Lt. Eric Pedersen of the Recoilless Rifle Platoon of the 5th Marines Regiment purchased her for $250 to help transport equipment for the Marines. The reason Moon let his beloved filly go was because he needed the money to purchase a prosthetic leg for his sister.

When Reckless reached camp, the soldiers fell in love with her and adopted her as their own. They built a paddock for her, and she had free rein over the camp. At times, she wandered into soldiers’ tents for warmth on cold Korean nights. Other times, she went into the mess tent, where she was offered many treats, including soda, beer, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, cake and anything else she wanted.

To prepare for her mission, Sgt. Joseph Latham put her through “hoof camp,” so she could get used to the equipment she would carry and the noises she would hear during a battle. He even taught her how to “duck and cover,” where she learned to get down into a prone position in the event of an attack.

41

COURTESY WWW.SGTRECKLESS.COM

RECKLESS STANDS NEXT TO A 75MM RECOILLESS RIFLE, WHICH SHE TRANSPORTED, ALONG WITH AMMUNITION, TO THE FRONT LINES.

Reckless participated in a number of missions in the war, bringing heavy loads of equipment to the front lines, sometimes with someone leading her and other times on her own, because once she knew the route, she could do it without any human assistance.

The main piece of equipment she carried was the recoilless rifle, which, according to Hutton’s book, was “six-feet, ten-inches in length and weighed nearly 115 pounds.” She also carried the ammunition—75mm shells.

The biggest battle she participated in, and the one she is most remembered for, was the Battle for Outpost Vegas. There, in just one day of battle, Reckless made 51 trips to and from the front lines carrying three ammo canisters on each side of her body and two on her back.

Another Marine who served with Reckless, retired Sgt. Harold Wadley, recalled in Hutton’s book: “That’s 192 pounds she would have to carry up and down steep terrain.”

All told in that battle, Reckless carried 386 rounds and made close to 95 percent of the trips by herself. Some parts of the trip included going up very steep hills. She needed to make a running start to make the climb and then rest briefly at the top before continuing to the gun placements.

In addition, while being injured twice due to shrapnel, she transported injured soldiers back to camp, got some rest, was repacked and then back up the hill she’d go again.

42

According to Wadley, when he first saw Reckless doing her work, he was concerned for her.

“Being a ranch kid and raised with horses, I didn’t think she’d live five minutes,” he said. “I thought that’s the last time we’re going to see her with the amount of artillery and shrapnel and stuff coming in and the rounds on the ground.”

But, in the end, like everyone else, he was impressed by and appreciated what she did.

ACCOLADES APLENTY The most enduring memory Wadley has of the mare, whom he called “incredible” in Hutton’s book, came during the Battle for Outpost Vegas.

“The planes were dropping flares—you know, 10-foot silk shoots—and [as] the big burning candles come down, they swing, swing. They make shadows and there is a lot of smoke from the white phosphorous shells; they put up a lot of smoke.

“And, in and out of the smoke and flare light, there was a silhouette of that mare loaded down. And [as she climbed the hills], she’s got her nose about that far off the deck (holds his fingers a little more than one-inch apart), because she’s overloaded. But to keep her balance, [that’s what she had to do] because

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COURTESY WWW.SGTRECKLESS.COM

Reckless also earned two Purple Hearts, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Presidential United Citation with Star, Navy Unit Citation, National Defense Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, French fourragère and the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals Dickin Medal, which is a British medal considered “the greatest award an animal can receive for gallantry and bravery during a military action.”

Reckless died May 13, 1968, and was buried at Camp Pendleton with full military honors.

MEMORIES FROM THOSE WHO SERVED WITH HER

LT. COL. ANDREW GEER, WHO WORKED TIRELESSLY TO MAKE SURE RECKLESS GOT THE CREDIT SHE DESERVED AND TO BRING HER TO THE UNITED STATES AFTER THE WAR, TREATS HER TO SOME BEER—ONE OF HER FAVORITE BEVERAGES.

RICK CAPONE

it was a steep ridge. … [That memory], yeah, that’s forever.”

For her service, Reckless earned numerous medals and awards and was promoted to Staff Sergeant on June 12, 1957, while living at Camp Pendleton.

As noted in Hutton’s book, “The Staff Sergeant chevrons were all displayed proudly on her red and gold blanket.”

Of course, Reckless’ heroism in battle was just one side of her story. The other side comes from the tales fondly recalled by the Marines she served with in Korea.

Three fun stories were told at the statue unveiling by retired Cpl. Mike Mason.

“In Korea, after the truce, they moved us all back into the reserve area, and that’s where I first met Reckless,” he said. “I was on the same outpost [as she was]. We had eight-man tents. Just had those little tarps to move out of the way [for doors].

“Reckless had the run of the camp. One of the guys in my tent was a corporal—Cpl. Myers as I recall. He worked in the mess hall.

“Every morning about 5:30, six o’clock, Reckless would come in, walk right into the tent, hit him on the side of his head with her nose, and if he didn’t wake up and give her something, she’d take a bite of his covers and pull the covers

CREATED BY ARTIST JOCELYN RUSSELL, THE 1,000-POUND BRONZE STATUE OF RECKLESS IS FILLED WITH RICH, BEAUTIFUL DETAIL, RIGHT DOWN TO THE TEXTURE OF THE MARE’S COAT AND HER STRAINING MUSCLES AS SHE CARRIES EQUIPMENT TO BATTLE.

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43

RICK CAPONE

THE SGT. RECKLESS STATUE WAS UNVEILED AT THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK ON MAY 12, 2018, THANKS TO THE EFFORTS OF MANY PEOPLE LED BY JAMES E. “TED” BASSETT III AND ROBIN HUTTON, AUTHOR OF SGT. RECKLESS: AMERICA’S WAR HORSE.

off. So, he’d give her an apple or an orange or whatever he had.

“Another incident right after we got moved back to reserve, the cook made what they called sheep pies. They’d be 3 feet by 2 feet. They’d set them out on the rail. Then [one day] all hell broke loose. We thought the North Koreans were probably coming at us again. It was Reckless out there. She loved cherry pie.

She just ate the centers out of every damn one of them.

“And one more I’ll tell you,” said Mason, with a big smile on his face. “We were sitting around the Quonset huts, and we had cases of beer. Each Marine, I think, got two cases of beer. We’d sit there, and she’d come up and nudge you; we’d hold a beer up for her to drink. But we got smart, because a lot got wasted.

We took the helmet liner out of a steel pot [helmet], dumped the beer in it, held it up, and she wouldn’t stop until it was gone. Then, going back to the paddock, she’d sway [back and forth], just like a Marine would do.”

The story of Reckless came back to light a few years ago thanks to the release of Hutton’s book. She discovered the story in a book called Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover’s Soul. In it, she said, there was “a short story about Reckless, and it was just an amazing story and I thought, ‘Who is this horse and why have I never heard about her?,’ because it was the greatest horse story I’ve ever read.

“I knew her story was out there waiting to be just re-released,” Hutton added. “She was as famous as Lassie and Rin Tin Tin in her day. And I knew that once people started to hear it that she would hit the historical pages again with a fury. And that’s what she’s done.”

It took Hutton seven years to write Sgt. Reckless, and the result has been a 44

bestseller, three statues and honors around the country—for the book, the horse and Hutton. A movie about Reckless’ life is also in the works.

The renewed interest in Sgt. Reckless also led to the reprinting of Reckless: Pride of the Marines, a 1955 book by Lt. Col. Andrew Geer.

When talk of creating the first statue began, Hutton contacted artist Jocelyn Russell, who jumped on board to help.

“My first contact with Robin [was when] she was trying to get fundraising to cast a monument,” Russell said. “So, I came up with a miniature design, and then we got approval on that. … Then by the time I got the actual go-ahead to do the life-size [statue], the sculpting was about a year.”

Adding in another six months to do the casting, it was around a one- to two-year project.

Today, Russell and Hutton have become good friends because of this experience.

“I didn’t know Robin before this, and we’re fast friends now,” she said.

“We stay in touch, probably more than anybody.”

With all the publicity generated by Hutton’s book, as well as the unveiling of the three statues, everyone involved has enjoyed bringing the story of Sgt. Reckless back to light these past few years.

“It’s [been] a Reckless ride,” Russell said. “I can’t even really quantify it. It’s been so far-reaching with the Marines and then the Marines’ families.

And then the ripple effect. It’s just been completely life-changing. It’s very enriching.” HJ

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

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FEATURE

LASIX LESSONS LEARNED

SCIENCE CONFIRMS WHAT AMERICAN HORSEMEN KNEW

50 YEARS AGO

VOLGARIVER – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

By Clara Fenger, DVM, PhD, DACVIM; Steve Selway, DVM; and Thomas Tobin, MRCVS, PhD, DABT

T

he Lasix story is a classic American horseman’s story. Bleeding from the nose in racehorses long has been identified by horsemen as performance-limiting, and nearly all modern Thoroughbreds carry the genetic code of Bartlett’s Childers, a son of the Darley Arabian born in 1716. The unraced full brother of the successful racehorse Flying Childers eclipsed his brother in the breeding shed but was unable to race because he bled from the nose—so much so that he was often referred to as “Bleeding Childers.” Long before anyone knew why racehorses bled from the nose, horsemen have been trying to prevent it.

The late renowned Central Kentucky equine veterinarian Alex Harthill often has been credited with the first use of Lasix in racing when he used it in another notable horse who is well represented in the genetic background of Thoroughbreds throughout the world—Northern Dancer. Harthill reportedly administered Lasix to Northern Dancer prior to the 1964 Kentucky Derby, and the legendary racehorse went on to set a Derby record that held until Secretariat broke it in 1973.

In the late 1960s, the use of Lasix became more widespread, and horsemen discovered that withholding water enhanced its protective effect. Horsemen, 48

understanding the beneficial effects of Lasix for bleeding, lobbied for its use in American racing, and by 1995, New York, the last holdout, had approved Lasix for use in racing.

Reviewing Lasix in horse racing in 1976 for the National Association of State Racing Commissioners, Dr. Al Gabel and his colleagues noted that Lasix “helps prevent epistaxis” and that “in many cases it restores normal performance of horses which bleed.”

The bottom line is that almost half a century ago American horsemen confidently had identified the protective effects of Lasix against pulmonary bleeding in racehorses. Horsemen’s insights and scientific progress have slowly been confirming this ever since.

Soon after Gabel wrote his review, the fiber-optic endoscope became available. The endoscope allowed veterinarians to look into the trachea of horses post-race, confirming horsemen’s long-held suspicions. Racing horses did indeed bleed into their lungs during racing, so-called occult bleeding, which accounts for unexpectedly poor performances that Lasix protected against. Another outcome was that pulmonary bleeding in racehorses got a new and more sophisticated scientific name, exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH).

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An early concern about Lasix was its potential effect on the detection of drugs in urine. As a diuretic, Lasix produces a transiently dilute urine, with the issue being that the resultant dilution of many drug types and especially drug metabolites could be present in the sample. This led to regulatory concerns that the use of Lasix would permit the illicit use of drugs that could escape detection.

The industry rapidly addressed this issue. The dilution effect of Lasix was shown to be primarily in effect for the first two and a half hours after its intravenous administration, and a number of subsequent studies by research groups in Kentucky under Dr. Thomas Tobin and in Pennsylvania under Dr. Lawrence Soma confirmed that three hours after Lasix administration, the dilution effect is largely over. Therefore, as proposed by the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the four-hour Lasix rule was validated in the early 1980s in a study coordinated by Drs. George Maylin and Rick Sams, clearing the way for the approval of Lasix in American racing. At four hours post-administration, the intravenous administration of Lasix was determined to not significantly interfere with the detection of drugs in urine. This approach was later considerably reinforced by inclusion of a 1.010 urinary specific gravity requirement in the Lasix rule.

By the late 1980s, the legal use of Lasix under strict regulatory guidelines was in place in most U.S. jurisdictions. Soma and his research group in Pennsylvania had previously established that Lasix improved performance in documented “bleeders,” but no evidence had yet been provided about the performance effect of Lasix on the small percentage of horses that did not experience EIPH. The Pennsylvania group then tried to fill that void by evaluating the effect of Lasix on racing performance in the absence of EIPH by including endoscopy in the research design.

In 1990, Dr. Corinne Raphel Sweeney and colleagues reported on this study, in which they performed endoscopies on horses that raced first without Lasix, a second time with Lasix and a third time without Lasix. The research group found no effect of Lasix on racing performance among colts and fillies in the absence of EIPH, although they found an effect in geldings. Interestingly, the improvement in the performance of geldings was observed from the first, no-Lasix race to the second Lasix race, but the geldings did not revert to their previous form when returning to no Lasix in the third race. Therefore, the change in performance in geldings in that study cannot be solely attributed to the addition of Lasix. It can be argued that higher numbers may have demonstrated a performance-enhancing effect on the fillies and colts as well or, alternatively, may have clearly demonstrated that Lasix has no performance-enhancing effect at all, outside its ability to normalize performance by mitigating the severity of EIPH. In an attempt to address whether Lasix enhances performance above its ability to normalize the performance of an EIPH sufferer, Dr. Warwick Bayly and colleagues at Washington State University studied five research horses on a treadmill with the results presented at the 2017 American Association of Equine

Practitioners Convention. The key performance marker in their landmark study was oxygen consumption. For the exercise physiologist, oxygen consumption is used as a measure of the amount of aerobic work performed by the animal.

As a rule, the more elite an athlete, the higher its oxygen consumption. Bayly and colleagues showed that horses lost, on average, 14 more kilograms (30.9 pounds) when administered Lasix. They also found that the weight-adjusted oxygen consumption improved with the administration of Lasix. In other words, each kilogram of the horse was able to use more energy and oxygen, but the entire, lighter horse ran the same distance at the same speed. While commonly quoted as support that Lasix is inherently performance-enhancing independent of its effect on EIPH, this paper is actually strong evidence to the contrary.

The approval of Lasix in New York racing in 1995 further supports the benefit of Lasix in that it “helps prevent epistaxis.” New York had long kept records on the incidence of epistaxis, or frank bleeding from the nostrils, during or after the race. Review of these figures in 2000 showed that the 1995 approval of Lasix in New York racing reduced the incidence of epistaxis by a “greater than 400 percent decrease,” according to Dr. Anthony Verderosa, the New York Racing Association chief examining veterinarian.

Around the same time, a major study by Diane Gross, Paul Morley and colleagues looked for an association between Lasix administration and racing performance. They analyzed the racing times for all Thoroughbreds that finished a race on dirt in the U.S. and Canada between June 28 and July 13, 1997—a modest 22,569 in total. Overall, 74 percent of these horses ran on Lasix, and the horses on Lasix raced faster, earned more money and were more likely to finish in the top three positions. The authors concluded that Lasix use is apparently “associated” with superior performance in Thoroughbred racehorses. Given the number of horses and the quality of the statistical analysis, it’s a compelling study. Of course, the horses were not evaluated endoscopically, so the study cannot determine whether the horses had performance enhancement by Lasix or simply whether their performance was normalized by the mitigation of EIPH. The authors of this study were careful to use the word “associated,” which also was used by another major study in this arena. In 2005 Dr. Kenneth Hinchcliff and co-authors reported a study on the relationship between EIPH score and performance in 744 Thoroughbreds running in Melbourne, Australia.

The results of this study showed that horses with EIPH scores of 1 or less were four times as likely to win and three times as likely to be in the 90th percentile for higher race earnings than were horses with grade 2 or greater EIPH. The authors concluded that EIPH is “associated” with impaired racing performance in horses racing in Melbourne. Since no Lasix was used in any of these races, the picture gradually comes into focus.

The critical study that definitively answered the question of whether Lasix administration influences the incidence of EIPH was also conducted by Hinchcliff and colleagues. The experimental study was performed in 2007 in South Africa and involved 167 horses in what is called a cross-over study. Half of the horses received saline and the other half received a full clinical dose of Lasix,

The dilution effect of Lasix was shown to be primarily in effect for the first two and a half hours after its intravenous administration, and a number of subsequent studies by research groups in Kentucky under Dr. Thomas Tobin and in Pennsylvania under Dr. Lawrence Soma confirmed that three hours after Lasix administration, the dilution effect is largely over.

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500 mg IV. Then, seven days later, the study was repeated, with the treatments “crossed-over,” i.e., the horses that had received Lasix now received saline and the horses that had received saline now received Lasix. This exquisite design allows each horse to serve as its own control, showing how each horse and its own EIPH severity responded to the administration of Lasix. The outcome of this study, published in 2009, was clear: Horses receiving Lasix had a decreased incidence and severity of EIPH, fully supporting the almost half-century-old opinion of American horsemen.

In 2014 another study was conducted in South Africa on the effects of EIPH on the racing performance of 1,000 Thoroughbreds, with results similar to the 2005 Australian study. The conclusion was that the “findings provide strong corroboration of previous research indicating that the occurrence of EIPH has a major impact on the ability of Thoroughbred racehorses to compete successfully as elite athletes.”

Note that the authors said “major impact.”

So, long story short, horsemen in the 1960s correctly identified Lasix as effectively protecting racing horses against EIPH and its adverse effects on racing performance. Their belief in this clinical judgment led to Lasix being approved throughout the Americas and most particularly in North America. This, in turn, led (eventually) to rigorous scientific evaluation of the actions of Lasix on EIPH and racing performance. These studies fully supported the long-standing clinical opinions and experience of American horsemen with respect to EIPH, its effects on horses and racing performance and the protective effect of Lasix, as noted by Gabel and his colleagues in 1976.

One last question is “Why were American horsemen so far ahead of the scientific community?” The answer is simple: Successful horsemen and their

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CHERYL ANN QUIGLEY – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

50

veterinarians make far more intuitive, precise and astute evaluations of the horses with whom they share their lives as compared to most scientists.

The basic standard of proof in science is a 95 percent probability that the result is correct, while identifying a horse to win the Kentucky Derby, one of 20,000 or so horses foaled in a year, is a far more discriminating judgment.

Basically, horsemen applied their solid practical knowledge and experience and correctly assessed the protective effects of Lasix on EIPH. Additionally, there are at least 30,000 horsemen running horses, and all it took was one to make the initial Lasix-EIPH connection and it took off from there. All of the early scientific evaluations, however, were with relatively small numbers of horses, some on treadmills, and these experiments gave conflicting results at best. It was not until Hinchcliff and Morley and Gross began to evaluate serious numbers of horses (700 to 1,000) and 20,000-plus racing times that their rigorous, large-number evaluations confirmed what horsemen had known all along about water withholding, Lasix and what came to be known as EIPH. In closing, since the introduction of Lasix in the 1960s, horse racing has made substantial progress in understanding EIPH and protecting horses against the adverse effects of bleeding. In the late 1970s, availability of the fiber-optic endoscope allowed identification of the so-called “occult bleeder,” or blood in the trachea post-race, and the syndrome was named EIPH and a useful scoring system was developed. Since then, EIPH has been recognized as a progressive disease in racehorses, and moderate to severe EIPH is associated with reduced racing performance. Then in 2009, scientists, using 167 horses, provided high-quality evidence that Lasix is effective in the prevention of EIPH and, consistent with this finding, that Lasix administration is associated with more reliable and optimal performance in Thoroughbred racehorses. HJ

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in 2018, Over Million will be paid to Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA HORSE RACING COMMISSION 2800 N. LINCOLN BLVD, STE 220 . OKC, OK 73105 405.943.6472

THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA ONE REMINGTON PLACE . OKC, OK 73111 405.427.8753 . WWW.TRAORACING.COM THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

4MILLIONREASONS

breed . race . win

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ALABAMA HBPA Magic City Classic Information The Magic City Classic is scheduled to be run December 7 at Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots in New Orleans. Presented by the Birmingham Racing Commission, the race has a guaranteed purse of $50,000, which includes a $10,000 supplement from the Alabama Thoroughbred Association. With a shortfall in funding this year, the association stepped up to the plate to help maintain the $50,000 purse in an effort to continue supporting all horsemen in Alabama. The Alabama HBPA will pay shipping up to $500 for horses running fourth and out. A valid bill or gas charge must be presented for reimbursement.

The Magic City Classic, for 3-year-olds and up that are registered Alabama-breds, will be at one mile. Nominations close November 14 and can be made through the Birmingham Racing Commission office. Please call (205) 838-7477 or (205) 937-2232 for questions.

Alabama-Bred Purse Supplements Year to date, the Alabama HBPA has paid $12,600 in supplemental purse distributions. Menewa, owned and bred by Bobby Pruitt, leads the list; Miss Mississippi, owned and bred by Diane Harrington, is second, with Branchwater, owned and bred by Dennis Murphy, in third. We have a three-way tie for fourth with All Abouthe Salsa, previously owned by Tome Racing; Indy’s Code, previously owned by Live-Lee Farm; and Two Mikes N Doc G, owned by Kent Gremmels.

We know there are more Alabama-breds running out there, so please get your results to Nancy Delony at (205) 969-7048 or nancy.m.delony@ms.com as soon as possible.

A total of $25,000 in added money has again been deposited by AL HBPA with the Louisiana HBPA horsemen’s bookkeeper for Alabama-breds running at any of the four Louisiana tracks. With approximately $12,500 paid out, there are still funds eligible that we hope to see disbursed by year-end.

It is amazing to be writing a fall letter; that means yearling sales and then the breeding season are right around the corner!

Nancy Delony, Executive Director

ARIZONA HBPA Track Updates Wow, it seems like just yesterday we were watching Justify start his run for the Triple Crown and we were closing down the meet at Turf Paradise! But as I write this news update, we are only three weeks away from reopening the Arizona HBPA office at Turf Paradise for the running of the 2018–19 racing season.

Even though it seems the summer flew by, the Arizona HBPA has been busy working with all three tracks on the future of Arizona racing.

Starting with Turf Paradise, the track invested in two new harrows this summer, which is something the maintenance crew has been asking for. They are saying the new harrows will better maintain the track, which should help keep horses and jockeys safer. Also, new water lines have been run to help provide better water pressure to the barns in K row. As is the case every year, there will be asphalt patchwork done to fill all the potholes. In early July, a bad storm went through the backside, and several of the portable stalls in L row were blown over. Work has started to put all of this back together. The Arizona 52

HBPA board is going to be more involved this year working with Turf Paradise on promotional events at the track to attract more people to the races.

Here are some important dates to know for the Turf Paradise meet: September 4—Arizona HBPA office will open at 8 a.m., and the barn area will open for cleaning and setting up of stalls.

September 11—Horses may start arriving on the backside.

September 13—Main track will open for training and workouts.

The Arizona HBPA office hours for the month of September are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Starting Monday, October 1, we will begin regular office hours.

Rillito Park is making plans for their race meet. Rillito will run again in 2019 during February and March, running on Saturdays and Sundays. After much debate, Rillito Park and Turf Paradise came to an agreement on the proceeds from the Churchill ADW contract, and a portion of the proceeds from that contract will now go to the Rillito purse fund.

There have been lots of meetings and discussions on the new arrangement with the Pima County OTB system. Starting January 1, 2019, there will no longer be a dome on the Pima County OTBs, and Pima County will then be open to any racetrack for opening up new OTBs. Arizona Downs (formerly Yavapai Downs) has been very busy with remodeling their clubhouse and grandstand. The track had the finishing touches done to the first floor so the simulcast area could open July 12. Track officials were excited about the amount of business they were able to do at their location for the month. Arizona Downs also has signed an agreement with two new OTB locations in the Phoenix area. The track was applying for city permits in August and the licenses for those locations at the September commission meeting.

Arizona Downs has been very busy working at making a year-round circuit in the state starting in summer 2019.

The Arizona HBPA will be having a welcome back party so be watching for details. We look forward to seeing all of you at Turf Paradise in September!

ARKANSAS HBPA Oaklawn’s First Condition Book Now Available Oaklawn, the track with the highest purses in the Midwest, has released the first issue of its condition books for the first live season that extends beyond its signature Arkansas Derby Day. The cover of the condition book carries the most important message to horsemen throughout the nation—“STAY UNTIL MAY”—while the interior pages give plenty of reasons to do just that, such as two $1-million Kentucky Derby prep races and three new stakes offerings.

Oaklawn will begin racing Friday, January 25, 2019, and the 57-day season continues through Saturday, May 4.

The overall purse schedule of approximately $32 million includes maiden special weight races of $77,000 escalating to $87,000 on three premier race days and open allowance races beginning at $78,000 and going to as high as $88,000 on premier race days. These are the nation’s richest purses in these categories during the first half of the year.

Emphasizing the track’s 3-year-old prep series, the premier race days include February 18, featuring the $500,000 Southwest Stakes (G3); March 16, featuring the $1-million Rebel Stakes (G2); and April 13, featuring the $1-million Arkansas Derby (G1).

Oaklawn has been a springboard for some of the best 3-year-olds in the country for more than a decade, including champion Smarty Jones, two-time THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

AFFILIATE NEWS Horse of the Year Curlin, champion Will Take Charge, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Creator, who went from maiden winner to Arkansas Derby winner before taking the third leg of the Triple Crown in 2016. Horses that came through the 3-year-old maiden and allowance ranks in 2018 include recent Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) winner Tenfold, who broke his maiden February 9 and won an allowance race March 18, and Preakness Stakes (G1) runner-up Bravazo, who won a January 13 allowance race before going on to win the Risen Star Stakes (G3) in his next start.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the 2019 live meet and wanted to give horsemen plenty of time to prepare for the upcoming season by getting our first condition book out as early as possible,” General Manager Wayne Smith said.

“The focal point of the season will, of course, be on the 3-year-olds, but we are also looking forward to our new dates and new stakes races. The quality of our racing just gets better and better, and we’re looking forward to showcasing that all the way into May.” Oaklawn previously announced a 30-race stakes schedule worth $8.85 million. The new stakes are the $200,000 Oaklawn Mile on May 3 and the $200,000 Arkansas Breeders’ Championship and $250,000 Oaklawn Invitational, both on closing day, May 4.

Condition books, as well as stall applications, can be found at oaklawn. com or obtained by calling (501) 501-5570. Stall applications are due November 8.

CHARLES TOWN HBPA Owners and Backstretch Summer Barbecue On August 6, children and adults shared in fun and fellowship as our racing community celebrated our summer picnic. The Charles Town Racetrack Chaplaincy, along with the Charles Town HBPA and track management, sponsored a picnic and barbecue for backstretch workers, owners and trainers. The tasty food, face painting, piñatas, moon bounce, horseshoes and auctions, both silent and live, made for a fun-filled event.

Race for the Ribbon

DENIS BLAKE

On September 22, a stakes-laden race card will be televised by TVG2, which will provide in-studio coverage of the event, and it also can be heard on the Horse Racing Radio Network. The night of racing includes eight races and is headlined by the second graded race on Charles Town’s calendar, the $300,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3) for 3-year-old fillies. In partnership with the West Virginia Breast Health Initiative Inc., the day is dedicated to the fight against breast cancer. Other events for that day include a 5K fun run, the 10th annual Race for the Ribbon track walk and a silent auction. First post for the day is 5 p.m.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

West Virginia Breeders Classics The state’s finest West Virginia-bred Thoroughbreds will be showcased in the 32nd running of the West Virginia Breeders Classics on October 13. Post time is 7 p.m.

The WV Breeders Classics event has generated more than $25 million in purses for the state’s breeders and horsemen and become the premier horse racing event on Charles Town’s fall calendar. And it’s more than just racing.

The WV Breeders Classics includes numerous events, as well as charitable donations made to important local and statewide organizations.

The brainchild of National Football League player and Pro Football Hall of Famer and West Virginia native Sam Huff, the WV Breeders Classics is a onenight event with a year-round impact.

Elections for Board of Directors In October, we will be mailing ballots for our upcoming election for our board of directors. If you haven’t already done so, please contact the West Virginia HBPA office to verify that we have your most current address on file.

West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Association Horse Show The West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Association had their annual horse show on September 2 at 12 p.m. at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. The show has classes for broodmares and West Virginia-bred or -sired foals and yearlings, as well as prize money for each class and championship.

FLORIDA HBPA Screnci Selected as Regional VP for NHBPA Florida HBPA President Stephen W. Screnci was selected by the eastern region delegates of the National HBPA to one of the organization’s regional vice presidencies. Screnci is an attorney with offices in Boca Raton and has been a breeder and owner for many years. He has successfully headed the Contract Committee for the past two years for the FHBPA and has improved the position of horsemen in South Florida since taking over as FHBPA president last year.

Triparty Agreement Signed The annual triparty agreement between the FHBPA, Gulfstream Park and the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association was entered into in early August. This statutorily mandated agreement had been a source of controversy between the Florida horsemen and breeders organizations recently, but the parties worked things out in late 2017 for this year’s season with an agreement all sides have been satisfied with. In addition to approval of the Florida Sire Stakes series at Gulfstream, the agreement has provided for additional 2-year-old maiden special weight bonuses for Florida-sired horses and up to $1 million in bonuses to Florida-breds in certain open and overnight races during the non-Championship season. The success of this year’s program led all parties to renew the agreement for 2019 months earlier than they have the past couple of years.

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NEWS

Calder Casino As Churchill Downs Inc. continues its exit strategy from Thoroughbred racing at the former Calder Race Course, the FHBPA is actively pursuing its rights through legal proceedings involving the state’s approval to allow Calder to continue operating its slots facility after demolishing the grandstand that housed the live pari-mutuel facility—the one that gave Calder the right to have gaming in the first place.

On a second front, the FHBPA is pursuing actions in connection with the state’s approval of a jai alai permit that Calder apparently intends on replacing its Thoroughbred racing obligations with. We currently run the statutorily minimum of 40 days necessary to maintain gaming during October and November at what is called Gulfstream Park West pursuant to a lease agreement between the two tracks. Churchill Downs Inc.’s conduct puts year-round racing opportunities and continued purse supplements from the Calder slot machines at risk for horsemen in South Florida.

Stakes success in his previous start. The 3-year-old gelding is owned by HBPA director Mike Vanderpool with his wife, Marylee, along with ITBOA President Steve Renftle, and is trained by Greg Zielinski. Iowa HBPA director Kelly Von Hemel had a fabulous Classics night with two stakes winners. In the Governor Terry Branstad Stakes, Von Hemel sent out One Fine Dream to win for Umbrella Stables II Inc. Shortly after, in the Donna Reed Stakes, Von Hemel thrilled with Mywomanfromtokyo for owners Crimson King Farm and Christine Rhiner. Both of Von Hemel’s winners were repeat winners from 2017.

The Iowa HBPA thanks all the owners, trainers and their employees for helping to make this year a success at Prairie Meadows. We can’t wait till the next year of racing to begin!

Iowa HBPA Office Non-Racing Hours With racing now complete at Prairie Meadows, the office off-season hours will go into effect. The hours will be Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can contact the Iowa HBPA at (515) 967-4804 or via email at info@ iowahbpa.org.

IOWA HBPA Prairie Meadows 2018 Meet Comes to an End

KENTUCKY HBPA

The Thoroughbred meet at Prairie Meadows ended on August 11 for a total of 67 days of racing. The meet was highlighted by the running of the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap on July 6, won by Remembering Rita, a 4-year-old colt owned by Jeral Keith Adams and trained by Iowa HBPA director Doug Anderson. Two other Grade 3 stakes were held during the festival of racing, the Iowa Derby and Iowa Oaks. The Derby this year was won by High North, owned by Shortleaf Stable Inc. and trained by Brad Cox. The Oaks went to She’s a Julie, who is owned by Whispering Oaks Farm LLC and trained by Steven Asmussen.

The final day of the meet was headlined by the Iowa Classics, featuring a card of seven Iowa-bred stakes with the state’s best racehorses and some exceptional racing.

The Iowa Cradle winner was Topper T, owned by Sherri Tracy and trained by her husband, Ray Tracy. In the Iowa Breeders Oaks, Tracy Racy was victorious for Iowa HBPA director Allen Poindexter and co-owner and trainer Lynn Chleborad.

Itsallaboutyou scored a game victory in the Dan Johnson Sprint Stakes for trainer Federico Villafranco and owner Danny Caldwell. Trainer Tom Wellington and owner Steven Frum had an incredible win in the Iowa Sorority with Olive Oyl, and Tin Badge captured the Iowa Breeders’ Derby to follow his Iowa Stallion

President’s Message

ACKERLEY IMAGES

One of the founding principles under which the HBPA was founded was to ensure horsemen receive an equitable share of monies wagered and that the monies are duly protected. To that end, the Kentucky HBPA 30 years ago hired an accountant, John Griffith, to manage the finances of the organization and oversee the annual audit. In addition, John also monitors the status of the purse account at each of Kentucky’s racetracks.

John receives updates from the racetracks on a regular basis detailing what is currently available in the purse account. This occurs even when racing is not being conducted, since simulcasting continues to bolster purses. Prior to the opening of Ellis Park for live racing, the KHBPA learned the money generated from simulcasting to supplement the purses for the upcoming race meeting at Ellis was not available. Ellis had suffered some financial setbacks, including a disastrous flood, which required immediate financial support. They used horsemen’s purse money as working capital, thinking that the money would be replenished to the purse account through insurance proceeds and a loan prior to the beginning of the race meeting. Unfortunately, the financing did not take

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

AFFILIATE NEWS

Julio Rubio’s Report Summer is nearly over, and here in Kentucky, the backstretches of our racetracks have been fairly quiet. On the immigration front, there is a concern that looms as a dark cloud for many backstretch workers, along with the workforce at the training centers and farms. That includes the possibility that families will be disrupted by policies that sometime seem to be void of common sense.

Recently, there have been some positive developments regarding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and H-2B cap relief has passed a major hurdle toward becoming law. Also, an agricultural immigration bill referred to as H-2C has been proposed that shows real promise.

Please take the time to educate yourselves on the issues that confront our workers regarding immigration. Also, please know that I am available to answer questions and assist your backstretch workers on any issues that arise.

(Read more on immigration issues on page 32.)

Kentucky Downs Preview Day The success of the inaugural Kentucky Downs Preview Day at Ellis Park served as a shining endorsement for racetracks working with their horsemen for the good of all.

In an agreement with the Kentucky HBPA, the entire funding for a quartet of new $100,000 turf stakes on August 5 at Ellis Park was transferred from Kentucky Downs’ burgeoning purse account (part of the total of $2.9 million transferred to Ellis for purses under arrangements with the Kentucky HBPA).

There was something for everyone, ranging from Churchill Downs’ Grade 2 Wise Dan winner Mr. Misunderstood taking the Kentucky Downs Preview Tourist Mile to Wes Hawley’s $25,000 claim Jazzy Times winning the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint to go to two-for-two on turf. The Kentucky Downs Preview Calumet THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

COADY PHOTOGRAPHY

Farm Turf Cup featured a thrilling stretch run with Arklow, a Grade 2 winner last year, defeating Zapperini by a head.

A total of $2,049,132 was wagered on the nine-race card, the most bet on Ellis Park in several years, dating to when the track ran more races on a program. Racing Secretary Dan Bork called it “one of the best days of racing at Ellis Park as far as quality in the last decade.”

ARKLOW (OUTSIDE) NIPS ZAPPERINI TO WIN THE KENTUCKY DOWNS PREVIEW CALUMET FARM TURF CUP.

Kentucky Downs Preview Day was created to be a win-win-win-win for all parties: Ellis Park got four new stakes and a big day of racing, the horsemen were able to stay at home instead of shipping out for comparable stakes, fans got an entertaining day of racing providing excellent betting and Kentucky Downs received a lot of favorable publicity, as well as some new meaningful launching pads for its stakes.

“We were thrilled with how it went and are looking forward to next year with the possibility of expanding,” said Kentucky Downs Senior Vice President and General Manager Ted Nicholson. “It works really well. The concept is amazing.

There aren’t too many tracks that are going to allow another track to label four races Kentucky Downs Preview. It’s great for us. But we have the purse money, and it’s a really good relationship between the two tracks.”

Mike Bruder, the Evansville businessman and horse owner who is on the board of the Kentucky HBPA, praised Kentucky Downs management, including track president Corey Johnsen, for their willingness to work with horsemen to help Ellis Park’s racing program. He said that’s critical to the health of the entire circuit.

“I really enjoyed it,” Bruder said of the day. “We got some nice quality horses and a few riders in [from out of town]. I thought the whole day went great. I think HENDERSON MAYOR STEVE AUSTIN (LEFT) PRESENTS THE INAUGURAL ELLIS everybody was pretty happy with the results, even the PARK DERBY TROPHY TO NATIVE SON LARRY JONES. bettors.”

COURTESY STEVE KWESKIN

place as expected, and the purse account was not funded.

The KHBPA received assurances from Ellis Park management that it would do what was necessary to ensure that the purse account was properly funded, but that did not take place. The KHBPA took measures to see that the race meeting would not be interrupted by funding the purse account with revenue that the KHBPA had earmarked to Ellis Park from Kentucky Downs.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) took center stage through the leadership of chair Frank King and executive director Marc Guilfoil to facilitate a seamless transition to new ownership for Ellis Park. All encumbrances were addressed, and the race meeting went off without a hitch. Kling has suggested alternatives to be explored to ensure that horsemen’s purse money is entirely segregated at all times and in the future cannot be used as working capital by the racetracks.

KHBPA Vice President Frank Jones, KHBPA Executive Director Marty Maline and I recently met with Guilfoil and Jockeys’ Guild representatives Jeff Johnston and Terry Meyocks. The purpose was to discuss losing jockeys’ mount fees. One of the Jockeys’ Guild requests was for owners to fund an IRA for jockeys with $10 added for each race a jockey rides for an owner. I will keep you updated as the discussions continue.

Forrest Kaelin, a respected horseman, passed away this summer. Forrest, a former KHBPA director, was an owner, trainer and former jockey and a dear friend to many of the backstretch community. He will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Betty, and the entire Kaelin family.

This November, KHBPA members will receive ballots for the upcoming election of directors. Please take time to vote and send your ballots back.

Good luck in your racing endeavors!

Rick Hiles, KHBPA President

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NEWS

JENNIE REES

Kentucky Downs Preview Day was followed the next week by the Grade 3 Groupie Doll, won by the Ian Wilkes-trained Champagne Problems, and the first running of the $75,000 Ellis Park Derby, in which Henderson fixture Larry Jones finished 1-2 with Believe in Royalty and Kowboy Karma in the field of 12. Jones launched his career at Ellis Park and stabled there for 27 years before spending most of the past decade on the East Coast until returning to Kentucky and Ellis Park this year. It was a memorable occasion for Henderson Mayor Steve Austin, a huge racing fan, to present the trophy to a longtime resident.

RACING FANS OF ALL AGES ATTENDED THE MAKING OF A RACEHORSE PROGRAM AT ELLIS PARK.

The Kentucky HBPA again sponsored College Laptop and Scholarship Day on July 22 with full-time students at colleges, universities, and community, technical, trade and vocational post-secondary education programs signing up for drawings for a laptop or a $1,000 scholarship after each race. The Kentucky HBPA funded the nine laptops and half the cost of nine scholarships, with Henderson businesses providing the other half of the scholarship money. The last race winners were from a separate drawing for a college student working in the industry or the child of a racing-industry participant.

Back at Ellis Park for the third summer was Making of a Racehorse, the free, family-friendly fan-education program that lets the public see up close what goes on in the mornings to get a horse ready for the afternoons. The concept was the brainchild of Kentucky HBPA board member John Hancock, a third-generation trainer stabled at Ellis Park, with the program a collaborative effort between the horsemen and racetrack.

We lost the dean of Kentucky horsemen with the July 26 passing of Forrest Kaelin, who spent almost 70 years as a jockey and trainer at Kentucky’s tracks.

Forrest died at age 83, having been married to Betty for 63 years.

Forrest’s best horse in recent years was Good Lord, a three-time winner of Ellis Park’s Don Bernhardt Memorial and for whom the track this year renamed that dirt sprint stakes held on July 22.

Kaelin’s last of four graded stakes victories came in 1999 with Da Devil, who won Turfway Park’s Grade 2, $500,000 Kentucky Cup Classic at 65-1 odds, paying $132.80. Finishing third in the race was Cat Thief, who in his next start won the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Kaelin won the first two runnings (1982–83) of what now is Churchill Downs’ Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap with 18-time winner Vodika Collins.

Kaelin trained at Churchill Downs from 1965 until May 28 of this year, ranking 14th all time at the iconic track with 344 wins.

“He was just a legendary horseman around Kentucky,” said trainer Jimmy Baker, who helped oversee the stable after Kaelin shipped north from Tampa in the spring. “Everybody loved him, liked him and respected him.”

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Baker added with a laugh, “He was one of the few trainers who didn’t love having veterinarians in his barn. Everything was pretty much old-school and homemade remedies for everything.”

The HBPA Is You The HBPA, established in 1940, is an organization of owners and trainers numbering approximately 30,000 nationally in 23 states and Canada and more than 6,000 in Kentucky. The association is governed by a board of directors consisting of owners and trainers volunteering their time and elected by the membership every three years. The HBPA is committed to working for the betterment of racing on all levels.

The HBPA represents owners and trainers on several fronts: · The HBPA is present in negotiating sessions with each racetrack regarding purse structure, equitable share of simulcast revenues, overall track safety, sanitation and security. · The HBPA provides benevolence to horsemen in need, education and recreation programs to the backstretch, and various insurance packages that include—free of charge to members—fire and disaster insurance and claiming coverage. Visit one of the fully staffed HBPA offices at the currently running racetrack in Kentucky for details. · The HBPA works in conjunction with the chaplaincy program and the Kentucky Racing Health and Welfare Fund to provide support and benefits for horsemen. · The HBPA supports scientific research and marketing initiatives on a regional and national level to help promote interest in Thoroughbred racing. · The HBPA is at the forefront in litigation and legislation on issues involving horsemen’s rights in regard to interstate simulcasting, proprietary rights, casino gambling, therapeutic medication, sports betting and many other areas of concern to horsemen.

How can I join? You are invited to drop by the HBPA office to meet the staff and learn more about current projects and how you can get involved in helping to improve the industry. There are no membership fees. Remember, this is your organization. Become an active participant and one of the horsemen helping horsemen. To join, all you need to do is fill out our membership card and fax, mail or email it back to us. For more information, please visit our website at kyhbpa.org and click on “How to Join.”

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FALL 2018

AFFILIATE NEWS

Harrah’s Louisiana Downs 2018 Race Meet

Fair Grounds Race Course 2018-2019 Race Meets

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NEWS

Congrats to Jack Walsh

JACK WALSH IN THE PADDOCK AT CANTERBURY PARK

Mountaineer Park Chaplaincy Picnic

JANA TETRAULT

MINNESOTA HBPA

The great news coming out of Shakopee is that Minnesota HBPA President Jack Walsh was voted into the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame in August, followed by the induction ceremony in September.

No doubt much of the reason behind his selection was his decades-long commitment and service to Minnesota racing as an astute lawyer, owner/breeder, HBPA vice president and now president. But anyone who has spent any time with Jack also knows it is both his wisdom and benevolence of spirit that make him one of the most singular individuals to ever grace Thoroughbred racing.

A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL AT THE CHAPLAINCY PICNIC.

Members of the backstretch community came together to enjoy food, fellowship and fun at Tomlinson Run State Park.

Families enjoyed a day of swimming, children’s games and corn hole. Thank you to all who participated and helped to make this day a success.

Mountaineer Park HBPA General Meeting The Mountaineer Park HBPA held their annual general meeting and lunch on the turn.

Items discussed included benefits provided by the Mountaineer Park HBPA Medical Trust and the West Virginia Racing Commission Retirement Plan for Backstretch Workers. Members also were updated on HB 2651, which seeks federal legislation to oversee the Thoroughbred racing industry and to ban all race-day medications including Lasix. A call to action was discussed.

Future events as listed on the front of the newsletter were announced, and feedback on programs provided was encouraged. Information provided at the meeting is available in the Mountaineer Park HBPA office.

MOUNTAINEER PARK HBPA Mountaineer Park HBPA and Chaplaincy Working Together

JANA TETRAULT

The Mountaineer Park HBPA and the Mountaineer Park Chaplaincy have worked together on several events for members of the backstretch community. Recent highlights have included cookouts HORSEMEN ENJOYING WEST VIRGINIA on the turn during DERBY DAY West Virginia Derby day and donuts and coffee throughout the race meet, and recently the chaplaincy gave away backpacks with school supplies to more than 40 children. Wellness check-ups also were provided by CHANGE Inc.

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NEW ENGLAND HBPA Suffolk Downs Adds Dates to 2018 Live Meet

By Lynne Snierson The 2018 live meet at Suffolk Downs, which featured a popular racing festival format on Saturdays and Sundays over the course of one weekend each in June, July and August, has proved so successful that dates will be added to extend the season into the fall.

At its regularly scheduled meeting August 14, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) approved the request of track management to add live cards on September 15-16 and authorized the necessary distribution from the lucrative Massachusetts Race Horse Development Fund to pay the purses.

The addition of the two dates increased the number of live cards at Suffolk Downs from six to eight in 2018, and the purse structure remained at a daily average of about $500,000.

“We are delighted by the overwhelmingly positive response our program has received from the horsemen and the fans this year, and we are extremely pleased to be able to race the additional two days,” said Anthony Spadea Jr., president of the New England HBPA. “This will give our horsemen more opportunities to earn purse money, and it enables our breeders to showcase Massachusetts-breds. The extension of the meet also provides additional income to so many hard-working and deserving people who make their living in our industry.”

The gaming commissioners also approved the request of the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association (MTBA) to continue to run races THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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AFFILIATE NEWS restricted to Massachusetts-breds at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack in Farmington, New York. Since live racing has been sharply curtailed at the Suffolk Downs property, which was sold to a major real estate developer in 2017, the MGC has allowed state-breds to earn purses and state-bred incentives at Finger Lakes.

Under terms of the sale of the 161-acre Suffolk Downs property, the previous owners—Sterling Suffolk Racecourse (SSR) LLC—retained the live racing license and simulcasting rights. SSR, the NEHBPA and the MTBA have entered into a three-way agreement to revitalize and refurbish the racetrack at the old Great Barrington Fairgrounds in the western part of Massachusetts.

There is no timetable for any demolition or construction at the Suffolk Downs property, which is under consideration by Amazon for the site of its massive second headquarters, and work on the Great Barrington site has not yet been scheduled.

Meanwhile, the statutes governing racing in Massachusetts were extended for another year. Although the legislative process is usually routine, there was considerable drama this time around.

The formal legislative session ended at midnight on July 31 without lawmakers renewing the state racing statutes or passing any new racing laws.

Statehouse sources said there was a racing bill that had been drafted but somehow it got “lost in the shuffle.”

The unintended result was that on Wednesday, August 1, all live racing and simulcasting in the state became illegal.

The gaming commission notified Suffolk Downs, Plainridge Park Casino (the in-state harness track) and Raynham Taunton Greyhound Park, which offers only simulcasting, to shut down all operations, and the tracks went dark August 1.

Fortunately, Massachusetts lawmakers, who were back at the statehouse in an informal session August 2, quickly passed a bill that afternoon that extended the previous law and restored the legality of live racing and simulcasting in the state, and it was signed by the governor.

Remembering George Brown George Brown, a longtime NEHBPA member and the president of the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association for more than 20 years, passed away July 5 at the age of 82 following a protracted battle with cancer.

Brown, one of the most ardent advocates for New England racing, was highly respected by horsemen, industry stakeholders and regulators. He was the owner and trainer of many of the horses he bred at Briar Hill Farm in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where he had been the owner and manager since 1964.

The property that Briar Hill sits on is land that has been in the Brown family since 1850.

“George was a great man,” said Anthony Spadea Jr., the president of the NEHBPA who first bred horses at Brown’s farm 30 years ago. “He didn’t just care

about the guy with the big horse; he cared about the little guy, too. He cared about everybody. He was really and truly a good man. He never had a lot of luck with his own horses, but because of that, he still tried as hard as he could to make the program work for everybody. He never wanted to see anybody get hurt.

He never held a grudge against anybody.”

“George was a true optimist who dedicated his life to Massachusetts racing and to the betterment of the state’s breeding program,” said Dr. Anthony Zizza, an MTBA board member and NEHBPA member. “His dream to have a permanent track in Massachusetts and for Mass-breds to have a true home lives on.”

Brown was also instrumental in lobbying Massachusetts lawmakers to enact legislation favorable to the racing and breeding industry and horsemen.

Brown, who earned a B.S. in pre-veterinary studies at the University of Rhode Island in 1958, also enjoyed a successful career in academia. He was a science teacher in the East Providence, Rhode Island, school system from 1967 to 1989, and he coached the baseball teams.

On August 4 at Suffolk Downs, Desert Wonder, a 5-year-old son of Wild Desert bred and owned by Arlene and George Brown, went gate to wire to win by 1 ¼ lengths as the favorite in the $50,000 Massachusetts Stallion Stakes.

“I am just sure that George was pushing for us,” said an emotional Arlene in the winner’s circle. “He just would have been so happy.”

The following day Suffolk Downs ran the inaugural $50,000 George Brown Memorial Turf Mile.

OHIO HBPA VLT Revenue Update On June 27, the Ohio State Racing Commission passed resolution 2018-05, which set the percentage of video lottery terminal revenue to be paid to horsemen at Belterra Park at 9.95 percent, thus ending a more than three-year push by the Ohio HBPA for the commission to establish the rate.

The history of the percentage of revenue horsemen receive from VLTs at Ohio’s three Thoroughbred and four Standardbred tracks dates back much further, however.

In 2011 Ohio Governor John Kasich issued a series of executive orders authorizing VLTs at Ohio’s seven racetracks. While the executive orders spelled out the licensing fees and taxes the racino operators would pay to the state, the share of the VLT revenues horsemen would receive was not spelled out.

In 2012 the governor’s office set up a series of meetings between representatives of Ohio’s seven racetracks and the two recognized horsemen’s groups in the state under the Interstate Horseracing Act—the Ohio HBPA and the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association—with the purpose being to establish what

DENIS BLAKE

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NEWS percentage of VLT revenue the horsemen would receive.

Ohio HBPA Executive Director Dave Basler represented the Thoroughbred horsemen in these meetings while OHHA President Steve McCoy represented the Standardbred horsemen.

The governor’s office, in consultation with Moelis and Company, which had been hired as consultants on gaming issues by the state of Ohio, listened to arguments presented by the tracks and the horsemen and ultimately determined that the horsemen’s share of VLT percentage at each track would be based on a sliding scale based on the total investment the permit holder made on capital expenditures to improve the facility for VLTs. The scale was such that, on a total of $200 million or less in capital expenditures, the horsemen would receive 11 percent of the net win, and for each additional $10 million dollars in capital expenditures, the horsemen’s share would be reduced by 0.15 percent.

So, at $210 million in capital expenditures, the rate paid to horsemen would be 10.85 percent, and at $220 million, the rate would be 10.70 percent, with the minimum rate that could be paid to horsemen being capped at 9 percent when capital expenditures met or exceeded $340 million for a facility. These numbers would only come into play if there wasn’t a contractual agreement between a track and the recognized horsemen’s group that otherwise spelled out the percentage of VLT revenue to be paid to horsemen.

This proved to be a starting point rather than a final resolution to determine the percentage of VLT revenue Thoroughbred horsemen in Ohio would receive.

After more than six months of extensive negotiations, on March 7, 2014, the Ohio HBPA entered into a 10-year agreement with Thistledown Racetrack LLC that set the percentage of VLT revenue to be paid to horsemen at Thistledown at 10.6 percent.

On March 10, 2014, the Ohio HBPA entered into a 19-page, 10-year agreement with Beulah Park Gaming Ventures that set the percentage of VLT revenue to be paid to horsemen at Mahoning Valley Race Track at 10.3 percent for the first 24 months of the agreement and at 10.64 percent for the final eight years of the agreement.

Both of these contracts had “favored nations” provisions whereby the Ohio HBPA couldn’t enter into a contract with any other racino for a lower percentage of VLT revenue unless that percentage was set either by law or by rule of the Ohio State Racing Commission. The tracks insisted on these provisions as they didn’t want to be the first to sign a contract and then have other track operators use their rate as a starting point to negotiate lower rates.

Pinnacle Gaming, which owns Belterra Park, has insisted throughout the process that they were entitled to a lower VLT rate than the other two tracks based on their capital expenditures. For this reason, as well as the “favored nations” provisions in the previously signed VLT agreements, the Ohio HBPA and Pinnacle Entertainment were unable to reach a VLT revenue sharing agreement.

Unfortunately, while the law said that the VLT rate must be set by the Ohio State Racing Commission if there wasn’t an agreement in place between the recognized horsemen’s organization and the permit holder within six months of the beginning of VLT operations, this was far from what actually took place.

The racing commission began drafting a rule to determine the percentage of VLT revenue to be paid to horsemen in 2016. This process ended up taking well over a year to complete as both the tracks and the horsemen presented various legal arguments objecting to portions of the proposed rule language.

A series of meetings took place over the course of many months, working through draft after draft with all of the interested parties, before the commission officially introduced and adopted final language on rule 3769-2-43.

This rule established that the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission would verify the capital expenditures made by a permit holder necessary to build the video lottery sales agent facility and which the racing commission would then plug into the sliding scale chart discussed earlier, which was also part of rule 3769-2-43 to establish the VLT percentage paid to horsemen when the 60

permit holder and horsemen’s organization couldn’t reach agreement.

Pinnacle Gaming began the process of verifying their capital expenditures to build the video lottery sales agent facility at Belterra Park with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission late in 2017 and provided the commission several thousand pages of invoices and contracts for construction and other work done at the track.

In all, Pinnacle submitted claims for $318,066,015 in expenditures.

Ultimately, after extensive review of all documentation, the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission determined that $272,340,029 of the submitted expenses were allowable. This is the number the Ohio State Racing Commission used in setting the VLT percentage to be paid to horsemen from VLT revenue at Belterra Park at 9.95 percent.

THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA (OKLAHOMA HBPA) Graded Oklahoma Derby, Remington Park Oaks Highlight Remington Park Stakes Schedule Remington Park’s 2018 Thoroughbred season features multiple graded stakes events for the first time in track history. On Oklahoma Derby Day, Sunday, September 30, the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at 1 1/8 miles and the Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks at 1 1/16 miles will highlight the meet’s first major afternoon of racing. The Remington Park Oaks is being contested as a graded race for the first time this year.

Other races on the Oklahoma Derby Day undercard include the $175,000 Governor’s Cup, $150,000 David Vance Stakes and $75,000 Kip Deville Stakes.

In all, Remington Park will run 10 stakes races on Oklahoma Derby Day. The Kip Deville is the first major 2-year-old stakes race on the Remington Park schedule. The $100,000 Clever Trevor Stakes is next in the 2-year-old series on November 2 with the $400,000 Springboard Mile, the marquee race for first-year runners, taking place on the final afternoon of the season, December 16.

Oklahoma-breds have plentiful opportunities in stakes competition with 16 events restricted to eligible state-breds. The eight stakes races that comprise Oklahoma Classics Night will take place on Friday, October 19. The evening, worth more than $1 million in purses, is led by the $175,000 Classics Cup. The meet began Friday, August 24, and completes a 67-date run on Sunday, December 16. The $100,000 Remington Green Stakes kicked off the 32-race stakes schedule on opening night. Purses have been raised on many Oklahoma-bred stakes events from $50,000 up to $65,000 for the 2018 season.

In all, the stakes schedule is worth more than $3.7 million. The complete stakes schedule is available at remingtonpark.com.

Will Rogers Downs Concludes Successful Thoroughbred Meet Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs’ 30-day spring Thoroughbred meet came to a successful close on May 19. The 12th year of racing in Claremore kicked off March 12 and averaged more than $100,000 per day in purses. More than $15 million was handled for the meet with more than $4.1 million in purse money paid out.

John Lies, the track’s racing secretary and announcer, has seen some major changes and said he is excited about the seasons to come.

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AFFILIATE NEWS “We were thrilled to see our relationship with TVG grow, along with the reception of our live coverage in 2018,” Lies said. “When able to avoid posttime conflicts with other tracks, we maximize our potential to get noticed by horseplayers and conducted a competitive race meet over one of the safest racing surfaces in the nation.”

Bryan McNeil ran away with the leading jockey title with 40 wins, and Scott Young dominated the trainer standings with 28 wins. The leading owner buckle went to Karl Broberg’s End Zone Athletics Inc. with 11 wins.

The 5-year-old Oklahoma-bred mare Fiddlers Tsunami, owned by Blue Moon Stables, was named Horse of the Meet based on her accomplishment of two wins and two seconds in four starts at Will Rogers. In stakes company, she won the Great Lady M. Stakes on April 23 after finishing second in the fog-filled Miranda Diane Stakes on April 2. The mare then returned to finish second in the More Than Even Stakes. She earned $74,106 in four starts for trainer Jody Pruitt while being ridden by Kevin Roman.

Bad Boy Racing LLC’s homebred Rookie Season, a 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred son of Notional who had made just one start before the meet, rose from being an unplaced maiden to a stakes winner in less than two minutes. The emphatic 12-length romp in the Will Rogers Handicap on April 24 was the most visually impressive win of the meet. Rookie Season was trained by Scott Young and ridden by Floyd Wethey.

Four horses were undefeated at the meet. Otto’s Dream won all four starts while All Behroozed Up, Exy Xanadu and Mystery Solved were each perfect in three starts.

TRAO Board Election Information On October 1, the TRAO will start the election process for the 2019–21 term for owner-breeder directors. If anyone wants to nominate a member, they can call the election committee below: Joe Alexander: (405) 747-4244 Bill Anderson: (405) 659-3806 Kris Richter: (405) 743-1518 1. October 1, 2018: Start the nomination process. Right to nominate to the election committee and the process of the election will be posted at the Remington Park stable gate, horsemen’s bookkeeper’s office, TRAO website, Facebook, American Racehorse and announcement over the PA system at Remington Park. The election committee will hold a conference call or meet in person October 19, 2018, and discuss all the candidates nominated to ensure there are no duplications.

2. October 20, 2018: Floor nominations will be taken in the track kitchen at Remington Park from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Nominations will close at 12 p.m.

October 20, 2018. Endorsement of not less than three (3) members present at the meeting, including the nominator and two (2) seconds, or is accompanied by a petition signed by no fewer than forty (40) members of the Association who are eligible to vote in elections and remain in good standing.

3. Close of Nominations: October 20, 2018, at 12 p.m. in the track kitchen.

4. October 26, 2018: Mail and notify candidates of nomination.

5. Signed affidavits/bio and mission statement must be postmarked by November 10, 2018.

6. November 19, 2018: Mailing of ballots.

7. Return ballot envelopes must be postmarked by December 31, 2018.

8. January 7, 2019: Counting of ballots.

9. January 8, 2019: Election director will post results and an official notice will be sent to all candidates.

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OREGON HBPA Summer Racing, Portland Meadows Updates Our summer fair race meets are wrapping up. At the time of this writing, the Tillamook County Fair is running in Tillamook, Oregon. This meet is a favorite of many of our horsemen and horsewomen, especially this year when we are having a heat wave in Portland and it is much cooler there. The final meet will run September 7, 8 and 9 at Burns, Oregon.

We are anxiously awaiting our commercial race meet at Portland Meadows.

The backside of Portland Meadows opened September 1, and the track opened for training September 4. Our first live race day will be September 30. The meet will run through February 5, 2019.

Again this year, the Oregon HBPA will have great incentives for horsemen and horsewomen. The incentives include chips for the hot walkers, stall bedding and $100 for each starter. The very popular Trainer of the Day will also return.

We hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

PENNSYLVANIA HBPA Inactive Accounts at Penn National The PA HBPA announces inactive accounts in the horsemen’s bookkeeping account at Penn National. In accordance with the live racing agreement, Penn National furnished a list of accounts that have been inactive for a period of four years.

Holders of inactive accounts should contact the PA HBPA at P.O. Box 88, Grantville, PA 17028, by telephone at (717) 469-2970 or by fax at (717) 469-7714.

All inactive accounts that remain unclaimed one year after the date of this publication will be paid to the PA HBPA’s Benevolent Fund.

The names on those inactive accounts are set forth below: 3 Amigo’s; 839 Stable; Acquilano, James S. and River Card Stable; Anne Ambrosio; American Thoroughbred Ventures LLC; Bruce D. Anderson; Joseph L. Appelbaum; James Appell and Charles E. Jones Sr.; Profundus Holdings, Inc.; Awesome Again Racing Limited Partnership; Manuel Azpurua; BMR Racing Stable; Shaun R. Baker; Black Swan Stable IV, LLC; Richard F. Blue, Jr.; Cindy Bohn and Heron Hills LLC; William Bolen; Brandywine Bloodstock; Ralph A. Bruno; Buck Wild Stables, Inc.; Haley Farm LLC; Juan Cajigas; Dale Capuano; Carent Stables, LLC; Anthony Carlesimo; Oliver Castillo; Jerry Scott Chatham; James Christopher; Sante Cigana; Michael and Amye Clark; Jason L. Cole; Coleswood Farm, Inc.; Giddy Up Stables LLC; Anthony P. Costa; Ivan Dalos; Joe K. Davis; Rosalee Davison; Elizabeth Deimler; Frank X. Derwin; Destiny Oaks of Ocala LLC; Tony L. Dinges; Debra Divitto; DMD Thoroughbreds LLC; Doc of the Bay LLC; Double T. Racing; Leonard Downs, Jr.; Dennis Drazin; William D. Dufour Jr.; Angelmarie A. Dwoskin; Henry R. Elser; Enck Racing LLC; Estate of Frank J. Schaffer; DeLuca Stables LLC; Scott Fairlie, Ted Coker and Hard Eight Stable; Ferren Farms LLC; Timothy M. Finley; Fort Christopher’s Stable; Nicole Frazier; G.D.S. Stable; Gentleman Jack Racing; GIC Stable and Donald L. Brown Jr.; James H. Glassmeyer; Wade D. Glosser; Golden Star Racing Stable; John Good Racing Stable LLC; Gordonsdale Farm LP; Fletcher and Carolyn Gray and Doug Hesterly; Michael D. Greco; Mark B. Grier; Anthony S. Groth; H & N Stables LLC; James E. Hardin; Michael J. Harrison; Frank X. Haverkamp & McBride Racing Inc.; Mary Beth Hellberg; Enrique Hernandez; Hidden Hollow Farm; Channing Hill; Hillwood Stable LLC; Simon Hobson; Horse Haven Stable; Roy D. Houghton; Imvros Racing 61

NEWS Stables Inc; J & F Racing; GSP Stables, LLC; James Dean Locklear et al; Jeb Jab Stable; Edwin C. Jenkins; Jones, Bret and Bell, Gatewood; JPS Stable & All In Racing Stables LLC; Gary Kay; Timothy L. Keefe; Elaine Kenny-Ansbacher; Kidwell Petite Stable; James Kinsey; Raphael Kissoon; Stephanie Korger; Lynda G. Lail; Lauer Racing Stables, Inc.; Tommy G. Ligon; Lilly Stable; Lions Head Stables, LLC; Little Saint Stable; Edward Longo; L Tag LLC; M & M Investments; MRF Racing; Thomas Mangine; Marco Thoroughbred Corp; DMD Thoroughbreds LLC; Joseph Marx; Robert McGregor; Manuel McLean; Gary McMaster; Me You and Magoo Stable; Mendez, David and Van Worp, Robert; Lawrence Metiva; Michael Marks and Bobbie McAlister; Carmen N. Micucio; Mighty White Stallion LLC; Mills, Kelly and VoIk, Theodore; Bryan Minnich and Stephanie S. Beattie; Herbert B. Mittenthal; Montana Topper Kings LLC; John F. Montesano, Jr.; Robert Jr. O. Mueller; Sandy Mullen-Kline; Maleke Mundle; Jeffrey L. Nash; Nickel Dime Stable; Nine Maple Farm; Jonathan Noda; Not the 1 Stable, Inc.; Paul Olivier; Ron Overstreet; Debby M. Oxley; Panic Stable LLC; Christina Pappalardo; D. Scott Peck; John M. Pelet; Perfect Sting Limited Racing Partnership; Pewter Stable; Bernice Philson; Platt, Danny and Brafman, Larry N.; Helen Polinger; William A. Purdey, Jr.; Rainbow Valley; Juan O. Ramos; Reaim Stable; Lisa A. Reed; Elizabeth Reeder; Leland G. Ripley; RO and AJ Stable; Le Anne Marie Robbins; Rovin Boys Racing LLC; Rustaway Stable; Sandy Valley Farm; Say Bay Racing LLC; Shrum Racing Inc; Savannah Mercedes Silva; Silver Victory Stable LLC; Charles Simon Racing Inc.; Jay Skibinski and Larry Rivelli; Gordon Smedley; Ronald J. Snyder; Snyder, Ronald J. and Gatti, Gino; Theodore (Ted) Sopko; George Stanton; Diane Sterbak; Stonybrook Farm and Stables and William S. Roebling; Sylvia Morton; David G. Szymanski; Team Valor International; Ten Diamonds Stable; Nancy Terhune; Thayer, Stella F. and Blanchard, Robert; The Mighty Flynn; Timber Creek Farm; Paul Trapani; Triple Seven Stable; Triton Farm LLC; Ed Turlington; Unlimited Equine, LLC; Verratti, Kathleen and Robert; Ernest R. Washburn; LKCO II, LLC; Mark Westenhoefer; Winick Way Farms, Inc.; Xanthus Farms, Inc; William Younghans; Louis Zito, Donall Fingleton and John Crean.

WASHINGTON HBPA WHBPA General Meeting The annual WHBPA general meeting was held at noon on June 23 in conjunction with the WHBPA election nominating meeting. Thirty-eight owners, nine trainers and 20 guests attended the event, which was held in the Morris Aldhadeff Sales Pavilion at Emerald Downs.

WHBPA President Pat LePley opened the meeting and gave a brief report on the budget, purse account and handle. He also reported that feedback on the track surface had been positive this season. The majority of trainers expressed improved consistency since the new trackman took the reins this year. LePley also mentioned the new WHBPA/WTBOA Marathon Series, which, thanks to the generosity of many individual sponsors, has an enhanced purse. He recognized MaryLou Griffin and Jody Peetz for their efforts for spearheading the idea for a series and for soliciting industry participation for sponsorship.

Since there were many new owners in attendance, executive director MaryAnn O’Connell pointed out that WHBPA members are automatically entitled to National HBPA benefits including The Horsemen’s Journal magazine. She encouraged members to provide their email addresses so they could receive the electronic edition of the publication as well as stay in touch concerning current local and national issues in the racing industry. O’Connell also gave a brief report about the new chaplain, Gilbert Aguilar. He has started a plethora of new activities and opportunities for those working in the stable area and for those who would like to volunteer to help the ministry.

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Attendees had the privilege of hearing from State Representative Joe Schmick, who also serves as an ex-officio member of the Washington Horse Racing Commission. Schmick, as a legislative supporter of horse racing, has been attending WHRC meetings for eight years and has provided invaluable support on many issues affecting WHBPA members. Schmick answered various questions regarding the legislative climate and interest with regard to horse racing. He also addressed questions about the Supreme Court decision opening the door for sports betting and how it could positively or negatively impact the Thoroughbred industry in Washington.

Dr. Ron Friedman, the racing commission veterinarian, covered the process of pre-race morning inspections and then discussed how horsemen and veterinarians have adapted to the new model rule medication thresholds.

The WHRC chair, Dr. Everett Macomber, and commissioner Bob Lopez were also in attendance and available to answer questions on national legislation and local issues concerning horse racing.

The highlight of the general meeting was a special presentation by Dr. Tom Wilkinson and Dr. Josh Ramsay of Washington State University. The doctors are part of the WHRC/WSU necropsy program targeting research aimed at discovering equine injury cause and prevention.

Ramsay, a pathologist, discussed the types of diagnostic testing that are performed at WSU and shared some case studies and examples of injuries that can only be identified via high-level technology. Wilkinson, whose interest in veterinary medicine started when he was a groom and then trainer at the racetrack, has been accumulating statistical results gained from the necropsy program and discussed how certain types of injuries may become predictable and preventable by identifying horses at risk before they start training. He expounded on the benefits of using nuclear scintigraphy as a diagnostic tool for early discovery of conditions that may be precursors to catastrophic injury.

Overcoming limitations of MRI and X-ray, especially on live subjects, scintigraphy, or “bone scanning,” is an advanced imaging process for evaluating bone abnormalities and structure. Using radioactive tracers, changes in bone, such as hairline fractures, can be identified earlier than on radiographs. Bone scans are especially useful for diagnosing injury in difficult areas to radiograph, such as the shoulder, pelvis and back. Emerald Downs Vice President Jack Hodge reported on past efforts to bring scintigraphy diagnostics to the racetrack and said some of the necessary preparations are already in place. There was consensus on the value of the technology and agreement that the efforts to bring the scintigraphy diagnostics to the racetrack should be revitalized.

Emerald Downs President Phil Ziegler concluded the meeting by covering various topics of interest and answering various questions of attendees.

WHBPA Nominating Meeting Per the Washington HBPA bylaws regarding election processes, a membership nominating meeting was held on June 23. President Pat LePley opened the meeting announcing a quorum was present and introduced and thanked current board members for their service. After a review of the election process and eligibility requirements for candidates, nominating committee chair Bob Cappelletti announced the committee’s nominees and then solicited nominations from the floor.

As follows, there was one nominee for president, six nominees for owner director and five nominees for trainer director (incumbents noted with an asterisk). President: Pat LePley*; owner director: Jack Fabulich*, David Israel, Dean Mazzuca, Bill Nicklos, Sue Spooner* and Keith Swagerty*; trainer director: Robbie Baze*, Jeff Metz*, Greg Moore*, Tom Wenzel* and Blaine Wright*.

By July 14, all nominees had submitted an affidavit of candidacy as required by the bylaws. All candidates were confirmed to have met the eligibility requirements; however, Dean Mazzuca requested that he be withdrawn from THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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AFFILIATE NEWS the list of nominees for personal reasons. Mazzuca did agree to serve as first alternate owner director in the event that any owner director could not complete their three-year term and said he would like to serve as a WHBPA director in the future.

At their September meeting, the board of directors followed the bylaws’ procedure for election by acclamation to be utilized in the event that the number of eligible candidates was less than or equal to the number of board positions available (i.e., if all candidates were running unopposed). Upon receipt of candidate affidavits and verification of eligibility, WHBPA staff and the board of directors confirmed the lack of a need for an election. In accordance with the WHBPA bylaws, the board declared election by acclamation for the 2019–21 board of directors and ratified Dean Mazzuca being declared officially as first alternate owner director. The new board members will begin their three-year term of service on October 1, 2018, one week after the original election date (September 24).

Remembering Paul George Former WHRC commissioner and long-time horse racing fan Paul George passed away on August 6. He was 88.

Born on March 28, 1930, in Glendive, Montana, he moved with his family to Tacoma, Washington, in 1941. Paul was an outstanding athlete. In 1947, as quarterback, Paul led his high school football team to their first Tacoma City League Football championship. Attending St. Martin’s College on a football scholarship, Paul graduated with a degree in journalism and English in the spring of 1952 and was drafted that summer into the army. He proudly completed two years of Korean War theatre military service, including 14 months in

Okinawa, Japan.

In 1956 Paul married Janet Marie Poirier. They moved to Moses Lake, where Paul was a reporter for the Columbia Basin Daily Herald. Moving to Yakima in 1957, he joined the staff of the Yakima Herald, working there for 14 years, the last eight as the sports editor. His biweekly column, “George’s Journal,” was enjoyed by many sports fans.

In 1971 Paul was hired by the Yakima Valley Turf Club Inc. as general manager of Yakima Meadows, a position he held for 13 years. Following a stint as marketing director for Portland Meadows, in 1985 he became the director of communications for United Tote Inc., a Billings, Montana, firm supplying computerized wagering systems to the pari-mutuel industry. Retiring in 1996, Paul moved back to Yakima, becoming simulcast director for Yakima Meadows, which was then owned and operated by the Central Washington Fair Association.

Paul wrote numerous articles for Washington Thoroughbred magazine during his years at Yakima Meadows.

After serving on the Yakima City Council in 2001, as deputy mayor in 2002–03 and mayor in 2004–05, Paul was appointed to the Washington Horse Racing Commission by Governor Christine Gregoire in 2006 and was reappointed for an additional term by Governor Jay Inslee. He retired from the commission in 2016. As a commissioner, Paul was a huge advocate for Eastern Washington racing and in the latter years was instrumental in securing funding for the fair meets in the Tri Cities area.

Paul is survived by his three children, Mark, Paulette and Kathleen, and several grandchildren, nieces and nephews. HJ

$150K Maryland Million Classic* Three-year-olds & up, 1 ⁄ mi. $125K Maryland Million Turf* Three-year-olds & up, 1 mi., turf $125K Maryland Million Ladies* Fillies & mares, 3-year-olds & up, 1 ⁄ mi., turf $100K Maryland Million Distaff* A handicap for fillies & mares, 3-year-olds & up, 7 fur. $100K Maryland Million Sprint* A handicap for 3-year-olds & up, 6 fur. $100K Maryland Million Lassie* Fillies, 2-year-olds, 6 fur. $100K Maryland Million Nursery* Two-year-olds, 6 fur. $60K Maryland Million and/or Registered Maryland-Bred Turf Starter Handicap 3-year-olds & up, who have started for a claiming price of $11,000 or less since 1

8

1

8

October 22, 2017, 11⁄8 mi., turf. First preference to Maryland Million-certified horses. This is a starter/ stake.

$60K Maryland Million and/or Registered Maryland-Bred Turf Distaff Starter Handicap Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds & up, who have started for a claiming price

PRE-ENTRY DEADLINE WEDNESDAY, October 10 ENTRY DEADLINE: October 17 CALL to confirm your horse’s eligibility prior to entering—410.252.2100 or at MarylandMillion.com Chris Merz, Racing Secretary/Coleman E. Blind, Stakes Coordinator Laurel Park 1.800.638.1859 or fax 301.725.4561 THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

of $11,000 or less since October 22, 2017, 11⁄8 mi., turf. First preference to Maryland Million-certified horses. This is a starter/stake.

$50K Maryland Million and/or Registered Maryland-Bred Starter Handicap 3-year-olds & up, who have started for a claiming price of $7,500 or less since October 22, 2017, 7f. First preference to Maryland Million-certified horses. This is a starter/ stake.

$50K Maryland Million and/or Registered Maryland-Bred Distaff Starter Handicap Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds & up, who have started for a claiming price of $7,500 or less since October 22, 2017, 7f. First preference to Maryland Million-certified horses.

This is a starter/stake.

$33K Maryland Million Waiver Maiden Claiming Fillies and mares 3-year-

olds & up, 5 1/2 , turf. Claiming price $40,000-$32,000. 1st preference to Maryland Million-certified.

2nd preference to registered MD-breds. (MD-bred and/or MD-sired horses may waive claiming price in this race)

*For horses certified to Maryland Million Ltd. Registered Maryland-breds that are not Maryland Million-sired will be able to pre-enter and race ONLY if the race has less than six (6) Maryland Million-sired entries

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ON THE

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MOVE Please send all address changes either by e-mail to: hj@hbpa.org Or by mail to: The Horsemen’s Journal, P.O. Box 911188, Lexington, KY 40591-1188

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You have a lot invested in your horses. Shouldn’t you invest in the right equipment to train your horses to break on top? True Center Gate has been building the most reliable and durable Starting and Training Gates since 1950.

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advertising deadline

WINTER 2018 64

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ADVERTISING SPACE RESERVATIONS: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26 AD MATERIALS DUE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31 For more information or to reserve space, call The Horsemen’s Journal advertising department at 716-650-4011, advertising@hbpa.org THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2018

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