The Horsemen's Journal - Fall 2020

HORSEMEN’S THE

JOURNAL

FALL 2020

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL CONTENTS | FALL 2020 | VOLUME 67/#3

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

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02

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Two Tracks, One Legacy: The Story of Washington Park

Message from the National HBPA

Turning It Up Two young women launched Amplify Horse Racing to help promote the industry to the next generation

Champion horses and horsemen frequented the famed Chicago track before its fiery demise

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06

Winner’s Circle Redefined A beloved, quirky racehorse named The Player makes a comeback from injury thanks to expert veterinary care

Industry News

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HBPA News

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Research & Medication Update

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Affiliate News Gabapentin: Classic Human Medication Transferring in Trace Amounts to Racehorses This common drug provides a prime example of inadvertent environmental transfer THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

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MESSAGE FROM

THE CEO WHAT’S NEXT FOR HORSE RACING REGULATIONS? NATIONAL HBPA 3380 Paris Pike Lexington, KY 40511 P (859) 259-0451 F (859) 259-0452 racing@hbpa.org www.hbpa.org

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

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n August 31, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that he’s reached a “compromise within the horse racing industry” regarding new safety regulations, which he plans to introduce as legislation.

However, it is my belief that before any compromise can be reached, he needs to meet with the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which includes close to 6,000 Kentucky voters who are members of the Kentucky HBPA and will play a role in his reelection bid.

In his announcement set at Keeneland as the backdrop, McConnell was joined by The Jockey Club, Keeneland, Churchill Downs Incorporated and the Breeders’ Cup. It is with these groups that he has reached a compromise, not the rank-and-file horsemen of this country. He went on to announce plans to introduce legislation titled the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act and stated that he has preliminary support from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).

We also saw Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) announce that he and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) will amend the current Horseracing Integrity Act in the House to mirror the new legislation. I want to make clear that during the announcement the National HBPA was mistakenly cited as supporting the new legislation, but I can assure each of you that the National HBPA was not made aware of any negotiations to reach a compromise until a deal had already been reached.

It is fair to say that the National HBPA would caution our elected leaders not to be misled by the wealthy few in the industry who continue to promote federal legislation in service to their own private interests. After the August 31 announcement, we’re concerned these elite few continue to hold the reins.

Industry compromise? We saw no representative horsemen’s groups, horseplayers, racing commissions or veterinary leadership organizations on stage, and it does not appear that many, if any, were consulted in the announced collaboration. I continue to see this as a slap in the face when our membership, which is made up of owners and trainers throughout the country, want nothing more than increased safety and integrity to secure the strength of the business and our industry.

We have made it well known that we view the original Horseracing Integrity Act as flawed and lacking industry consensus. We can take some pride in the fact that our message has finally been recognized. The bill we have been fighting hard against since 2015 is now done. We have as recently as June been advocating to McConnell that if federal legislation is needed, we believe there should be mandatory equine safety and welfare standards for all racetracks and horsemen that actually promote safety. We have long advocated that the United States Anti-Doping Authority is not the organization that should control our industry’s anti-doping programs.

It appears that McConnell has heard our message and incorporated some of our views. It is my hope that we continue to be a constructive participant at the table—even if I must force our way to a seat. If this legislation is enacted, it is going to require substantial industry support and participation. We must be at the table.

However, several aspects of the new proposed bill remain unclear. How is this new federal government bureaucracy that is planning to oversee horse racing safety regulations nationwide going to be funded? Again, a longstanding concern with the original Horseracing Integrity Act has been just that—defining the funding mechanism. I still believe that any costs passed down to owners, such as a per-start fee described previously, would place a tremendous economic burden on the nearly 473,000 jobs supported by the industry. If the new legislation takes the same approach, the wealthy supporters of the bill will likely control implementation of the bureaucracy, and I believe they will use these new fees to drive the average horsemen out of the business.

What’s next? Before McConnell finalizes text on his piece of legislation, I believe he should meet not just with the people on stage with him at Keeneland but with the real horsewomen and horsemen who will have to live with this new measure. The greatest concern of the National HBPA is protecting the health and safety of horses. The elite who are pushing this bill have mischaracterized the industry and our views in the past. Therefore, if McConnell is serious about hearing from thousands of real Kentuckians, as well as horsewomen and horsemen across the country, we stand ready to meet with him.

SINCERELY, ERIC J. HAMELBACK

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

CONTRIBUTORS

THE

NATIONAL HBPA

AFFILIATES

WOULD LIKE TO THANK ITS CORPORATE

DENIS BLAKE

SPONSORS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AFFILIATES Dr. David Harrington, Alabama Norm Castiglione, Alberta Robert Hutton, Arizona Bill Walmsley, Arkansas David Milburn, British Columbia and Canadian National James Miller, Charles Town Kent Bamford, Colorado Chris Vaccaro, Finger Lakes Stephen Screnci, Florida Jim Watkins, Illinois Joe Davis, Indiana David McShane, Iowa Rick Hiles, Kentucky Benard Chatters, Louisiana Blaine McLaren, Manitoba James Uelmen, Michigan Dr. Scott Rake, Minnesota Jami Poole, Mountaineer Park Robert Moser, Nebraska Anthony Spadea, New England Joe Poole, Ohio David Faulkner, Oklahoma Sue Leslie, Ontario Ron Sutton, Oregon Sandee Martin, Pennsylvania Eddie Esquirol, Saskatchewan Robert Jeffries, Tampa Bay Downs David Ross, Virginia Pat LePley, Washington

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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: Patrick Jennings – 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 67 #3.

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The Horsemen’s Journal is the official publication for members of the Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association, a representative association of Thoroughbred owners and

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FALL 2020

trainers. HBPA is a non-profit 501(c)6 Kentucky corporation. Members receive The Horsemen’s 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.

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COADY PHOTOGRAPHY

AUTHENTIC GIVES TRAINER BOB BAFFERT A SIXTH KENTUCKY DERBY VICTORY.

Authentic Captures the First Kentucky Derby Run on Labor Day Weekend

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historic renewal of the Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs on September 5 saw Authentic claim the garland of roses in the race’s first-ever occurrence on Labor Day weekend. The race was run four months later than originally scheduled and without fans in the stands under the iconic twin spires of the Louisville track due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Owned by Spendthrift Farm LLC, Myracehorse.com, Madaket Stables and Starlight Racing and bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, Authentic led from the start, held off a challenge through the stretch from Tiz the Law and drew away to a 1 ¼-length victory in a time of 2:00.61 for the 1 ¼ miles. Trainer Bob Baffert secured his sixth Kentucky Derby win, tying the all-time record of Ben Jones, and jockey John Velazquez won the Derby for the third time.

Wagering from all sources on the Kentucky Derby Day program totaled $126 million compared to $250.9 million in 2019. All-sources wagering on the

Kentucky Derby race was $79.4 million compared to last year’s $165.5 million.

The decline in handle is attributable to the lack of on-track wagering, fewer horses per race, including in the Kentucky Derby, and a prohibitive favorite in the Derby.

NBC Sports reported an average of 8.3 million viewers with a peak audience of 9.8 million watching the race itself this year. Last year’s running in May attracted an average of 16.3 million viewers. While this year’s audience dropped significantly, the Derby was the most-watched sporting event since Super Bowl LIV in February and the most-watched Labor Day sporting event in three years.

The Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course, normally the second leg of the Triple Crown, will be run as the last leg on October 3 and without fans in attendance. Derby runner-up Tiz the Law captured the Belmont Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park, usually the final leg of the Triple Crown, on June 20.

Thoroughbred Owner Conference To Be Held Virtually During Breeders’ Cup Week

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wnerView has announced that the seventh Thoroughbred Owner Conference, which was scheduled to be held in Lexington, Kentucky, in the week leading up to the Breeders’ Cup, will be conducted in a virtual format on November 3-4, 2020. The conference, presented by Breeders’ Cup, Bessemer Trust and Dean Dorton, was originally planned for July 19-22, 2020, in Saratoga Springs, New York.

“We are committed to offering the owner conference in a safe format for attendees, so we made the decision to move our event online given the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView. “Registrants will

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be able to watch nine panels on a range of topics relevant to Thoroughbred ownership and submit questions to our expert panelists from the comfort of their home or office.”

The registration fee for the virtual conference is $425. For more information about the owner conference, including the full schedule of panels and registration, visit ownerview.com/event/conference or contact Gary Falter at gfalter@jockeyclub.com.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

NEWS

INDUSTRY NEWS

TOBA To Host Annual National Awards Virtually September 26

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he Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association announced that the 35th annual TOBA National Awards will be held virtually from Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa on Saturday, September 26. Hosted by Gabby Gaudet, the awards are open to the public to watch online at TOBA’s Facebook page and at toba.org/2020awards.

The TOBA National Awards honor breeders from 20 states and Canada. Also recognized are the National Owner of the Year and National Owner finalists, National Breeder of the Year, Small Breeder of the Year, National Broodmare of the Year, Racing Partnership of the Year, Rood & Riddle Sport Horse of the Year, National HBPA Claiming Crown Horse of the Year (see page 12), and recipients of the Industry Service Award and the Robert N. Clay Award.

“The TOBA National Awards presentation is a very important event to our industry, as it recognizes outstanding achievements by owners and breeders in 2019,” said Dan Metzger, president of TOBA. “With the health pandemic

upsetting our everyday lives, we are committed to honoring the best in our sport with a virtual broadcast of the TOBA National Awards. We are very grateful to John Sikura for his support and welcoming us to historic Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa. The support of our sponsors and advertisers has been overwhelming, and we look forward to a unique and special evening on September 26.”

The TOBA National Awards are sponsored by Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa, Angeon Group, Limestone Bank, Stonestreet Farm, the National HBPA, The Jockey Club Information Systems, John Deere and National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

Round Table Transcripts and Video Replay Now Available

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fficial transcripts and a video replay from the 68th annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing are now available at jockeyclub.com. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was held virtually.

The conference featured an interview with three-time Tour de France winner and anti-doping advocate Greg LeMond, who talked about his experiences with doping culture in cycling, efforts to clean up the sport through improved testing and harsh penalties and why clean sports are more successful.

Trainers Mark Casse, John Gosden and Jessica Harrington comprised a panel that included discussions on the effects of different breeding, racing and training practices on Thoroughbreds.

Bob Costas, former sportscaster for NBC Sports and current sportscaster for MLB Network and contributor to CNN, touched on his experiences covering the Triple Crown races for NBC as well as the importance of improving equine safety and maintaining integrity in the sport.

Katrina Adams, the immediate past president of the United States Tennis Association, provided an overview of the organization’s efforts to diversify both its players and administration.

Sal Sinatra, the president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club, spoke of his concerns of the claiming system in America and recommended changes to improve the system.

Jason Wilson, Equibase’s president and chief operating officer, delivered a report on the activities of The Jockey Club.

Stuart S. Janney III, the chairman of The Jockey Club, closed the conference with remarks about The Jockey Club’s work with 5 Stones intelligence to examine cheating and integrity concerns in horse racing.

The Jockey Club Round Table Conference was first held on July 1, 1953, in The Jockey Club office in New York City. The following year, it was moved to Saratoga Springs, New York.

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Finalists Announced for 2020 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards

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he finalists for six of the seven prestigious Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards have been announced. This year’s winner of the Thoroughbred Industry Community Award, which has one first-place prize, is Maria Cristina Vasquez with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.

Three finalists in each of the six categories, along with Vasquez, will be recognized at a virtual awards program to be held October 6 at 2 p.m. ET, with the assistance of Studio 46 Media in Lexington, Kentucky.

The shortlist judging panel, the first of two judging panels, collaborated on a video conference call on August 24 to decide the finalists as well as the Community Award winner. The second and final stage of judging will take place in late September.

“The experience of serving on the final judging committee last year was immensely rewarding so I was delighted and honored when asked to serve as chair of this year’s initial shortlist panel,” said panel chair Susan Martin, director of marketing for The Jockey Club Information Systems. “I think we all have an idea of how hard the behind-the-scenes individuals work in our sport, but when you have the opportunity to dig a little deeper into their amazing stories, you truly realize what an impressive group they really are.

“Like so many others during this pandemic, we are having to adjust the way we communicate so we held our judging panel via a virtual teleconference,” she said. “I will say this did not dampen my enthusiasm nor that of the rest of the panel. The importance of these awards is not lost on us, and we, like the final judging panel in September, take this duty to heart. And although the decisions we made in order to narrow down what is a most impressive field were difficult, I think all will see from the list of finalists that we are blessed with an incredible workforce in our industry.

“It’s also so important to recognize Godolphin and Sheikh Mohammed, along with the National HBPA, TOBA, The Jockey Club and Breeders’ Cup, without whose underwriting and additional support these awards would not be possible to implement,” Martin added. “Our media partners as well—BloodHorse, TDN, Daily

Racing Form, TVG, Paulick Report and Fox Sports—all deserve our heartfelt thanks.”

In addition to Martin, the shortlist panel included Stephanie Brennan, industry activist; Corey Johnsen, CJ Racing Stable and former owner of Kentucky Downs; Cate Masterson, executive director of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame; and David Pope, president and co-owner of Siena Farm.

Here are the TIEA finalists: Administration Award Lynelle Fox-Smith—Oregon Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association Michelle Holbrook—Silver Springs Stud Dionne Johnson—New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association Dedication to Breeding Award David Kyle—Fasig-Tipton Company Helen Otero—Coolmore America Steve Avery—Taylor Made Sales Agency Dedication to Racing Award Gregory Smothers—Niall Brennan Stables Marcelo Arenas—Leah Gyarmati Stables Patrick “Shawn” Autry—McPeek Racing Leadership in Breeding Award Matt Lyons—Candy Meadows Farm Wayne Clem—Claiborne Farm Christy Holden—Country Life Farm Leadership in Racing Award Carmen McShane—D/M Racing Cindy Hutter—George Weaver Racing Roy Smith—Indiana Grand Racing and Casino Newcomer Award Robert Cole—Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Alexis Kolasa—Denali Stud Aaron West—Bradley Thoroughbreds Thoroughbred Community Award Winner Maria Cristina Vasquez—New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association

Equine Industry Program Speaker Series Includes Interview with Hall of Fame Jockey Pat Day

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he University of Louisville Equine Industry Program (EIP), with the support of Horse Racing Nation, has organized a free speaker series that focuses on the most current topics in the horse racing industry for fall 2020. The series includes panel discussions on the new business model of horse racing and the shift to virtual business for Kentucky horse sales, as well as an interview with legendary jockey Pat Day. “Our previous panels have focused mainly on the racetrack; however, this year we have added a panel exploring the new dynamic occurring in Kentucky 8

horse sales,” said EIP director Sean Beirne. “The sales companies have shifted the way horse sales are conducted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, completely changing the way horses are purchased and sold. We have a number of students who want to work as bloodstock agents upon graduation, and this will give them insight as to how the business landscape is changing.”

For the third event, Beirne will interview Pat Day, a Hall of Fame jockey and Louisville celebrity. During his long career, Day won numerous riding titles at Churchill Downs and nine Triple Crown races, including the 1992 Kentucky Derby (G1) with Lil E. Tee. THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

NEWS

INDUSTRY NEWS The events will be held monthly on Tuesdays from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. ET, broadcast live on the Horse Racing Nation Facebook page. For more information on the series, contact Liz Young at liz.young@louisville.edu or (502) 852-4865.

Following is the schedule of broadcasts.

September 22—“Racing’s New Reality: Is it Sustainable?”

Is horse racing’s new operational model sustainable for the long run?

Mike Penna (moderator), Owner, Horse Racing Radio Network Chris Kotulak, CEO, Fonner Park Andrew Offerman, VP Racing Operations, Canterbury Park Terry Finley, Founder, West Point Thoroughbreds J ack Jeziorski, EVP, Monarch Content Management (subsidiary of The Stronach Group)

October 13— “Waiting for the Gavel to Fall: Kentucky Horse Sales Go High-Tech” What does a virtual environment mean for the Thoroughbred sales industry? egan Devine (moderator), 2014 EIP alumna, TV personality and founder M of VidHorse Boyd Browning, President/CEO, Fasig-Tipton Company Duncan or Mark Taylor, President or VP of Sales, Taylor Made Sales Agency David Ingordo, prominent bloodstock agent, Ingordo Bloodstock November 10—“An Evening with Hall of Fame Jockey Pat Day” P at Day will recount his highs and lows both on and off the track in an interview with EIP director Sean Beirne.

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Reopens to Public

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he National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame reopened to the public on September 5. The museum had been closed since January for the installation of a new state-of-the-art Hall of Fame experience as well as multiple new and updated exhibitions. The museum has put in place a number of enhanced safety protocols in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is a Saratoga Cares Stay Safe Pledge institution with a commitment to the health of Saratoga County residents, workers and visitors.

The museum will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and per New York state health policies, will allow a maximum of 24 visitors admitted every two hours. Guests are encouraged to purchase tickets online at racingmuseum.org.

“We’re very excited to be open to the public and have the opportunity to share with everyone all the incredible projects that we’ve been working on,” said John Hendrickson, the museum’s president. “We set out with an ambitious goal of being the best and most interactive hall of fame in the country. I believe we have accomplished that goal. Our great sport deserves a showcase venue that everyone can be proud of. This is a game-changer for the museum, and it is everything we hoped it would be when we began the process to reimagine and enliven our institution. The museum is now an essential destination that can’t be missed.”

What It Takes: Journey to the Hall of Fame is a 16-minute film that brings viewers on an amazing journey through the various aspects of Thoroughbred racing and examines the rare honor—given to less than 1 percent of the sport’s participants—of reaching the game’s pinnacle and earning a coveted spot in the Hall of Fame. The immersive theatrical experience conveys the exhilaration of the sport of Thoroughbred racing in America, the passion behind the heritage of the game and the thrill of exploring the stories of what it takes to be among the greatest of the greats in the Hall of Fame.

Filmed and produced by Donna Lawrence Productions of Louisville, Kentucky, and narrated by famed broadcaster Bob Costas, What It Takes: Journey to the Hall of Fame features original footage shot in 8K resolution from various THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

racetracks and Thoroughbred farms throughout the country. Numerous Hall of Fame inductees are highlighted in revealing interviews about their experience in the sport and what it took for them to earn racing’s highest honor.

Following the film, guests are invited to learn about the careers of the 459 Hall of Fame inductees on the theater’s nine interactive stations. Each inductee is represented through an in-depth digital plaque, media gallery and achievements page. More than 100 videos and 2,100 photographs are included in the interactive Hall of Fame exhibit with more media content to be added and updated regularly.

Along with the new signature film and interactive Hall of Fame experience, the museum has made several other exciting new additions and updates.

The museum’s new Race Day Gallery provides both a gateway to build excitement for the Hall of Fame experience and a transition for visitors following the show. Three areas of the racetrack experience are featured—the paddock, the track and the winner’s circle—introducing visitors to the essential elements of a day at the races.

The Race Day Gallery also features a mural by artist Greg Montgomery and a lush soundscape that adds detail and ambiance to the experience through the use of traditional sound elements found at the track, including famous race calls.

Museum guests will have the opportunity to call some of the sport’s most famous events just like a professional track announcer in a new interactive exhibit located in the Race Day Gallery. Featuring an introduction by legendary racecaller Tom Durkin, “Call the Race” provides guests an opportunity to study the race’s video before making the call. Each race is digitally recorded and can be downloaded to keep and relive the experience and share with others.

Since 1894, The Jockey Club’s primary responsibility has been the maintenance of the American Stud Book, ensuring the integrity of the Thoroughbred breed in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The new Jockey Club Gallery transforms the museum’s previous changing special exhibition space (Contemporary Racing Gallery) into a new exhibition devoted to The Jockey Club and its contributions to racing in America.

Other additions and updates include exhibits featuring art, photography and racing trophies. An interactive exhibit titled “Women in Racing” features a timeline of firsts, artifacts, photographs and artwork from the museum’s collection and on loan honoring the women involved in every aspect of Thoroughbred racing in America, including the seven who are in the Hall of Fame.

For more information about the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, including upcoming events, visit racingmuseum.org. HJ 9

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“I look at the DRF breeding news site every morning ... I’m also a fan of the new DRF sire performance standings.”

Kent Barnes Stallion Manager, Shadwell Farm

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Carrie Brogden Machmer Hall, Select Sales

“At WinStar, we rely on the DRF for useful racing data, and as a marketing tool that reaches a wide audience.”

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NEWS

HBPA NEWS ROYAL SQUEEZE NAMED 2019 NATIONAL HBPA CLAIMING CROWN HORSE OF THE YEAR and two thirds from 11 starts and earnings of $221,655. The now 8-year-old gelding by Wildcat Heir was claimed by his current connections for $25,000 in February 2019 and proceeded to win four races in a row at Gulfstream Park including the $100,000 Big Drama Stakes that May. The Florida-bred continued to show his affinity for the Gulfstream surface when he took the $110,000 Claiming Crown Rapid Transit by 1 ¾ lengths with Paco Lopez in the saddle.

Royal Squeeze has continued his good form this year with a win and two thirds from five starts to date. All told, he has won 12 of 45 career starts with earnings of $602,477.

For more information about the Claiming Crown, including the 2020 renewal at Gulfstream Park, go to claimingcrown.com. HJ

COGLIANESE PHOTOS/RYAN THOMPSON

Royal Squeeze has been named the winner of the 2019 National HBPA Claiming Crown Horse of the Year Award. He will be honored at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association National Awards to be held virtually on September 26. The event will be shown online on TOBA’s Facebook page and at toba.org/2020awards.

The NHBPA Industry Awards Committee chooses the Claiming Crown Horse of the Year from among the participants in that year’s Claiming Crown races.

“It’s always a tough decision to pick a winner among all the horses that competed in the Claiming Crown, but Royal Squeeze really epitomizes what this event is all about,” said Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA. “He’s been a consistent runner throughout his career, and we are glad to honor him and all his connections with this award.”

Trained by Elizabeth Dobles and owned by Imaginary Stables and Glenn Ellis, Royal Squeeze had a banner campaign in 2019 with five wins, a second

ROYAL SQUEEZE, A $25,000 CLAIM LAST YEAR, EARNED MORE THAN DOUBLE THAT AMOUNT JUST IN HIS 2019 CLAIMING CROWN RAPID TRANSIT VICTORY.

12

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

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NEWS

RESEARCH AND MEDICATION UPDATE

Gluck Equine Research Foundation Looks to Future with Equine Biological Passport The Gluck Equine Research Foundation at the University of Kentucky is developing an equine biological passport (EBP) that aims to identify specific biomarkers that will detect drug use by monitoring changes to peptides and protein abundance and monitoring those biomarkers over time. The goals of this program are to elevate equine research at UK, to serve as a platform to impact policy change and drug testing protocols and to further understand the impact of drugs and medications on Thoroughbred racehorses.

The EBP is an evolving research program, which is designed to expand and be flexible enough to address new challenges, such as bio-therapeutics. Over the next several years, the Gluck Center will continue to validate and refine the EBP program to position it as a tool for the industry. In addition, it will provide the scientific data needed to support changes in rules and regulations that will allow prosecution of violators and prevent at-risk horses from entering competitions.

“At Stonestreet, we are proud of our integrity, our commitment to a level playing field and our focus on the health of the horse above all else,” said Barbara Banke, owner of Stonestreet Stables and Stonestreet Farms. “An equine biological passport will give us a comprehensive program that provides full transparency for both competition and out-of-competition testing, for every stakeholder.

“We will contribute $100,000 toward this project, and I encourage all stakeholders to consider a tax-deductible gift as an investment in the future of the racing industry,” Banke continued.

For more information about this project, go to gluck.ca.uky.edu. Funding for this project is entirely dependent on private support. HJ

ACKERLEY IMAGES

“In the last few years we have seen too many negative headlines around equine drug use,” said Scott Stanley, Ph.D., professor of analytical chemistry at the Gluck Equine Research Center and director of the Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. “As a research scientist, with 30 years of regulatory drug testing experience, my team and I know this is a problem we cannot currently solve. We know that it takes time to develop new tests for each new emerging drug, so we will always be behind. We know that each horse metabolizes drugs at a different rate, making standard clearance and withdrawal times confusing. In addition, we know that there are environmental factors, human interactions and hundreds of other variables that can impact our current drug testing procedures. The EBP program is a tool that will enable us to rapidly identify new drugs and measure the physiological effect on the equine athlete. These data will be critical in differentiating between intentional doping and accidental contaminants, which can smear the industry image and damage reputations.”

16

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

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DATE

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PURSE

RESTRICTIONS

DISTANCE

FRI, JAN 22, 2021 SAT, JAN 23, 2021 SAT, JAN 23, 2021 SAT, JAN 30, 2021 SAT, JAN 30, 2021 SAT, FEB 6, 2021 SAT, FEB 13, 2021 SAT, FEB 13, 2021

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3YRS 4YRS & UP, F & M 4YRS & UP 3YRS, FILLIES 4YRS & UP, F & M 4YRS & UP 4YRS & UP 3YRS, FILLIES

1 MILE 1 MILE 1 MILE 1 MILE 6 FURLONGS 6 FURLONGS 1 1/16 MILES 6 FURLONGS

MON, FEB 15, 2021 MON, FEB 15, 2021 SAT, FEB 20, 2021 SAT, FEB 27, 2021 SAT, MARCH 6, 2021 SAT, MARCH 13, 2021

SOUTHWEST (G3) BAYAKOA (G3) DOWNTHEDUSTYROAD SPRING FEVER HONEYBEE (G3) TEMPERENCE HILL

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3YRS 4YRS & UP, F & M 4YRS & UP, F & M (AR) 4YRS & UP, F & M 3YRS, FILLIES 4YRS & UP

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HOT SPRINGS AZERI (G2) ESSEX HANDICAP REBEL (G2) GAZEBO NODOUBLE FANTASY (G3) PURPLE MARTIN ARKANSAS DERBY (G1) COUNT FLEET SPRINT HANDICAP (GR. 3) OAKLAWN MILE CAROUSEL RAINBOW MISS RAINBOW OAKLAWN HANDICAP (G2) APPLE BLOSSOM HANDICAP (G1) BACHELOR ARKANSAS BREEDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP OAKLAWN INVITATIONAL

$200,000 $350,000 $500,000 $1,000,000 $150,000 $150,000 $600,000 $200,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $400,000 $250,000 $150,000 $150,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $200,000 $200,000 $300,000

4YRS & UP 4YRS & UP, F & M 4YRS & UP 3YRS 3YRS 3YRS & UP (AR) 3YRS, FILLIES 3YRS, FILLIES 3YRS 4YRS & UP 4YRS & UP 4YRS & UP, F & M 3YRS, FILLIES (AR) 3YRS (AR) 4YRS & UP 4YRS & UP, F & M 3YRS 3YRS & UP (AR) 3YRS

6 FURLONGS 1 1/16 MILES 1 1/16 MILES 1 1/16 MILES 6 FURLONGS 6 FURLONGS 1 1/16 MILES 6 FURLONGS 1 1/8 MILES 6 FURLONGS 1 MILE 6 FURLONGS 6 FURLONGS 6 FURLONGS 1 1/8 MILES 1 1/16 MILES 6 FURLONGS 1 1/16 MILES 1 1/8 MILES

JANUARY S

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7 14 21 28

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2 9 16 23

3 10 17 24

4 11 18 25

5 12 19 26

6 13 20 27

MARCH S

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1 8 15 22 29

2 9 16 23 30

3 4 10 11 17 18 24 25 31

5 12 19 26

6 13 20 27

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1

FEATURE

TWO TRACKS, ONE LEGACY

THE STORY OF WASHINGTON PARK

Champion horses and horsemen frequented the famed Chicago track before its fiery demise

By J. Keeler Johnson

I

f you wanted to see the best horses in America during the 1940s and 1950s, you just needed to spend your summer at Washington Park. At one time or another, virtually all the great champions would stop by

for a visit.

CLASS ON THE GRASS

Participation from Calumet Farm and the Jones Boys waned during the 1950s, coinciding with the decline of the Calumet stable as a whole. This shift could have dealt a blow to Washington Park’s national prominence, but two interrelated factors combined to keep the facility in the spotlight. One was the ongoing success of the American Derby. The other was the rising popularity of turf racing.

The turf course at Washington Park was state-of-the-art; together with Arlington Park, which shared common ownership and management, the two tracks were the first in North America to install banked turns. At a time when grass racing in North America was only just gaining a foothold, Washington Park was quick to embrace its growing popularity.

“Grass racing became quite popular at the two Chicago tracks, both for the fans and the horsemen,” wrote William Boniface in Baltimore’s The Evening

Sun of April 19, 1958. “Trainers found that some of their horses improved when racing on the softer surface.”

Pursuing the trend wholeheartedly, Washington Park turned the American Derby into a 1 3/16-mile grass race in 1955. Nowadays, such a move would be roughly equivalent to switching Monmouth Park’s prestigious Haskell Invitational to turf, though at the time horsemen harbored no fear of racing high-class dirt horses on grass, and the quality of the American Derby hardly suffered.

To prove the point, the first running on grass saw Kentucky Derby winner Swaps start as the 1-5 favorite. Any concerns bettors might have had regarding Swaps’ proclivity for grass were eliminated when the speedy colt took to the Washington Park turf course for a five-furlong workout two days before the race.

He rocketed the distance in :57 2/5, eclipsing the North American grass record by two seconds, and he proceeded to dominate the American Derby in the courserecord time of 1:54 3/5, equaling the American record.

Before the race, “[jockey] Bill Shoemaker entertained the crowd by riding Swaps along the outer rail in the post parade and permitting fans to stroke the face and neck of the well-mannered colt,” wrote Joe Hirsch in The First Century: Daily Racing Form Chronicles 100 Years of Thoroughbred Racing.

The surface switch was less lucrative for the connections of 1956 Kentucky

WHILE TURF RACING IS BOTH COMMON AND POPULAR TODAY, IT WAS STILL RELATIVELY NEW TO AMERICAN HORSES AND HORSEMEN IN THE MID-20TH CENTURY.

KEENELAND LIBRARY THOROUGHBRED TIMES COLLECTION

20

THE HORSEMEN’S THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL JOURNAL SUMMER FALL2020 2020

THE MATCH RACE

There’s a reason why folks called Eddie Arcaro “the Master.”

The acclaimed jockey of Triple Crown winners Whirlaway and Citation was a 39-year-old veteran when he arrived at Washington Park to ride in the greatest race the Chicago track ever held—a highly anticipated and widely publicized $100,000 match race between 1955 Kentucky Derby winner Swaps and Preakness/Belmont winner Nashua, organized through the patience and perseverance of track owner Benjamin Lindheimer.

Arcaro, scheduled to ride the stoutly bred Nashua, had done his homework to prepare the winning strategy. Legendary trainer “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons had conditioned Nashua with fast workouts to build his speed, and Arcaro intended to commit Nashua to a front-running gambit. Match races are often won by whichever horse can secure the early advantage, and after allowing Swaps to gain an uncontested lead in the Kentucky Derby—which possibly contributed to Nashua’s surprising runner-up effort—Arcaro wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

But Arcaro’s preparations didn’t stop there. Two days before the August 31 match race, the skies opened up in Chicago, dumping 2 ½ inches of rain on Washington Park. The track would dry to some extent by post time, but it wouldn’t be fast, and Arcaro suspected it might be uneven.

Before he legged up for the ride of his life, Arcaro decided to get up close and personal with the racing surface that would hold the attention of 35,262 racing fans plus countless more watching and listening via television and radio broadcasts.

KEENELAND LIBRARY MORGAN COLLECTION

Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Needles. The acclaimed Florida-bred colt was favored to win the American Derby, and probably would have done so on dirt, but the unfamiliar footing—made soft and slippery by heavy rain and a thunderstorm—conspired to leave Needles in fifth place behind local star Swoon’s Son. Swoon’s Son was hardly a fluke, for he retired with no fewer than 10 Washington Park stakes victories to his credit, but the defeat of Needles surely left some folks wondering why a historic race like the American Derby was being conducted over a new-fangled racing surface.

Fortunately for the reputation of the American Derby, a shining knight came to the rescue. Within racing circles, the exploits of Round Table are just as legendary as tales of King Arthur and his knights among the broader population.

Voted Horse of the Year in 1958, Round Table won many of racing’s most prestigious handicaps on dirt, but he was a nearly unstoppable beast on grass, winning the turf championship title from 1957 to 1959. He would also become renowned for his ability to carry high weights and battle his way to victory.

Round Table was especially formidable at Washington Park, where he compiled a near-perfect seven-for-eight record. In the 1957 American Derby, he led all the way to score by four effortless lengths over Kentucky Derby winner Iron Liege.

John McEvoy recounted in his book, Round Table: Thoroughbreds Legends, how longtime Chicago track executive William Thayer was in attendance for Round Table’s trouncing of the American Derby: “ ‘I saw him many times after that,’ Thayer said in 2001, ‘and believe me, there was no better grass horse than Round Table. He could carry the grandstand and win.’ ”

NASHUA AND EDDIE ARCARO LEAD SWAPS AND BILL SHOEMAKER IN THE FAMOUS 1955 MATCH RACE.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

21

KEENELAND LIBRARY MORGAN COLLECTION

FEATURE

THE OUTCOME OF THE MATCH RACE WAS DECISIVE, WITH NASHUA BEATING SWAPS BY 6 ½ LENGTHS.

TRANSITION TO TROTTERS AND THE SEVENTIES’ STRUGGLES

As the 1960s dawned, changes were in the air at Washington Park. Ben Lindheimer, a brilliant owner and manager for a quarter of a century, passed away in 1960. His daughter, Marjorie “Marje” Lindheimer Everett, assumed command of both Washington Park and Arlington Park, having previously worked alongside her father.

COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

“Arcaro had studied the track and noted a path that seemed better than others,” wrote Edward L. Bowen in Nashua: Thoroughbred Legends. “It was a bit to the right of the inside post position, at least at the break.”

Ultimately, the match race between Nashua and Swaps would become muddled by uncertainties surrounding the apparent unsoundness of Swaps, who was battling a hoof issue possibly aggravated by the muddy track. Some argue the results were inconclusive, but no one ever debated the flawless ride executed by Arcaro.

In the days before the match race, Arcaro openly pondered his potential race strategy with the media. While he praised Nashua’s ability to break quickly from the starting gate, Arcaro indicated he wouldn’t necessarily pursue the early advantage. “You can’t let the other horse steal a big lead,” Arcaro said in an article by Harry Grayson published in The Miami News of August 28, 1955. “But I’m not going to whip Nashua in an effort to have him keep pace with Swaps in the early going.”

Perhaps Arcaro changed his mind when the rains came and the importance of securing the best lane became paramount. Or perhaps Arcaro had been trying to fool his opponents. In any case, when the starting gates opened at 4:18 p.m. local time, Arcaro wisely threw his publicly stated strategy out the window.

“Crashing his whip and his vocal cords in unison, the Master reverted to being an apprentice on a half-mile track,” wrote Bowen.

Shouting encouragement to Nashua and urging him to accelerate, Arcaro convinced the great colt to break like a rocket and out-sprint Swaps in the battle for early supremacy.

From there, Arcaro quickly guided Nashua to the best footing, and the outcome became a formality. Swaps tried to stay in touch, but Nashua—carving out fast fractions over the tiring track—burned out his pursuer and pulled away down the stretch to win by 6 ½ lengths.

Maybe Swaps wasn’t fit and ready for a peak run against a topclass horse like Nashua. But the Master’s perfect ride undoubtedly sealed the outcome.

STANDARDBRED RACING CAME TO WASHINGTON PARK IN 1962, BUT IT PROVED LESS POPULAR THAN THOROUGHBRED RACING.

22

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

WINTER RACING SUCCEEDS AT MANY TRACKS TODAY BECAUSE OF SIMULCASTING, BUT IT DID NOT PAY OFF AT WASHINGTON PARK.

Under Everett’s management, Washington Park changed its course—quite literally. In 1962, Washington Park transitioned from a Thoroughbred track to a facility for harness racing. The 1 1/8-mile oval was shortened to a mile, and a large investment was made installing electric lights to facilitate night racing.

“Washington Park this fall will be the meeting ground of harness racing’s champions,” remarked N. Orrin Baker, director of racing for the Washington Park Trotting Association, in the Chicago Tribune of June 10, 1962. “They will compete under the truest racing conditions possible, at a plant which may have its equal but certainly no peer among the nation’s leading harness tracks.”

Thoroughbred racing at Washington Park didn’t dry up immediately. Plans called for the track to offer both types of racing, and in 1963, future champion handicap mare Old Hat rolled to a decisive victory in the Four Winds Stakes, becoming the last champion Thoroughbred to compete at Washington Park.

But the Thoroughbred stakes program was gutted, with historic fixtures transferred to Arlington Park. Before long, Washington Park’s Thoroughbred dates were also shifted to Arlington, consolidating the meets and allowing Washington Park to move full-steam ahead with harness racing.

The nail in the coffin, at least for a time, came in 1964 when the track’s Thoroughbred paddock area was demolished to make room for a parking lot.

“The chute and chute fence also have been removed,” wrote James Segreti in the Chicago Tribune of May 10, 1964, “and tons of top soil or ‘cushion’ for [Thoroughbreds] have been hauled to Arlington Park. Who said there still was a possibility that runners would return to the Homewood mile plant?”

Jockeys and trainers like Eddie Arcaro and Ben Jones were replaced in the spotlight by acclaimed harness drivers. Bob Farrington, a member of the Harness Racing Museum’s Hall of Fame, was the leading driver at Washington Park on six occasions between 1964 and 1970. Farrington made history in 1964 when he became the first driver to win more than 300 races in a single year, and 140 of those triumphs came at Washington Park.

Occasionally, Thoroughbreds did return to the Homewood oval. A 36-day spring meet was held at Washington Park in 1970, but attendance was poor and THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

wagering totals disappointing, turning the meet into a one-time experiment.

There were other changes afoot. Racing dates shifted frequently throughout the 1970s as the Illinois Racing Board tried to identify the most profitable schedule for the state’s many Thoroughbred and harness racing tracks.

Sometimes Washington Park would hold two cards in a single day—one in the afternoon, one in the evening—with a total of 20 races on the agenda.

Ownership and management interests shifted just as often as racing dates. A merger between Marje Everett’s Chicago Thoroughbred Enterprises and Gulf and Western Industries shifted control of Arlington and Washington parks out of Everett’s hands, and in 1970, Everett stepped down from her position as managing director of both tracks.

Changes continued when Madison Square Garden Corp., based in New York, acquired Chicago Thoroughbred Enterprises. The dust had barely settled before a court ruled the new ownership group owed $5.6 million in back taxes stemming from the incorrect taxation of Arlington and Washington parks as separate subsidiary businesses between 1966 and 1971. In addition, the Illinois Racing Board called for capital improvements across all of Illinois’ racetracks, with the backstretch facilities at Washington Park requiring particular attention.

It seemed Washington Park was under fire from all directions. As it turned out, the track’s days would be numbered due to fire of a different kind.

THE END OF THE LINE

Jockey Dave Shepherd failed to reach the Washington Park winner’s circle on Saturday, February 5, 1977. The up-and-coming 19-year-old had won seven races in January at Washington Park, making him one of the top apprentice jockeys on the circuit, but lately his luck had been as cold as the winter weather in Chicago.

With a losing streak of 40 races and counting, Shepherd could only shrug and look forward to Sunday. Another day would bring another nine races, and 23

COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

FEATURE

ONCE THE FIRE AT WASHINGTON PARK STARTED, LITTLE COULD BE DONE TO STOP IT.

COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

departed for the evening. Most of the track employees followed; only one guard Shepherd was scheduled to ride six appealing mounts, including morning line and a switchboard operator stayed behind. favorite Glad’s Jewell in the opener.

Then the fire broke out.

Sadly, those Sunday races would never be run.

Track officials had long been aware that Washington Park was a fire Winter racing at Washington Park was an experiment sadly destined for hazard. With its largely wooden grandstand, there was plenty of material to failure. On September 30, 1976, the Illinois Racing Board took a bold new step fuel a massive blaze. Millions of dollars had already been invested in protective and authorized Thoroughbred racing at Washington Park between January 1 and March 6, 1977. With the goal of generating more revenue, the track would race every day except Tuesdays, with first post time on weekdays taking place at 3 p.m. The majority of the cards would be held at night under the lights to accommodate workers looking for an evening of entertainment.

“Research shows there are at least 26,000 workers in the area who get off factory shifts at 2:30 to 3 p.m., all within 15 miles of Washington Park,” noted track president Joseph Joyce in the Chicago Tribune of December 29, 1976. “This will give them an opportunity to make the races.”

Of course, racing during the dreadfully cold Chicago winters presented new challenges. An expert trackman from Canada was brought in to care for the racing surface, since none of the Illinois regulars had experience maintaining Thoroughbred racetracks during the winter. Jockeys bundled up heavily to withstand the cold; The (Chicago) Daily Herald noted they were “dressed as [mummies] with layers of clothes, ski masks, goggles, and finally racing silks,” enduring “the minus-60 degree wind chill factors on the back of a galloping Thoroughbred.”

Attendance was modest, and wagering fell short of expectations, but despite the challenges, racing went on. When the races concluded THE FIRE DESTROYED THE ENTIRE GRANDSTAND AND BROUGHT AN END TO RACING on February 5, nearly 6,500 racegoers funneled out of the grandstand and FOREVER AT WASHINGTON PARK. 24

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

HORSES TRAINING AT WASHINGTON PARK IN 1963.

measures throughout the facility, but planned sprinklers and smoke alarms had not yet been installed.

By the time firefighters were alerted to the blaze, it was too late.

Fast and furious, flames swept through Washington Park’s grandstand. The five-story wooden structure burned quickly on a windy winter night. Firefighters fought hard to confine the blaze and prevent it from spreading to the stable area, where 1,200 horses were endangered. The Daily Leader in Pontiac, Illinois, noted on February 7 that three firefighters were treated for frostbite after the fire was extinguished, and while the barns were saved, the grandstand was completely destroyed.

“There had been some inroads made in the fireproofing plans, but not enough in time,” Homewood Fire Chief Joseph Klauk told The Daily Herald. “If [sprinklers] and smoke detection devices had been installed we would have had earlier notification and a good chance to extinguish the fire before it did much damage.”

And the damages—monetarily speaking—were substantial. No injuries were reported, but William L. Masterson, executive secretary of the Illinois Racing Board, estimated $15 million in losses. The fire “destroyed computers, ticket machines and saddles,” according to The San Bernardino County Sun. Shepherd was among the jockeys to lose belongings in the blaze.

“Nobody knows what happened but it was burned to the ground within an hour,” he told Joe O’Day in the February 24 New York Daily News. “Most of the

jocks lost everything. I know I lost $2,000 in tack.”

“It burned pretty fast, being an old structure without fire stops or walls,” agreed Klauk in The Daily Leader.

The fire brought a swift end to Illinois’ winter racing season and—though no one knew it at the time—all racing at Washington Park. Two development plans for the property were outlined in 1978, including one that would have seen the racetrack rebuilt, but nothing came of them. “A source close to the situation says that Madison Square Garden sees little chance for rebuilding Washington Park,” wrote Mike Kiley in the Chicago Tribune of April 20, 1978.

“The corporation believes that such an action is not financially worthwhile.”

Homewood completed the purchase of the Washington Park property in 1992, and the area was redeveloped. Just like old Washington Park before it, evidence of the once-grand track quickly disappeared as streets and buildings—progress—burst forth. Stroll down Maple Avenue in Homewood and you’ll tread the ground where Whirlaway and Citation once galloped. Where Swaps and Nashua dueled. Where Ben Jones, Jimmy Jones, Eddie Arcaro, Steve Brooks and so many others were frequent visitors to the winner’s circle.

“And to one unfamiliar with the past, it would be difficult to imagine that … one of America’s premier racing plants there flourished.”

John Hervey was writing of old Washington Park. But his sentiment remains applicable across generations. HJ

J. Keeler Johnson is a writer, videographer and horse racing enthusiast who contributes to BloodHorse, America’s Best Racing, BetAmerica, TwinSpires and Horse Racing Nation. A passionate fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in North America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite.

Editor’s Note: American Racehorse thanks the Keeneland Library (keeneland.com/keeneland-library) for providing many of the wonderful photographs for this article, as well as for many previous historical articles in this publication. Thanks also go to the Homewood Historical Society (homewoodhistoricalsociety. com) for additional photos. The Society runs a museum in Homewood that includes memorabilia from Washington Park. Part 1 of this article is available at hbpa.org.

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COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

FEATURE

COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

THE ENORMITY OF THE WASHINGTON PARK GRANDSTAND, CLUBHOUSE AND TRACK SURFACES CAN BE SEEN IN THIS 1974 PHOTO.

AND THE ENORMITY OF THE DEVASTATING FIRE CAN BE SEEN IN THIS 1978 PHOTO WITH THE GRANDSTAND AND CLUBHOUSE IN RUINS.

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COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

A HISTORICAL MARKER IS NOW ALL THAT REMAINS OF WASHINGTON PARK.

COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

FIRE HAD LONG BEEN CONSIDERED A THREAT TO THE TRACK.

THE NOW DEFUNCT WASHINGTON PARK AIRPORT, LOCATED NEAR THE TRACK, OFFERED SHUTTLE SERVICE FROM THE AIRFIELD TO THE RACES FOR HORSEMEN AND FANS ARRIVING BY PLANE. THE TRACK WAS ALSO ACCESSIBLE BY TRAIN. COURTESY HOMEWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

WASHINGTON PARK, PICTURED CIRCA 1930, NOT ONLY HAD AN ELONGATED GRANDSTAND AND STRETCH RUN BUT IT ALSO FEATURED ONE OF THE TALLEST TOWERS OF ANY TRACK, PRESUMABLY CONTAINING THE ANNOUNCER, STEWARDS AND PHOTO FINISH EQUIPMENT.

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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 BMFFEFS4IJFME. 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 Bleeder4IJFME 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 Bleeder4IJFME To understand how UIF QBTUF 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 Bleeder4IJFME,

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 Bleeder4IJFME was effective at minimizing blood loss in horses.1 What surprised us the most about Bleeder4IJFME 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 Bleeder4IJFME. 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 Bleeder4IJFME 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, Bleeder4IJFME 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 Bleeder4IJFME this month, you’ll receive $10 off your first order by using promo code HJ10 at checkout.

You can order Bleeder4IJFME today at www.Bleeder4IJFME.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.

FEATURE

TURNING

AMPLIFY HORSE RACING CONDUCTED IN-PERSON EVENTS LAST YEAR AT SARATOGA AND KEENELAND FOR YOUTH, YOUNG ADULTS AND INDUSTRY NEWCOMERS, AND THIS YEAR, THERE HAS BEEN AN ADDED FOCUS ON VIRTUAL/ONLINE EDUCATION.

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IT UP W hen a pair of Godolphin Flying Start students were introduced and learned they had the same goals for growing racing, they hatched an idea that evolved into Amplify Horse Racing, which has made a big splash since its inception in July 2019.

Madison Scott and Annise Montplaisir, both in their mid-20s, were introduced to racing in what they call “roundabout” ways. Scott, who works for Solis/Litt Bloodstock in Lexington, Kentucky, got hooked on the sport through a chance encounter of flipping on the television when Smarty Jones was running in the Belmont Stakes, and Montplaisir came to the sport thanks to a horse racing movie. Knowing from experience that it can be difficult for outsiders to learn about racing and break into it, they quickly saw the need for change if the sport is to survive and thrive.

“I had a roundabout journey into the industry, but my journey isn’t much different from a lot of my friends who came to it in a roundabout, random way,” Montplaisir said. “I saw a movie about a racehorse, and I was fortunate to live next to a small racetrack. That allowed me to get involved and start doing some hands-on learning on a very small scale. It was still through my perseverance and determination that I reached out to people and sought out opportunities.

I’m incredibly grateful that there are a lot of people in this industry that do want

Two young women launched Amplify Horse Racing to help promote the industry to the next generation

BY MELISSA BAUER-HERZOG PHOTOS COURTESY AMPLIFY HORSE RACING

to educate young people and see them do well, but at the same time I want to make that process a lot easier for other people who want to get in.”

The initial development of Amplify came about in part due to Godolphin Flying Start, a two-year program run by Godolphin in Ireland that provides leadership and management training for those interested in a career in racing.

Scott’s Flying Start business plan focused on forming a kids’ racing club in the United States, and additional discussions with Montplaisir fleshed out and evolved the idea. From there, it turned into what it is today. Amplify is far from being a finished product, and both women say it’s set to expand even more in the coming years.

“We all do a plan at the end of the course before you graduate,” Scott explained about the Flying Start program. “You have to interview people for it and think of a concept. What I wanted to do was create an American club for kids to learn more about horse racing in the U.S. I’ve always had an interest in promoting racing just given my background and seeing the lack of resources available to someone looking to get into the industry.

“From there, I met Annise,” she continued. “She was so like-minded in so many ways with her goals and wanting to contribute in a positive way to education and careers in racing. Jason Litt [of Solis/Litt Bloodstock] and Price Bell Jr. [of Nicoma Bloodstock], as well, have been hugely influential. They are just great like-minded people who are very supportive and understand the need for an organization like this within racing.”

I’m incredibly grateful that there are a lot of people in this industry that do want to educate young people and see them do well, but at the same time I want to make that process a lot easier for other people who want to get in.

– Annise Montplaisir

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FEATURE “We’ll be able to directly target educators, which automatically increases our outreach among students,” Montplaisir explained. “It’s one thing if you can present it to just a class of kids, but if you can put it in front of educators, they have access to so many more students to be able to reach this information.”

In addition to targeting those who have interests in agriculture and horses, Amplify also has worked to bring in those who may not have had a lot of prior knowledge of the sport.

Last summer, Amplify collaborated with the New York Racing Association to hold enhanced educational backside tours for people who didn’t have previous racing exposure. This year, Montplaisir spent part of the summer in Saratoga working with the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, where Amplify was part of its virtual programming.

In another important role, Amplify has helped raise money for scholarships as part of its educational efforts. Last fall, in partnership with Keeneland and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Amplify helped raise $30,000 in additional scholarship money for the track’s scholarship day.

Opening Doors

MADISON SCOTT (LEFT) AND ANNISE MONTPLAISIR MET THROUGH THE GODOLPHIN FLYING START PROGRAM, AND NOW THE TWO ARE LOOKING TO HELP OTHERS GET INTO HORSE RACING.

An Educational Focus The main mission of Amplify is to teach people not only the basics about racing but also about the educational programs and careers that exist in the industry.

Amplify’s website was created with the goal of simplifying the steps needed to learn more about racing so more people stay engaged and interested. For both women, this was important as they recognize that even finding basic information outside of handicapping and racehorse ownership can be difficult.

“At this point, if someone wants to get into the Thoroughbred industry or they decide they’re interested in it and they Google ‘how do I get into horse racing?,’ the results generally include something about handicapping or racing partnerships,” Montplaisir said. “A lot of that information isn’t necessarily relevant to a newcomer and to teaching them how to take those steps into [careers in] the industry. If we can be a singular platform that provides this cohesive work with all of these different groups, then somebody can land on Amplify, learn what the Thoroughbred industry is, what they can expect from this, what the different sectors are, and it can be a vessel for understanding and also promoting what the industry has.”

One major focus for Amplify is educating those who already have an interest in horses and agriculture and expanding that interest to include racing. The program has been working with 4-H groups and other youth educational programs to help kids learn more about the career paths available to them in racing.

Amplify’s work with these programs has led to educators reaching out to learn how they can incorporate what Amplify is doing into their own curriculum.

Amplify will be connecting with teachers even further in December when Montplaisir and Scott present at the National Association of Agriculture Educators Convention.

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Amplify intended to do more in-person engagement in 2020, but with the global pandemic, that plan had to be scrapped. However, Montplaisir says it has allowed them to do more virtual conferences and hold virtual horse racing hangouts. Instead of the person-to-person interaction that would be restricted to one location, people from all over can come together virtually to learn about industry opportunities.

“Every month has a different theme about a different sector of the Thoroughbred industry, and we have a different panel that comes on to talk about their careers and their educational journeys,” she explained. “It doesn’t matter what region you’re from or if you live next to a racetrack. If a youth or young adult or a person of any age wants to tune in and learn about an industry career, maybe they’ll feel inspired and then will take the next steps to move closer to the industry or pursue the next step in their education. The wider we can open these doors and the more accessible we can make it, hypothetically the more people we’ll bring in in the process.”

For Scott, everything Amplify is doing is important because the sport is such a niche market that it’s hard for people to learn much about it. She’s found that once someone gets into racing, the people in the industry are more than happy to help, but it can be hard to find the open doors to connect with those people.

“Our doors are open; racing is so welcoming and receptive to new people once you actually get into the sport,” she explained. “But for people to be inter-

AMPLIFY HOPES TO ATTRACT MORE YOUNG PEOPLE TO THE SPORT ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ALREADY HAVE AN INTEREST IN HORSES BUT PERHAPS HAVE NOT BEEN EXPOSED TO RACING.

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ested in joining the sport, they have to first know that racing exists. That’s really where we’re at in this country. I fell into racing by absolute chance, having seen it on television. Most people don’t grab things like that so no one knows we exist. “ Scott added that learning about the sport through following Smarty Jones’ runners and correspondence with Three Chimneys Farm helped pique her interest in the sport. As that interest grew in her teenage years, she took the next step by moving to Kentucky for college, where she saw just how welcoming the sport is.

“In 2012, I moved up here and went to the University of Kentucky,” she said of her journey into horse racing. “Once you’re in Lexington, that’s when my career in racing was able to take off like so many others; the opportunities in Lexington are endless once you’re here. There are so many people out there willing to teach young people, willing to help them however they can. I was fortunate to be the recipient of a lot of mentoring and people taking the time to teach me as a young kid. I worked all through college in every facet of the industry I could think of and was fortunate to get on Flying Start after university and did that program for two years and then started with my current program at Solis/Litt Bloodstock.”

Beyond the Racing Bubble Montplaisir admits it’s easy to get sucked into the Thoroughbred industry and forget that others outside racing don’t know about the sport. She’s hoping to add a formal mentorship program to Amplify in the future, but for those who want to help now, she says that just sharing social media posts and telling those they know outside racing about the sport can go a long way.

“Sometimes we become so focused on what we have in our own little Thoroughbred industry bubble, and we have to think of how we can reach people that have no idea our bubble exists,” she said. “So, if you know somebody, a teacher or educator, anyone who is outside the industry, tell them about Amplify.

That’s another way that this awareness is going to continue increasing.”

Even if people don’t have time to volunteer for a program like Amplify, Scott hopes everyone in the industry will join in on doing something to help fan development. Even simply telling a person who reaches out to them about the Amplify website can go a long way in turning that person into a lifelong member of the industry.

“This is important,” she said. “Whether or not you care about educating fans and bringing more fans into racing, it’s crucially important for our sport to survive. I hope people can see that and recognize we need to do that as an industry, whether or not they’re personally interested. The most basic way [to help Amplify’s mission] is just talking to people about horse racing and giving them our website so they have a centralized place to go to learn more.”

At the end of the day, both women think that most in the industry feel the same passion they do about horse racing. As stated in Amplify’s mission, their biggest goal is just to let people know racing exists and to share in the same excitement industry members feel every time they see a Thoroughbred.

“We want to amplify the horse racing industry and the Thoroughbred industry,” Montplaisir said. “We’re all in this industry because we’re passionate about it and we have a love for it. Let’s amplify that and make sure other people can learn about it and access this incredible place that we’re already in.”

To learn more about Amplify Horse Racing, visit amplifyhorseracing.org. HJ Based in Lexington, Kentucky, Melissa Bauer-Herzog is a freelance journalist and the owner of Pyrois Media, a marketing and bloodstock research agency.

Whether or not you care about educating fans and bringing more fans into racing, it’s crucially important for our sport to survive. I hope people can see that and recognize we need to do that as an industry, whether or not they’re personally interested. – Madison Scott

IT CAN BE DIFFICULT FOR OUTSIDERS TO GET A LOOK AT RACEHORSES UP CLOSE, SO AMPLIFY WORKED WITH NYRA TO HOLD ENHANCED EDUCATIONAL BACKSIDE TOURS.

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MONTPLAISIR'S INTEREST WAS SPARKED IN PART BY ATTENDING RACES AT THE NORTH DAKOTA HORSE PARK IN FARGO, A LONG WAY FROM ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST ICONIC TRACKS.

33

Erin Shea

DENIS BLAKE

SECURING A FUTURE FOR OUR HORSES. SECURING A FUTURE FOR OUR SPORT.

www.thoroughbredaftercare.org (859) 224-2756 34

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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2020 ITOBA

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THE SOURCE FOR THE INDIANA RACEHORSE! Catalogs available online at ITOBA.com and DuaneSwingleyAuctions.com Request a catalog by mail by contacting duaneswingleyauctioneers@yahoo.com or info@itoba.com or by calling Duane Swingley Auctions at 765-212-8424

FALL 2020

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HOLLY M. SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY * WWW.HOLLYMSMITHPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

FEATURE

COURTESY BUFF BRADLEY

WINNER’S CIRCLE REDEFINED A beloved, quirky racehorse named The Player makes a comeback from injury thanks to expert veterinary care

BY SANDRA SARR, LSU SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

THE FINAL STRETCH ALTHOUGH HIS JOCKEY CLUB PAPERS PROVE THAT THE PLAYER IS INDEED A THOROUGHBRED HORSE, HE SOMETIMES ACTS MORE LIKE A DOG, AND THAT MIGHT HAVE HELPED IN HIS RECOVERY FROM A SERIOUS INJURY.

T

he Player came into the world a little different from other horses. He liked to sit on his haunches like a dog, spin 360s and eat his hay lying down—not exactly qualities one would expect in a horse, not to mention a racehorse. Trainer William “Buff” Bradley, who co-owned the horse with Carl Hurst and bred him together with Hurst and Bradley’s late father, Fred, found his behaviors so quirky that he had him checked early on for possible neurological issues. Turns out, The Player, originally named Angus, was just fine. In fact, his quirkiness would serve him well, keeping him off his feet for long stretches while he recovered from surgery at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine (LSU SVM) to repair a life-threatening injury.

The Player, a son of Grade 1 winner Street Hero out of the Gilded Time mare Hour Queen (also trained by Bradley and co-owned/bred with his father and Hurst), was foaled in 2013 on Bradley’s Indian Ridge Farm in Frankfort, Kentucky.

He instantly won the hearts of Bradley and a whole host of fans charmed by his unparalleled zest for life.

“He was our favorite from day one,” said Bradley, who serves on the board of directors of the Kentucky HBPA and is best known as the conditioner of top horses like Groupie Doll and Brass Hat. Despite The Player’s quirks, Bradley saw in him the heart, strength and smarts to become a winner on the racetrack and later off the track.

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The Player broke his maiden as a 3-year-old at Churchill Downs in May 2016, and just two months later, he proved to be among the best of his generation when he ran second, beaten less than a length, in the Grade 2, $512,000 Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand. During his 4-year-old campaign, he become a graded stakes winner with a victory in the Grade 2, $200,000 Hagyard Fayette Stakes at Keeneland, and he earned the distinction of being a multiple graded stakes winner the following season when he captured the Grade 3, $150,000 Mineshaft Handicap at Fair Grounds. In March 2018, a month following the Mineshaft, he entered the starting gate as the odds-on favorite in the Grade 2, $400,000 New Orleans Handicap. Unbeknownst to his connections, it would be his final start on the track and the beginning of a battle for his life.

The Player showed his typical early speed and set the pace onto the backstretch of the 1 1/8-mile race. But on the far turn, he took a bad step and jockey Calvin Borel pulled up the 5-year-old in the stretch. There, on the racetrack, the injured horse’s fate hung in the balance and time seemed to stop for Bradley as he realized what was unfolding. He peeled off his jacket and ran down to his horse on the track. An initial assessment indicated shattered bones, tendons and ligaments behind The Player’s right front ankle. In fact, both sesamoids at the back of the fetlock had fractured.

Bradley recalled thinking, “I’m going to quit training. I’m not doing this without The Player.”

That day, The Player’s growing racing career would end. But his story continued.

Standing next to his horse, Bradley called his Kentucky veterinarian, Dr. Bradford Bentz.

“He told me, ‘He’s a really good candidate for euthanasia, but you could try LSU,’” Bradley said.

After consulting with longtime business partner and The Player’s co-owner Hurst, Bradley called Dr. Charles McCauley, an assistant professor at LSU SVM, to ask if there was any way the horse could be saved. McCauley told him they could perform the surgery, but they didn’t have many cases like The Player’s because most horses with that type of injury were euthanized due to a poor prognosis for recovery. The surgery would be straightforward, but the recovery would be long and post-surgery complications would be a major concern.

Straight out of the gate, Bradley trusted McCauley with his horse. They had met when McCauley did a dynamic scope on another horse at his barn just a month earlier, and Bradley was impressed.

“He didn’t paint a pretty picture,” Bradley said. “I let him know that The Player is a unique horse. And he’s smart. I told him I thought he could handle the recovery part. My partner Carl and I talked it over. We agreed to try to save him as long as he wouldn’t suffer. We cried a bit.

This horse had so many people who love him.”

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FEATURE McCauley told Bradley to bring the horse to LSU SVM, where he’d assemble his medical team. He and the horse would embark on a marathon toward a different kind of finish line.

Bradley loaded his broken horse onto an ambulance trailer, and he and The Player headed for Baton Rouge. They arrived that Saturday night at the LSU SVM Veterinary Teaching Hospital, and The Player’s medical team immediately went to work on making him comfortable, assessing his injuries and formulating a treatment plan.

Bradley spoke to his horse, saying, “We’re going to do everything we can to save you, but you’ve got to do your part.”

It was a safe bet that The Player would deliver.

Bradley warned McCauley about The Player’s ways, advising him that he would see the horse sitting down like a dog and that it was not cause for alarm.

McCauley later told Bradley he was glad he’d been shown pictures of The Player in odd positions, adding that the horse “was different.”

“I told him all the bad things that could happen,” McCauley said.

The seven-hour surgery took place on March 26, during which a plate and 16 screws were placed in the horse’s leg. A cable was inserted in the back of his leg to take over the suspension function.

“He knew how to take care of himself; lying down 11 to 12 hours a day kept

COADY PHOTOGRAPHY

HEALING TEAM GOES TO WORK

the weight off the injured leg,” Bradley said. “He even remained lying down while they put a horseshoe on the hoof of his uninjured front leg that would help support him when he stood.”

McCauley believes The Player’s quirks were the whole reason he survived.

“His routine was to lie down for several hours a day,” he said. “He was an incredibly compliant patient. He was obviously uncomfortable, and yet he behaved. I’ve never had another patient like him.”

THE PLAYER PROVED HIMSELF AS ONE OF THE NATION'S TOP RACEHORSES WHEN HE CAPTURED THE GRADE 2 HAGYARD FAYETTE STAKES IN 2017 AT KEENELAND. COADY PHOTOGRAPHY

TRAINER, CO-OWNER AND CO-BREEDER WILLIAM "BUFF" BRADLEY HUGS RIDER CALVIN BOREL AFTER THE PLAYER'S FAYETTE VICTORY.

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COADY PHOTOGRAPHY

hope and progress, punctuated with setbacks: • March 24: The Player is injured in New Orleans and arrives at LSU SVM. • March 26: He undergoes surgery led by McCauley.

• April 15: “Hoping he can come home in a few weeks.”

• April 27: “He’s doing well after back on antibiotics for infection and tendon swelling.”

• June 5: Infection sets in from a broken screw.

Bradley and the medical team never showed signs of giving up—and neither did The Player.

“His recovery was slower than I expected,” McCauley said. “We needed objective measures—radiographic evidence of healing—to show that the fusion had progressed enough for him to take the long trailer ride home to Kentucky. A trailer ride is an athletic event with all of the stops, starts and turns. The horse must withstand it all.”

ODDS-ON FAVORITE BRADLEY, WHO SERVES ON THE KENTUCKY HBPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS, HAS SADDLED THE EARNERS OF NEARLY $20 MILLION OVER HIS CAREER.

Bradley remained in Louisiana with The Player post-surgery for nearly two weeks. When he felt that his horse was solidly on the road to recovery, he returned home to Kentucky to tend to business at his farm and Bradley Racing Stables.

He felt confident knowing that the LSU SVM team was there at all times to care for his horse. In addition to McCauley, the team consisted of Dr. Laura Riggs, Dr. Colin Mitchell, Dr. Rose Baker and Dr. Cole Sandow, an equine surgery resident.

According to McCauley, dozens of veterinary students cared for The Player.

“Every day, they did the hard stuff, administering medications on schedule, doing assessments and reporting if they noticed problems,” McCauley said. “It was the epitome of a team effort.”

CHEERING FROM AFAR

COURTESY BUFF BRADLEY

Even as The Player had been sidelined from racing, fans from across the nation continued to cheer him on through each phase of his recovery.

“The Player is fighting for his life at LSU,” wrote one of many fans who tracked his progress on social media.

Through it all, Bradley kept his horse’s fans updated on his condition by posting regularly on The Player’s social media accounts. The entries tell a tale of

THE PLAYER HAD NO PROBLEM LYING DOWN FOR SEVERAL HOURS A DAY, WHICH HELPED HIS RECOVERY.

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Capturing the sentiments of many, one fan posted on The Player’s Facebook page: “There is nothing better than seeing a fighter like The Player to love and cheer for!”

Bradley made the 12-hour drive each way from Kentucky to Louisiana several times throughout The Player’s hospital stay. He’d arrive with a pocket full of peppermints, The Player’s favorite.

After six months (181 days) in the hospital, The Player could finally be released from LSU SVM and return home to Kentucky. On September 21, Bradley rode in the back of the trailer with him. They stopped frequently to allow his horse to rest before continuing. Bradley reached out to friends and acquaintances familiar with The Player, asking if they could provide a stall for the night so his horse could make the long trip comfortably. He received many offers of lodging for both himself and his horse.

JOCKEYING FOR POSITION “He comes from a family of tough, solid runners,” Bradley said. “He was at the start of a promising racing career.”

Now, The Player has a new career. At nearby Crestwood Farms, he has sired 10 foals per season over the past two seasons. His first foal, born on February 24, 2020, is a colt that fans praised as “handsome like his daddy,” with hopes that The Player’s offspring inherit his intelligence, athleticism and endearing qualities.

The Player’s fans remain as devoted today as they were two years ago during his ordeal. Upon their return home that fall, Bradley held two open houses for The Player at Indian Ridge during Breeders’ Cup weekend. About 150 attended each event, at which visitors mingled, enjoyed food and drinks and visited with their favorite horse.

McCauley traveled to Kentucky as a guest of honor at one of the open houses and had the pleasure of seeing the former patient on his home turf charming his fans.

“He was winning when he went down,” McCauley said. “I truly believe this horse saved his own life because of who he is.” HJ The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is one of only 30 veterinary schools in the United States and the only one in Louisiana. It is dedicated to improving the lives of people and animals through education, research and service.

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39

One. Helping Many.

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Thoroughbred Charities of America provides grants to approved organizations working to help Thoroughbreds, backstretch, and farm workers.

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FEATURE

GABAPENTIN Classic Human Medication Transferring in Trace Amounts to Racehorses

THIS COMMON DRUG PROVIDES A PRIME EXAMPLE OF INADVERTENT ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFER

O

By Kimberly Brewer, DVM, MSc; Clara Fenger, DVM, PhD, DACVIM; Jake Machin, BSc; Maria Catignani; Thomas Tobin, MRCVS, PhD, DABT

n June 28, the California Horse Racing Board ruled on the matter of two horses testing positive in spring 2019 for gabapentin. Not only did trainer John Sadler have no idea where the positives came from but he also had no idea what gabapentin was. His horses are only the most recent examples in a string of positives for a medication—in this case, gabapentin—not commonly encountered in horse racing. A human therapeutic medication, gabapentin fulfills all of the prerequisites for an inadvertent environmental exposure: (1) it is administered at relatively high dose; (2) it is eliminated at high concentration in the urine; (3) it is highly stable in the environment; and (4) it is readily absorbed by the oral route.

In the two California gabapentin identifications, the groom of the first horse was prescribed gabapentin, as it turns out, by a medical doctor associated with the racetrack. Laws about medical confidentiality in the realm of human medi-

cine preclude employers from asking about the medical conditions of the people they employ. At the point when gabapentin was prescribed for the groom, no one—not the medical doctor, the groom himself and certainly not the trainer— anticipated any problems. Unfortunately, they were soon to learn otherwise.

The groom of the first horse admitted, somewhat embarrassed, that he had urinated in the stall. Bathrooms are often inconveniently placed at racetracks, and stalls provide discreet emergency locations if the walk is not convenient.

Both horsewomen and horsemen have at times felt the need to discreetly relieve themselves in stalls. After the horse had the first positive test, he was claimed, and another horse was moved to the stall. The groom stopped urinating in the stall, but after only a few days, the second horse in the “positive stall” also tested positive for gabapentin at a lower level. The impressive stability of the drug, both after passing through a human and then remaining in the stall environment, presents a classic story of inadvertent environmental transfer.

What Is Gabapentin?

Gabapentin is a widely used human therapeutic medication sold under the brand names Neurontin, Gralise, Horizant and Gabarone. The medication is approved in humans to treat seizures and neuropathic pain, and it is prescribed off label for hot flashes associated with menopause, restless leg syndrome, migraines and bipolar disorder, among other conditions. Thanks in part to this wide variety of uses, gabapentin is the fifth most frequently prescribed medication in the United States. Given its widespread use in the control of pain, it is not surprising that gabapentin is at times also prescribed in combination with opioid medications. Gabapentin has even been used as a street drug, albeit only in combination with opioids. This latter use has led to its recent scheduling as a Class 5 controlled substance in some states, including Ohio and Kentucky.

Given these circumstances, gabapentin has emerged as a great risk for an environmental presence and for inadvertent transfer from humans to horses.

Even more compelling regarding its inadvertent transfer to horses are the unusually large doses of gabapentin administered to humans and the related large amounts of gabapentin released into the environment by gabapentinmedicated humans, as we will now detail.

Gabapentin is unique among medications with respect to how it is handled by the body. It is chemically similar to amino acids, so orally administered

44

gabapentin is absorbed by a specific intestinal amino acid transporter.

Following absorption, gabapentin distributes throughout the body, and when it reaches the kidneys, it immediately enters the urine, from which it is not reabsorbed. Gabapentin is therefore not metabolized, and a substantial fraction of the 2 to 3 grams per day dose taken by a human is excreted rapidly and unchanged in the urine. This means that a human taking their 1,000-milligram dose of gabapentin three times a day excretes a substantial fraction of this 3 grams per day of gabapentin into their environment. Gabapentin is also stable in the environment and, consistent with the above circumstances, is one of the higher concentration human pharmaceuticals detected in urban wastewater, so gabapentin released into the environment (or released in a stall) will persist in the environment, including in the stall of a horse.

As a human therapeutic medication, gabapentin is (1) administered three times a day at a high total dose, up to 3 or so grams per day; (2) essentially all of the dose is excreted unchanged in the urine; and (3) excreted gabapentin is stable in the environment and (4) readily absorbed orally by the horse. Thus, gabapentin fulfills all of the requirements of a high environmental contamination risk, and the resultant inadvertent transfer of gabapentin from humans to horses is less than surprising.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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TERRI CAGE – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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FEATURE DENIS BLAKE

Gabapentin in Horses Gabapentin does have clinically useful applications in horses. Like humans, horses may experience neuropathic pain, and there are a handful of reports about its beneficial use. Neuropathic pain is caused by abnormal neural stimulation rather than from inflammation and therefore does not respond to anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., phenylbutazone, flunixin). Specifically, horses may be treated with gabapentin subsequent to nerve injury and laminitis, conditions associated with neuropathy. Most significantly, the inflammation from a preexisting bone injury would not respond to treatment with gabapentin. The dose recommendations range from 2.5 mg/kg to 20 mg/kg orally once to twice per day. Similar to humans, the effective plasma concentration of gabapentin in horses is in the range of 10 micrograms per milliliter (10,000 nanograms per milliliter).

Gabapentin Positives in Horse Racing Our first notice of a gabapentin positive occurred in 2018 when a horse running at Charles Town Races in West Virginia showed a gabapentin identification of about 3 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) in serum and 86 ng/ml in urine.

It turned out the source of gabapentin in this matter was inadvertent transfer from the horse’s groom, who had been prescribed the medication for diabetic neuropathy. No split sample analysis was performed, given that the history of the case showed that the groom involved was being prescribed 2,000 milli46

grams a day of gabapentin. The good news is that these events were considered mitigating circumstances by the stewards and the trainer was not fined or suspended, although there was a loss of purse. To the best of our recollection, there has been a small number of similar gabapentin identifications at Charles Town, all following the same general pattern with the penalties imposed recognizing the mitigating circumstances and generally involving a simple withholding of the purse with—and this is important—generally no medication penalty points awarded against the trainers.

The next sequence of gabapentin events brought to our attention was the occurrence of an apparently ongoing sequence of gabapentin identifications in Ohio. To the best of our knowledge, the first Ohio gabapentin positive was called on January 6, 2018, at Northfield Park (a harness track), followed by two more, one on October 23 in blood and urine and another on November 18 in blood only.

Another positive was called on November 19 at Mahoning Valley Race Course, the only, to our knowledge, gabapentin identification at an Ohio Thoroughbred track. Then, in 2019, this Ohio gabapentin identification pattern recommenced, starting on May 25 and totaling six identifications at the Scioto Downs harness track. Additionally, between August 21 and September 27, there were 10 gabapentin identifications at Ohio county fair tracks and two other identifications at Northfield Park on August 16 and September 11 for a reported total of 18 gabapentin identifications that year in Ohio racing. While the penalties imposed were generally a 15-day suspension, a $500 fine and loss of purse, the apparently random, unavoidable and completely unknown origins of these identifications led to a request by the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association for us to review the situation.

Our review began with an analysis of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) records on gabapentin identifications in U.S. racing, which showed the sequence of gabapentin identifications as set forth in Figure 1.

The first ARCI-listed gabapentin identifications were four cases in 2009 in California. Next, in 2014, was one case in Oklahoma. In 2015, there was one case each in North Dakota, Indiana and Illinois. In 2016, there was one case in a Thoroughbred in West Virginia. In 2017, there were two cases in New Mexico and one case each in Arizona and Massachusetts. The year 2018 shows seven cases: three in Ohio and two each in West Virginia and Indiana. For 2019, there were 17 cases reported, including eight cases in Ohio (plus another 10 called in that state but not yet adjudicated/reported). The other nine cases in 2019 include one in Florida, two in California and three each in Kentucky and West Virginia. For 2020 to date, there has been one case each in West Virginia and New Jersey.

Testing for gabapentin in Ohio was remarkably productive, with a total of 22 cases called, accounting for half and then some of the total of U.S. gabapentin identifications. The Ohio cases started with three reported (and at least one not yet added to the database) in 2018, with the identifications apparently in both blood and urine. In 2019, there were 18 reported identifications, all in blood, but that September, the Ohio gabapentin identifications abruptly stopped and no further identifications have been reported to date.

The ARCI data records four cases as being associated with inadvertent human exposure. Of these four cases, two arise from Hoosier Park, and two come from Charles Town. Given their low concentrations and apparently inadvertent origins, the usual penalty for a gabapentin identification has been a $500 fine and a 15-day suspension with loss of purse. A recent exception was the Sadler matter in California; he was fined $15,000 and suspended for 60 days, 45 of which were stayed with a probationary license as long as he received no further medication violations. However, we must note that the Sadler ruling covered two gabapentin identifications and one for clenbuterol, so this ruling was not based on a single gabapentin identification. As shown at the beginning of the article, the apparent source of the gabapentin in the two Sadler horses was inadvertent transfer from a groom who had been prescribed gabapentin, just as in the THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

Gabapentin Positives from ARCI Data

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12

Figure 1: Association of Racing Commissioners International recorded gabapentin identifications, 2009 to date.

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4

0

2009

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

original Charles Town gabapentin matter.

As part of the request from the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association, we agreed to review the matter of the unusual number of gabapentin identifications in 2019 in Ohio with the goal of either identifying the source of the identifications or, if appropriate, of identifying a cut-off or screening limit of detection for gabapentin in equine plasma or urine samples.

These 18 Ohio gabapentin cases from 2019 are classic positive identifications of unknown origins. The simple fact that these identifications continued in the face of positives being called and horsemen being penalized means that the horsemen were completely unaware of the source of these identifications, as has happened previously. Additionally, the concentrations identified are to our knowledge clearly sub-pharmacological and also often close to the limit of detection of current testing technology. Given these circumstances, it was appropriate to review the matter of these trace-level gabapentin identifications with the goal of identifying an environmental substance threshold/cut-off/ screening limit of detection for gabapentin, similar to those long in place in Ohio for caffeine and a number of other dietary and environmental substances.

Thanks to research by Professor Larry Soma and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, gabapentin is a relatively easy substance for which to set an environmental cut-off or screening limit of detection. Researching gabapentin in the horse, Soma and his coworkers administered 20 mg/kg by intravenous infusion (about 8.5 grams/horse) to six horses and monitored both the behavioral effects and plasma concentrations of gabapentin. They noted that the modest sedative effects of intravenous gabapentin were over within about 150 minutes, at which time the plasma concentrations of gabapentin were above 10,000 ng/ml.

Based on this research, which is consistent with experience in other species and clinical experience in humans, there is not likely to be any pharmacological effect of gabapentin associated with blood plasma concentrations of less than 10,000 ng/ml or 10,000,000 picograms per milliliter (pg/ml).

We then reviewed one of the plasma concentrations of gabapentin reported in Ohio, where it is our understanding that one sample tested in this matter contained less than one part per billion of gabapentin, actually estimated at 570 pg/ml or parts per trillion of gabapentin, more or less. Since the University of Pennsylvania research shows a horse must have more than 10,000,000 pg/ml of gabapentin in its blood to be pharmacologically active, this trace-level detection of gabapentin reported in the serum sample from this horse is more than 10,000-fold below the minimum concentration required for a pharmacological effect and, as such, this reported concentration of gabapentin is pharmacologically irrelevant and of no forensic significance.

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2019

2020

A generic approach to determining an irrelevant plasma concentration (IPC) of a medication is that of Professor Pierre-Louis Toutain. He first calculates the effective plasma concentration (EPC) of the substance. He then divides by 50 to come up with an IPC. At this point, Toutain includes a safety factor of 10, yielding an overall divisor of 500. One then divides the calculated EPC of 17,000,000 pg/ml or thereabouts by 500, which produces an IPC of gabapentin of 34,000 pg/ml, correctly a fraction above the 20,000 pg/ml value derived from inspection of the University of Pennsylvania data. Applying these IPCs of gabapentin to the concentration in the referenced Ohio sample, we note that the estimated concentrations of gabapentin in the blood of the Ohio gabapentin horse is, at 570 pg/ml, between 35-fold and 60-fold below the IPC of gabapentin, as determined by the scientifically conservative Toutain methodology.

The next step in this process is to review the plasma concentrations of gabapentin in as many of the Ohio 2019 gabapentin identifications as possible and to see how the concentrations reported relate to the above estimated IPCs. If the plasma concentrations are below 20 ng/ml, they are clearly irrelevant. The problem in this area is that chemists are usually reluctant to release concentration data, claiming that performing a quantitative analysis is overly burdensome.

The answer to this position is to request their best good faith estimate of the concentration present in the sample for evaluation of the possible pharmacological significance of the finding. Based on the fact that the plasma concentrations of gabapentin reported to date are apparently less than 5 ng/ml, a value well below the calculated IPCs, an interim cut-off/screening limit of detection for gabapentin of 5 ng/ml in equine plasma is a highly conservative amount.

In closing, the question arises as to where these unknown sources and apparently random and irrelevant plasma levels of gabapentin are coming from.

The basic underlying source is clear: It is the increasingly frequent human use of gabapentin, a high-dose medication, in human therapeutics. With regard to transfer from humans to horses, gabapentin is an environmental “perfect storm” of an orally active, high-dose, rapidly excreted unchanged medication that is chemically stable in the environment. While the environmental source of a gabapentin-positive horse may at times be identifiable, as in the recent California cases, this is not always the case. However, given the high dose and widespread prescribing of gabapentin to humans, it is unrealistic to expect the source to be readily identifiable when horses are being tested at part per trillion levels. At this point, therefore, the solution to this problem is to introduce a cut-off or screening limit of detection, and we propose 5 ng/ml in plasma as an interim screening limit of detection for gabapentin in equine medication regulation. HJ 47

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I

n the early years, the sport of horse racing seemed simple. There was no simulcasting, discussion of appropriate marketing strategies, super testing or betting via direct computer links. There was no NTRA, THA, TOC, TOBA, UTTA, AQHA or other organizations representing horsemen’s interests.

Horsemen have a habit of taking care of their own. If someone was sick or down on his luck, they “passed the hat,” taking up collections, which is a time-honored tradition among racetrackers.

It was in 1940 in New England that a group of committed horsemen brought into existence what is now known as the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. From this meager beginning the National HBPA has developed into an organization representing the horsemen’s interests on a myriad of issues.

Today, there are approximately 30,000 owner and trainer members throughout the United States and Canada focused on a common goal—the betterment of racing on all levels.

With this purpose in mind, we welcome and encourage all horsemen to join the National HBPA, and we urge our members to take an active role in the direction and policies of our organization. It is our members who make a difference.

We horsemen are the National HBPA.

We are Leading into the Future and we are…… Horsemen Helping Horsemen

The National HBPA Inc. Eric Hamelback, CEO Phone: 859-259-0451 • Toll Free: 866-245-1711 • Email: ehamelback@hbpa.org 3380 Paris Pike Lexington, KY 40511 Website: www.hbpa.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/NationalHBPA • Twitter: @nationalhbpa

AFFILIATE NEWS IMPORTANT UPDATE: As you are undoubtably aware, COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact around the world, including, of course, within the horse racing industry. Because it is not possible to provide timely and accurate updates in a print magazine, please refer to the National HBPA website at hbpa.org, individual affiliate websites and social media channels for the latest information about how this pandemic is affecting racing. Information in this section is current as of early September but is subject to change at any time. Please contact your affiliate or racetrack to confirm any specific information.

ALABAMA HBPA Good Things Are Happening for Alabama-Breds In case you missed it last issue, there is good news for Alabama-breds! The $25,000 Ken Cotton Classic has been scheduled to run Saturday, September 19, at Louisiana Downs. The six-furlong allowance race will be for Alabama-bred 3-year-olds and up that are maidens or non-winners of two races and broke their maiden for a claiming price of $25,000 or less. Entries will be taken through Louisiana Downs, and the race will be listed in the condition book.

The Alabama HBPA will cover up to $500 in shipping expenses for horses running fourth and out. A receipt must accompany the request for reimbursement.

In 2019, we disbursed $23,200 in supplemental purses to Alabama-bred horses running in open company at various tracks around the country. The leading earner was Abbey’s Snow White, owned by Country Acres Stables, at $4,400. Out Late, owned by Charles Hukill, was second with $3,800, and Baba Light, owned by Hackett Brothers Thoroughbreds, was third at $3,200. The 2019 leading owner by earnings was Hackett Brothers Thoroughbreds at $5,000. All Alabama-bred horses are eligible for these funds, but you must let the Alabama HBPA know when your horse runs and qualifies for the monies. Payouts continue to be $800 for a first-place finish, $600 for second, $400 for third and $200 for fourth.

For more information about the shipping reimbursement and supplemental purses, contact Nancy Delony-Jones at (205) 969-7048 or nancy.m.delony@ms.com.

In addition to the supplemental purses, with many thanks to the Louisiana HBPA for their support and work, the Alabama HBPA continues to annually fund $25,000 as added purse monies for Alabama-breds running at the four Louisiana tracks. These funds are automatically added to your earnings and paid out by the track.

With the sacrifices we all have had to endure this past winter and spring, it is comforting to know that our horses can continue doing what they love, though I am sure they have been missing the cheering crowds as much as the trainers, grooms and trackside workers.

This will be a year to be remembered. We are looking forward to the fourth running of the Ken Cotton Classic in September!

Nancy Delony-Jones, Executive Director

races—the Rebel Stakes (G2), Arkansas Derby (G1), Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and Apple Blossom Handicap (G1)—and the richest purse structure in its 117year history. The 2021 season, which will be accentuated by the opening of a multipurpose event center and a luxury 200-room hotel overlooking the track, is scheduled to run Friday, January 22, through Saturday, May 1.

In addition, 21 stakes will have their purses raised by at least $25,000.

Most notably are $150,000 increases to both the Essex Handicap on March 13 and the Oaklawn Mile on April 10, which will be worth $500,000 and $400,000, respectively. The purse of the Razorback Handicap (G3) on Saturday, February 13, will be raised by $100,000 to $600,000. All stakes, including ones for statebreds, will be at least $150,000 each.

“We would not be able to once again offer record purses next year if it weren’t for the tremendous support we’ve received from the Arkansas Racing Commission, the horsemen and our fans in 2020,” Oaklawn President Louis Cella said. “We are excited to continue building on our ‘New Level of Excellence,’ which will include our new hotel, event center, state-of-the-art spa and additional restaurants, which are all on schedule to open late 2020/early 2021.”

Oaklawn’s rich 3-year-old program for horses with Kentucky Derby (G1) aspirations will begin opening day, January 22, with the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes and will culminate closing day, May 1, with the $300,000 Oaklawn Invitational. In between are the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) on February 15, Presidents’ Day Monday; the Rebel Stakes on March 13; and the Arkansas Derby on April 10.

Oaklawn’s five signature races that comprise the traditional Racing Festival of the South will be run over three Saturdays starting with the $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) trail on April 3. The Arkansas Derby card on April 10 includes three other stakes, and Oaklawn’s series for older horses culminates on April 17 with the Oaklawn Handicap and the Apple Blossom for fillies and mares.

“Once finalized, the full purse program will be released soon,” Oaklawn General Manager Wayne Smith said. “We anticipate it will exceed $700,000 a day.”

Oaklawn’s 2021 stakes schedule features a total of 33 races worth $11 million. Racing will be conducted Friday through Sunday for the first two weeks of the meet and then shift to a Thursday through Sunday schedule starting in February. There will be no racing on Easter Sunday, April 4.

CHARLES TOWN HBPA ARKANSAS HBPA

West Virginia Breeders Classics

Oaklawn Planning 57-Day Meet with Four $1-Million Stakes in 2021

In its more than 30 years, the West Virginia Breeders Classics event has generated more than $28 million in purses for the breeders and horsemen of West Virginia and become the premier horse racing event on Charles Town’s fall calendar.

The 2020 West Virginia Breeders Classics will take place on Saturday, October 10, at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races and feature the following races:

Pending approval from the Arkansas Racing Commission, Oaklawn plans to conduct its regular 57-day meet highlighted by four $1-million stakes THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

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chair Philip C. Borst, DVM. “This hand-in-hand partnership between the IHRC, horsemen and racetracks is necessary to succeed in moving Indiana racing to the next level.”

· ·

Shared Sense Wins Indiana Derby, Record Numbers Posted Shared Sense and jockey Florent Geroux made it a clean sweep for trainer Brad Cox in the 26th running of the Grade 3, $300,000 Indiana Derby on July 8.

Geroux also connected with Shedaresthedevil in the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks to give Cox the two biggest wins for the year at Indiana Grand.

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Charles Town Mourns the Loss of Leslie Condon Longtime horsewoman and Charles Town HBPA board member Leslie Condon passed away on August 21. Leslie began training in 1996 and saddled 119 winners during her career, including 2018 West Virginia Dash for Cash Breeders Classic winner Scythe. She served on the Charles Town HBPA board of directors for more than six years and was a member of the Marketing Committee and Backstretch Committee. A beloved member of the community, Leslie will be sorely missed by many family members, friends and the Charles Town racing community.

RENEE LUDWIG MONTGOMERY

LESLIE CONDON

INDIANA HBPA IHRC Approves Transfer of Tracks The Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) met on July 13 to consider the petition of Eldorado Resorts Inc. to acquire all of the ownership of Caesars Entertainment Corporation and its direct and indirect subsidiaries in Indiana.

The meeting concluded with the commission’s conditional approval of the ownership transfer, which includes Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing and Casino, Indiana Grand Racing & Casino and all Winner’s Circle Off-Track Betting facilities.

“While we appreciate everyone’s trust in the commission’s ability to maintain Indiana’s high-caliber racing program, we recognize the relationship between the casino and racing is a unique marriage,” stated commission 52

SHARED SENSE

Shared Sense was the third choice on the morning line in the highly competitive field, but as the nine-horse field left the gate, he had earned favorite status by the betting public. Known for his off-the-pace tempo, Shared Sense raced near the back of the pack early in the 1 1/8-mile race and then made a wide move around the far turn before drawing clear to win by three lengths with Major Fed and James Graham coming up the inside to finish second. Necker Island finished a solid third.

Shared Sense rewarded his backers with payouts across the board of $7.60, $4.80 and $3.20. The son of Street Sense scored his third career win and his first stakes win in his eighth career outing. He more than doubled his career earnings and now has a bankroll of more than $325,000.

Shared Sense is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Godolphin LLC, which has an operation for their racehorses in Kentucky. It was the first start in the Indiana Derby for Cox. The trainer has hit the board twice in the Indiana Oaks, but a win in the Oaks also marked a first for him.

Indiana Derby day set another all-sources handle record, pulling in $5,979,952 in wagering on the 12-race card. The previous record was established last year during Indiana Derby night when $4,104,657 was wagered.

The Indiana Derby race alone garnered $1,026,395 of the total handle. With COVID-19 restrictions in place, attendance was held to under 1,500 individuals total for the racing venue at Indiana Grand.

SCUFFY, Friends of Ferdinand Receive Donations from Indiana Grand Each year, team members at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino participate in numerous activities to raise funds for Shelby County United Fund for You (SCUFFY). With disruptions to businesses and restrictions in place due to COVID-19, many of the events were not held, which has affected the organiTHE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

AFFILIATE NEWS COURTESY INDIANA GRAND

THE FRESH PRODUCE STAND ON THE INDIANA GRAND BACKSIDE HAS BEEN A BIG HIT.

from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. next to the soccer field and proved to be a big hit and a nice option for those who fall under the Indiana HBPA umbrella. Due to the program’s success, it was extended into September until the growing season ended.

One of the most popular items has been sweet corn. Other items that sell quickly include tomatoes, various peppers, peaches, cantaloupes, cucumbers and okra.

“People are really enjoying this and taking advantage of the service,” Thorwarth added. “And it’s for such a great cause. It’s a win-win situation all around.”

Wiseman Transitions from Show Jumping to Race Riding at Indiana Grand Horses have always been part of Isaiah Wiseman’s life. It was just a matter of time before he got his start in the Thoroughbred industry as an apprentice jockey, a plan he has had from a young age.

COURTESY BLUE WILLOW FARM LLC

zation’s overall fundraising efforts. Indiana Grand wanted to do something to bridge the gap and donated $20,000 to SCUFFY on August 11.

“This campaign season has been a roller coaster,” said Alecia Gross, executive director of SCUFFY. “The community has been fabulous to step up and support us. This donation helps us reach our goal. We are so very appreciative of this donation from Indiana Grand.”

Earlier this year, team members at Indiana Grand participated in several fundraising activities for SCUFFY, raising more than $14,000. Therefore, the track has contributed a total of $34,000 to the organization’s efforts in 2020.

“It’s been an unprecedented year for everyone, and a lot of not-for-profits have been really affected,” said Deannette Pryor, director of human resources at Indiana Grand and a SCUFFY board member. “SCUFFY is so important for Shelby County, and they provide needed assistance for a lot of organizations. Being able to add funding into their drive this year is a great way for us to give back to the local community.”

Indiana Grand also made its annual donation to Friends of Ferdinand Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Mooresville, Indiana, on August 12.

The racehorse aftercare program, the only Thoroughbred Aftercare Allianceaccredited organization in the state, received $5,000 from the Community Relations program at the track.

“Horse aftercare is such an important part of what we do,” said Eric Halstrom, vice president and general manager of racing. “It is an honor to be able to make a small donation to assist them.”

On average, it costs approximately $3,000 to transition a racehorse from start to finish. This fee covers the timeframe of acquiring the horse followed by adequate time to acclimate to new surroundings and then beginning the process of retraining with the end goal of rehoming the Thoroughbred into a different discipline. The donation from Indiana Grand will cover the cost for the entire process of nearly two horses in their program for 2020.

“We have 25 to 30 horses come through our program on any given year,” said Chelsey Burris, who handles marketing and social media for Friends of Ferdinand. “This year, of course, is a little different due to COVID-19. We are able to retrain these horses into all types of second careers. We even have our first calf roping horse ready to head out soon. It just shows how versatile Thoroughbreds are. We are happy to give these horses a job after their racing careers are completed.”

More information on Friends of Ferdinand may be found at friendsofferdinand.com.

Fresh Produce Offered to Backstretch at Indiana Grand When COVID-19 restrictions prevented the creation of the community garden for backstretch workers at Indiana Grand, Brian Elmore, executive director of the Indiana HBPA, came up with an alternative. A local group is now making a weekly stop outside the stable gate to provide fresh produce for those who work at Indiana Grand.

“Brian noticed a group selling produce to raise money for mission trips in nearby New Palestine [Indiana] and made arrangements for them to provide the same service for the people that work and live on the backstretch,” said Otto Thorwarth, one of the chaplains with Indiana HBPA. “Without being able to have the community garden this year, he wanted to make sure these folks had access to fresh produce on a consistent basis.”

To sweeten the deal, Indiana HBPA is paying 50 percent of the cost of the produce, which offers it to individuals at a 50 percent discounted rate. Those purchasing the items must show their Indiana Horse Racing Commission license to be able to receive the discounted rate.

The fresh produce stand was originally available each Wednesday in July THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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AFTER BECOMING A TOP SHOW JUMPER, ISAIAH WISEMAN HAS ALSO BECOME A WINNER ON THE TRACK.

“My dad [Jason Wiseman] is a farrier, and I was born in Lexington [Kentucky], so I was raised around the racetrack until I was eight or nine,” Wiseman said. “My family moved to Fort Wayne [Indiana], and it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to be a jockey. There isn’t much opportunity for racing in the Fort Wayne area, so I had to put that on hold.”

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Initially, the horse did barrel racing, but Wiseman wanted to put a flat racing saddle on him. Although his sister, Bella, continued in barrel racing, Wiseman set his sights on another discipline and was soon immersed in the show jumping world.

Wiseman quickly caught on in show jumping. He became a top rider in the Emerging Athletes Program, earning a gold medal in team competition for the Pony Jumper Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2016. He also earned a gold medal in the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s Young Rider Championships at HITS Balmoral in Crete, Illinois, in August 2018, which marked his final competition.

“From the age of 10 to 18, that’s all I did was show jumping,” Wiseman said. “I was out of school six to eight months a year on the show circuit. After I graduated from school, I had to make a decision, and I decided to transition over to racing so I moved to Ocala [Florida] full-time and started galloping.”

At 18, Wiseman left the family’s homestead, Blue Willow Farm in Fort Wayne, and began galloping 2-year-olds for Nick de Meric Thoroughbred Sales in Ocala. That position led to a job with trainer Michelle Elliott as an exercise rider at Indiana Grand last year. Wiseman made his racing debut at Indiana Grand in August 2019, riding in seven races before going to Hawthorne in October. His first career win came shortly after his arrival aboard Applesolutelyright. In all, he completed the meet at Hawthorne with 10 wins.

“I was off from riding from January until they started up here in June,” Wiseman said. “I’ve really enjoyed riding with these guys and getting to know them and learning from them. I don’t see this as a job. Coming from show jumping, you have to be so focused on technique all the time. It’s nice to be involved in this business because it’s always been in my family. It’s always what I wanted to do.”

So far this season at Indiana Grand, Wiseman has recorded seven wins with two riding doubles to his credit. He is the track’s current leading apprentice rider with agent Penny Fitch-Heyes carrying his book. Plans for after the Indiana Grand meet are still up in the air.

“I have no set plans right now; I guess it will depend on the restrictions for the future,” said Wiseman in reference to the unprecedented season of racing due to COVID-19. “I’m just keeping an open mindset. Horses have always been my number one, and this is all I’ve ever wanted to do. I’m just enjoying it so much right now.”

IOWA HBPA Iowa HBPA Election Notification Like most things in 2020, our election is not a normal one this year.

After adherence to the Iowa HBPA bylaws following the election process (formation and seating of the independent election committee, seating of the nomination committee, nominated individuals’ eligibility checks and return of eligible nominated individuals’ affidavits), the number of candidates running for the board was exactly equal to the number of positions available to be seated. Specifically, there was one person running for president, five people running for the five owner-director positions and five people running for the five trainer-owner positions.

After advisement and recommendations from the independent election committee and National HBPA general counsel, it was motioned and accepted by the currently sitting Iowa HBPA board not to send ballots (as a fiduciary responsibility) as the outcome cannot change. This is because write-in candidates are not allowed as there are eligibility requirements that must be met to even run for the board.

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With that being the case, the new Iowa HBPA board of directors will be seated at the same time as before, which is September 15. The new board has two new owner directors and one new trainer-owner director. The new board includes: President: David McShane (returning) Owner Directors: Jeff Hartz, Mike Vanderpool and Allen Poindexter (returning) and Bryan Williams and Joe Kelly (new) Trainer-Owner Directors: Kelly Von Hemel, Brandi Fett, Paul Pearson and Doug Anderson (returning) and Schuyler Condon (new) If you have any questions, please call (515) 967-4804 or email info@iowahbpa.org.

Iowa HBPA 2019 Award Winners As with the Iowa HBPA election process, we were not able to do our normal awards ceremonies this year. However, to give proper recognition as best we can in these times, we still wish to announce our annual award winners for the 2019 racing season by naming them here and highlighting the accomplishments that earned them their respective category wins.

With that, our 2019 award winners are: Owner of the Year—Danny Caldwell. Caldwell exceeded all owners in money won at Prairie Meadows in 2019 to earn top honors for the sixth consecutive season. His horses earned $886,673 from 43 wins with 35 seconds and 27 thirds in 188 starts last season. In all, 31 different horses running under his familiar DRC silks returned to the winner’s circle in 2019, with Heavens Whisper recording four wins from five starts and D’Rapper and Count N Gold winning three times each.

Horse of the Year—Chris and Dave. Claimed by Caldwell at Oaklawn last year, Chris and Dave was an upset winner over 2018 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker winner Remembering Rita in the 2019 Jim Rasmussen Memorial.

Claimer of the Year—Hello Darling. Bred by William “Duke” Hobbs, Hello Darling started the 2019 season in the hands of owner Brian Hall and trainer Kelly Von Hemel. She was claimed by the End Zone Athletics of trainer Karl Broberg on May 17 for $15,000. Running for the same tag 10 days later, Hello Darling rallied to victory under jockey David Cabrera, and trainer Jon Arnett haltered her for Joe Kelly’s Kelly’s Racing LLC. The daughter of Girolamo hit the board in two allowance-level tries for her new connections and then left no doubt about her ability to get a route of ground in a race in mid-July. Two weeks later, she was cut back to a sprint in an allowance optional claimer, putting in a rally under jockey Walter De La Cruz to win by the slimmest of margins. Hello Darling was claimed by trainer William Martin for owner Gene Burkholder on August 2 and went on to win the Donna Reed Stakes on Iowa Classic Day in September.

In all, she logged four wins, one second and two thirds in 2019, winning a total of $143,452 with $70,580 earned for Kelly’s Racing LLC, which received Hello Darling’s Claimer of the Year honors.

Trainer of the Year—Karl Broberg. Recording his fourth straight leading trainer title at Prairie Meadows, Broberg sent out 74 winners last season, a list that included 50 different horses and 20 multiple winners. Broberg finished the season at Prairie Meadows with a win rate of 26 percent and earnings of $1,432,248.

Prairie Meadows 2021 Racing Season We are beginning to work with Prairie Meadows on the 2021 racing season.

As of this writing, the main objectives are to maintain as high a purse structure as possible, increase racing days and increase racing opportunities.

Also, we will be discussing post-time changes and other improvements to the stabling situation with Prairie Meadows for Thoroughbred horsemen.

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AFFILIATE NEWS We are early in the discussions and don’t have a lot of detail at this point, but please stay in touch with some of the ways outlined below to keep up to speed on the latest developments regarding the 2021 racing season.

Iowa HBPA Website Redesigned The Iowa HBPA has redesigned an aging website and now has the new version up and accessible for all. Please visit iowahbpa.org to see the new design and view the many information portals that have been created for owners, trainers and the general public. Some new aspects include a section for owners and trainers, aftercare and potential benefits for qualifying individuals on the backside.

Iowa HBPA Office Hours and Information We are not entirely sure what the hours and location of the Iowa HBPA office will be for the fall and winter. We are in negotiations with Prairie Meadows as of this writing, but given that COVID-19 is still having an impact on Iowa and how Prairie Meadows operates, we cannot guarantee that we will be on the backside once the race meet is over on October 10.

Please check in by any of the following methods if you need assistance. To keep up to date on news and issues occurring in Iowa, you can find us on our Facebook page, Iowa Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association Inc.; follow us on Twitter @IowaHBPA; and sign up to receive our emails at info@ iowahbpa.org. You also can check out our redesigned website at iowahbpa.org.

KENTUCKY HBPA President’s Message

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Art Collector Wins Big for Brian Hernandez Jr. and Tommy Drury (Editor’s Note: This article was submitted just prior to Art Collector being removed from consideration for the Kentucky Derby due to a minor foot issue. He instead is being pointed to the Preakness Stakes on October 3.)

When Brian Hernandez Jr. decided several years ago to stay in Kentucky after riding for a couple of summers at Saratoga, the jockey said he believed he could pick up a Kentucky Derby contender just as easily at Ellis Park as he could at Saratoga.

This topsy-turvy COVID-19 world has borne that out in spades. And not only did Hernandez sticking to Kentucky prove a boon but trainer Tommy Drury landed his first graded stakes winner and had one of the favorites for the September 5 Kentucky Derby in Art Collector by being in the commonwealth all winter.

Drury’s main base year-round is Skylight Training Center in Oldham County, just outside Louisville. For much of his 30-year training career, a significant JENNIE REES

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” These words, which begin a classic novel, aptly describe current racing in Kentucky. The revenue that is generated from Instant Racing machines at the racetracks has favorably enhanced purses in Kentucky to the extent that our overall purse structure rivals California and New York. Horsemen now have the option of keeping horses in Kentucky year-round.

However, the changes in the therapeutic medication policy have created an enormous burden on horsemen, and the elimination of Lasix in 2-year-olds threatens their health and welfare.

I recall that when the medication changes were first proposed, the equine medical director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) announced at a meeting that Kentucky would not be an island. If other states did not follow suit, Kentucky would not unilaterally prohibit Lasix in 2-year-olds. Yet that is exactly what happened. While a 2-year-old in Kentucky is prohibited from using Lasix on race day, states in proximity like Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and West Virginia still allow this important medication to be used for preventing bleeding. What is also interesting is that Churchill Downs owns racetracks in both Pennsylvania and Illinois. However, they are not clamoring to change the medication policy denying Lasix in 2-year-olds in either of these states.

Now consider how this impacts the betting public. If, for instance, a horse runs in one of the jurisdictions allowing Lasix and runs very well and then the horseman decides to run in Kentucky where Lasix is prohibited, the individuals betting on the horse will be convinced that if the horse runs poorly that it ran poorly because it bled. Whether that is the case or not, the people will be convinced they have been cheated. In 2021, stakes races will be included in the

Lasix ban. Therefore, if the horse runs in a stakes race, it will be Lasix-free. If afterward the horse runs in an allowance race, which is often the case, it will be entitled to run with Lasix. Once again, this would be a nightmare for people attempting to handicap races. This is a ludicrous proposition when one considers that science indicates that Lasix is proven to effectively prevent horses from bleeding while running in a race. Bleeding could potentially cause a horse to stop suddenly or collapse, which would endanger both the jockey and the horse.

The Kentucky HBPA continues with a lawsuit against the KHRC and the racetracks that implemented a policy prohibiting Lasix and other equally onerous rules. As I explained previously, allowing the KHRC to arbitrarily delegate its responsibility to the racetracks has far-reaching implications that cannot stand.

We have an attorney general’s opinion agreeing with the Kentucky HBPA sentiment.

The COVID-19 outbreak has hit the racing industry especially hard. While the racetracks struggle to continue to operate under conditions that are difficult at best, horsemen are experiencing their own unique set of circumstances that threaten to eliminate their operations. Owners are beginning to question their significant investment in racehorses, since, in most instances, they are forbidden to even visit their horses on the backside or watch them perform in person.

Backstretch workers who contract the disease are unceremoniously removed from the backside at some of our racetracks in Kentucky.

One thing you can count on is that horsemen are resilient. They will weather this storm and be stronger because of it.

Good luck in your endeavors, Rick Hiles, President, KHBPA

ART COLLECTOR AND TOMMY DRURY AT SKYLIGHT TRAINING CENTER

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first week in September, and Ellis Park worked with Keeneland to let Keeneland run its big spring stakes in July.

“Because of our relationships with the tracks and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, we for several years have had the arrangement with Kentucky Downs to transfer association money to the Ellis Park purse account, and the KHRC and its KTDF advisory committee make possible sending additional KTDF funds generated at Kentucky Downs to Ellis Park,” Maline continued. “That clearly has kept horses and horsemen in the state, which in turn has only helped our fall race meets. Even with purses initially taking a hit at Ellis Park, more horsemen stayed in Kentucky than has happened in years. While the pandemic made staying put an easier decision for a lot of trainers, many still would have left the state if we had the purse levels of five or six years ago.

“Each year the growth has been more pronounced, and Art Collector is just a prime example. In fact we are so proud to possibly have three homegrown Louisville trainers in the Kentucky Derby.”

James E. “Pops” Schmitt (1935–2020): An Appreciation James E. Schmitt, known by everyone as “Pops,” became as much a fixture in trainer John Hancock’s barn as soybeans in the Ellis Park infield.

When Pops died August 19 at age 85, it left a hole in Hancock’s stable and all of their hearts.

Pops, a Marine veteran who served in the Korean War, had a hello and a smile for everyone—and also a few bucks if you were down on your luck. He put you in a good mood just seeing him walking or holding a horse, getting coffee in the track kitchen, up at the races or in Ellis Park’s gaming area. He loved all that is good about horse racing, the beauty and nobleness of the Thoroughbred, the basic premise of seeing who has the fastest horse to the wire and the camaraderie in a barn working together to get a horse to the starting gate.

Pops retired in 1994 after 30 years with Alcoa. After his beloved wife of 50 years, Nancy Gay, passed away in 2006, Pops headed to the racetrack full-time to keep busy.

COURTESY DAN BARNES

part of his Derby experience has been getting babies ready and bringing horses back off layoffs for other trainers. That’s what happened with Art Collector.

When owner Bruce Lunsford was making a trainer switch in January, he sent the Bernardini colt to Drury to get legged up after some time off between his 2-yearold and 3-year-old seasons.

Originally, Art Collector was scheduled to go to trainer Rusty Arnold.

But when COVID-19 hit, Arnold’s return north to Keeneland from Florida was delayed. By then, Art Collector was ready to run, promptly winning big on May 17, the second day of Churchill Downs’ delayed spring meet. Arnold encouraged Lunsford to keep Art Collector with Drury, who came into the Kentucky Derby undefeated in four starts this year with the colt after winning Keeneland’s Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass and the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby.

“If you look at the horses that Brian has picked up by sticking around here in the summertime, I think it’s certainly been beneficial to him,” Drury said, adding cheerfully of his close friend, “Now if you ask Brian, ‘Did you think you were going to ride a Derby horse for Tommy Drury?,’ there’s no telling what kind of answer you might get. You see the horses leave Churchill and go on up to Saratoga; they carry their form with them. Now, you’ve got Kentucky Downs, which the purse money is through the roof. Guys are bringing horses from all over the country to race there. Kentucky racing is arguably the toughest racing in the country right now.”

According to Kentucky Derby Museum research, no trainer born and raised in the Greater Louisville area has ever won the Kentucky Derby. The COVID19-delayed Kentucky Derby field was expected to have two and possibly three homegrown trainers, with Drury joined by Greg Foley (Indiana Derby runner-up Major Fed) and Kentucky HBPA co-vice chair Dale Romans possibly running Ellis Park Derby runner-up Attachment Rate.

“I’m rooting for all of us; I’m rooting for me a little bit more,” Drury said with a laugh. “These are guys I’ve grown up with. I’m the youngest of the bunch, but these are people I’ve known all my life. If I can’t win it, I hope one of those guys do. But I hope I win it first. If I can’t, I’d be thrilled for those guys.”

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on racing everywhere, with the glass-half-full take that at least it’s one of the few sports able to continue. Drury admits he’s one of the few to benefit from the pandemic, first in having Art Collector and second in having the Derby delayed four months, allowing the horse to run after developing into the likely second choice behind Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Tiz the Law. Art Collector’s appearance was a publicity boon to Ellis Park and gave the 98-year-old track the most national exposure it’s ever had, including a weekend of on-site coverage by TVG. Even with COVID-19 shutting down Kentucky tracks’ historical horse racing (HHR) operations for two months, the state’s circuit offered some of the highest purses in the country and, in the case of Churchill Downs and Kentucky Downs, the most lucrative overnight purses in America. Those tracks’ close relationship with the Kentucky HBPA has continued to pay dividends for the entire circuit.

While Ellis’ purses originally were expected to be perhaps half of their record levels in 2020, Kentucky Downs’ rebound from the HHR shutdown allowed purses for Kentucky-bred maidens to start out at $37,000, then go to $43,000 with the addition of a $6,000 per race boost in the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund and then to $46,200 for the final weeks with a 20 percent hike in association money—not far off 2019. Also in the mix was Keeneland transferring $125,000 in KTDF money to Ellis’ purse account in exchange for the smaller track giving up the second week of its meet so Keeneland could run most of its spring stakes.

“I know I sound like a broken record, but it just goes to show the economic value for racetracks of having good relations with their horsemen and horsemen’s representatives,” said Kentucky HBPA Executive Director Marty Maline.

“Everyone worked together to allow Churchill Downs to have its Derby Week the

JAMES E. “POPS” SCHMITT (CENTER, WITH HAT) AND JOHN HANCOCK (SEATED) WITH THE BARN CREW

“He’s what Ellis Park was about,” said Hancock, who also referred to Pops as Jim. “When I was a kid growing up, he had three boys, and my mom had three boys. His boys were the same age as me and my brothers. We all grew up together. Jim would go to the races everywhere. When his wife died of cancer, he said, ‘I’m coming to the barn.’ He was with me ever since. Everywhere I went, he was with me. I never saw anybody enjoy racing and the people like he did. We’d THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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AFFILIATE NEWS be pulling in the back gate at Presque Isle, and he’d see somebody he knew and holler.

“It sounds corny, but he’s probably the most-liked person I’ve seen ever,” Hancock continued. “Never had a bad day. Never left mad. Other than my mom, he was my biggest fan. When times were tough and things weren’t going right, he’d always walk up and say, ‘Hey, the Man Upstairs won’t give us more than we can handle. We’ll bounce back.’ ” Dana Hancock, John’s assistant and niece, knew something was wrong when Pops wasn’t at the barn by 5:30 the morning of August 19. He subsequently was discovered in his bed, as if he’d laid down for a nap and never woken up.

“Pops always was the first one there every morning, turning on lights at the barn,” John Hancock said. “He’d go on and feed. I don’t care if there was a foot of snow on the ground at Riverside Downs. He’d make his way across the bridge from Evansville.”

Pops sporadically had a horse he trained but never made it into the winner’s circle until 2015.

“He always wanted to win a race,” Hancock said.

So Hancock set him up with a horse who happened to be named Uncle Jimmy, a coincidence that delighted Pops. Uncle Jimmy won a 2-year-old maiden race at Mountaineer to give Pops the only victory of his limited training career.

“That was a big deal for him,” Hancock said. “Here’s a horse named Uncle Jimmy, and Jimmy Schmitt saddled him.

“He did everything for me. He’d keep up with the feed. When it was time to order feed, he’d order it and go get it. I went to make the order the other day and didn’t know what I was doing because he’d done it for so many years. He walked horses in the barn. You name it, he did it. Like this morning, we needed to get a load of hay. I told Dana, ‘Get Pops and Sammy,’ and I caught myself. Wherever I went, you’d see him right beside me. He loved going to the sales. He loved running horses at Beulah Park in the winter. He just loved the people. When Beulah Park closed, that really bothered him.

“I bought an old horse one time called Smoking Kay. Pops, one of my owners and I split her up three ways. We won five in a row before they claimed her. Pops really liked that old mare. At the time, Beulah Park was giving away their horse of the meet award. She got the award. They called and wanted to know if I could come up. I said no, and Pops said, ‘Do you mind if I go get it?’ They gave him a leather halter, a blanket and a bag of carrots. He still had that blanket and that halter. It never went on another horse.

“You won’t ever find another one like him.”

Memorial contributions can be made to the American Diabetes Association at 3700 Bellemeade Avenue, Evansville, IN 47714, or the Arthritis Foundation at 615 North Alabama Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

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.”

LOUISIANA HBPA Delta Downs The 2020–2021 Thoroughbred meet at Delta Downs begins October 6 and ends on February 27. Louisiana Premier Night is February 6 featuring approximately $750,000 in purses for Louisiana-breds. For additional information, contact the Delta Downs racing office at (888) 589-7223.

Evangeline Downs The 2020 American Quarter Horse meet at Evangeline Downs begins October 9 and concludes December 19. On Friday, November 20, the trials for the Louisiana Million Futurity will be conducted with the estimated $1-million final on December 19. On November 21, the trials for the LQHBA Breeders’ Derby will be conducted with the final also on December 19. Estimated purse for the Derby is $275,000. For additional information, contact the Evangeline Downs racing office at (337) 594-3022.

Fair Grounds 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 THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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The 2020 Fair Grounds American Quarter Horse meet will be conducted at Evangeline Downs beginning September 17 and concluding October 8. The meet will feature the LQHBA Sales Futurity on closing day, with the trials held opening day. Estimated purse for the Futurity is $425,000.

The Fair Grounds 2020–2021 Thoroughbred meet is pending Louisiana State Racing Commission approval. For more information, contact the racing office at (504) 948-1288.

Louisiana Downs The 2019 Louisiana Downs Thoroughbred meet concludes September 23.

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Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino 2020 Race Meet

Harrah’s Louisiana Downs 2020 Race Meet

2235 Creswell Lane Extension, Opelousas, LA 70570 337-594-3000 * www.evangelinedowns.com

8000 Hwy 80 East, PO Box 5519, Bossier City, LA 71171 318-742-5555 * www.ladowns.com Sun

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Fair Grounds Race Course 2020 Quarter Horse Race Meet

Delta Downs Racetrack & Casino 2020-2021 Race Meets

Running at Evangeline Downs

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

AFFILIATE NEWS MINNESOTA HBPA Canterbury Meet a Success, Remembering Curtis Sampson In April, if anyone would have said that Canterbury Park’s summer meet would have increased its number of runners per race, paid out purse money similar to last year and had its handle more than double, you could have easily doubted those predictions. Remember, in April, no one knew if Canterbury Park was even going to have a meet, much less a robust one.

But the fact is each of the above came true. It was a great team effort put forth by the staffs of Canterbury Park, the Minnesota Racing Commission and the Minnesota HBPA. All three parties worked extremely well together, many times taking on roles and duties not normally ascribed to them. This was a uniquely singular year that won’t soon be forgotten, though we do indeed hope for a return to normalcy next year.

Lastly, the 2020 meet will also be remembered for the passing of Canterbury Park Chairman Emeritus Curtis Sampson. Sampson was the definitive goodwill ambassador for Minnesota racing, having saved the sport more than 25 years ago with his son Randy Sampson and business partner Dale Schenian.

Since that time, Canterbury Park has become one of a rare breed of racetracks where the focus has always remained on racing and it boasts a strong fan base that has traditionally made it one of the most well-attended racetracks in the country. And, in 2021, it will be great to welcome all of the fans back to Canterbury, just as Curt Sampson always intended.

West Virginia Racing Commission Retirement Plan for Backstretch Workers The sixth amendment to the West Virginia Racing Commission Retirement Program for Backstretch Workers was approved at the August meeting of the West Virginia Racing Commission. After presenting the fifth amendment to members, the administration committee reviewed the wait period to re-enroll after distribution and concluded it would be difficult to administer and potentially unfair to participants. The sixth amendment changes the wait period from three years from the first distribution to three years from when distribution ends. The amendment further allows for participants to be involved in the investment directives for their account as well as the ability to follow their individual accounts online and to electronically file forms for distribution.

Trainers and backstretch workers need to enroll in the plan each year to be qualified. The enrollment period takes place in April and May following the plan year. Visit the Mountaineer Park HBPA office for more information or visit us online at mphbpa.com.

Mountaineer Park HBPA Board of Directors Election The nomination meeting for the Mountaineer Park HBPA board of directors election took place on August 10. The nominating committee presented its nominations and received nominations from the floor. The ballots are scheduled to be counted on October 30. Please contact the Mountaineer Park HBPA office at (304) 387-9772 or email bkoski@mphbpa.com to ensure we have your JANA TETRAULT

MOUNTAINEER PARK HBPA

JANA TETRAULT

Backstretch Support The Mountaineer Park HBPA continues to provide support to backstretch workers and their families through our food and clothing pantries. The pantries are open on Friday mornings, and backstretch workers can contact the Mountaineer Park HBPA to access the pantries at any time.

The annual back-to-school supplies giveaway was held for children of backstretch workers in August. Students from preschool to college received supplies from crayons to notebooks to help prepare them for the coming THE MOUNTAINEER PARK HBPA CONTINUES TO academic year.

HELP BACKSTRETCH FAMILIES WITH SCHOOL

THE FALL COLORS MEAN IT’S TIME FOR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION WITH BALLOTS DUE OCTOBER 30.

correct address. If you do not receive a ballot, please contact the Mountaineer Park HBPA office.

Mountaineer Park HBPA Medical Trust All medical bills for participants who have completed their applications for the 2020 racing season must be submitted by December 4 for payment or reimbursement to the Mountaineer Park HBPA Medical Trust. Invoices older than 90 days will not be considered.

SUPPLIES AND MORE.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

59

NEWS

NEW ENGLAND HBPA New England HBPA Victorious in Battle for Race Horse Development Funds, Fight for New Track Continues

60

We continue to offer benefits even during these difficult times. Members can be eligible for old-age assistance and life insurance to name a few that are available. Please reach out to us for more information at info@newenglandhbpa.com.

OHIO HBPA Thistledown Best of Ohio Recap On several levels, the formation of the 2020 Best of Ohio Series can be viewed as a success—from the competitors on the track to the bettors offtrack. Thistledown Director of Racing Patrick Ellsworth, Racing Secretary Hugh Drexler and their staff put together a sensational Ohio-bred card on Saturday, August 8. The five-race undercard had an average purse of $29,060. Despite having to run against a rescheduled Travers Day card at Saratoga, at the end of the day, the all-sources handle was a sensational $1,185,860.

Tim Hamm’s barn has several talented juvenile filly performers, with Esplanande and Alexandria taking the 2-year-old stakes on the day. Hamm’s Blazing Meadows Farm bred and races the fillies in partnership with WinStar Farm.

Esplanande went against males in the $100,000 Best of Ohio Cleveland Kindergarten at six furlongs. She came into the race undefeated in two starts, including a wire-to-wire win in the $75,000 Hoover Stakes at Belterra Park. In the Kindergarten, Esplanande was stretching by a half-furlong, but the race was an almost identical replay of the Hoover. Jockey John McKee was deputized to ride the Hamm trainees, and when the gates opened, he and Esplanande JJ ZAMAIKO PHOTOGRAPHY

After live racing at Suffolk Downs reached the bitter end in June 2019, the New England HBPA sharpened its focus and directed its energy into support for developers with serious proposals to construct a new Thoroughbred racetrack to replace the historic East Boston oval.

Three developers with specific plans eventually emerged, and each of the projected sites was in a different corner of the state. The plans differed in other ways as well, as one was coupled with the intention of securing a license to operate slot machines along with the racetrack; another was strictly focused on Thoroughbred racing and simulcasting; and the third had intentions to build a horse-themed park that included a turf course and a dirt track plus a retirement farm for equine athletes whose racing days were behind them.

Then all hell broke loose.

In the midst of the intense competition for state approvals for a new track facility, leadership at the NEHBPA faced down an aggressive effort by the harness racing industry that would effectively wipe out the dedicated Massachusetts Race Horse Development Funds that support both the Thoroughbred and Standardbred industries.

The Standardbred horsemen, led by their representative to the Horse Racing Committee of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, maintained that they weren’t content to just carve out a bigger slice of the state-funded purse account. They wanted all of it. So they attempted to claim additional funding dedicated to the breeders and to health and welfare benefits for horsemen.

“Had they succeeded in taking all of the purse money, it would have doomed those developers who had committed to bringing back the Thoroughbreds to a new track,” said Paul Umbrello, executive director of the NEHBPA. “What they hadn’t counted on was a vocal and engaged Thoroughbred community of owners, breeders and trainers—and our retirees—who successfully pushed the Standardbreds back and also helped us secure health and welfare benefits and funding for breeding.”

As though that were not difficult enough, Umbrello said that the skirmish with the Standardbreds all played out in the middle of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic that had kept the local harness track closed and forced state officials into deliberations on Zoom.

“I can calculate the odds for a 3-year-old running on a wet dirt track with a certain jockey riding him, but I couldn’t tell you the odds of having to fight this battle in the middle of a pandemic without even having a track to run on,” Umbrello said. “Our organization was tested throughout this, and we emerged with solid footing that will help us with our effort to develop a new full-time racetrack.”

There are currently two competing proposals for a new racetrack facility, and Umbrello said that he is confident one will soon materialize as the strongest candidate to win state support as well as support in the community where it is being proposed.

Ironically, one of the strongest arguments now for winning state support for a new track facility is that in a pandemic-ravaged economy with double-digit unemployment and steep revenue losses, a Thoroughbred racing and horse park facility could bring up to 1,000 new jobs and upward of $100 million in economic activity.

Who would have bet those odds?

Reminder to New England HBPA Members About Available Benefits

ESPLANANDE AND JOHN MCKEE BEAT THE BOYS

sprinted from their inside post to set the pace. They repulsed the challenge of Brig at the half-mile post and then withstood a threat from Uptown into the lane. McKee shook up his mount with right-handed urging, and she responded willingly to finish with vigor by 4 ¼ lengths in 1:12.66. Uptown held second over Brig.

Esplanande is a daughter of Daredevil out of the Dixie Union mare Southern Silence. She is now three-for-three with $120,460 in earnings.

The $100,000 Best of Ohio Miss Ohio for 2-year-old fillies looked like a replay of the previous race with the same owners, breeders, trainer, jockey and outcome, only at 5 ½ furlongs. Alexandria broke cleanly with McKee aboard.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

ALEXANDRIA WAS HAND-RIDDEN BY JOHN MCKEE FOR A NINELENGTH WIN IN THE MISS OHIO.

Horse of the Year Altissimo drifted all the way to the eight path and dug in determinedly, and the race was on with Cake Pop on the inside, Buckeye Bullet alongside and Altissimo on the outside. Bracho went to strong left-hand urging, and Cake Pop was all out at the wire to last by a neck over Altissimo, who was a half-length in front of Buckeye Bullet. The finishing time was 1:11.

Trainer Gary Johnson made a critical equipment change to Cake Pop when he had the 6-year-old gelded in June, and Cake Pop has since won three in a row. Cake Pop now sports a record of 39-12-4-8 for earnings of $490,465. Cake Pop is a son of Notional out of the Prized mare Hey There Cupcake and was bred

by Penny and Michael Lauer.

The $100,000 Best of Ohio Pay the Man for 3-year-old and up fillies and mares turned out to be a controversial event with the eight-length winner, 3-year-old Moonlit Mission, being disqualified by the stewards and placed seventh. Owner Charlie Williams has filed an appeal with the Ohio State Racing Commission.

Obviously, there was a lot going on around the turn, but Circus Rings and Hector Berrios were clear in front when the chain reaction was occurring. While no match for Moonlit Mission, Circus Rings finished 11 ½ lengths in front of Leona’s Reward.

When the smoke cleared, the official order of finish was Circus Rings, Leona’s ReCIRCUS RINGS AND HECTOR BERRIOS IN ward and Totally Obsessed.

THE POST PARADE Moonlit Mission’s final time for the 11/8 miles was 1:54.82.

Circus Rings was elevated to her third win in 2020, and the 5-year-old mare pushed her career record to 24-8-2-2 with earnings of $225,341. Bred

by Penny and Michael Lauer, she is owned by Knights A to Z Racing LLC and is trained by Valerie Shanyfelt.

JJ ZAMAIKO PHOTOGRAPHY

JJ ZAMAIKO PHOTOGRAPHY

They quickly caught Rebel Power to take the lead and at the three-eighths pole were challenged by Gonnabegood, who was second to Alexandria in the $75,000 Jim Morgan Memorial Tah Dah Stakes at Belterra Park. As in their last meeting, Alexandria seemed to relish the challenge and under urging entered the stretch four lengths in front and extended her lead to nine when hitting the wire in 1:06.62.

“She’s a real competitor,” said McKee after the post-race celebration. “I had her in hand when that horse came to us and she just went into another gear, and we just galloped to the wire. For a young horse, she is very professional. Tim’s done a great job with her.”

Finishing in her wake were owner Charlie Williams’ stablemates Somuchsugar besting Gonnabegood. Alexandria is by the red-hot sire Constitution out the Spring at Last mare Spring Water. She took her perfect three-for-three record to Churchill Downs for her next start on September 3 and finished a solid third in the $200,000 Pocahontas Stakes (G3) to push her earnings to $137,160.

JJ ZAMAIKO PHOTOGRAPHY

JJ ZAMAIKO PHOTOGRAPHY

AFFILIATE NEWS

CAKE POP AND JOSE BRACHO HOLD OFF HORSE OF THE YEAR ALTISSIMO.

The six-furlong Best of Ohio Honey Jay brought together the state’s best sprinters to run for their share of the $100,000 purse with Ron Paolucci’s Cake Pop claiming victory. After the defections of three horses, a field of seven matched strides in the most thrilling finish of the series. Another Paolucci runner, Dare Day, led the field for the first half-mile, but company was coming after fractions of :21.88 and :45.42. Buckeye Bullet, the fast winner of the six-furlong Mike Rowland Memorial, went wide to take a short lead.

Jockey Jose Bracho used a different tactic and ducked inside with Cake Pop as the leaders seemed to drift out at the top of the stretch. Two-time Ohio THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

OWNER RON PAOLUCCI AND JOCKEY JOSE BRACHO CELEBRATE ANOTHER WIN FOR MO DONT NO.

Two-time Ohio Horse of the Year Mo Dont No is seven years old now, but he proved he is not ready to be turned out to pasture by becoming Ohio’s newest millionaire with an authoritative victory in the $100,000 Best of Ohio Governor’s 61

NEWS Buckeye Cup at 1 ¼ miles. Forewarned shipped in from the East Coast, where he ran third in Belmont’s Grade 3 Westchester Stakes. On his last visit to Ohio in 2019, he was a clear winner of the $150,000 Best of Ohio Endurance going 10 furlongs. He was made the 3-5 favorite in the Buckeye Cup, but you still have to run the race.

Coming into the race, Mo Dont No had two starts against open company and could only manage a third-place finish in a six-furlong sprint. Before the race, owner Ron Paolucci stated, “Don’t write ‘Mo’ off yet; he is training like he was a 3-year-old!”

Nine horses lined up for the classic distance, and “Mo” stalked the pace for a half-mile, came up to leading Mobil Solution at the mile marker and began to grind away to a three-length lead in the stretch under Bracho to hold clear over I Wanna Win and Forewarned, who settled into mid-pack for most of the race and was finishing strongly.

Mo Dont No relishes the rarely run 1 ¼-mile distance. He has run the distance eight times and has six wins and a second. Trained by Jeff Radosevich, he now has earnings of $1,047,110 with a lifetime record of 43-20-10-3. He is a gelded son of Uncle Mo out of Ohio Broodmare of the Year Lilah, by Defrere. He was bred by Steve DeMaiolo’s Beechwood Racing Stable.

Mahoning Valley Fall Meet Set for Action Racing resumes at Mahoning Valley Race Course on Friday, October 23.

The fall meet is scheduled for 42 live racing days concluding on Wednesday, December 29.

The highlight of the meet comes early when Mahoning Valley gets its turn to host the Best of Ohio Series on Saturday, October 24, featuring five $100,000 stakes events for Ohio-breds.

Racing will be conducted on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday schedule throughout the meet with the exception of special Friday cards on opening day as well as Friday, November 27. First post on weekdays will be 12:45 p.m. with Saturday start times set at 12:15 p.m.

THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA (TRAO)

The 2020 Remington Park Thoroughbred season kicked off 67 days of racing on August 21. The 32-race stakes schedule also started opening night with the $75,000 Governor’s Cup for older runners at 1 1/8 miles.

Purse money for the stakes schedule totals $2,880,000, a reduction of $820,000 from the 2019 schedule. The lower structure is due to two months of inactivity from mid-March to late May when Remington Park halted simulcast racing and casino gaming for health and safety measures at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Remington Park’s two graded events—the Grade 3, $200,000 Oklahoma Derby and the Grade 3, $100,000 Remington Park Oaks—head the lineup of eight stakes races on Sunday, September 27. Won in 2019 by Owendale, the Oklahoma Derby shares richest race honors at Remington Park with the Springboard Mile, the track’s top event for 2-year-olds.

The marquee night for state-breds falls on Friday, October 16, with the annual Oklahoma Classics. The series of divisional stakes races worth more 62

Will Rogers Downs Concludes 2020 Thoroughbred Meet Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs concluded another successful Thoroughbred meet in May with a significantly increased handle and new racing fans from around the globe.

“Our racing shifted steadily toward center stage this spring,” said John Lies, racing secretary and track announcer. “I am very proud that we were able to complete our season safely. With tremendous teamwork and diligent protocols, we were able to provide a bright light to horsemen and horseplayers during a difficult time.”

Will Rogers Downs was one of the few tracks globally to continue racing without spectators during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic with a meticulous focus on the health and safety of the many horsemen who rely on the track for their livelihood. With limited tracks open, this created a move to an international audience for the otherwise nationally broadcast facility.

COADY PHOTOGRAPHY

Oklahoma Derby Headlines Remington Park Stakes Schedule

than $1 million for Oklahoma-breds has been contested every year since 1993.

The $175,000 Classics Cup tops the night and, for the first time since 2016, will be won by a horse not named Shotgun Kowboy. A record-holding four-time winner of the Cup, millionaire Shotgun Kowboy has been retired to the farm of his breeder-owner-trainer, C.R. Trout, in Edmond, Oklahoma.

The Springboard Mile leads a loaded afternoon of stakes racing on the final day of the season, Sunday, December 20. The Springboard carries valuable qualifying points for the 2021 Kentucky Derby and has drawn quality fields, sending runners into two recent “Runs for the Roses” with Combatant in 2018 and Long Range Toddy in 2019.

The Remington Park turf course will be ready for action from opening night into November. Seven stakes races are slated over the grass with the $60,000 Remington Green and the $60,000 Ricks Memorial as the top open stakes races, both on the undercard on Oklahoma Derby Day. A pair of events on Oklahoma Classics night share the honors for richest turf stakes this season with the OKC Turf Classic and the Classics Distaff Turf both checking in at $130,000.

Sixteen stakes are slated for Oklahoma-bred runners, beginning with a trio of events for state-breds over the turf on Friday, September 25. The Red Earth Stakes, the Bob Barry Memorial and the Remington Park Turf Sprint, all worth $70,000, start the run for Oklahoma-breds. The Jim Thorpe Stakes and Useeit Stakes, also worth $70,000 each, wrap up the state-bred stakes on the Springboard Mile undercard.

For the complete stakes schedule, go to remingtonpark.com.

OKLAHOMA-BRED WELDER, WITH DAVID CABRERA IN THE IRONS, SURPASSED $1 MILLION IN EARNINGS IN THE TRAO CLASSIC SPRINT AT CHEROKEE CASINO WILL ROGERS DOWNS.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

AFFILIATE NEWS More than $131 million was handled both on- and off-track, an increase of 687 percent compared to $16.8 million the previous year. Will Rogers Downs also surpassed its goal of 270 races and last year’s total, running 287 races for the Thoroughbred meet, with an average field size of 8.8 horses per race.

The meet offered $304,422 in total purses for the Oklahoma-Bred Program and more than $4 million total purses.

As anticipated, Welder, the striking gray Oklahoma-bred gelding, earned the horse of the meet title for a fourth time. The 7-year-old, sired by The Visualiser, was victorious for his fifth straight TRAO Classic Sprint and become a millionaire in the process.

Welder’s rider David Cabrera took home jockey of the meet honors with 36 wins and a 25 percent win clip over last year’s leading rider Floyd Wethey Jr.’s 35 wins. Ty Kennedy finished third with 32 victories.

Trainer Robertino Diodoro earned the trainer title in a similar upheaval over Scott Young, 28-27. Diodoro also managed a 25 percent win rate. Karl Broberg closed out the meet in third place, and his End Zone Athletics Inc. easily topped the owner standings with 13 wins and an in-the-money rate of 70 percent.

OREGON HBPA Successful Summer Meet The summer race meet at Grants Pass Downs, which concluded in early July, was very successful, especially in light of all the necessary restrictions in place due to COVID-19.

We managed to average 7.95 starters per race, which had a positive effect on the export handle throughout the meet.

We now turn our attention to the fall meeting at Grants Pass Downs, which will begin on September 14 and conclude on November 10 with racing Mondays and Tuesdays with a 4 p.m. PT first post.

We look forward to a great fall race meet, and the Oregon HBPA remains very grateful to the ownership and management team of Grants Pass Downs.

Randy Boden Executive Director, Oregon HBPA

PENNSYLVANIA HBPA Inactive Horsemen’s Bookkeeping Accounts The Pennsylvania 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. The names on those inactive accounts are set forth below.

Holders of inactive accounts should contact the Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania HBPA’s Benevolent Fund.

A.R. Stable 3 LLC; A1A Racing; ABL Stables LLC; Alberts Racing LLC; Neil Allread; Amperage Racing; Amy Boyer and Greg Kensler; Katina M. Armstrong; Avi’s Racing Stable; William M. Backer Revocable Trust; Alida Baird; Barry and Joni Butzow; Mark S. Bartholomew and Donna Bartholomew; BeBe Racing THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

Stable; Bebe Racing Stable Inc. and Caroline K. Arms; Cole Bennett; Joseph E. Besecker and Jagger Inc.; Richard Biasin; Black Arrow Stable LLC; Black Horse Tavern LLC; Rudey Blaney-Davidson; Blue Sky Partners; Bradford W. Dawkins III; Mary Jo Brennan; Bridget B. Kerbel and Tim A. Ice; C and A Stables; Gilbert G. Campbell; Julian Canet; Cellist Racing Group and Ali Nilforushan; Charles A. Levy and William P. Stites; Christopher Bandy and Glenview Farm; Robert V. Cipriano; Classic Bloodstock; Frederick M. Clatterbuck; Cesar Cordova-Fonseca; Courtin Jade Stable; Henry Crigler, Dennis Myers, and Tracy Nunley; Lonnie Crowell; Crown Valley Stable; William A Dewhurst; Diamond M Stable; Gisele Dias; Michael A. Dire; Don & Kim Swick; Miranda Downing; Easy Blossom Stable; Estate of William R. Harris; Evan C. Lauro and Jamie L. Carden; Donald Fallon; Mark R. Fallon; Family First LLC; Alison E. Farwell Jr.; Fast Women LLC; Edward Fernandez; Carisa Figgins; Firethorn Farm; John J. Ford; Daniel H. Foster III; Four Paws Stable; Fox Tale Racing Stable and Foxwood Meadow Racing; G R C Racing Stable and Doyle, Richard W.; Gregory A. Garton; Cheryl Gates; Ann M. George; Gerald Knauer and Edward Maher; Going Postal Stables and D A S L Stable; Peter Goulding; Paul Graf; Guadalupe Gasper Herrera and Waverly Acres LLC; Gum Tree Stables LLC; George and Lori Hall; Richard M. Hanna; HB Thoroughbreds, LLC; Richard J. Hendriks; James M Herbener, Jr.; Winfred L. Hess, Jr.; High Five Racing Stables VII, LLC; Henry Hinkle; Caitlyn D. Hoch; Horseshoe Racing LLC; Allen Iwinski; Stephen Jacobs; Jerry Jamgotchian; Jan and Fawn Meehan, Tim Hurley, and Joe Moos; Tiffany Farms; Janice Jenkins; Jock, Michael and lverson, Gerald; John F. Buckley, Ralph Durante and John B. Penn; Joyce P. Jones; Jonathan Joyce; Bonita Farm; Kangaroo Stable; Susan King; Glenmalure Farm LLC; Robert G. Klimasewski; La Marca Stable; Las Mercedez Stable; David Lewis; O. Wayne Link; Live Action Racing Stable; Henry H (Skip) Lloyd; Neal Maharaj; Shirley D Maisonneuve; Fortunato Marbelt; Marco Thoroughbred Corporation; Charlene W. Martin; Jane Martin; Malos Racing; Powhatan Farm; William J. McGowan; Shelly Ann McKenna; Marilyn McMaster; Zanirn Meahjohn; Katlin Meiley; Salim Moonab; Carlos S. Moore; Morris Stable; Moris Stable LLC and R. D. M. Racing Stable; Barbara Mullaney; Maleke Mundle; Joseph Musarro Enterprises, Inc.; My Five KC’s; Sarah Nagle; JMJ Racing Stables; Erika Naupac; NeedSomeLuck Stables LLC; Tom Nguyen; Nick Sanna Stables LLC; Allyson O’Rourke; Oakridge Farm, Inc; Off The Hook; Oscar J. Orellana; Christina L. Pane; Parting Glass Racing; Pedro Granville and Barbie John Stable; Peekskill Racing Stable LLC; Perkins-Mackey-Stable; John Petrini; Phantom Star Stable and Mark Gilkey; Carson Phelps; Pick Six Racing (David Wilkenfeld); Amaury J. Piedra; Pintele Ytd LLC; Plaine Enterprises, Inc.; Alberto Plaza; Poppa Dukes Stable; Porter Racing Stable LLC; Porter Racing Stable LLC; Spyglass Racing Stable LLC; Randall and Denise Rolfe Racing; Raymond C. Bosley and Christina L. Pane; Redmond Finney and Jean Walter; Robert Beaudoin & Joseph Hallahan & Daniel Hallahan; Rodriguez Racing Stable; Ann M Rondinella; Royal Pegasus LLC; Rum Runner Thoroughbred Racing Inc.; Sadoo Racing Stables LLC; Gabriel Saez; Katherine Sancuk; James Schlehr; Reeve Schley III; Anthony J. Sciarrino; Stephen Screnci; Stan Severight; M. Joseph Sharp; Shawfish Stables LLC; Shayna Racing; Sean Sheehan; Silhouette LLC and Donald Metzger; Silver Ranch Stable and Wachtel Stable; Mary Slade; Diane Snowden; Sol Brillante Inc; Agustin Solis; Robin Stang; Stevark Stable Inc. & Charles Burnside; James R. Stewart III; Joseph Stone; Stony Brook Farm and Stables LLC; Carson Sullivan; Dennis Sweigart; Swilcan Stables LLC; John J. Tammaro III; Kirkland Taylor; Team Tudor Stable LLC; Terry Adams, JB Blankenship, Phillip Judd and Coleman Brown; Stella F. Thayer; Emancipated Woman LLC; Tina Malgarini-Mawing; Tanner Tracy; Triple Diamond Racing Stable; Ubetracing; Mark J. Valentine; Dario A. Vasquez; Ana Christina Vena; Venneri Racing Inc.; Waverly Acres LLC; Pamela Weber; Woody Weeks; Sandra S. Wenner; Westport Management LLC; Andrea M Weyer; Aaron Williams; Woodbine Stable LLC; Leslie F. Young; Elizabeth Young; Gul Zadran. HJ

63

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6

Thoroughbred Charities of America......................................................41

AD MATERIALS DUE:

Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma.................................. BC

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11

True Center Gate..................................................................................64

For more information or to reserve space, contact The Horsemen’s Journal advertising department at 716-650-4011 or advertising@hbpa.org

64

University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program..............................49 Walters Buildings.................................................................................64

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

FALL 2020

$4 MILLION REASONS

BREED RACE $

$

WIN

Over $4 Million will be paid to Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders in Oklahoma this year

THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA ONE REMINGTON PLACE 405.427.8753

OKLAHOMA CITY 73111

WWW.TRAORACING.COM