The Horsemen's Journal - Spring 2018

HORSEMEN’S THE

JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL CONTENTS | SPRING 2018 | VOLUME 65/#1

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

22

02

Message from the National HBPA

07

Industry News

Big Meeting in the Big Easy

34 Reimagining Equine Imaging

Topics abound in New Orleans as horsemen gather to network and learn

New scanning technology is opening the door for advancements in horse health

29

40

Much More Than a Racehorse A Thoroughbred polo pony teaches his human owner how much horses can do after leaving the racetrack

Don’t Bring Down the Good Guys Why the suspension of trainer Ron Ellis makes no sense for racing

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44

HBPA News

16

Research & Medication Update

18

Medication Committee Corner

46

Rational Reasoning on Ractopamine

Affiliate News

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

Kentucky regulators reach appropriate responses to inconsequential trace-level environmental substance identifications SPRING 2018

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MESSAGE FROM

THE CEO

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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 Robin Richards VICE PRESIDENT SOUTHERN REGION Rick Hiles VICE PRESIDENT CENTRAL REGION Joe Davis VICE PRESIDENT WESTERN REGION J. Lloyd Yother

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was moved recently to respond to an op-ed penned by Central Kentucky farm owner and sales consignor Craig Bandoroff that appeared in the Thoroughbred Daily News on February 21 regarding the news that, based on “an updated opinion” from Kentucky’s testing lab on the previously reported findings, Kentucky stewards rescinded three ractopamine positives called at the 2016 Kentucky Downs meet. Two were for trainer Rusty Arnold and one for trainer Joe Sharp.

In my response to Bandoroff, I joined him in his congratulatory sentiment for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and its executive director, Marc Guilfoil. Bravo, well done; after a year of being in limbo, the innocent are exonerated and can return to their lives.

Following is the response I sent to the TDN with a few updates: Admittedly, I don’t know Rusty Arnold well, but I know him well enough to believe he is no cheater. I had spoken to him shortly after his stewards hearing and offered the National HBPA’s assistance. He told me he planned to appeal his two Class 2 positives to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC), but ultimately that appeal was unnecessary after the KHRC lab, LGC Science Lexington, and its director, Dr. Rick Sams, revised the initial findings.

I know many other horsemen very well, some of whom train for storied, established farms and others who train for first-time, one-horse owners. As the National HBPA CEO, I have the honor and privilege to represent most of these horsemen, and there is a common thread among more than 99 percent of them. They are not cheaters. Like Rusty, most are more at home in the barn, connecting with their horses, than on the public stage, and most work well over 60 hours a week just in the daily care of their horses, keeping their heads down, trying to do what’s right.

The National HBPA acknowledges that racing faces problems, as does every other sport, business and industry. Similarly, I agree some of our regulations and our testing system are in need of some repairs and can be inconsistent, but my concerns diverge from Craig’s in this important respect: The federal bill known as H.R. 2651 is not the answer. This bill does not seek to place our industry into the hands of anti-doping experts with the ability to make common-sense distinctions between performance-enhancing drugs and those that aren’t. This bill places our industry in the hands of a horse racing authority board whose appointed members have nothing to do with our industry.

How many of you reading this letter have said to others, “That damn commission in my state knows nothing about our industry,” or have you said, “Our federal representatives don’t understand the racing industry.” I have heard that time and time again at the sales and on the backside. If the proposed federal legislation of drug testing and enforcement under the Federal Trade Commission in horse racing would prevent what happened to Danny Miller, Bill Mott, Rusty Arnold, Joe Sharp, Graham Motion, Danny Werre, Mike Maker, Michael Ann Ewing and others, I know I would be shouting from the rooftops in support of its passage. However, it does not.

As a matter of fact, in my visits to Capitol Hill, I have sat with an advisor for the Office of Policy Planning as well as a member of the Legislative Counsel Office of Congressional Relations with the Federal Trade Commission. Both offices have said they are not prepared or set up to take on the racing industry, and neither office had seen H.R. 2651 before my meeting.

We do know this inexperienced and uninvolved organization is given a blank check by H.R. 2651. With the steep increase in

the costs of feed, hay, bedding, help and workers’ compensation insurance, an as-yet-undetermined bill is hardly the means to save racing and impose uniformity. We can say there is no price tag for integrity, and cost should be no object, but economics must always play into industry decisions. Less than a half of 1 percent of drug tests come back positive, and the majority of that number are for minuscule concentrations of environmental substances, similar to the now-rescinded violations for Arnold and Sharp. Under our current model, we have, in fact, an integrity model to be emulated.

The Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI) and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) are intimately involved with the racing industry and familiar with its unique problems and concerns. The tipping point of unjust medication violations leveled against trainers such as Arnold, Sharp and Mott, rather than being a call to support a federal bill, should be a call for every outraged participant in our great industry to get involved. The National HBPA, the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Thoroughbred Owners of California and other groups across the country are organizations of horsemen for horsemen.

The National HBPA is a member of the RMTC, and each example of a trainer wrongfully accused should energize everyone who adds comments to the end of online articles, tweets or mumbles about uniformity to get involved. Everyone associated with any of the member organizations of the RMTC must go to meetings, call their representatives and speak up. We need to attend commission meetings, reach out to the regulators who create these rules and make ourselves heard.

Why create a new “alphabet soup” organization when what is needed is more involvement from our industry’s members to understand existing challenges and come together to find workable and mutually acceptable solutions? Leadership is in place, but nothing can be done if all we do is sit on the sidelines and yell from the stands. If we are to be outraged at the tarnishing of reputations of good, ethical trainers over positive tests because of environmental exposure, we need to demand a review of these regulations and the establishment of screening limits for such substances by both the RMTC and RCI. We need to answer the call to action rather than naively assuming the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency will be able to take the reins of medication regulation within our industry and suddenly common sense will be instated.

In this case, the KHRC did the right thing. But recent cases alone have cost horsemen tens of thousands of dollars fighting for common sense in court. How can anyone just assume the proposed federal legislation would have changed those circumstances? We can shake our heads in disbelief that it took a year and considerable expense on the part of the affected horsemen, drop our heads and go back to work, assuming the federal option will be a better one and that it will even come to fruition. Or, we can work within the system we have in place and get involved. It is time for change, and it is time for owners and trainers to stand up.

It’s not difficult to see and criticize the challenges that exist in our current regulatory system. For some, the solution is to throw the whole thing out and start over. But change is, in itself, no magic bullet. Our regulatory system is not perfect, but it is better than what would be established by a federal bill pockmarked with pitfalls. Let’s work together to fix what we have.

SINCERELY, ERIC J. HAMELBACK THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

THE

AFFILIATES

NATIONAL HBPA WOULD LIKE TO THANK ITS CORPORATE

SPONSORS

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

CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Kimberly Brewer Eddie Celaya Dr. Clara Fenger Kimberle French Jake Machin Jennie Rees Jen Roytz Theodore Shults Elizabeth Talamo Dr. Thomas Tobin PHOTOGRAPHERS Ackerley Images Denis Blake Marisa Favero Horsephotos.com iStockphoto Quentinjlang – stock.adobe.com Suzie Picou-Oldham Samuel René Halifax – stock.abobe.com STAFF Denis Blake Editor P (512) 695-4541 hj@hbpa.org Jennifer Vanier Allen Advertising Director P (716) 650-4011 F (509) 272-1640 jallen@hbpa.org Limb Design www.limbdesign.com Graphic Design THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL 3380 Paris Pike Lexington, KY 40511 P (512) 695-4541 F (859) 259-0452 hj@hbpa.org HBPA WEBSITE: www.hbpa.org COVER PHOTO: Suzie Picou-Oldham

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

The Horsemen’s Journal, Volume 65 #1.

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

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

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

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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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

NEWS

INDUSTRY NEWS

Gun Runner Voted 2017 Horse of the Year

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COURTESY NTRA

un Runner, a winner of four Grade 1 races culminating with the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, was named 2017 Horse of the Year at the 47th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony January 25 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida.

The Eclipse Awards, honoring excellence in North American Thoroughbred racing and presented by The Stronach Group, Daily Racing Form and the Breeders’ Cup, are voted on by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, DRF and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm and trained by Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner received 248 out of a possible 250 first-place votes for Horse of the Year. Juddmonte Farms’ Arrogate, the 2016 champion 3-year-old male, received two first-place votes.

Gun Runner, who also was named the champion older dirt male earlier in the evening, won five of six starts during his 4-year-old season, including dominant victories in the Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park in April, the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in June, the Whitney and Woodward at Saratoga in August and then finished the year with a front-running 2 ¼-length victory in the Classic at Del Mar. Gun Runner’s only defeat last year came in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, when he finished second to Arrogate. Ridden in all of his races last year by Florent Geroux, Gun Runner finished the year with earnings of $6,950,700.

A chestnut son of Candy Ride (Arg), Gun Runner was bred in Kentucky by Besilu Stables. He made his final start a winning one in the Grade 1, $16 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on January 27 and then was retired to stud duty at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky.

With the crowning of Gun Runner, Steve Asmussen became the first trainer since the Eclipse Awards began in 1971 to train the Horse of the Year winner on four occasions. Asmussen, a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, also trained Curlin to Horse of the Year titles in 2007 and 2008 and the filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009.

In other awards, two horses from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert captured the 3-year-old titles. Gary and Mary West’s West Coast, winner of the Travers (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G1), was named champion 3-yearold male, and China Horse Club’s Abel Tasman, winner of the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), was named champion 3-yearold filly.

Champion 2-year-old male went to Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Good Magic. His trainer, Chad Brown, was named outstanding trainer for the second consecutive year.

Juddmonte Farms, who campaigned Arrogate to victories in both the 2017 Pegasus and Dubai World cups, was named champion owner, and Clearsky Farms, breeder of Arrogate and Abel Tasman, was named outstanding breeder.

Jose Ortiz, who led all riders with more than $27 million in earnings, was named champion jockey.

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Here is the complete list of 2017 Eclipse Awards winners: • 2-Year-Old Male: Good Magic • 2-Year-Old Filly: Caledonia Road • 3-Year-Old Male: West Coast • 3-Year-Old Filly: Abel Tasman • Older Dirt Male: Gun Runner • Older Dirt Female: Forever Unbridled • Male Sprinter: Roy H • Female Sprinter: Unique Bella • Male Turf Horse: World Approval • Female Turf Horse: Lady Eli • Steeplechase Horse: Scorpiancer (Ire) • Owner: Juddmonte Farms Inc. • Breeder: Clearsky Farms • Jockey: Jose Ortiz • Apprentice Jockey: Evin Roman • Trainer: Chad Brown • Horse of the Year: Gun Runner The Eclipse Award of Merit, presented to honor outstanding lifetime achievement in the Thoroughbred industry, went to Frank Stronach. The award is voted on by a panel of representatives from the three presenting organizations and was previously announced.

Special Eclipse Awards, as voted by a panel representing the NTWAB and DRF, went to San Luis Rey Downs in Southern California and Camarero Racetrack Rescue and Response in Puerto Rico to honor responders and relief efforts after the Lilac wildfire in California and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, respectively, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association for improvements in federal regulations for horseplayers and the industry.

Media Eclipse Awards are given in the categories of photography, audio/ multimedia and Internet, news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing, national television–feature and national television–live racing programming to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. Here are the 2017 Media Eclipse Awards winners, determined by a judges’ panel for each category: • Live Racing Programming: NBC Sports, “2017 Kentucky Derby,” Rob Hyland, Coordinating Producer, May 6, 2017.

• National Television Feature: NBCSN, “My Kentucky Home,” Tom Hammond, Narrator and Co-Producer, May 3, 2017.

• Audio/Multimedia and Internet: Daily Racing Form, “Chasing Man o’ War’s Ghost,” Barbara Livingston, Writer, Photographer and Narrator, March 24, 2017.

• News/Enterprise Writing: Denise Steffanus, “A Call for Common Sense Testing,” Trainer magazine, February-March 2017.

• Feature/Commentary Writing: Jason Frakes, “Gunnevera Trainer Kidnapped Twice, Now in Kentucky Derby,” Louisville Courier-Journal, April 30, 2017.

• Photography: Nancy Rokos, Fractious Two-Year-Old, Burlington (N.J.) County Times, October 7, 2017.

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Congress Passes Appropriations Bill with Potential H-2B Visa Relief

Canadian Chris Littlemore Holds Steady to Win $800,000 First Prize, Eclipse Award at NHC

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ongress passed a fiscal year 2018 omnibus appropriations bill in March that, according to a press release from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, includes language that could almost double the number of H-2B visas available, potentially improving a dire situation for Thoroughbred trainers, many of whom depend on these visas for the industry’s sizable foreign temporary workforce. The bill provides the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to raise the cap on H-2B visas if the secretary, in consultation with the Department of Labor, determines that there is an economic need.

After the bill was signed by President Trump, the total number of H-2B workers who may enter the United States during FY 2018, which ends on September 30, will be capped at 129,547. If fully implemented, this new cap would be equal to the number of new and returning H-2B workers admitted to the United States in FY 2007, which is the fiscal year when the highest number of H-2B foreign temporary workers participated in the visa program.

“Congress provided the Secretary of Homeland Security with the same discretionary power to increase H-2B limits as part of the 2017 omnibus spending bill passed in May of last year,” said NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop. “Unfortunately, the secretary did not make the necessary finding of

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hris Littlemore, a retired autoworker from Whitby, Ontario, Canada, was never seriously threatened throughout the semifinals and the final table, cruising to victory in the 19th NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) in February. He earned an $800,000 first-place prize and an Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year. Presented by Racetrack Television Network, STATS Race Lens and Treasure Island Las Vegas, the NHC had a record field size of 702 entries (568 individual players, 134 of whom held the maximum two entries) and offered record cash and prizes totaling $2,974,700.

It’s the second consecutive NHC victory by a Canadian from the Toronto area, following a similarly dominant performance by Ray Arsenault of Thornhill, Ontario, last year.

For his winning effort, Littlemore also receives a berth into next year’s NHC finals, entries to the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge and an annual subscription to STATS Race Lens.

The 58-year-old Littlemore amassed a winning score of $348.30 over the three-day tournament from 53 mythical $2 Win and Place bets.

“I didn’t feel that confident,” Littlemore said of entering the third day as the leader. “I didn’t like the card that well; I didn’t like the races. I got lucky that a lot of chalk came in and kept me on top. I kept my distance. As the day wore on, I wasn’t having a good day, so I just kept picking away, picking away. I was fortunate enough that no big longshots came in to overtake me, and I picked the right horse in the last and it got me through.”

Keith Fenton of Fort Worth, Texas, came out on the winning end of a head-bobbing photo for second, posting a final bankroll of $315.10, good for a $250,000 prize. Garett Skiba of Hinsdale, Illinois, picked War Heroine, the 9-2 winner in the contest finale, the Good Life Stakes at Santa Anita, but the return wasn’t enough to help his position. Skiba took home $125,000 thanks to his $314 bankroll.

Littlemore is now eligible for the $3 million NHC-BCBC Rolling Double bonus should he go on to win the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge this November.

The NHC was held for the seventh straight year in the Treasure Island ballroom and will return to Treasure Island in February 2019.

The 2018 NHC Tour is now underway with more information available at ntra.com/nhc.

HORSEPHOTOS.COM

CHRIS LITTLEMORE (LEFT) ACCEPTS THE FIRST-PRIZE CHECK FROM NTRA PRESIDENT AND CEO ALEX WALDROP.

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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economic need until July of last summer when it was too late for most employers to take advantage of the increased number of H-2B visas before the end of the fiscal year.”

The NTRA, through its membership in the H-2B Workforce Coalition, will urge the administration to swiftly implement this H-2B cap relief and will continue to encourage Congress to pass permanent H-2B cap relief.

Three-Year Racehorse Depreciation Returns Retroactively for FY 2017

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resident Trump in February signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act, a bill that among other measures extends retroactively for fiscal year 2017 uniform three-year racehorse depreciation, an important tax provision supported by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association that expired in 2016 alongside certain other expired tax provisions.

Three-year depreciation is an investment incentive for racehorse owners that had been in place for several years before expiring at the end of 2016.

“We wish to thank Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his continued

support for our industry,” said NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop. “We’ve worked with the Leader for over a decade on our industry’s unique issues, and we appreciate his continued efforts.”

Prior to the 2008 Farm Bill, which became effective January 1, 2009, racehorses 24 months of age and younger when purchased and placed in service were depreciated on a seven-year schedule that did not accurately reflect the length of a typical racehorse’s career; only racehorses over 24 months old were depreciated using a three-year schedule.

San Luis Rey Fire Voted 2017 NTRA Moment of the Year

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he tragic Lilac Fire that devastated the San Luis Rey Training Center in Bonsall, California, near San Diego on December 7 was voted the 2017 NTRA Moment of the Year based on the results of a record 3,303 votes cast via Twitter and an online poll.

Those most impacted by the wildfire, as well as the 46 equine lives lost, were recognized and memorialized at the 47th annual Eclipse Awards in January at Gulfstream Park. All responders who assisted in mitigating the year’s worst racehorse-related disasters—the Lilac Fire and the hurricane that struck Puerto Rico’s Hipódromo Camarero in September—were honored with a Special Eclipse Award.

NTRA Moment of the Year voters chose from 13 occurrences illustrating a

range of human emotions as well as outstanding displays of equine athleticism.

Finishing second was Arrogate’s last-to-first rally under Mike Smith to win the $10 million Dubai World Cup over Gun Runner by 2 ¼ lengths.

Represented on Twitter by the hashtag #RememberSLR, the San Luis Rey

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tragedy garnered 843 votes, or 25.5 percent of the overall voting. Arrogate’s Dubai World Cup, #ArrogateDWC, got 536 votes (16 percent). The death of Secretariat owner Penny Chenery, #PennyRIP, was third with 360 votes (11 percent).

The first-ever NTRA Moment of the Year was the touching scene between Charismatic and jockey Chris Antley following the 1999 Belmont Stakes. The next year’s winner was the stretch run of the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic, which saw Tiznow hold on for a dramatic victory against Giant’s Causeway. Tiznow won again the following year as fans selected his stirring repeat victory in the Classic over Sakhee. In 2002 fans cited the passing of the last living 20thcentury Triple Crown winner, Seattle Slew, and in 2003 the popular Kentucky Derby win by Funny Cide was selected. Birdstone’s upset win in the Belmont Stakes over Smarty Jones took down top honors for 2004, followed by Afleet Alex’s spectacular victory in the Preakness Stakes for 2005.

Voters in 2006 chose Barbaro’s gallant struggle to recover from his Preakness injury while at the New Bolton Center and in 2007 the historic victory by filly Rags to Riches over Curlin in the Belmont Stakes. For 2008 it was Zenyatta’s win in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic; the great mare repeated in 2009 for her triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

In 2010 fans selected Blame’s narrow Breeders’ Cup Classic victory over Zenyatta, and Drosselmeyer’s hard-fought win over Game On Dude in the Breeders’ Cup Classic was the public’s choice for 2011. Paynter’s recovery from near-deadly battles with laminitis and colitis captured the hearts of voters in 2012, and the following year, fans recognized Mucho Macho Man’s nose victory in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic for his popular connections. The 2014 award went to California Chrome’s dominant win in the Kentucky Derby, and in an unsurprisingly landslide vote, American Pharoah’s historic Triple Crownclinching Belmont Stakes win was 2015’s top moment. In 2016, California Chrome was again part of the winning moment—a dramatic Dubai World Cup victory that came as Victor Espinoza’s saddle slipped out from underneath him.

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Dan Fick Elected Chair of Racing Officials Accreditation Program

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ore than 80 entities, including racing venues in Brazil, Canada, Puerto Rico and France, were represented during the 17th annual Track Superintendents Conference held March 25-27 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

This event allowed track superintendents to share their knowledge and expertise with each other while also exploring new and proven methods to protect all industry stakeholders. The conference included presentations, displays and networking opportunities that annually benefit participating tracks in terms of maintaining safe surfaces while maximizing racing and training dates.

“This conference is unique in our industry, and Oaklawn is proud to host the event,” Oaklawn Plant Superintendent John Hopkins said. “Track superintendents are responsible for providing a safe and fair racing surface for both equine and human athletes. They play a vital role in the protection of horses and riders. Getting the opportunity to host a gathering of them from around the world is important to the industry. We can learn a lot from each other.”

Among the racetracks represented were Arlington Park, Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Canterbury Park, Churchill Downs, Hawthorne Race Course, Indiana Grand, Keeneland, Laurel, Lone Star Park, Pimlico, Prairie Meadows and Saratoga.

Also present were representatives from Woodbine in Canada; Hipódromo Camarero in Puerto Rico; Jockey Club Brasileiro from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Maus Implement, a race equipment supply company.

Industry organizations represented included the National HBPA and National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

Topics covered during the conference included new turf courses, injuries on Thoroughbred and Standardbred tracks, equine equipment and racetrack geometry by Dr. Mick Peterson, a consultant on Oaklawn’s racing surface this year. Oaklawn Senior Vice President Eric Jackson addressed the group on the colorful history of Oaklawn and Thoroughbred racing in Arkansas.

Other sessions during the two-day event, which was moderated by Oaklawn Paddock Analyst Nancy Holthus, included such subjects as race-day injuries by Dr. Kathy Anderson and a special session concerning Midwest tracks by local veterinarian Dr. Scott McClure.

One of the highlights of the conference was a jockey roundtable discussion featuring Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens, Alex Birzer and Jareth Loveberry.

The conference kicked off with attendees enjoying an afternoon of racing Sunday, March 25, in the Arkansas Room in the Oaklawn Club.

The inaugural Track Superintendents Conference was hosted by event founder Roy Smith in 2001 at Philadelphia Park and had 20 participants. It has been held each year since at racetracks across North America.

COURTESY OAKLAWN PARK

he Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP) board of directors elected its 2018–2020 officers during its March 27 meeting and appointed two new board members.

Dan Fick, a ROAP-accredited steward and previously ROAP vice chair, was elected chair; Wendy Davis, director at the University of Arizona and previously ROAP secretary, was elected vice chair; Jennifer Durenberger, a ROAP-accredited steward and NYRA chief examining veterinarian, was elected secretary; and Kristin Leshney, senior counsel at The Jockey Club, was re-elected treasurer.

Fick, the newly appointed chair, extended his thanks to Hugh Gallagher for his service to ROAP as chair over the past six years. Gallagher will remain as a director. Fick added, “I look forward to focusing my efforts on helping fulfill our mission to provide educational opportunities and resources for horse racing officials for all breeds.”

In addition to officer elections, two board members were appointed: John Campbell as an at-large director and Dr. Camie Heleski representing the University of Kentucky’s Ag Equine department.

Campbell, president and CEO of the Hambletonian Society and member of the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame, brings a strong harness background to the board.

At the meeting, the University of Kentucky’s Ag Equine department was added as a member organization on the ROAP board and selected Heleski as its representative. Heleski brings a strong education background to the board, including distance learning expertise, to further ROAP’s mission to provide quality education to horse racing officials.

ROAP also would like to offer condolences to the family of board member Ned Bonnie, who passed in March. Bonnie was a long-standing ROAP board member and had a strong passion for the organization and the profession. He advocated for qualified and well-compensated officials and also brought his broad industry knowledge to the board.

Track Superintendents Conference Concludes with Focus on Safety, Surface Design

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Thoroughbred Incentive Program Announces 2017 Performance Awards Winners

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he Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which encourages the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines upon completion of careers in racing or breeding, announced the winners and other placings from its 2017 performance awards program.

The performance awards recognize Thoroughbreds accumulating the most points at all horse shows in each of the award categories and divisions throughout the year.

“We received applications representing 562 Thoroughbreds competing in more than 11,000 classes and divisions during the 2017 award year, up nearly 150 horses from 2016,” said Kristin Leshney, senior counsel for The Jockey Club and T.I.P. administrator. “Winners will receive ribbons, prize money and a variety of prizes, including sheets, saddle pads, bridle bags, duffel bags and jackets.”

Thoroughbred Charities of America sponsored the Green OTTB Category for Thoroughbreds that last raced in 2015, 2016 or 2017. State-bred or residing performance awards were sponsored by the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society–Alberta Division, the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, the Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, the Kentucky Horse Council, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, the North Carolina Thoroughbred Association, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association and the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association. In addition, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance sponsored a performance award for horses adopted from TAAaccredited organizations.

Performance awards will be available again in 2018 and will be based on results in shows from December 1, 2017, through November 30, 2018. The deadline for submissions is December 20, 2018.

The 2017 performance award winners’ photos will be posted on the T.I.P. Facebook page at facebook.com/tjctip. The complete list of winners and participants is available at tjctip.com.

Created and announced in October 2011, T.I.P. recognizes and rewards the versatility of the Thoroughbred through performance awards, non-competition awards and sponsorship of Thoroughbred classes and high point awards at sanctioned horse shows.

2018 Fact Book Available on The Jockey Club Website

T

he Jockey Club announced that the 2018 edition of the Fact Book is available in the Resources section of its website at jockeyclub.com.

The online Fact Book is a statistical and informational guide to Thoroughbred breeding, racing and auction sales in North America. It also features a directory of Canadian, international, national and state organizations.

Links to the breeding statistics report that is released by The Jockey Club each September and the Report of Mares Bred information that is published by The Jockey Club each October can be found in the Breeding section of the Fact Book.

The 2018 editions of state fact books, which feature detailed breeding, racing and auction sales information specific to numerous states, Canadian provinces and Puerto Rico, are also available on The Jockey Club website. The state fact books are updated monthly. HJ

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A trainer’s worst order BleederGard month, The Sciencedrugs Behind BleederGard very sick horse that’s banned from receive $10 off your first order To understand how BleederGard racing for life. to reduce bleedingby events something he had read about called e. using promo code HJ10 at checkout. works, we looked at a controlled Facing these concerns for two of intense exercise… natural respiratory nly not his just one,thebut two of askedBleederGard.

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800-780-4331 13

NEWS

HBPA NEWS

NATIONAL HBPA MOVES TO NEW HEADQUARTERS The National HBPA office has relocated to The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

The new mailing address is 3380 Paris Pike, Lexington, KY 40511.

“First and foremost, this was a smart financial move for the National HBPA as it will save money compared to our previous office location,” NHBPA CEO Eric Hamelback said. “Plus, being located at an active training center is a perfect spot to interact with horsemen. As always, we invite horsemen to stop by the office anytime they are in the Lexington area.”

There is no change to the National HBPA’s phone numbers.

Originally known as the Kentucky Horse Center, The Thoroughbred Center can accommodate approximately 1,000 horses and features two lighted training tracks.

NATIONAL HBPA INCREASES STABLE OF CORPORATE SPONSORS TO EIGHT The National HBPA continues to attract and retain corporate sponsors to partner with North America’s largest horsemen’s organization.

The latest addition to the stable is Daily Racing Form, which joins renewing or current sponsors Big Dee’s Tack and Vet Supplies, equineline.com, Finish Line Horse Products Inc., Horseman Labor Solutions, NTRA Advantage, Red Brand and Xpressbet.

“As I’ve said many times in the past, the support of our corporate partners is vitally important to the National HBPA and to living up to our motto of ‘horsemen helping horsemen,’” NHBPA CEO Eric Hamelback said. “These companies are all leaders in their industry, and I hope that all horsemen consider their products and services to show our appreciation for their support of horse racing.”

Daily Racing Form, “America’s Turf Authority since 1894” for Thoroughbred racing horseplayers and professionals, is the industry’s dominant multichannel media company. Daily Racing Form is the only daily newspaper in the United States dedicated solely to the coverage of a single sport. Its companion website, drf.com, is the most heavily trafficked horse racing destination, providing players with extensive news coverage in racing, interactive past performances, exclusive handicapping tools and access to the online and mobile wagering platform DRF Bets. Since making their published debut in 1991, Beyer Speed Figures have become an industry standard for the comparison of one horse’s performance to another. One of the company’s newest offerings, Beyer Sire Performance Standings, examines stallion performance beyond wins and earnings by measuring a sire’s ability to produce high-quality horses, not necessarily the most winners or highest earners. For more information, go to drf.com.

Big Dee’s Tack & Vet Supplies has served the equine community for more than three decades by offering racing supplies and an extensive line of horse health care items. The company also carries product lines for all equine disciplines—a testament to the company’s efforts to be a convenient, onestop shopping destination for horsemen and women. Plus, Big Dee’s has a variety of equine gifts and custom products, as well as a complete line of dogrelated products. Customers can shop by phone at (800) 321-2142 or online at bigdweb.com. A complete product line catalog and a specific racing product catalog are available upon request.

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Equineline.com provides a variety of services and reports for horsemen.

Among the reports offered are pedigrees, race records and an assortment of breeding, racing and sales information for individual horses (both Thoroughbred and American Quarter Horse), including free five-cross pedigrees for Thoroughbreds, free auction results search for Thoroughbreds and a free racing recap for both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse races. Many of the Thoroughbred reports include video replay capabilities. Equineline.com, a service of The Jockey Club Information Systems Inc., also offers products that can help save horsemen both time and money, including the Trainer Program, Farm Program, Owner Program, Sales Catalog App and Portfolio Service. To find out more, visit equineline.com.

Finish Line Horse Products Inc. manufactures products for racing and other performance horses and strives to provide the right products at the right price. The company also offers a free hotline for customers to ask trained staff about Finish Line products or general equine-related questions.

Although Finish Line has grown to serve many other equine disciplines over the years, Thoroughbred racing was the first and is still a core business for the company. Finish Line products are made in the United States and are 100 percent guaranteed to horsemen every time with the goal to “produce products that will show you a noticeable improvement in your horse.” That makes Finish Line’s products a necessary part of many trainers’ barn programs and a factor in racing barns throughout the country. For more information, visit finishlinehorse.com.

Horseman Labor Solutions provides immigration services to the industry and assists trainers in maintaining their staff of skilled guest workers.

Whether it is a 10-month temporary visa for a skilled groom or hot walker or a five-year visa for exercise riders and jockeys, Horseman Labor Solutions and its immigration services are considered second to none by many horsemen.

CEO William Velie is a frequent speaker at National HBPA conventions and is hands-on in meeting with both trainers and guest workers to cover all details in the visa process. For more information, visit horsemanlabor.com or call (800) 678-RACE (7223).

National HBPA members are eligible for significant savings on nationally

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known products through NTRA Advantage, including special savings on products used for equine farm, business or personal use. Since the inception of NTRA Advantage in 2002, industry participants have made $900 million in purchases, resulting in $175 million in savings. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association thanks horsemen, racetracks and other members of the horse industry for supporting its sponsors over the past 15 years. Beyond the savings, $8 million was contributed back to the equine industry. Partners in the NTRA Advantage program include John Deere, Sherwin Williams, Office Depot, UPS, Red Brand, Suncast Commercial and many more. For more information, call (866) 678-4289 or visit ntraadvantage.com.

Red Brand has been a leading manufacturer of American-made premium agricultural fencing products for well over a century. The company was founded in 1889 as Keystone Steel & Wire Company and began in a humble shed on a rented farm in Dillon, Illinois. It was there that Peter Sommer invented

a machine that wove steel wire fence to replace traditional wooden timber fences. The first “Red Brand” fence appeared around 1925, with, in a display of modern marketing savvy, Keystone wire and fence posts dipped in red paint, making the new Red Brand products instantly recognizable on farms all over America. For more information about Red Brand products and to find a dealer near you, go to redbrand.com or call (800) 447-6444.

Xpressbet provides legal and secure online wagering services to horseplayers in the United States. It is the industry’s most comprehensive and user-friendly wagering site, allowing customers to wager on more than 300 of the world’s best racetracks from their computer, phone or mobile device.

Xpressbet operates XB SELECT, the industry’s premier destination for highvolume wagering, and XB Net, which connects bet shops and wagering sites from around the world to North American racing. For more information, go to xpressbet.com. HJ

NATIONAL HBPA MISSION STATEMENT Founded in 1940, the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) and its affiliates operate on behalf of Thoroughbred racehorse owners, trainers and backstretch personnel throughout the United States and Canada. Our mission is to improve and preserve Thoroughbred horse racing by: 1. Providing a representative voice for all Thoroughbred horsemen on matters integral to the advancement of Thoroughbred racing in the United States, Canada and at the state level.

2. Encouraging the highest standards of horsemanship to continuously improve the care, health and safety of the horse.

3. Facilitating guidelines to ensure the safety of the jockeys, trainers, grooms, exercise riders, hot walkers, farriers, veterinarians and all others who regularly come in contact with the racehorse.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Supporting the development, adoption, implementation and enforcement of nationwide uniform rules which promote safety and integrity in racing.

Disseminating information on critical issues facing our industry to HBPA affiliates and to the general public as appropriate.

Supporting and promoting programs and entities which provide general benevolence and other beneficial programs for affiliates and members.

Assisting in the development of programs at affiliated tracks providing for the aftercare of our horses when their racing careers are over.

Promoting the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.

NATIONAL HBPA’S POSITION REGARDING THE REGULATION OF RACING MEDICATION 1.

2.

3.

The National HBPA’s focus has always been, and remains, the health and safety of the horse, the safety of the jockey, and the safety of all individuals coming into contact with the horse including grooms, hot walkers, trainers and veterinarians.

The National HBPA believes a truly independent and transparent Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) composed of industry stakeholders (including the NHBPA, The Jockey Club, the United States Trotting Association and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, among others) not dominated by any individual organization, with input from appropriate medical and veterinary professional bodies such as the American Association of Equine Practitioners, must be the final evaluator of medical and veterinary science.

The National HBPA believes that RMTC approved medication rules should be reviewed by the Association of Racing Commissioners International on behalf of state racing

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4.

5.

6.

commissions, and following an evaluation based on science and medical research with all industry stakeholders being heard, the rules should be adopted or rejected by a majority vote.

The National HBPA contends that uniform medication rules must be based solely on published scientifically determined regulatory thresholds, with published scientifically determined withdrawal time guidelines, all based on and supported by data published in the scientific literature.

The National HBPA believes that RMTC and ISO-17025 accredited laboratories should perform all medication testing.

The National HBPA does not tolerate cheating in this sport.

The NHBPA supports rules wherein repeat offenders of medication rules, after due process, should be severely penalized, including permanent expulsion from the industry.

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NEWS

RESEARCH AND MEDICATION UPDATE

Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit VIII Set for June 27

The Jockey Club Releases Data from the Equine Injury Database for 2017

The Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation

An analysis of data from the Equine Injury Database has shown a modest

announced that the eighth Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse

increase in the rate of fatal injury in 2017 (1.61 per 1,000 starts) compared

Summit will be held Wednesday, June 27, in Lexington, Kentucky.

with 2016 (1.54 per 1,000 starts), The Jockey Club announced.

The summit, which brings together a cross-section of the breeding, racing and veterinary communities, again will be underwritten and coordinated by The Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and hosted by the Keeneland Association.

The first summit was held in October 2006. Subsequent editions were held in March 2008, June 2010, October 2012, July 2014, July 2015 and July 2016.

“The discussions and presentations of the previous summits have resulted in numerous initiatives that have improved the safety and welfare of racing’s equine and human athletes, and we are so appreciative of Keeneland’s support of this event since its inception more than a decade ago,” said Edward L. Bowen, president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. “The 2018 summit will not only update the industry on these efforts but will also delve into new projects and subjects of interest for anyone involved in the Thoroughbred industry.”

The summit will be held in the Keeneland sales pavilion, and it is open to the public; a live webcast will also be available. A formal agenda and a list of speakers will be announced at a later date.

Among the major accomplishments that have evolved from the previous seven summits are the Equine Injury Database; the Jockey Injury Database; the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, which provides science-based testing of racing surfaces to enhance safety for horse and rider; a uniform trainer test and study guide; a racing surfaces white paper and publication of educational bulletins for track maintenance; the publication of stallion durability statistics; the “Hoof: Inside and Out” DVD, available in English and Spanish; modifications to model rules that enhance the protocol for horses working off of the veterinarian’s list; and the movement by state racing commissions to create regulations that void the claim of horses suffering fatalities during a race.

The Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation is traditionally the nation’s leading source of private funding for equine medical research that benefits all breeds of horses. Since 1983 the foundation has provided more than $24.8 million to fund 346 projects at 43 universities in North America and overseas. Additional information about the foundation is available at grayson.jockeyclub.com.

Professor Tim Parkin, veterinarian and epidemiologist from the University of Glasgow and consultant to the database, once again performed the analysis.

The fatality rates associated with each racing surface were as follows: • On turf surfaces, there were 1.36 fatalities per 1,000 starts in 2017, compared with 1.09 in 2016.

• On dirt surfaces, there were 1.74 fatalities per 1,000 starts in 2017, compared with 1.7 in 2016.

• On synthetic surfaces, the rate of fatal injuries remained stable at 1.1 fatalities per 1,000 starts.

Since the database began collecting data in 2009, there has been a 20 percent drop in the risk of fatal injury across all surfaces, a 17 percent drop in risk of fatal injury on dirt and a 30 percent drop in risk of fatal injury on turf.

An analysis of 2017 race distance statistics shows that shorter races (less than six furlongs) were again associated with higher injury rates versus middle distance races (six to eight furlongs) and long races (more than eight furlongs). This has been consistent over the nine-year span.

In addition, 2-year-olds again had the lowest rate of catastrophic injuries compared with 3-year-olds and older horses, another trend over the nine years.

“Although fatality rates increased this year from last year, the increase in rates is not statistically significant,” Parkin said. “However, the overall decline in the rate in fatalities since the creation of the Equine Injury Database is statistically significant and reflects a continuously improving safety record for North American racing.”

“The North American racing industry has made significant strides to decrease fatal equine injuries, and the results should serve to further motivate us to continue that trend,” said Dr. Mary Scollay, the equine medical director for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and a consultant to the database.

The statistics are based on injuries that resulted in fatalities within 72 hours from the date of the race and are for official Thoroughbred races only, excluding steeplechase races. Summary statistics for the database are subject to change due to a number of considerations, including reporting timeliness.

Since March 2012, racetracks have been able to voluntarily publish their statistics from the database in the Safety Initiatives section of The Jockey Club website. There are 25 tracks that self-reported during 2017, and their aggregate rate was 1.46. The list of racetracks participating in the Equine Injury Database and detailed statistics from those tracks that voluntarily publish their results can be found at jockeyclub.com.

Throughout 2018, racetracks accounting for approximately 97 percent of flat racing days are expected to contribute data to the database. HJ

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NEWS

MEDICATION COMMITTEE CORNER

FOCUS ON THE FETLOCK

NAARV symposium panel examines developments in treating fetlock injuries

By Clara Fenger, DVM, PhD, DACVIM

A

ll athletic endeavors are accompanied by injuries, and horse racing is no exception. Most veterinary intervention involves maximizing the health of the athlete and minimizing the injuries. For racehorses, the fetlock joint is arguably the most important area of athletic injuries to target and, therefore, was the focus of a panel discussion at the North American Association of Racetrack Veterinarians (NAARV) Annual Meeting and Symposium in November.

The Focus on the Fetlock panel included Drs. Mark Cheney, Patty Hogan and Steve Selway. Cheney is a racetrack veterinarian who graduated from Auburn

University and has practiced extensively in his home state of Kentucky as well as in New York and Florida. He claims the title of personal veterinarian to such great horses as Personal Ensign and Orb, among many others. Hogan is a renowned surgeon and advocate for aftercare of racehorses, a cause she has championed for more than 20 years. She counts among her famous patients Mine That Bird and Tapit. Selway, who attended veterinary school at Washington State University and went on to an internship and surgical residency at the New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania, has more than four decades of experience on the backside, splitting his time between New York and Florida.

Effective Joint Therapies Cheney led off the discussion, reminding us that high levels of athletic exertion come with stress, taking its toll on every system of the athlete. Horses are no exception. An entire science of sports medicine has been developed to counteract the problems that plague athletes, and equine sports medicine has not been left behind.

The stress of exercise causes the release of a cascade of inflammatory mediators. These mediators can be short-lived and the athlete can rebound, but in many cases, they start the process of cartilage damage and ultimately lead to osteoarthritis. More than half of racehorses experience lameness during their racing careers, of which joint injury is a major cause. As many as a third of Thoroughbred yearlings go through a sale with pre-existing arthritis of the tarsal joints. Slowing or preventing the progression of osteoarthritis is one of the most important roles of the veterinarian.

The most effective veterinary intervention for joint inflammation is the judicious use of corticosteroid injections. While newer therapies, such as IRAP (interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein) and PRP (platelet-rich plasma), have gained a lot of momentum and certainly have their place, there is

no replacement immediately and effectively shutting down the damaging inflammatory process. At our disposal are several FDA-approved therapies, and in particular, triamcinolone (Vetalog) and betamethasone (BetaVet) have been shown to preserve cartilage (chondroprotective) in an experimental model of athletic arthritis. Combining low doses of these corticosteroids with high molecular weight hyaluronic acid-containing products further helps the joint by replacing thin, abnormal joint fluid.

The decision to embark on joint injections should always include careful consideration of all factors. However, after appropriate diagnostics are performed and fractures have been ruled out, horsemen and owners should not shy away from the judicious use of joint injections. There is no evidence that these injections injure horses, and to the contrary, they have been shown to preserve horses’ joints, extending their careers. In Cheney’s 50 years of experience, he had many examples of great horses whose careers and lives, including the quality of their lives in retirement, were extended with the use of joint injections.

New Pathogenesis of Fetlock Injury Horsemen, veterinarians and all stakeholders in horse racing have agonized over how to prevent athletic injuries, and for the most part, this prevention has eluded us. During the panel discussion, Selway proposed a novel pathogenesis of fetlock injury, based on his observations of thousands of horses over a 50year career.

Most fetlock injuries are associated with the impressive hyperextension seen in racehorses during maximal loading of the lead leg during a high-speed gallop. At full extension, the end of the cannon bone and the sesamoids can actually slam into the racing surface, making injury of these structures no surprise. Injury to the fetlock joint, both at the site of impact and at the opposite side of the joint, affects the joint’s condition in various ways.

At the front of the fetlock joint is the joint capsule and folds of soft tissue within the joint called fibrous tabs. These structures can become inflamed with trauma. Through his long experience of reviewing pre-purchase radiographs of sale yearlings and following their racing careers, Selway has zeroed in on a potential contributor to injury of the distal cannon bone and sesamoids by focusing on the structures on the front of the fetlock joint.

Careful review of radiographs of young horses shows that the distal cannon 18

bone can curve back in some horses, resulting in a prominent curvature of the front of the joint. Selway proposed that this excessive curvature can predispose the soft tissue structures in the front of the joint to trauma with high-speed galloping and hyperextension of the joint. The abnormal forces applied to these structures in the front of the joint can lead to chip fractures but can also further accentuate the hypertension of the distal cannon bone and sesamoids, predisposing these bones to injury as well. In a group of 16 young horses that he studied with this excessive curvature, Selway reported that 15 of them developed chip fractures early in their careers.

Prevention of these fetlock injuries can be elusive, but this curvature of the distal cannon bone is one risk factor that can be identified in pre-purchase radiographs. Joint injections are generally not curative for this group of horses, because the problems are biomechanical and based on conformation. All of the joint injections in the world will not change the animal’s conformation. However, Selway recommended IRAP as a palliative therapy. Further, once the soft tissue structures of the front of the joint have become enlarged and inflamed, surgical treatment is recommended; appropriate surgical intervention can prevent further abnormal forces on the joint.

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Examining the Use of Bisphosphonates in Racehorses Among the topics Hogan addressed was the use of bisphosphonates, a relatively new class of bone-modifying drugs, in racehorses. Bisphosphonates (Tildren, Osphos) have been used on the track and in young racehorses on farms to treat a myriad of bone diseases. The actual disease for which this class of drug was approved, navicular disease, is rarely diagnosed in racehorses.

Nonetheless, bisphosphonates have been used to treat any number of bonerelated conditions. Hogan cautioned against the indiscriminate use of these products in racehorses.

The purpose of athletic training is to stress the systems of the athlete, which respond by adapting to the stress. Bone is a dynamic tissue throughout the life of any animal, constantly changing its structure in response to the forces applied to it, including exercise and type of exercise. Bones respond to the stress of training with a well-orchestrated process of breaking down and rebuilding existing bone, resulting in stronger bone along the lines of stress.

Like any building, the process begins with an excavation crew and bulldozer to clear out unnecessary debris; in the case of bone, this is a cell type called an osteoclast. The osteoclast clears out the untrained bone, making room for the building crews, or osteoblasts, to build the new, stronger bone, aligned perfectly along the lines of stress. Just like a building crew cannot build a house without first clearing the land and preparing the site, the osteoblast cannot do its job of bone building without the osteoclast. When remodeling becomes unbalanced and the breaking down exceeds the rebuilding processes, microfractures occur and can progress to stress fractures or even overt fractures. The role of the osteoclast in fracture repair is just as important as during normal remodeling, as the abnormal bone must be cleared out before healthy bone can be laid down in its place.

Bisphosphonates work specifically at the cellular level and act to block the bony excavation crew, or osteoclasts. The osteoclasts are taken up preferentially by the bone, particularly in regions of high bone turnover. Then, as the osteoclasts perform their cleanup function, the drug is taken up by these cells, which, in turn, become poisoned, resulting in their demise.

This drug class was originally developed for use in human medicine for decreasing the incidence of pathologic fractures in post-menopausal women with osteoporosis, patients with corticosteroid-related osteopenia and also certain types of bone cancers that result in a significant loss of bone density.

Hormones of youth, like estrogen, keep osteoclasts under control, but as women lose the effect of this hormone, the carefully orchestrated balance between

osteoclasts and osteoblasts is lost, and bone resorption can outpace bone building.

Bisphosphonates as a drug class were designed to counteract this imbalance. However, in these groups of people for which bisphosphonates are specifically indicated, adverse effects of these drugs have been observed, such as the increased incidence of specific types of fractures. Some members of this drug class have even been discontinued or modified with safer versions introduced and caution advised when human patients receive long-term bisphosphonate therapy.

It would seem to be quite a reach to even consider the use of this class of drugs in a horse. However, because the process of abnormal bone remodeling seen in navicular disease is painful, bisphosphonates became approved for treatment of this condition.

Using this class of drugs in racehorses is entirely different. Young horses in training undergo extreme bone remodeling in response to the rigors of training, and the development of microfractures, such as seen with bucked shins or distal cannon bone disease, are commonplace. This collapse of the choreographed balance of breakdown and rebuilding is associated with pain, the body’s early warning system. Bisphosphonates may temporarily alleviate some of this pain, and rather than preventing bone damage, their underlying mechanism of preventing the osteoclast from performing its key function of cleaning up the damaged bone may actually result in abnormal fracture healing.

“There is no evidence that bisphosphonates prevent fractures in racing horses,” Hogan said. “In fact, the mechanism of action of these drugs contradicts the very basic principles of normal bone remodeling that is necessary in a young racehorse in training. I and my surgical colleagues have seen abnormal and delayed healing of fractures in horses with a history of bisphosphonate use. I personally believe that there is absolutely no indication for the use of bisphosphonates in racehorses. The risks far outweigh any perceived benefits.”

The Focus on the Fetlock panel gave the racetrack practitioners in attendance a forum to discuss their approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the fetlock. Meetings like the NAARV symposium, where panelists and attendees can come together to compare and discuss their knowledge and experiences, will only move our understanding of conditions of the racehorse forward. HJ

ACKERLEY IMAGES

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OFFICIAL SPONSOR OFFICIAL SPONSOR of the the National of NationalHBPA HBPA

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SUZIE PICOU-OLDHAM

FEATURE

BIG MEETING IN THE

BIG EASY

TOPICS ABOUND IN NEW ORLEANS AS HORSEMEN GATHER TO NETWORK AND LEARN

BY JENNIE REES

F

ew cities in North America feature the blend of culture and history that can be seen in New Orleans. The Louisiana city, which just celebrated its 300-year anniversary, offers a rich pedigree, including French and Spanish influences and internationally recognized cuisine and music. It’s also a place with a long history of horse racing at the Fair Grounds, so it served as the perfect destination for the 2018 National HBPA Convention, hosted by the Louisiana HBPA,

on March 13-17.

“With a single, more extensive convention each year as opposed to two shorter conventions, we saw the largest attendance in recent years with well over 200 horsemen from the United States and Canada,” said Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA. “We received tremendous feedback about the variety of the panels offered and the value of the content presented. A big thank you goes out to the Louisiana HBPA for their gracious hospitality, as well as to all the National HBPA corporate and convention sponsors.”

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THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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BETTING ON SPORTS

DENIS BLAKE

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WHITHAMS’ PATIENCE PAYS OFF

The convention’s keynote speaker was Clay Whitham, who runs Whitham Thoroughbreds with his mother, Janis. Whitham Thoroughbreds and its band of about 10 mares stand as a testament to patience. Their great Hall of Famer Bayakoa (Arg) only had four foals—only two of which raced, only one winning a single race.

“Maybe there’s something about leaving it all on the racetrack,” Whitham said. “She was a great race mare, but as a broodmare she wasn’t successful as a dam. But out of the two fillies that she had that we kept, they have both produced Grade 1 stakes winners.”

One of those was Fort Larned, the 2012 KEYNOTE SPEAKER CLAY WHITHAM Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner out of the Broad Brush mare Arlucea. Trinity Place, Bayakoa’s other daughter in the Whitham broodmare band, was sired by Strawberry Road (Aus) and produced multiple Grade 1 winner Affluent.

“Broad Brush and Strawberry Road both had a lot of starts and were really good racehorses,” Whitham said. “They weren’t the most fashionable commercial sires, but they were good tough racehorses. We try to remember that. It’s easy to get excited about the latest 2-year-old champion that got retired and forget about the good, tough racehorses. But I think that’s important.”

DENIS BLAKE

To appreciate how public opinion on sports betting has changed in recent years, consider that the National Football League went from banning Las Vegas commercials during the Super Bowl broadcast to relocating a team to the city built on gambling.

While the NFL still opposes sports betting, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball now favor legalizing wagering on sporting events and are lobbying various states to receive a piece of the revenue. Speaking on a panel on sports betting that kicked off the convention, moderator Michele Fischer said the American Gaming ALEX WALDROP OF THE NTRA Association estimates that $150 billion is bet on sports by Americans each year, most of that through offshore bookmakers.

The panelists’ message was that horsemen and racetracks should be acting now to prepare for the advent of sports betting in America. Even though racetracks understand pari-mutuel wagering, taking bets at fixed odds on sports requires completely different expertise.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this spring on New Jersey’s challenge to the constitutionality of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which for the last quarter-century effectively made sports betting illegal except in Nevada and a few other states.

“In 2012, the idea of sports wagering throughout the United States was just a longshot,” said Fischer, who is vice president of sales and business development for Sportech Racing and Digital. “The sports leagues sued the state of New Jersey to block sports wagering in Atlantic City casinos and the state’s racetracks. They called it a clear violation of the federal ban on state-sponsored sports betting and threatened their integrity. … Now we wait for the United States Supreme Court to potentially strike down the 25-year-old statute. During the six-year battle, the momentum has changed. We’ve got 18 states and three governors now supporting the New Jersey case. … There are close to two dozen states considering bills to legalize sports betting.”

Joe Asher, chief executive officer of William Hill US, urged racing to follow the lead of Monmouth Park in pushing to legalize betting on sports. Monmouth is leased by the horsemen, who have partnered with William Hill on the sports-betting initiative.

“Until Congress gets involved, it’s going to be a state issue,” Asher said.

“And among the most critical decisions at the state level is who gets the license, who gets the right to offer the product. … Clearly, in my mind, the No. 1 thing is to be involved in the legislative process in trying to get some form of either getting the licenses or some entrée into it.”

Alex Waldrop, president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, offered another top priority.

“The No. 1 thing you should do is be on the phone with a William Hill or somebody else who does know this business,” Waldrop said. “Because this is

not our business. It’s vastly more complicated and risky than pari-mutuel horse racing. You should not go down this road thinking this is just another case where you’re going to divvy up purse money. If you’re not well advised, you could be left behind.”

Industry consultant Dr. Jennifer Durenberger said that while the push for sports betting has similarities to racetracks’ pursuit of expanded gaming, “it’s happening at warp speed. … If the agency that regulates horse racing in your state will have oversight, or [is] potentially merging with one that will, your existing, long-standing relationships with your regulatory body and your legislature are going to be key here. Relationships are critical.”

Durenberger said horse racing brings something to the table that resonates with lawmakers.

“You are thousands of small-business owners, and you have the privilege and the blessing to work in an industry that has economic impact for your states in very large numbers,” she said. “In my state of New York, it’s over $4 billion—with a ‘b.’ Even in small states, it’s tens of millions of dollars. Your small businesses sustain green space. You have all of the tax base, all the ancillary things that go into the agribusiness.”

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HORSEMEN AS CITIZEN MARKETERS

24

AFTERCARE IS ETHICAL— AND SMART—MARKETING

Taking care of retired racehorses not only is the ethical thing to do but also is good marketing, a panel on the second full day told the audience.

“We want to show the public that our industry cares for our horses,” said Jessica Hammond, program administrator for Beyond the Wire, Maryland Thoroughbred racing’s aftercare program that places retired racehorses in accredited programs that rehab, retrain and adopt out the horses. “That’s a huge deal nowadays, and it should be. This is not only ethical—that’s the main reason—but it’s also a marketing issue.”

Beyond the Wire is funded by the Maryland Jockey Club, the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, as well as by per-start contributions from owners and jockeys.

It serves as a conduit, working with Maryland facilities accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance that rehab racehorses for adoption, retrain for second careers or provide permanent retirement homes.

“It’s the right thing to do, to care for our horses,” Hammond said. “Most of our horsemen want to retire their horses safely, and a lot of people successfully retire their racehorses to good second careers without a program. But there are some who thought they were getting good homes, and it turned out two weeks or a month later that they weren’t. Working with the [Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance] gives us an extra security net.”

SUZIE PICOU-OLDHAM

A panel titled “Horsemen as Citizen Marketers: Be Part of the Solution” encouraged owners and trainers to embrace racing’s inordinate public access, giving fans unique experiences and using social media to promote their stables and the sport.

“If you’re following this sport, you’re passionate about it,” said Greg Bensel, whose hats include being the senior vice president of communications/ broadcasting for the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans, as well as overseeing the horse racing and breeding operations of the Saints’ late owner Tom Benson and his wife, Gayle. “You care about it. It is a great, great sport.

We look all the time, why and how is the NFL so popular? … Why isn’t horse racing getting the traction it should? Because it is a phenomenal sport.”

Bensel organized a fundraiser for New Orleans’ Isidore Newman School in which 250 alumni paid $100 each to attend a night of racing at Fair Grounds.

“Of the 250, 235 had never been to the racetrack,” he said. “By the time the night ended, everyone came up to me and said ‘This was the best night.’ We had handicappers walking around teaching people.

“What you guys do is so unique,” he said. “It’s unlike any other industry, any other sport. It’s selling that behind-the-scenes access. One thing I’ve found out about horse racing is that all doors are open. You go to the NFL, and you’re restricted to getting on the field pregame for 30 minutes in a sequestered little corner. The other night, when I had my Newman folks, I took them everywhere, and everyone was kind and open.”

Equine attorney Peter Sacopulos provided the statistics that 69 percent of Americans use some type of social media, including 68 percent on Facebook.

Michael Beychok, a political consultant from Baton Rouge who also is a prominent horseplayer and a horse owner, added that the number of people between the ages of 18 and 35 using social media “is near 90 percent.

“That is the core of the people we need to reach if we’re going to try to grow this game,” said Beychok, the only person ever to win $1 million in tournament play when he captured the 2012 National Handicapping Championship.

“We can promote it to ourselves, and it really doesn’t make any difference. But the group we’re trying to reach and the way they get their news and information is on social media. They don’t watch TV anymore. I know this from doing campaigns where we are trying to target these voters. You cannot find them on television. They’re watching Netflix or Hulu. You can’t advertise on those channels.

“You have to find channels—not necessarily TV channels, but the people.

Drew Brees is a channel. He distributes information through his social media.

The Saints are a channel. As you find people who have better channels than you do, it’s an opportunity to use, especially to the people that we are trying to grow this game and promote this game.”

Tom LaMarra, managing editor for the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association’s THARacing.com website, said he was hired in part because the THA had no website at the time.

“What the website really is, is kind of horsemen’s news and resources,” he said. “But a big part of the reason for it is to get stuff out there that is no longer covered by what is left of the racing press. … The purpose of the website was to get stuff out that progress is being made. If people don’t want to acknowledge it, that’s fine. But the horsemen need to have something out there that shows what’s going on.”

Among the other presentations on the first day of panels: J. Curtis Linnell, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, told the audience that the TRPB digital tattoo should replace lip tattoos starting in 2020. The horse identifier will scan horses’ microchips to bring up their digital tattoos.

Susan Martin, who directs the sales and marketing efforts for The Jockey Club Information Systems Inc., provided an update on new products available for horsemen. Patrick Thompson, executive director of the National Racing Compact, explained the service to obtain licensure in multiple states. Dr. Kelly Vineyard, a senior nutritionist for Purina Animal Nutrition’s Equine Technical Solutions, offered strategies for nutrition and gastric support for racehorses.

THE AFTERCARE PANEL DISCUSSED ONE OF RACING’S MOST PRESSING ISSUES.

The stated purpose of the convention panel was to discuss the solutions that are as much a part of the equation as funding. A situation that has unfolded in Louisiana provided a case study on how aftercare can help ward off bad publicity that—many times unfairly—tries to pin blame on a racetrack, horse breeder or past owner when a former racehorse winds up in a kill pen that sells horses for slaughter.

Patrick Richmond, president of Louisiana Horse Rescue Association, said social media and photos of horses have caused the bad publicity to mushroom.

“Now everything is connected,” Richmond said. “Something that happens in some remote corner of the state, all of a sudden it’s all over the nation.

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Because everyone has a video camera, everyone is on Facebook, on YouTube.

It takes only one horse to bring just a huge load of bad publicity down on the industry.”

And that’s where the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance comes in. The industry-wide program, launched in 2013, accredits aftercare facilities after a rigorous inspection and then also provides funding to those facilities. The TAA helps fund nearly $3 million a year to 64 accredited organizations. The Louisiana Horse Rescue isn’t one but hasn’t applied. Stacie Clark, the operations consultant who oversees the TAA, said that’s going to change, and Louisiana Horse Rescue will be mentored through the process with hopes of becoming the 65th organization.

Richmond said racetracks need to partner with the TAA and an organization such as Louisiana Horse Rescue to say, “We’re opposed to this happening to horses. We’re actively trying to find places for horses to have homes and successful careers after racing.”

“I do think the racetracks are coming around,” said Michele Rodriguez, founder and president of Elite Thoroughbreds in Folsom and vice president of Louisiana Horse Rescue. “Because they’re seeking us, as opposed to us going to them. There’s been so much bad publicity about the outcome of some of the horses in the state that they don’t want that stigma attached to the tracks.”

Louisiana HBPA President Benard Chatters, one of the panelists, mentioned legislative and economic hurdles but vowed, “I’m going to commit our lobby effort to come up with a funding mechanism to help with Thoroughbred aftercare. It’s almost a philosophical thought process that we have to get to our members: while we participate in this business and you love horses, you have to be mindful what happens to them after they run.”

He added, “There’s no one-size-fits-all to this problem” and that horsemen must be protected too from being unfairly sanctioned if a horse once in their care is subsequently sold for slaughter by someone else.

“That’s why it’s important to have a ‘first exit’ [from racing] and working with accredited groups,” Clark said. “If you have that first exit, you don’t have that. Because you know the trainer put the horse in the right spot.”

Hampering things are those who have made it a business to acquire a horse off the track and then trying to sell it to a previous owner, the pitch being that it will otherwise be sold for slaughter. The National HBPA’s Hamelback urged caution to get the facts, to make sure a horse portrayed on social media as a racehorse sent to a kill pen is actually a Thoroughbred and an active racehorse, as opposed to an aged horse who could have changed hands many times since leaving the track.

“You have to be real careful with some of these folks who are trying to get you to help by sending more money, because it sometimes just exacerbates the problem,” Hamelback said. “You can’t put right or wrong on emotion. You just have to remember we’re trying to get it at that first step. We need to do our due diligence and just educate the Thoroughbred side of the world. We can’t worry about the other side. … We’re just trying to get into rehoming and retraining after they’re done racing. And hopefully if we can prevent them going into that side, right off the track, we’ve done our job.”

not allow trainers to properly defend themselves. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has appealed Judge Thomas Wingate’s ruling.

“We’ll see as the appeals process goes through, but certainly we’re moving toward rebuttable presumption,” Regard said, referring to allowing mitigating circumstances, such as environmental transfer, to be presented, rather than a presumption of responsibility that can’t be challenged. “As testing continues to get better, you need that rebuttable presumption, so you can look at other factors.”

Said Ecabert, “Kentucky often is the place when it comes to horse racing regulations that the rest of the nation looks to. We’re hoping the commission will see fit to change the regulation on the absolute-insurer rule back to the way it was before 2009, which did allow for a rebuttable situation. They made it irrebuttable at that time, and it’s been that way since.”

The attorneys said that the cards are stacked against horsemen at the administrative level when appealing a rules violation and penalty, but that makes it imperative that horsemen get any and all exculpatory evidence and defenses into the record at the administrative hearing because that cannot be added later during appeal.

Hamelback said the National HBPA does not oppose trainers being the first line of accountability for their horses but firmly believes they have a constitutional right to defend themselves.

Another panel on the second day discussed the growing problem of escalating workers’ compensation insurance, keying in on how Louisiana and California have tried to keep down costs, and another session focused on programs to recruit and develop a domestic workforce amid uncertainties over future immigration policy.

ADDRESSING INADVERTENT TRANSFER OF SUBSTANCES

Ted Shults, a nationally recognized expert in forensic toxicology and law, says racing chemists and regulators face “self-inflicted injury” if their testing policies fail to recognize the existence of environmental contamination and inadvertent transfer of recreational and prescription medications to horses.

“We would never do this on the human side,” said Shults, who works in both the equine and human testing worlds.

Such environmental transfer to horses was the topic of the Kent Stirling

Lexington equine attorneys Andre Regard and Peter Ecabert, who also is the National HBPA’s legal counsel, provided an overview of the landscape in the wake of a Franklin (Ky.) Circuit Court judge finding unconstitutional Kentucky’s version of racing’s long-standing absolute insurer rule that holds trainers accountable for horses in their care because he determined that it did

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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DENIS BLAKE

COURTS SWINGING HORSEMEN’S WAY

DR. THOMAS TOBIN

Memorial Scientific Panel that concluded the forums. The audience heard how increasingly sensitive testing has led to horses testing positive for drugs or therapeutic medications that were not administered to them by their trainer or 25

veterinarian. Among these are cocaine, morphine, methamphetamine, dextromethorphan and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory naproxen.

The National HBPA has lobbied hard for screening and threshold levels that would not call a positive finding for such substances when detected at trace levels that have no impact on horses’ performance.

Shults said he worked for one of the first certified labs that did testing for the U.S. military.

“One of the first things I learned was, ‘Look, we have a choice here: Do we want a litigation program? Or do we want a testing program?’ ” he said. “My view has always been, ‘Get the litigable issues out of here. Figure out a way of fixing them. Don’t make believe they don’t exist. Don’t try to cover them up.’ Because the word will get out, and next thing you know we’re up to our elbows in cases.”

Dr. Thomas Tobin, the veterinarian and pharmacologist at the University of Kentucky who is a longtime consultant to the National HBPA on medication and drug testing, showed findings from a 2016 study in which swabs of the walls in 18 ship-in stalls at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races detected 30 different medications and drugs. The 50 total instances of contamination broke down to 20 findings of equine medications, 16 of recreational drugs and 14 of human prescription medications.

Shults said that with today’s testing technology, “The race for sensitivity is over. … We’re on the verge of going toward [detection levels] of parts per trillion.

“My concern is now—and what we recognize on the human side—okay, we’re down in the picogram level, but what are we measuring? What are we looking at?” he said. “Now we’re dealing with environmental contamination, and it’s not just on the surface. We have it in the air. People smoke marijuana, they smoke crack, methamphetamine. And then we have water, and we have food.

“I first heard about this maybe 15 years ago when people were finding benzoylecgonine [a metabolite of cocaine] in the Po River that runs through Rome. I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ Well, they found it on the West Coast in the Snake River. … I think there’s a growing awareness of environmental contamination out there, because it’s well established that most of the paper [currency] in circulation has benzoylecgonine. But there’s more and more paper that has—guess what?—methamphetamine. Now I don’t think the horses are eating the dollar bills out of the grooms’ pocket. But it’s become part of the environment, of the universe we live in. You have a drug user, maybe it’s a legal drug, maybe illegal. If they’re going to take a whizz in the stall on the hay, guess who is going to eat the hay?”

Dr. Levent Dirikolu, who oversees Louisiana horse racing’s testing at the Louisiana State University lab, said more than 300 tons of cocaine is imported into the United States each year, contaminating “approximately 75 to 95 percent of U.S. dollar bills.”

He said if only the metabolite benzoylecgonine is detected that it could be a sign that the urine sample was contaminated while or after it had been collected from the horse.

“If the cocaine passes through the horse, you should be able to detect other metabolites of cocaine,” he said.

Dirikolu said nine states publish a screening level for benzoylecgonine, with Louisiana’s cutoff in horse urine at 150 nanograms per milliliter, which is similar to human testing.

“What if I’m in a state that doesn’t have a published screening limit?

Does that mean I’m at major risk for an environmental contamination at a low level?” asked Dave Basler, the executive director of the Ohio HBPA who heads the National HBPA’s medication committee. “The answer is maybe. The reason is there are many labs, maybe even the majority, that may not have a published screening limit for benzoylecgonine, for methamphetamine, for a lot of the other medications or drugs we’ve talked about. But they have an internal screening limit. I’m not sure that one is preferable to the other, as long as there is a limit in place that is high enough that we don’t have an environmental transfer or environmental contamination issue. The problem being you just don’t know if it’s not published.”

Dr. Clara Fenger, a Kentucky veterinarian and researcher, brought up Illinois harness racing cases in which horses were testing positive for the pain medication tramadol, all having raced out of the same paddock stall.

“The paddock judge was urinating in the stall, and the paddock judge was on tramadol,” she said. “We need to start considering an environmental contamination violation category, so we can separate contaminants from real attempts to cheat.”

Hugh Gallagher, the New York Racing Association’s safety steward, represented the perspective of racing officials.

He said mitigating factors must be considered in such cases. But he also said that trainers must do more to keep their barn environmentally contaminant-free, including stressing to employees that “stalls are not bathrooms.”

He also cautioned about keeping coffee, tea, energy drinks and chocolate away from horses. Likewise, regulators must do a better job sanitizing those areas where horses have blood and urine samples taken. He also advocated drug testing employees who handle horses at some stage of a race.

Dr. Scott Stanley, who heads California’s testing lab, said a distinction should be made between environmental contamination—such as a feed or supplement contamination put into a horse unbeknownst to a trainer—and human drugs of abuse that result in exposure to horses.

He said labs and commissions must be open to doing detective work to ferret out what might cause a positive finding, not just assuming the trainer is to blame but that more also can be done to reduce the transfer of substances to horses. One suggestion is having horse identifiers and the starting-gate crew wear latex gloves and also having more pre-employment drug screening be implemented.

MaryAnn O’Connell, executive director of the Washington HBPA, said some officials view contamination “as the new loophole for trainers” and are unwilling to consider the science or to test state employees who handle horses. “They say, ‘Well, it could have been contamination, but it could have not been,’ ” she said. “So they’re going to side with the ‘not been.’ The burden of proof is so high on the trainers.”

ISTOCKPHOTO

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“It should not be taken as a loophole,” Gallagher said, saying he would refer the matter for the Racing Officials Accreditation Program’s stewards advisory committee. “We have to work together and find solutions together.

Racing regulators and horsemen have to work for a common goal. And it has to be done the right way and done fairly and justly.”

The convention’s final day of programming kicked off with a panel discussion titled “Sexual Harassment in Horse Racing: More Me Too and Is Time About Up?” Richard Riedel, longtime executive director of the Kentucky Racing Health & Welfare Fund, said his research showed that in 1994, Hispanic females on the backside accounted for only one of every 26 workers. Last year, there were 2.6 males or non-Hispanic women for every Hispanic female on the backstretch, with Riedel saying they soon will be the largest demographic, while also the most vulnerable population for abuse.

“You’ve got to design programs to address the workforce,” Riedel said.

Representatives of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association explained the benefits of being a TOBA member as well as the TOBA Owners Concierge program that is charged with providing owners exceptional customer service, timely information and access to local resources to ensure a positive experience at the racetrack.

The 2019 National HBPA Convention is set for Clearwater, Florida, on March 12-18 and will be hosted by the Tampa Bay Downs HBPA.

HONORING HORSEMEN AND HORSES

The now 5-year-old mare Mended was honored at the convention’s awards luncheon as the National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year. The Northern California-based runner was claimed January 6 of last year for $12,500 by owners Troy and Maritza Onorato. She lost that day but went 10-for-10 the rest of the year for the Onoratos and trainer John F. Martin, culminating in a victory in the $110,000 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper at Gulfstream Park.

Resolutions were presented to the families of the late Bob Lee and Kent Stirling documenting their many years of service to the National HBPA, their state affiliates and horse racing. Stirling, a trainer of note who spent 20 years as the executive director of the Florida HBPA, died September 6 at age 72 after a long battle with cancer. Stirling had become the National HBPA’s in-house expert on medication issues and earned a national reputation of not only understanding but being able to explain complicated matters involving therapeutic medication in horses. He also championed backstretch causes and backside employees.

“He really did love the Thoroughbred industry,” said Stirling’s wife, Sheri.

“He dedicated his life to it. He devoted time and energy and really did believe that we had to take care of the backside workers, and we had to take care of the horses, owners and trainers.”

Lee was a former jockey, trainer and owner who spent more than 30 years as president of the Nebraska HBPA, spearheading the Horsemen’s Bill of Rights enacted into law in Nebraska and founding Horsemen’s Park in Omaha, the first horsemen-owned track in the country, after Ak-Sar-Ben closed in 1995.

Lee died in November 2016 at age 88. HJ

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FEATURE SAMUEL RENÉ HALIFAX – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

MUCH MORE THAN

AFTER LEAVING THE RACETRACK, THOROUGHBREDS CAN USE THEIR SPEED, ENDURANCE AND COMPETITIVENESS ON THE POLO FIELD.

A RACEHORSE A Thoroughbred polo pony teaches his human owner how much horses can do after leaving the racetrack | BY JEN ROYTZ

T

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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polo player Hilary Boone but was becoming active enough in the sport that it was time to consider purchasing a horse to start his own string of polo ponies.

“Remington was playing for a professional polo player in Texas, but at 13 years old he was losing a step speed-wise,” Hamelback said.

“I was making trips down to Texas to take yearlings to the training center that fall and told a friend, ALTHOUGH NOTHING IS KNOWN ABOUT REMINGTON’S PEDIGREE OR IF HE EVER RACED, HE WAS ALREADY A CONSUMMATE POLO PRO WHEN HE TEAMED UP WITH NATIONAL HBPA CEO ERIC HAMELBACK.

COURTESY ERIC HAMELBACK

he best teachers are those whose lessons not only stick but last a lifetime. They have wisdom to share and convey it in a way that’s easy to receive, often simplifying what might otherwise be complicated or overwhelming.

A small but athletic bay Thoroughbred gelding named Remington was that kind of teacher, and after learning the ropes playing polo under a professional, he taught Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, some of his greatest lessons about both polo and life.

It was in high school in Louisiana that Hamelback first picked up a polo mallet, playing sporadically throughout college before taking a hiatus from the sport as his career in the Thoroughbred industry took root. Soon after college he landed a job at Prestonwood Farm (now WinStar Farm) in Lexington, Kentucky, and thanks to a few colleagues and friends who were avid polo players, he found his way back into the sport.

A football player in his younger days, Hamelback enjoyed the competitive aspect of the game. He was playing on horses leased from friend and

29

ARTIST REGINA RAAB CAPTURED REMINGTON AND HAMELBACK IN THIS PAINTING THAT HAS BEEN DISPLAYED AT HER GALLERY ST. GEORGE IN KENTUCKY.

Mike Dumas, who hauled polo ponies for some of the pros in the area, that I was looking to purchase a polo pony with some experience, and he connected me with Remington.”

Remington knew his job as a polo pony, and he had much to offer as a teacher. While he was old enough to have his silliness and high-strung antics behind him, he was still keen to show all comers that he was faster to the ball, quicker to turn and all-around better than his competitors, and in their first few matches together, that included his rider.

“That horse probably taught me more about the game of polo than any human ever has,” Hamelback said. “He was truly a student of the game, to the point that he understood the line and direction of the ball. He threw me more times than any yearling I’ve ever broke because he followed the ball, regardless of whether I was ready. If I made a back shot [hitting the ball behind you in the opposite direction], Remington immediately turned 180 degrees on a dime to follow the ball, and there were a few times I was left hanging in the air while he chased down the ball.”

The same competitive streak that made Remington a remarkable polo pony nearly put Hamelback in the running of one of the High Hope Steeplechase races.

“The Lexington Polo Club used to volunteer as outriders for the High Hope Steeplechase. When he wasn’t playing, Remington was Mr. Cool and Collected—nothing ever seemed to shake him—so I thought he’d be great for helping at the High Hope,” said Hamelback, laughing as he was about to recount what happened next.

“I’ll tell you what, those horses broke at the start and you’d think Remington was in the race with them. He took off like a shot and it was all I 30

COURTESY ERIC HAMELBACK

COURTESY ERIC HAMELBACK

could do to hold him. He was so into the competition of it that he wasn’t about to let a horse beat him. Here I am an outrider nearly getting run off with my own horse!”

Most polo players have a string of horses to swap out from one chukker (playing period) or match to another, and while other horses came and went, Hamelback always revered Remington as his prized mount, so much so that, in the spirit of his first and favorite horse’s name, he gave every one of his polo ponies thereafter a gun-related name, including the likes of Beretta and Shot Gun Annie.

While Remington still has the remnants of a tattoo, Hamelback regrets that he doesn’t know the horse’s registered name or what he did before playing polo.

Remington stopped playing polo when he was estimated to be approaching his 20s, and thanks to attentive care throughout the years, he is still happy and healthy at approximately 35 years of age (judging by the somewhat legible “M” at the beginning of his lip tattoo—the letter equates to the year a Thoroughbred was born). To put that in perspective, if Remington did indeed spend part of his life as a racehorse, then he might have raced alongside the same crop that included Ferdinand, Snow Chief and Danzig Connection, the winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, respectively, in 1986.

Remington now resides at the farm of neurologist and artist Regina Raab in Paris, Kentucky, just a few minutes’ drive from Hamelback’s home. Raab has even featured Remington in several portraits she painted and displayed in her Gallery St. George, one of which shows him in his heyday carrying Hamelback across the polo field.

REMINGTON, AT ABOUT 35 YEARS OF AGE, IS STILL ENJOYING HIS RETIREMENT FROM COMPETITION AND VISITS FROM HAMELBACK, HIS FORMER POLO PARTNER.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

As the head of the National HBPA, Hamelback spends much of his professional time attending to the needs of trainers, owners, backside workers and other horsemen. He is also active and vocal about issues related to Thoroughbred aftercare. While his dedication to the industry’s athletes during and after their racing careers can largely be credited to his background in both the business of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and as an equestrian, he says it’s also thanks to his decades-long relationship with Remington.

“Remington most definitely influences my perspective on aftercare,” he said. “So often I’ve seen 3- and 4-year-olds coming off the track and I thought ‘he’d be a beautiful dressage horse,’ or ‘she’s built like the perfect polo pony.’ When it’s a gelding, it’s a lot easier to steer them in that direction than when it’s a well-bred mare, but it’s long been important to me to help in any way when I can. The most famous horse that I’m listed as the breeder of was an Alphabet Soup filly. She didn’t pan out as a racehorse, but she became a tremendous polo pony for a 10-goal player, and I take great pride in that.

“The horse that taught me more than any other was a horse I never met until he was 13 and well into his second career. He was well past his racing days but still had so much to offer. His story is far from unique in that respect. These horses have so much to offer when their racing careers are done.” HJ

POLO101

With its quick bursts of speed and tight turns, polo is a game of skill for both horse and rider. A polo match, which can be likened to field hockey on horseback, is divided into periods, or “chukkers.” Each team consists of four riders, and it is common for riders to bring multiple horses to play in a match, changing mounts between chukkers to allow their horses to rest and catch their breath.

Polo players are the ultimate equestrian multitaskers, simultaneously riding and maneuvering their horses, often at a gallop, with one hand on the reins and the other gripping their polo mallet with an attempt to keep the small plastic ball in play and moving toward the opposing team’s goal.

“Polo ponies,” as the horses are called, must be agile and responsive to the rider’s cues.

A competitive streak doesn’t hurt either, as often during matches several horses and riders will chase after the ball, with the one getting to it first helping to direct the course of the match.

As such, polo ponies are often Thoroughbreds—many are former racehorses—usually under 15.3 hands and typically mares rather than geldings.

“Polo players typically like horses ranging in height from 14.3 to 15.2 hands with a compact build, shorter neck and compact back,” said Justin Powers, director of club development for the United States Polo Association.

Growing up in a racing family (both his father and grandfather trained racehorses and played polo), Powers has spent much of his lifetime on the backside of Mountaineer Park in West Virginia, where his father’s stable is based. There, he serves as an agent for polo players and polo pony trainers looking for prospects, always searching for horses that might adapt well to the game.

“In recent years Valid Expectations has dominated polo bloodlines, so much so, in fact, that after his race-breeding career ended, he was bought by a polo operation specifically to breed for polo,” said Powers about the former leading racehorse stallion in Texas. “We’ve also had success with offspring of Thunder Gulch and Magna Graduate, both of whom have a wide, stocky and muscular build that is perfect for polo. You’ll also find Storm Cat in the pedigrees of many of today’s top polo ponies.” – Jen Roytz

Jen Roytz is a freelance writer based in Lexington, Kentucky. She co-owns Topline Communications, a marketing agency based in Lexington, and is the executive director of the Retired Racehorse Project.

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COURTESY EQUIMAGINE

FEATURE

REIMAGINING

EQUINE IMAGING

BY KIMBERLY FRENCH

New scanning technology is opening the door for advancements in horse health

I

t is a rare occasion indeed when equine veterinary technology is featured on the national news, yet that is exactly what transpired recently when CBS News aired a feature on Equimagine, which was created by the New York-based company 4DDI and unveiled in North America at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center in the spring of 2016.

The excitement and energy is readily apparent in CEO Yiorgos Papaioannou’s voice when he discusses the robotic computed tomography (CT) equipment that has been the focus of numerous articles throughout various disciplines of the equine world since its introduction at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program’s Global Symposium on Racing & Gaming in December 2015.

“This machine is the result of nearly three decades of research and collaboration amongst our team,” he said. “Even with all the recent advancements in imaging technology over the course of recent years, this particular technology is absolutely revolutionary. It allows for the most advanced imaging in world history and eradicates the barriers in present CT scanning for horses because it can take images of the entire body as the horse is standing without the use of anesthesia. A horse also does not have to stay completely still for quality images. The possibilities the use of our 34

machines possesses usher in a new era of medical diagnostics.”

Introduced in human medicine at Atkinson Morley Hospital in London in 1971, CT has become an invaluable tool for mankind, horses, dogs, cats and other animal species over the past four decades. It made its first appearance in the equine world in the 1980s when several clinics purchased decommissioned scanners from human hospitals. The first equine research on the modality was published at the 1986 American Association of Equine Practitioners convention by Dr. David Barbee and his colleagues at Washington State University.

The use of CT scanning has since blossomed throughout veterinary medicine and enhanced surgical techniques. It offers an extensive amount of data that aids the diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as leg and foot lameness, fractures and soft tissue injuries, skull fractures, sinus and dental issues, as well as bone cysts and bone infections.

“CT is an anatomical imaging modality using X-rays and X-ray attenuation to produce a cross-sectional image,” wrote Ed Kane, Ph.D., for DVM 360. “It allows practitioners to gain a better understanding of the structure of the imaged body tissue. It is a digital modality, so images can be computer-manipulated to enhance clarity, contrast and brightness and to zoom, rotate and measure. Additionally, specialized computer software allows images to be reformatted into different imaging planes.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

COURTESY ED LAUSCH PHOTOGRAPHY/PURDUE VETERINARY MEDICINE

“While conventional radiography produces summed images of an object, tomographic scanners rotate the object around, dividing and organizing it into spatially consecutive image slices. Compared with common radiography, the elimination of superimposition and improved resolution are the major advantages of CT.” The advantage for CT as an imaging modality versus other forms of radiography such as magnetic resonance imaging lies in its ability to image an area without any overlap with any structures that might be next to the scanned area. A CT is also the gold standard when it comes to differentiating between tissues of varying physical density.

“However, the acquisition and operation of a CT scanner for use with large animals is a considerable task,” wrote Barbee, et al. in the 1986 edition of Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound. “CT is a valuable imaging procedure but one that requires significant technical support. Although scanners are available for veterinary use, their successful installation requires in-depth facility planning. Maintenance costs for these highly complex systems are high and may generally exceed acquisition costs. Equipment to move anesthetized horses and support them during scanning is also expensive.

Clinical scan protocols used for CT of the equine skull and extremities are detailed. Precise positioning is essential for interpretable scans. Significant training in anatomy and CT physics is required for the veterinary computed tomography.”

Barbee’s comments on the disadvantages of CT in equine veterinary medicine remain valid three decades later as these issues still exist even with more widespread use of CT scans.

This is where the Equimagine equipment also breaks new ground and combats, if not eradicates, some of the problems associated with using CT scanning on horses.

“Our machines remove the three main barriers in general radiology,” Papaioannou said. “A patient can be scanned in a neutral or standing state, it is not required for the patient to remain still during the scan, and horses do not need to be anesthetized. Obviously, all three of these factors completely alter how CT scanning is conducted with horses and open a multitude of doors.”

What Papaioannou thinks is exceptional about Equimagine’s four-robot system is its ability to operate a series of functions through one interface with high-speed cameras and 3D surface scanners.

“This one device can perform six unique operations,” he said. “All you

DR. TIMM GUDEHUS AT THE CENTAUR EQUINE SPECIALTY HOSPITAL IN

need to do is tell the machine which task needs to be conducted and alter the settings accordingly. The robots can serve as panoramic scanners, search for densitometry, perform digital radiographs, computed tomography, tomosynthesis and as a true stereo-dynamic 4D scanner. Certainly there is an expense involved in purchasing and installing the machines, but the flexibility it provides once it is operating is unparalleled as it can do what five other machines can only accomplish individually.”

Papaioannou also noted some future applications Equimagine can contribute to or introduce that will be invaluable to the equine community.

“These machines can diagnose, evaluate and prognose athletic evaluations in the horse at real-time speed,” he said. “They also can impact how equipment, such as saddles, are customized to reduce injuries and improve performance. In addition, they incorporate such precise imaging that microfractures and soft tissue injuries can be diagnosed prior to them ever fully developing. Think if the incidence of serious or catastrophic injuries could be drastically reduced or eliminated. That would be a tremendous boon, not only for health and safety but financially.

“Lameness is one of the most difficult conditions to diagnose and is the most common reason equine athletes are sent to the sidelines or retired,” he added. “The benefits of this technology are innumerable and will only increase over time. There truly is no downside.”

While Equimagine is making an impression in equine veterinary medicine, with more than a dozen new orders for the machines around the world, Papaioannou says the company intends to produce a variation of the equipment for small animals and plans to develop the technology for human medicine.

The CBS feature discussed how beneficial Equimagine or similar machines could be for adults who suffer from claustrophobia, for small children who may have difficulty remaining still and for the higher quality imaging it would provide for patients with spinal cord injuries.

The University of Pennsylvania is currently researching how the technology can be used in human medicine with other universities and hospitals.

“This is an interesting concept—the ability to image in your natural state,” Dr. Raul Uppot, an assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School who is not involved in the research, told CBS. “It does offer something that doesn’t currently exist in the market [for humans].”

The cost for each machine begins in the neighborhood of $500,000; however, as Papaioannou contends, the savings and value it provides are not reflected in the price tag.

There are only a handful of Equimagine machines in the United States, with the first one being installed at the New Bolton Center and another at the Centaur Equine Specialty Hospital near Indiana Grand Racing & Casino outside of Indianapolis.

“We believe that the technology will allow early identification of horses with incomplete ‘occult’ fractures in areas that can proceed to catastrophic failure,” said Dean Richardson, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, chief of surgery at New Bolton Center.

“We also are interested in working with other researchers around the world examining the relationship of the three-dimensional structure of a horse’s bone and its risk of fracture.”

As with any new technology, the possibilities are still being explored, but all involved agree that there are exciting opportunities in the future.

“We have not experienced anything like this technology and the sky really is the limit to what can be accomplished with it,” Papaioannou said.

“To merely say it is exciting and beneficial does not accurately capture the exhilaration experienced at how many lives, human and animal, this could improve or extend.” HJ

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39

ACKERLEY IMAGES

OPINION

Don’t Bring Down the Good Guys Why the suspension of trainer Ron Ellis makes no sense for racing

FOLLOWING IS AN OP-ED WRITTEN BY ELIZABETH TALAMO, DAUGHTER OF TRAINER RON ELLIS AND WIFE OF JOCKEY JOE TALAMO have remained quiet about my father’s suspension for a variety of reasons. First, my husband is in the industry, so I am very conscientious of what I post. Second, most of my friends do not follow horse racing, so I try to only share material that promotes the sport. I hate to bring this to people’s attention—especially people who would not have read about it elsewhere. Last, I assume many people will dismiss my words as a daughter defending her father.

Unfortunately for my dad, I am most critical of those closest to me. I am the first to point out his flaws and mistakes. This is not one of them.

More than a year ago, my dad finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with Masochistic. Shortly after, he was informed tiny amounts of stanozolol—a 40

legal steroid—were found in the horse’s system. The test results show the drug measured in picograms. A picogram is one-trillionth of a gram.

Stanozolol can be given legally to horses in California with the recommended withdrawal time of 60 days. My dad’s horse was given the steroid 68 days before the Breeders’ Cup. He used the steroid to help Masochistic maintain weight during training. It wasn’t hidden. It was fully disclosed to the state veterinarian.

During those 68 days, state veterinarians performed three pre-race tests.

Each test showed a drop in the drug level. These tests also showed Masochistic was metabolizing the steroid at a slower than average rate. My dad, however, was not informed of this until three days before the Breeders’ Cup. He tried to THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

run another test on Masochistic but couldn’t find a lab able to test to such low levels in time. After all, we are talking about picograms here.

These test results were also seen by the racing officials. The California Horse Racing Board did not order him to scratch his horse from the race. At that time, my dad was told there was a small chance Masochistic would test positive. Since the final test was taken eight days out, my dad decided to run Masochistic in the Breeders’ Cup. Keep in mind that the Breeders’ Cup, like the Kentucky Derby, is something a trainer plans his or her entire year around.

I find it interesting that the racing officials have deemed my father’s actions as “extremely aggravating.” They had the exact same information in front of them, so why did they allow Masochistic to run? If it was such a risk, why didn’t they protect the gambling public—the foundation of our sport?

Racing officials have since changed the rule and taken steps toward preventing this kind of mistake in the future. Now, a horse that is given stanozolol cannot race until he has a clean test. Making those changes to better the sport was necessary—a historic suspension was not.

In recent years, trainers in California with similar (or more aggressive) violations have been suspended a maximum of 45 days. Most, however, served far, far fewer days. In a previous Breeders’ Cup incident at Santa Anita, racing officials suspended one trainer for 10 days after his horse tested positive for a Class 3 drug. The medication my dad used is also considered to be a Class 3.

After Masochistic tested positive, my dad released the following statement: “I apologize to the Breeders’ Cup and the racing industry for this unfortunate event. I understand and respect the ramifications of CHRB regulations, and trust I will be treated fairly under the circumstances.”

He tried to offer a settlement proposal early in the process but was told that the CHRB was not interested in negotiating because of the significance of the race.

On December 17, it was announced that my dad would be given the maximum for this type of offense: a 60-day suspension and $10,000 fine.

Furthermore, he would forfeit all assigned stall space and remove all signage, training-related equipment and any other property during his suspension. He would not be allowed at the racetrack, could not transfer any horses to anyone who has been an employee of his during the previous year, and the 15 innocent people he employs would be without a job.

My dad and his attorney proposed that the suspension be cut to 59 days, in exchange for 12 months of probation. The one-day drop would have prevented my dad from having to disband his entire stable and employees.

“Sadly, there are some bad guys in racing, but I can wholeheartedly say my dad is not one of them. In his 35-plus years of training, he has a near-perfect record.”

It was denied with the following statement: “Mr. Ellis could have proposed a settlement to the CHRB’s deputy attorney general and/or executive director at any point in time leading up to the board’s consideration of the proposed decision earlier this month. He did not do so.”

This—as I mentioned above—is not the truth. When asked for a response to that claim, the board declined to comment.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

Sadly, there are some bad guys in racing, but I can wholeheartedly say my dad is not one of them. In his 35-plus years of training, he has a near-perfect record. Even a former assistant posted, “I worked with Ellis for four years, and I can’t emphasize enough how conservative we were with medication. When you’re testing to those low levels on legal meds, you’re getting carried away.”

Ironically, Masochistic was given to my dad after the horse tested positive under a different trainer’s care. The horse was part of a scam story when he was doped in one race, then came back to win by 14 lengths in his next race.

Lab tests showed Masochistic was loaded with acepromazine in the original race. That trainer, by the way, was penalized the same amount of time and money as my dad.

I remember my dad working around the clock to help this horse—both physically and mentally—when he arrived at his barn. His jockey at the time

“I spent my childhood witnessing his commitment.

We would often go to the barn after dinner to check on his horses. … There were times he’d wake up at 2 a.m. to follow a horse van to the airport ‘just to make sure nothing happened.’ ” pulled me aside in passing to make sure I knew how much the horse had improved because of my dad’s dedication. He would personally mix brown sugar into his feed tub to entice him to eat. Not surprising though, considering I’ve seen my dad offer bottled water instead of tap water to a horse. When I teased him about this, he responded, “I don’t like tap water, so maybe he doesn’t either.”

This type of attention and love is the norm. I often joke that in my next life, I want to come back as one of my dad’s horses. I spent my childhood witnessing his commitment. We would often go to the barn after dinner to check on his horses. I remember him adjusting their fans or blankets—even if they were the slightest bit crooked. There were times he’d wake up at 2 a.m. to follow a horse van to the airport “just to make sure nothing happened.” I don’t even want to think about the time I have spent watching him put on bandages.

My dad is known as a conservative trainer who does not run his horses until they are their absolute best. He is a fierce advocate for the horse—so much so, that he has lost business because of it. Simply put, this is not the type of person who cheats. Those in the industry already know my father is a true horseman—and I am saddened by the board’s final decision.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. It has been heartbreaking for me to watch my dad go through this. Aside from the financial stress, it has been an attack on two things he values the absolute most—his love of the horse and his respect for the game. I can only hope something good comes out of it for him. When you bring down one of the good guys though, you bring down the entire sport. You bring down the people like me, the fans. HJ

41

THE NATIONAL HBPA OFFICE IS

MOVING!

The headquarters of the National HBPA are now located at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

Please stop by and visit next time you are in the area!

OUR NEW ADDRESS IS: NATIONAL HBPA

OUR PHONE NUMBERS REMAIN THE SAME!

3380 Paris Pike Lexington, KY 40511

Phone: 859-259-0451 Toll Free: 866-245-1711 Fax: 859-259-0452

WWW.HBPA.ORG 42

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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Spotlight on the unsung heroes The Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards recognize and reward the outstanding people at the heart of our industry.

The awards are divided into six categories, with trophies for the winners and prize money totalling $128,000.

NOMINATIONS OPEN MONDAY, MAY 7, 2018.

GO TO WWW.GODOLPHINUSAWARDS.COM FOR ALLSPRING THE CATEGORIES AND FULL DETAILS THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL 2018

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FEATURE

on RACTOPAMINE RATIONAL REASONING

Kentucky regulators reach appropriate responses to inconsequential trace-level environmental substance identifications

By Theodore F. Shults, JD, MS; Kimberly Brewer, DVM, MSc; Jake Machin, BSc; Eric Hamelback; and Thomas Tobin, MVB, MRCVS QUENTINJLANG-STOCK.ADOBE.COM

K

entucky Downs, located just north of the Kentucky-Tennessee border, runs a five-day, high-end European-style race meet each September. The purses are attractive, so the meet brings in horses and horsemen from around North America, and the actual amount of time that any individual horse spends at the facility is minimal.

So, to have three horses test positive for small urinary traces of ractopamine during the September 2016 meet was unusual. One horse finished third in the fourth race on September 10, another won the following race that same day, and then five days later, the final horse finished second in the fourth race.

All of these identifications were in urine, all were identified in the certificates of analysis as being ractopamine, and all were among the lowest ractopamine concentrations reported anywhere up to that time.

The first and most obvious factor was the “cluster” nature of these ractopamine identifications with the three horses shipping in and essentially simul44

taneously presenting similar low-concentration urinary ractopamine identifications. Three commonalities were identified: 1) each horse spent time in the test barn, with the first two most likely there at the same time; 2) each spent a small amount of time on the Kentucky Downs grounds; and 3) all previous and subsequent runners from the two affected trainers’ operations tested negative for ractopamine, further focusing attention on the location commonality of these identifications.

The horsemen involved immediately underwent the usual racing commission-directed post-positive barn search and came up clean. The next suggestion to the horsemen was standard: they should check their horse feed.

Indeed, all foodstuffs and supplements in their training operations were tested; the tests were performed by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC).

Ractopamine is a widely used pig and cattle feed additive that directs an animal’s metabolism to increase muscle fibers and thereby reduce fat. While many previous ractopamine cases have been traced to inadvertent low-level THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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contamination in horse feed, the feed and other supplements from the trainers’ barns tested clean, directing attention back to the Kentucky Downs location commonalities of these events.

Our understanding is that the horse feed/supplement testing suggestions came from the KHRC, and it also seems that either the commission or Kentucky Downs (or both) initiated a significant upgrading to the track’s test barn facilities. The test barn facility at Kentucky Downs only serves in that function for two weeks out of the year; what it functions as during the other 50 weeks of the year and the specifics of the annual transformation process from regular barn to test barn remain unclear. What is clear, however, is that shortly after the positive reports occurred, a significant upgrading of the test barn at Kentucky Downs commenced.

The next step in evaluating these identifications was initiated by one of the trainers to define precisely what the actual substance present in these urine samples was. According to the certificates of analysis, the substance was ractopamine, a problematic identification. If the urine samples contained unchanged ractopamine, as the certificate stated, this would be good evidence that the ractopamine in these samples had not passed through the horse but had directly contaminated the urine during or post-collection. The fact that two horses from two different stables passed through the same test barn on the same afternoon, within a matter of minutes of each other, and tested positive for a not-uncommon environmental substance meant that collection contamination was a possibility that had to be excluded.

The exclusion process is straightforward: you perform an analytical test with an appropriate control step. When ractopamine passes through a horse, the substance becomes chemically modified/metabolized in the horse’s body before it gets into the urine. The horse modifies ractopamine by chemically linking it to a highly water-soluble sugar molecule, so what is found in the urine when the drug has passed through the horse is not ractopamine but rather a highly water-soluble glucuronidated metabolite of ractopamine.

Racing chemists figured this out 40-plus years ago, and the standard urinalysis technique is to treat the urine enzymatically to release the actual ractopamine for the chemist to detect. This is the standard procedure, and the chemist usually (historically) reports that the urine sample contains ractopamine, when in fact the urine most often contains the expected and chemically quite different glucuronide metabolites of ractopamine.

The next step, therefore, was to repeat the drug test correctly and determine which substance—ractopamine itself or the more commonly found ractopamine metabolite—was actually present in these urine samples. When performed correctly, the analysis showed that urine samples contained not ractopamine, as stated on the certificates of analysis, but rather the glucuronide metabolites of ractopamine. This finding ruled out during or post-collection contamination of these samples, placing the most likely source of the ractopamine somewhere in the overall Kentucky Downs environment to which these horses had access, a pretty open question.

Furthermore, as a matter of interest, for the trainer with two ractopamine identifications in one week at Kentucky Downs, these were his first significant drug infractions in a 41-year training career, again pointing to the unusual circumstances associated with this cluster of ractopamine identifications.

The next events in this matter were regulatory. At the stewards’ hearing in late January 2018, more than one year after the ractopamine positives were first reported, the trainer with two infractions was suspended for three months, professionally a quite significant penalty. The trainer announced his decision to appeal, and given his longstanding and unblemished regulatory record, there seems to have been significant support for the sentiment that these ractopamine identifications were (1) of no regulatory significance, (2) completely outside the control of the trainer, and (3) of unknown environmental origin.

Those sentiments were clearly articulated by the trainer and his professional colleagues.

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Within days of the trainer’s announcement to appeal the ruling, the stewards rescinded their penalties and also presumably their rulings in the matter.

It appears that the combination of these various circumstances and the lack of any sentiment that the trainers were in any way at fault led to further discussions between the KHRC and the testing laboratory.

The discussions led to a reevaluation of the positives by the testing laboratory, where the laboratory director noted in a communication dated February 19, 2018, that “although it was previously my opinion as expressed to the KHRC staff that the issuance of the Reports of Finding for ractopamine in these cases was appropriate, I have since revised my opinion and now believe that absent evidence of the presence of the parent drug, these findings do not constitute rule violations.”

Next, the racing commission’s executive director, communicating this regulatory reevaluation of the chemical findings to the chief state steward, noted that “absent evidence of the presence of the parent drug in the sample, there is insufficient evidence to support a violation of the applicable Kentucky medication regulations.”

The take-home messages from this sequence of events are numerous and—we are happy to note—all ultimately favorable for racing regulation in Kentucky.

1.

The simplest message is that ractopamine can show up in unexpected locations and circumstances, most commonly as a feed contaminant, but in this case the specific source of these ractopamine identifications remains unknown.

2.

The time and location commonalities are consistent with the horses in question being exposed to a specific inadvertent environmental source, one not in any way associated with the trainers involved.

3.

The concentrations were low and apparently transient, so there was, as a practical matter, no possibility of a pharmacological effect.

4.

The ractopamine identified in the urine samples was the pharmacologically inactive metabolite, and there was no evidence for actual ractopamine itself in any of these horses.

5.

The longtime clean regulatory history of the trainers involved in this matter is also fully consistent with innocent inadvertent environmental exposure as the source of these technically interesting but forensically insignificant urinary identifications.

6.

The KHRC approached these identifications cautiously and entirely correctly, assisting the trainers in evaluating their feedstuffs and supplements as a possible source.

7.

It appears that the KHRC or Kentucky Downs was careful to promptly upgrade the test barn facilities at the track to reduce any possibility of inadvertent during or post-collection contamination of post-race samples.

8.

Most important, the KHRC carefully reviewed the regulatory and forensic significance of the ractopamine metabolite findings and concluded that “absent evidence of the presence of the parent drug in the sample, there is insufficient evidence to support a violation of the applicable Kentucky medication regulations.”

This is a significant step forward in the increasingly important matter of the appropriate regulatory handling of pharmacologically insignificant trace-level detections of urinary metabolites of dietary and environmental substances. HJ 45

NEWS

ALABAMA HBPA

ARIZONA HBPA

Kenneth Cotton Memorial

Turf Paradise Update

The Alabama HBPA is pleased to announce that the third running of the Kenneth Cotton Memorial will be held the first week of May at Evangeline Downs.

The purse will be $25,000 (including $5,000 of slots revenue) with the same conditions as previous runnings: for Alabama-bred 3-year-olds and up, maidens or non-winners of two races that broke their maiden in a claiming race for $25,000 or less. Weights will be 118 pounds for 3-year-olds and 123 for older horses with a distance of six furlongs. Sponsored by the Alabama HBPA with slots revenue from the Louisiana HBPA, the race will be in the second condition book of the Evangeline Downs meet. The Alabama HBPA will reimburse up to $500 of travel expenses (with a legitimate gas receipt or hauling bill) for horses finishing fourth and out.

Turf Paradise is a little past the halfway point for the season. It has been a beautiful winter in Arizona with highs mainly in the 70s and 80s most of the winter! Turf Paradise has had some exciting finishes in its stakes races, including the Cotton Fitzsimmons Mile run January 13. The race was won by Inside Straight in a head bob with High Security. Inside Straight was ridden by leading rider Glenn Corbett and trained by leading trainer Robertino Diodoro and is owned by Randy Howg.

Howg and Diodoro, both from the province of Alberta, Canada, also teamed up and won the Lost in Fog Stakes with Shane Doan with David Lopez up and the Arizona Juvenile Stakes with Gorgeous Ginny ridden by Corbett.

The Glendale Handicap was another photo finish with Comet Sixty Two nosing out Cleverly Beverly and McKenzie Honey. Comet Sixty Two is owned by Barro Racing, trained by Dan McFarlane and was ridden by Scott Stevens.

Chief Cicatriz won both sprint stakes races at Turf Paradise, starting with the Hank Mills Handicap and then capturing the $75,000 Phoenix Gold Cup. Owned by Gene Evans and trained by Shawn Davis, he was ridden by Andrew Ramgeet.

Owner Dino Bates sent out Primo Touch to capture the $50,000 Turf Paradise Derby. Primo Touch is trained by McFarlane and was ridden by Ramgeet.

Congratulations to all of the above-mentioned stakes winners and to the owners, trainers and jockeys. It’s very difficult to win a race, especially a stakes race. Congratulations again!

We also can’t go without mentioning the Cave Creek Stakes. This race was won by longtime owner John Campo, who has raced at Turf Paradise for many years and has many victories, but capturing a stakes with Arizona Moon was a big win and payoff with a $2 win ticket returning $66. Arizona Moon is trained

by John’s daughter Stacy Campo and was ridden from last to first with a huge run down the stretch by jockey Enriquez Isaias. Congratulations to all.

The Arizona HBPA has been working with the legislature to help get a bill passed in this year’s session that will allow the Arizona tracks to have a bet called the “Cactus Pick 6.” This will be operated and run very similarly to the Rainbow Pick 6 at Gulfstream Park. Also in the bill is some language that will take the boxing program out of the Department of Racing so racing will no longer have to fund the regulation of boxing. The bill has language that limits the amount of money racing has to pay into the fund, and if the department does not spend the money, it is to be refunded to the tracks and purse funds.

Alabama-bred Added Money and Purse Supplements For Alabama-bred horses running at the four Louisiana tracks, we have continued our added money program. These funds are paid pro rata based on the condition book purse structure and are distributed directly to the owner with their purse winnings. A total of $35,000 has been paid with an additional $12,000 deposited for the 2018 racing year.

Congratulations to the Alabama-bred owners listed below for their 2017 purse supplement earnings. These are funds paid to any Alabama-bred running in North America in open company races. The total amount paid was $28,600, and we are continuing this program for 2018 as well.

Horse Owner Supplement Arnina Hackett Brothers $2,000 Artemis Talent Hackett Brothers $600 BabaLight Hackett Brothers $3,600 Ballado Ballet Laurie Sanderson/Nanette Cartier $800 Branchwater Dennis Murphy $2,600 Bubbassecondchance Stephen K Gremmels $2,000 Debeck Road Mary Anne Pruitt $200 Excelisburg Tom Denham $1,400 Ginky Lou Winky Rhett Harrellson $1,200 Guyana Star South Fork Creek Stables $1,600 Indy’s Code Live-Lee Farm $4,200 Mamaslittlesecret Gary House $600 Mamaslittlesecret George Bruce $800 Miss Mississippi Diane M Harrington $1,600 Noisy Ripples Hackett Brothers $2,600 Pipedreams Arnold Hugo Ramirez $600 Sir Charles Rhett Harrellson $1,600 Two Mikes N Doc G Stephen K. Gremmels $600 Please contact nancy.m.delony@ms.com or call (205) 969-7048 and let us know when your Alabama-breds are running.

We look forward to the 2018 Kenneth Cotton at Evangeline Downs in May and the racing year ahead.

Nancy Delony, Executive Director

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Yavapai Downs Update This will be the last time we refer to the racetrack in Prescott Valley as Yavapai Downs. The new owners, JACOR Partners, will be coming up with a new name soon. They are currently in the process of being vetted for their gambling license by the Arizona Department of Gaming. Hopefully that was to be completed by April 1, and then they will be on the agenda for the April commission meeting for approval of a gaming license. Corey Johnsen, president and part-owner of Kentucky Downs, has stated that as soon as they have their gaming license in hand, they will begin the remodeling of the grandstand and the rebuilding of the racetrack. Their goal is to be up and running by May 15, 2019, with plans to run a 30- to 35-day meet beginning Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. After receiving their gaming license, they will begin opening OTBs to start accumulating purse money as soon as they can.

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AFFILIATE NEWS Rillito Park Update On February 10, Rillito Park opened its race meet, marking the 75th anniversary for the track. Rillito runs a 12-day race meet consisting of Saturday and Sunday racing for six weeks in February and March. On March 2 and 3, the track hosted the Budweiser Clydesdales with a special anniversary celebration.

Rillito has developed a great relationship with the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program, giving students the opportunity to work at the track during the race meet. Please read the following article from the student newspaper, The Daily Wildcat.

At Rillito’s Opening Weekend, University of Arizona Students Aren’t Horsing Around

MARISA FAVERO

By Eddie Celaya Reprinted with permission from The Daily Wildcat Horse racing proceedings at Rillito Park Racetrack February 10-11 had a distinctly Wildcat-like feel to them, with University of Arizona students at the helm of nearly every facet of race-day operations.

From the paddocks to the holding pen, UA Race Track Industry Program students worked throughout the park to make the weekend festivities a reality.

That’s all by design, according to the track’s general manager and UA alum Michael Weiss.

“For the past four seasons, I’ve worked with the students and placed them in positions that I think they’ll excel,” Weiss said. “And we’ve been about 100 percent with the graduating students in NICK FANUCCHI, A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, RUNS THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES getting them OPERATIONS ON RACE DAYS AT RILLITO PARK. jobs.”

Originally from Ohio and a self-described racetrack industry “lifer,” Weiss has traveled from his home in Florida for the last four years to manage the 75-year-old Rillito, which bills itself as the home of Quarter Horse racing and one of the first to implement a photo finish.

When he first arrived at Rillito, Weiss could see the track’s limitations. But he knew the UA RTIP was an untapped asset. He immediately changed that and formed a partnership between the program and the racetrack.

“The first year I was here, I went over and worked with [RTIP] and asked, ‘What have your students ever done?’ ” he said. “They had never had an association [in the industry].”

That partnership has paid dividends. During opening weekend, animal sciences junior Nick Fanucchi wasn’t on site to help manage the horses.

Instead, after three years working in the graphics department and being responsible for accurately identifying horses and odds during Rillito’s international simulcast stream, Fanucchi was responsible for all race-day simulcast graphics.

While he didn’t direct which camera shot was used, he was responsible for relaying information to the camera operators on the ground regarding what needed to go into a shot.

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“It’s good experience for me,” Fanucchi said. “I get in two hours before post to get race changes or deal with any changes really, and I’m usually done around 5:30 p.m. I have to wait to show the prices for the last race before I’m done.”

Weiss noted that with other students, he preferred to reassign them to new positions each season. Not so with Fanucchi.

“He’s just so damn good at what he does,” Weiss said.

After growing up with family in the industry, Fanucchi said working at Rillito was a natural extension of something he grew up loving: seeing horses race.

Rillito’s social media manager, animal sciences senior Jade Eisenzimmer, shared that same love. However, she called enrolling in RTIP an act of “pure happenstance.”

A North Dakota native and experienced rider, Eisenzimmer found herself in the paddock shooting pictures on her smartphone.

“I’m running all facets of our social media: Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter,” she said. “We’re just taking any promotions that the track has and then we post it.”

Eisenzimmer said with the chaos of opening weekend, she had to enlist friends to help manage all four of Rillito’s social media platforms.

It’s that chaos that encourages Weiss. Although official numbers had not been released, he called the opening weekend attendance “great,” and said the atmosphere was something larger racetracks dreamed of.

With racing scheduled through March 18, Weiss encouraged UA students to attend. The track held themed weekends, with February 24-25 dubbed “University of Arizona Days.” Admission was free to those with a Cat Card.

Weiss sees the current partnership between Rillito and RTIP as mutually beneficial, using the term “working lab.”

“There really is nothing like it,” Weiss said. “We are showcasing the students, and at the same time we are in the show business industry.”

ARKANSAS HBPA Board Elections The 2019 Arkansas HBPA Board of Directors election is coming up and nominations close April 7. If interested, please contact the Arkansas HBPA office before that date. Ballots will go out in October.

Oaklawn Increases Overnight Purses for the 18th Straight Year The richest purses in the Midwest just got richer after Oaklawn announced two purse increases, the first effective February 17 and the second March 17.

These increases mark the 18th consecutive year that Oaklawn has increased purses.

“Our goal is to offer the best purses in the country along with the most competitive racing,” General Manager Wayne Smith said. “These increases are another step in that direction, and our fans are responding. We are attracting some of the largest crowds in racing. And our fans are getting to see some of the best owners, trainers and jockeys from all over the country competing for record purses.”

The first increase jumped all allowance and maiden special weight races by $3,000 and added $2,000 per race for claiming contests of $30,000 and higher.

The second increase boosted purses again by $1,000 to $3,000 per race, taking maiden special weight races to $81,000 and allowances to as high as $85,000.

47

NEWS Additionally, claiming races and maiden claiming races with a claiming price of $20,000 or greater as well as starter allowances received a $2,000 increase with the second boost. Other races received a $1,000 bump.

Oaklawn’s Track Receives High Praise After Wettest February on Record Veteran jockey agent Scott Hare said in late February that for a while he thought he was representing riders at Emerald Downs, a joking reference to the track located near Seattle, noted for being one of the country’s rainiest cities.

Hot Springs couldn’t be far behind in 2018.

According to the National Weather Service in Little Rock, Arkansas, Hot Springs Memorial Field Airport received 13.76 inches of rain in February—the most on record for the month—breaking the previous mark of 10.11 in 1989.

The effects, of course, were felt a few miles away at Oaklawn Park, which from February 9 through March 2 ran 117 consecutive races without a fast track.

Despite a monsoon-like February, Oaklawn never missed a day of racing during the month, a credit to the work of track superintendent Kevin Seymore, according to several trainers and jockeys.

“Amazing,” said trainer Steve Hobby of Hot Springs, who saddled his first Oaklawn winner in 1985. “Hats off to the crew. They did a tremendous job.”

Jockey Alex Birzer echoed Hobby’s comments about Seymore and other track maintenance officials.

“I think all the track crew, they’ve done an excellent job,” Birzer said.

“How much water have we actually had? I mean, it’s insane how much. Wettest February I remember. I’ve been coming here for almost 20 years. I haven’t ever seen anything like that. I can’t say enough on how good a job they’ve done.”

Trainer Will VanMeter has been a regular at Oaklawn for almost a decade, first as an assistant to Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas before going out on his own in 2013. VanMeter, who saddled his first career winner at the 2014 Oaklawn meeting, said the surface held up “fantastic” following a line of severe thunderstorms on Saturday, February 24, that delayed the sixth race approximately 15 minutes.

“The fact that they had it harrowed for the first race the following day, I think, shows how good the surface is this year,” VanMeter said.

Trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel started his first horse in Hot Springs in 1985 and said he was impressed with how well the surface has handled the relentless rainfall.

“I think all things considered, a record-breaking rainfall in February, there was sure the potential for the track to fall apart, and it hasn’t,” Von Hemel said.

“I think the track has held up well under the circumstances.”

Through the end of February, Oaklawn had run 245 races, with the track rated fast only 46.1 percent of the time (113 races). It has been rated muddy or sloppy 37.6 percent of the time (92 races).

CHARLES TOWN HBPA Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Stakes Races The 2018 stakes schedule for Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races has been set and will again be highlighted by the Grade 2, $1.2 million Charles Town Classic on April 21, accompanied by the Race for the Ribbon card in September and West Virginia Breeders’ Classics the following month.

Charles Town Classic day will include a program with six stakes, headlined by the 10th running of the nine-furlong Classic. The most lucrative race on the Charles Town Classic undercard will be the $100,000 Dance to Bristol for fillies 48

and mares at the track’s two-turn seven-furlong distance. Formerly known as the Sugar Maple, the Dance to Bristol is named for the Grade 1-winning filly who won the race in 2013 for her Charles Town-based conditioner Ollie Figgins III. The two other unrestricted stakes on the day will be a pair of seven-furlong tests in the $85,000 Robert Hilton Memorial for 3-year-olds and the $50,000 Russell Road for 3-year-olds and up. The Coin Collector and Its Binn Too Long—both for West Virginia-accredited horses—will complete the stakes-laden lineup.

For the fourth consecutive year, the 13-race Charles Town Classic day card will take place in the afternoon with a first post of 12:30 p.m. EST. Charles Town’s second graded race, the Grade 3, $300,000 Charles Town Oaks, leads the 10th annual Race for the Ribbon program on September 22.

Race for the Ribbon packages a quality card with a series of events designed to raise money for the West Virginia Breast Health Initiative that will go toward breast cancer care and awareness within the Mountain State. To date, Race for the Ribbon is responsible for raising more than $100,000 for breast cancer care and awareness in West Virginia. Racing-wise, the $50,000 Pink Ribbon and four West Virginia-accredited stakes that serve as preps for the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics round out the stakes portion of the Race for the Ribbon program.

Post time for the first race on September 22 is scheduled for 5 p.m. EST. Three weeks following Race for the Ribbon, the finest state-breds will have center stage all to themselves as West Virginia Breeders’ Classics XXXII will be held on October 13. The races run on Breeders’ Classics night will be tied to seven West Virginia-accredited stakes held over the course of the year that serve as “Win & You’re In” races for a corresponding Breeders’ Classics event.

Winners in five of the seven accredited stakes that are part of the Win & You’re In program will have a guaranteed spot in the gate and their entry fee waived upon starting for the Breeders’ Classics race they’ve won their way into, while winners of the Frank Gall Memorial and Sadie Hawkins will have their choice of two races. The full race and purse lineup for the Breeders’ Classics will be announced at a later date.

Including the restricted stakes conducted on the Charles Town Classic and Race for the Ribbon days, but excluding the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics, 14 stakes for West Virginia-breds are also scheduled for 2018.

Following is the complete stakes schedule: April 21 $1,200,000 Charles Town Classic (G2), 4&up, 1 1⁄8 miles April 21 $100,000 Dance to Bristol S., F&M 4&up, 7 furlongs April 21 $85,000 Robert Hilton Memorial, 3YO, 7 furlongs April 21 $50,000 Russell Road S., 3&up, 7 furlongs April 21 $50,000 Coin Collector S. (WV), 3YO, 4 ½ furlongs April 21 $50,000 Its Binn Too Long S. (WV), F 3YO, 4 ½ furlongs May 12 $50,000 It’s Only Money S. (WV), 3&up, 4 ½ furlongs May 19 $50,000 Fancy Buckles S. (WV), F&M 3&up, 4 ½ furlongs August 18 $50,000 Robert G. Leavitt S. (WV), 3YO, 7 furlongs August 25 $50,000 Sylvia Bishop Memorial (WV), F 3YO, 7 furlongs September 22 $300,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3), F 3YO, 7 furlongs September 22 $50,000 Pink Ribbon S., F&M 3&up, 7 furlongs September 22 $50,000 Henry Mercer Memorial (WV), 2YO, 4 ½ furlongs September 22 $50,000 Rachel’s Turn (WV), F 2YO, 4 ½ furlongs September 22 $50,000 Sadie Hawkins S. (WV), F&M 3&up, 7 furlongs September 22 $50,000 Frank Gall Memorial (WV), 3&up, 7 furlongs October 13 West Virginia Breeders’ Classics XXXII November 3 $50,000 West Virginia Futurity (WV), 2YO, 7 furlongs November 10 $50,000 A Huevo S. (WV), 3&up, 1 1/8 miles November 17 $50,000 My Sister Pearl S. (WV), F&M 3&up, 1 1/8 miles December 1 $50,000 Eleanor Casey Memorial (WV), F 2YO, 7 furlongs

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AFFILIATE NEWS Aftercare Charles Town In February of this year, the Charles Town HBPA presented Aftercare Charles Town with a check for $10,000 to aid in the placement of racehorses from Charles Town.

Since the beginning of 2014, Aftercare Charles Town has helped more than 130 horses find second careers as show horses, in polo or as leisure riders.

Most recently, Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, based in Shoals, West Virginia, enthusiastically accepted two more Charles Town mares into its program in January. The two lovely ladies will round out a group of Thoroughbreds there who will receive expert care and adoption to safe, approved homes.

INDIANA HBPA 2018 Meet Nears the Starting Gate at Indiana Grand If the 2018 Thoroughbred meet at Indiana Grand Racing and Casino were a race, the horses would be nearing the gate. By the time this magazine hits your mailbox (or inbox), the backside of the track will be open, horses will be training and the first draw will be at hand.

The backside was scheduled to open for setting up stalls and moving in on March 12, with training set for availability on March 13. The track kitchen was scheduled to open April 2.

Indiana Grand will host racing beginning Tuesday, April 17, and running through Wednesday, November 7.

The 120-day season will provide live racing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with first post at 2:05 p.m. each day except Saturdays, when racing begins at 6:05 p.m. Two additional racing dates have been set for Thursday, July 19, and Thursday, September 6, with a post time of 2:05 p.m.

Six race days—June 2, July 7, August 11, September 15, October 6 and October 27—will be dedicated to all-Quarter Horse racing.

Thirty-five Thoroughbred stakes worth more than $4.3 million in purses are scheduled for the 2018 season at Indiana Grand.

The 24th running of the Grade 3, $500,000 Indiana Derby, slated for Saturday, July 14, will once again headline the stakes schedule. Indiana’s richest horse race will be surrounded by five other stakes on the card, including the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks. Total purses for the evening will top more than $1.1 million.

The 13th running of the $200,000 Centaur Stakes, a listed event, will highlight the turf stakes schedule. The race is set for Wednesday, September 5, and will be accompanied by the $200,000 Indiana Grand, also a listed event on the turf course. Last year, Indiana Grand hosted the most turf races in its 15-year history with 184 races contested over the seven-furlong turf course, including nine stakes with total purses in excess of $1.1 million. Nine stakes have once again been earmarked for the turf in 2018.

A majority of stakes will be held on Wednesday afternoons. Kevin Greely, director of racing, also has moved several stakes to Tuesdays, capitalizing on strong undercard programs that have developed at Indiana Grand on both of those days. Two Thursday racing programs also have been added to the schedule with Thursday, July 19, playing host to the $100,000 Ta Wee Stakes, an open 3-year-old filly stakes on the turf.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

2018 Legislature Opts Not to Place Any Bets on Racing The 2018 Indiana General Assembly wanted to get in, limit the breadth of topics it covered and get done as early as possible, so members could go home and start campaigning. They did not entertain gaming issues, but they likely will next year, after the election, and after they can demonstrate the negative effect that the new Potawatomi casino will have on the state’s revenue. The only item that affects Indiana horse racing and breeding is contained in Senate Bill 242, which is a tax cleanup/administrative tweak bill. Presuming it passes (the session had not wrapped up when this article was written), the Indiana Horse Racing Commission will be taking 0.5 percent off the top of slot revenues to help fund itself, effective upon passage.

Centaur Sale to Caesars Has Passed Federal Hurdles, Now at State Level The sale of Centaur Holdings LLC, which includes Indiana Grand and Hoosier Park, to Caesars Entertainment Corporation, first announced in November 2017, has passed federal anti-trust review and is in the hands of the Indiana Horse Racing Commission. It then goes to the Indiana Gaming Commission. We have met with the other racing breeds to discuss concerns and wish lists, and we’ve had one introductory meeting with three representatives of Caesars. All indications are that regulators want to ensure continuity and preserve the viability and growth of the industry. Caesars has indicated the same goals. Presuming the sale is approved, it will likely not occur until sometime late in the second quarter.

Indiana HBPA Will Elect New Officers and Directors in 2018 During the 2018 Indiana Grand race meet, we will be conducting elections for the board and affiliate officers on October 2. The new officers and board are to be seated and hold their first meeting no later than 30 days before the last race date (no later than October 9). For more information, go to inhbpa.org or look for the Indiana HBPA Facebook page.

IOWA HBPA 2018 IA HBPA Schedule of Events April 25—IA HBPA general membership meeting April 26—Opening day of the Prairie Meadows meet May 12—Annual IA HBPA Awards Dinner held in conjunction with ITBOA Awards Dinner July 6—HART (Hope After Racing Thoroughbreds) Silent Auction July 5-6—Iowa Festival of Racing, showcasing graded stakes July 2—The 31st Adventureland outing (tickets will be sold and available for use by IA HBPA members) August 11—Iowa Classics Night, featuring Iowa-bred stakes, and closing day of the meet

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NEWS

Prairie Meadows 2018 Racing Season Information Starters Bonus Incentive During the first 12 racing days of the 2018 Thoroughbred meet, any overnight race (stakes not included) that leaves the paddock with a minimum of eight betting interests will be eligible for a purse increase of $3,500. Please note that the purse increases of $3,500 will be shown in the condition book as follows: (Includes $3,500 From The Starters Bonus). For any overnight race (stakes not included) that is carded with fewer than eight betting interests or leaves the paddock with fewer than eight betting interests, the purse will not receive the bonus and revert to its base amount. We encourage horsemen to take advantage of this opportunity to run for additional purse monies, and in return we can offer the betting public larger field sizes to wager on, which will help promote and grow the racing industry here in Iowa. Thank you for your participation.

Purse Participation Increased from $125 to $200 For all overnight races (stakes not included), horses that finish sixth through last place will receive $200 each for participating in that race. For stakes, please refer to the stakes conditions for that particular race on how the purse monies are distributed to all runners.

Out-of-Competition Testing Out-of-competition testing will be conducted during the 2018 Prairie Meadows racing meets. Horses that test positive for a prohibited substance or trainers who refuse to submit a horse for this testing will result in the refusal to accept an entry of that horse to race at Prairie Meadows and may result in the refusal to take entries of any horse under the trainer’s care or in the revocation of the trainer’s stalls for the meet. Please contact the state veterinarians with questions pertaining to the procedures for out-of-competition testing. Please note that up to $5 per starter may be deducted by the horsemen’s bookkeeper to help cover the cost of testing.

Industrial Labs Now Testing for All Prairie Meadows Racing The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has finalized its selection process for the 2018 testing facility and has chosen Industrial Laboratories in Colorado. The commission, after careful review and input from the entire Iowa horse racing community, decided to go with a Racing Commissioners International/Racing Medication and Testing Consortium-accredited lab after Iowa State University was unable to comply with some of the requirements of accreditation.

After receiving four bids to do the testing work within Iowa, the commission decided that Industrial Laboratories would be the best fit for our program. The company has some of the most up-to-date testing procedures and facilities available in the United States and has an extensive library of substances for which it can test. The IA HBPA looks forward to working with the commission and Industrial Laboratories for testing conducted during the 2018 racing season.

Horsemen Information The first condition book, stall application, live racing schedule, training schedule and hours and other racing-related documents can be found at prairiemeadows.com/racing/horsemens-info/thoroughbred-meet and in print at Prairie Meadows’ racing office.

IA HBPA Office Hours and Information Until the opening of the meet, our normal office hours will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Once the meet begins in April, we will have the office open six or seven days a week, with normal hours beginning at 8 a.m. and going until 3 p.m., and we can be reached at (515) 967-4804.

To keep up to date on news and issues occurring in Iowa, you can find us on our Facebook page by searching for Iowa Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association Inc., follow us on Twitter at @IowaHBPA and sign up to receive our 50

emails at info@iowahbpa.org.

We look forward to seeing the return of our horsemen, including familiar and new faces!

KENTUCKY HBPA President’s Message It was a difficult winter for horsemen in Kentucky. Turfway Park struggled with several cancellations due to inclement weather. In addition, an equine herpesvirus-1 outbreak in one barn at the track and at one of the largest training centers in Lexington had many horsemen on alert and taking extra precautions. In Western Kentucky, a flood presented horsemen at Riverside Downs, another Thoroughbred training center, with the difficult task of keeping their horses safe from the rising river.

Yet through it all, the horsemen in Kentucky showed their resilience when dealing with the harshest of conditions. It is a testament to their character and never-quit attitude. The Kentucky HBPA and National HBPA, as in the past, will provide emergency assistance.

The Jockeys’ Guild has requested consideration for an increase in the losing mount fee. They maintain that since Kentucky racing is doing well that an increase is in order that is comparable to several other racing states. In addition, they are requesting that an additional $10 be added to jockey compensation to be applied to each participating jockey’s individual retirement account (IRA).

The KHBPA board will consider the proposal at the next meeting. There are some issues to be considered. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. As far as Kentucky racing doing well, horsemen plying their trade at Turfway Park may have a different view. The average daily purse structure is $72,000. So, for instance, a majority of purses are less than $6,500 per race at Turfway. A horse finishing fourth will be paying 25 percent of his purse to the jockey with the proposed fee schedule. As far as providing funds for the jockey’s IRA, this is an expense that should be borne by the jockey unless the owner voluntarily agrees to provide the funding.

The KHBPA continues to discuss alternatives to the claiming rule with Ben Huffman, director of racing at both Keeneland and Churchill Downs. It appears that Ben’s original proposal that a claimed horse be required to run only in Kentucky for at least 60 days following the end of the race meeting where the horse is claimed is a non-starter after recent court decisions. The KHBPA has made other suggestions that Ben agrees with and that are currently being considered by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Contamination continues to be a bane to horsemen. The sensitivity of testing, where samples are tested at parts per billion (nanograms) and parts per trillion (picograms), can jeopardize careers any time a horse is tested.

Add to this, we learned from the favorable ruling in the Graham Motion case that at some point the rule was changed, denying a horseman’s constitutional right to provide a rebuttable presumption or mitigating circumstances in their defense. Fortunately, for horsemen in Kentucky, racing commission members have intimated to us, in several meetings, that the commission is no longer interested in a “gotcha” mentality. We look forward to horsemen being treated in a fair and equitable manner.

The KHBPA continues to pursue a fair share of wagering revenue for purses when the Kentucky signal is simulcast to California. Currently, California charges a higher price for its simulcast signal and will not reciprocate by paying a similar price for Kentucky’s simulcast signal. We will keep you apprised of the negotiations.

Good luck in your racing endeavors.

Rick Hiles, President KHBPA THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

AFFILIATE NEWS

COURTESY JOHN HANCOCK STABLE

Riverside Downs Flooding

By Jennie Rees Horsemen at the Riverside Downs training center in Henderson, Kentucky, faced significant flooding after almost six inches of rain fell in a four-day span, including almost three inches on Saturday, February 24. The ground was already saturated from the prior six inches of rain since the beginning of the month, with the Ohio River expected to crest at nearrecord levels in the Henderson-Evansville area.

The Ohio River is so close to Riverside that Kentucky HBPA board member John Hancock said, “We can stand in our barn HORSEMEN CAME TOGETHER TO DEAL WITH and watch the barges THE FLOODING AT RIVERSIDE DOWNS. go by.” But while the Riverside levee had not been breached, the torrential rain caused the training center’s infield lake to overflow onto the track.

So what did the tight-knit group of trainers who have more than 60 horses total at Riverside do? What they always do: Dealt with what was in front of them—and underneath them—and found a way to splash through the challenges. With the track straightaways submerged, trainers jogged horses on the turns that were above water because of banking. Every stable jumped into cleanup mode, even as new hurdles arose.

“It’s pretty amazing, those guys who are making this work in the worst of circumstances,” said Kentucky HBPA Executive Director Marty Maline. “They’re doing everything they can to ride this out and at the same time be concerned about the safety of their horses and making sure they are cared for properly.”

Hancock credited Brandon Bowling, one of three Riverside owners, with preventing an even worse situation by taking his front-loader and building a dam out of stockpiled dirt on Monday, February 26. That makeshift engineering kept water from gushing in through the back gate. With that main entrance already impassable, horsemen used a circuitous gravel access road to get to the barns.

“We’d have had a lot more water inside otherwise,” Hancock, a thirdgeneration owner-trainer from Henderson, said of the dam. “It turned out to be a major plus for us on the backside. It would have been a lot worse. The rainwater got us. It filled up our ditches and backed up into our lake.”

Horsemen also dealt with seepage into some stalls but kept an upbeat attitude while waiting for the river to crest and start receding.

“Right now everybody is just chilled out,” Hancock said. “Everybody is taking care of their own business, and we take turns monitoring it. We’re all working together; everybody in here is really patient.”

Ellis Park, just across the Ohio River and which had its own flooding, offered horsemen refuge in the barns with higher elevation overlooking the far turn. Hancock said he appreciated the offer but believed the Riverside horsemen THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

were just as well off staying put.

“It’s kind of like this: We’re in here as a group, and we’re going to do what we have to do,” Hancock said. “We’re all taking care of each other. It’s a great group in here. We’ve been through this before, but it’s been awhile since it’s been this bad. We are blessed that we have the people who own this place to take care of us and help us.”

Riverside Downs has been a winter training facility in recent years for seven to 10 Henderson-based trainers who move there when Ellis Park stabling ends in the fall. It opened as Audubon Raceway in 1955, conducting mainly harness racing but also briefly Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing during its financially challenged years as a racetrack.

Kentucky Racing Health and Welfare Logo Logos are distinctive symbols that allow for immediate recognition of an organization and often create a visceral response related to quality, value and loyalty. Think Apple, Nike, etc.

After 12 years in operation, the Kentucky Racing Health Services Center (KRHSC) finally has its own unique mark. Executive Director Richard Riedel charged clinic director Dedra Hayden to realize his vision of a logo integrating the horse racing industry and health care. Hayden turned to the clinic staff for creative input. Diane Riff, a nurse practitioner at KRHSC, offered the services of her daughter.

Amanda Riff, a visual artist in Louisville, is a 2016 graduate from the University of Louisville Hite Art Institute with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting.

She created the logo design of a stethoscope shaped like a horseshoe.

Amanda worked with Lindsey Baxter, daughter of KRHSC nurse practitioner Michelle Baxter, to digitize the design. Lindsey is a graphic design student in the BFA program at the Hite Art Institute.

Please Ask Congress Again to #SaveH2B The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) began issuing labor certifications for H-2B petitions on February 20. As of February 22, DOL has certified H-2B petitions for 42,802 workers, and these petitions have all presumably been submitted by employers to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the next step in H-2B processing. Based on DOL statistics, it is clear that about 66 percent of requested H-2B visas will go unfilled unless Congress passes H-2B cap relief. It is essential that Congress hear again from all employers who use the H-2B program. Failure to pass immediate cap relief will significantly harm American small and seasonal businesses and their American employees.

We continue to hope that Congress will include H-2B cap relief in the fiscal 2018 spending bill that lawmakers are negotiating. The spending bill that currently funds the federal government runs out on March 23. We need your continued help to make sure that Congress acts. We know many of you have repeatedly reached out to your lawmakers, but please do so again. We need your help to #SaveH2B.

Supreme Court Extends DACA for at Least One Year The Supreme Court levied a blow to the Trump administration as it refused to review a federal ruling that keeps the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, partially alive. Essentially, the Court’s denial keeps the injunction intact, allowing the nearly 700,000 current DACA recipients to 51

NEWS renew their work and study permits, at least until the circuit court rules on the government’s appeal sometime later this summer. The ruling does not mean much for immigrants who do not qualify for DACA. Julio Rubio and William Velie will be visiting racetracks in the coming months where they will be having pro bono clinics for workers to see if they would qualify for any of the existing immigration programs like DACA, 601 Waivers and 245i that are available at the moment.

New Kentucky HBPA Website The Kentucky HBPA has teamed with the University of Louisville’s Computer Information Systems majors to create a new website, kentuckyhbpa.org.

The collaboration was the brainchild of Terri Burch, who serves as academic program coordinator and interim executive director of the university’s Equine Business Program and as Stoneway Farm’s racing manager. The Kentucky HBPA was looking to revamp its website, and Burch suggested the CIS students, who, as a senior project, create websites for nonprofit organizations.

Like the equine program, CIS is part of the university’s College of Business.

The Kentucky HBPA project was spread over three semesters, with design occurring during the 2017 fall semester. Six teams developed prototypes, with Kentucky HBPA Executive Assistant Sara Toomey and Communications Specialist Jennie Rees having to select one design at the end of the term in consultation with Executive Director Marty Maline. Pedro Gregorio, the lead designer on the winning prototype and who graduated in December, was hired to complete the project.

While kentuckyhbpa.org has been active since late November, the public launch was scheduled for the end of March or early April, when Kentucky horsemen are returning from their southern winter bases.

Owners and trainers who have raced a horse in Kentucky the prior two years can become card-signed members online through the membership/become a member tab. Those members receive additional benefits such as claiming and disaster coverage.

Kentuckyhbpa.org will continue to evolve.

“The website will be the first impression a lot of people have of the Kentucky HBPA, and a state-of-the-art website that we can easily update in-house is a must in this era,” Maline said. “It allows our owners and trainers to conveniently access information and forms, also promoting our programs and events and projecting our organization as the industry leader we work hard to be.

“The website has been well worth the wait, and we thank Terri Burch for the idea and the University of Louisville’s College of Business for making the collaboration possible,” he continued. “We have gotten a wonderful website for

52

a fraction of the cost of hiring an outside design company, and hopefully the CIS students gained valuable experience as they enter the job market.”

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

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

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

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

AFFILIATE NEWS

Fair Grounds Race Course 2017-2018 Race Meet

Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino 2018 Race Meet

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

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NEWS

LOUISIANA HBPA

To view the condition book, stakes schedule, shipping/starter incentives and more information about the meet, go to canterburypark.com.

Delta Downs The 2018 American Quarter Horse meet at Delta Downs begins April 20 and ends July 7. The closing day card will have eight stakes totaling more than $1 million and will feature the Lee Berwick Futurity (RG1) and Louisiana-bred races, including the Delta Derby. The Futurity had a record purse of more than $700,000 for the 2017 edition. For additional information, contact the Delta Downs racing office at (888) 589-7223.

Evangeline Downs The 2018 Thoroughbred meet at Evangeline Downs begins April 4 and ends September 25. Evangeline Downs has completed two new barns that will be in use for the start of the meet. The Evangeline Mile will be conducted on June 23 for a $100,000-guaranteed purse. Louisiana Legends night will be May 26 with eight Louisiana-bred stakes for $600,000 in purses. The night’s feature event will be the $100,000-guaranteed Louisiana Legends Classic at 1 1⁄16 miles. For additional information, contact the Evangeline Downs racing office at (337) 594-3022.

Fair Grounds The Fair Grounds 2017–18 Thoroughbred meet closes March 31 with the 105th running of the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2). For more information, contact the racing office at (504) 948-1288.

Louisiana Downs The 2018 Louisiana Downs Thoroughbred meet begins May 5 and concludes September 26. The Louisiana Super Derby will be the marquee event of the meet that will also feature the annual Louisiana Cup Day for Louisiana-bred horses.

MINNESOTA HBPA

MOUNTAINEER PARK HBPA Mountaineer Race Dates The 2018 racing season at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort kicks off on Tuesday, May 1, with racing four days a week through November 28 with a 7 p.m. post. The first weekend of live racing will feature a special Saturday card on May 5 with a 2 p.m. post leading up to the Kentucky Derby. The opening weekend is celebrated with a live concert by Trace Adkins as well as other festivities throughout the resort.

The cornerstone of the live meet is the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby on Saturday, August 4, with a 2 p.m. post. The West Virginia Governor’s Cup, a newly awarded Grade 3 race, is also featured on the Derby card, making West Virginia Derby Day the only day of racing in West Virginia that features two graded stakes races.

West Virginia HBPAs Promote Racing at the Capitol The Mountaineer Park HBPA and the Charles Town HBPA joined forces again to promote the Thoroughbred racing industry during the 2018 West Virginia legislative session with displays during Farm Bureau Day and Tourism Day. The HBPAs have been working to ensure that the racing industry is recognized as a contributor to the agricultural community and as a tourism destination.

West Virginia Racing Commission Retirement Plan for Backstretch Workers The enrollment period for the West Virginia Racing Commission Retirement Plan for Backstretch Workers for the 2017 plan year will take place April 15 through May 15. Visit the HBPA office for more information and applications.

Participants must complete the applications each program year to be eligible.

COURTESY WV LEGISLATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY/PERRY BENNETT

Canterbury Park Meet Preview Spring has arrived in Minnesota, which means the newly expanded and purse-enhanced meet at Canterbury Park is just around the corner. Like last year, the racing gets underway on Kentucky Oaks/Derby weekend, May 4-5, and will run through September 15.

The 2017 meet proved so successful that purses this year will exceed a record $14 million during the 70-day meet, including a record stakes schedule well in excess of $2 million.

New this year are shipping/starter incentives totaling $150,000. So now is the ideal time to be thinking of Canterbury Park for your racing plans for May and the summer.

Canterbury Park is located in the Twin Cities metro area, about 20 minutes from both Minneapolis and St. Paul. It’s the perfect summer setting with golf courses, lakes, Major League Baseball and two vibrant city centers. Best of all, Canterbury’s “Minnesota Nice” customer-centric focus is on racing and attracting big crowds and new fans in a clean and friendly venue, making it the type of environment so attractive to owners, as their horses are cheered to the wire by thousands of fans.

The stable area opens in mid-April.

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THE MOUNTAINEER PARK AND CHARLES TOWN HBPAS ONCE AGAIN TEAMED TO PROMOTE THE RACING INDUSTRY IN WEST VIRGINIA.

THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

AFFILIATE NEWS

MOUNTAINEER PARK MAY 1 - NOVEMBER 28, 2018

LIVE RACING CALENDAR - 123 DAYS February 2018

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NO LIVE RACING

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Sa 7 14 21 28

March 2018

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We Th Fr Sa 2 3 4 5 9 10 11 12 16 17 18 19 23 24 25 26 30 31

June 2018 Su Mo Tu We Th 3 10 17 24

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NO LIVE RACING

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Live Racing 16 Days

July 2018

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September 2018

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Tu We Th Fr Sa 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 17 18 19 20 21 24 25 26 27 28 31

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 23 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Live Racing 18 Days

Live Racing 18 Days

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Live Racing 19 Days

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Live Racing 16 Days

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Post Time - 7:00 pm Post Time - 2:00pm THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

West Virginia Derby 55

NEWS

NEBRASKA HBPA Horsemen’s Park Live Meet Expanded Horsemen’s Park will conduct its 2018 meet with five weekends beginning May 12. The meet will continue on May 18-19, May 26-27, June 1-2 and conclude June 8-9. Nine live days will be offered this year at the Omaha facility.

The highlight of the upcoming meet will be the new barns that were completed last year. There will once again be a jumbotron on the infield and numerous other improvements at the facility.

Post times are 6:30 p.m. on Fridays, 3 p.m. on Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Live music and other popular attractions will be showcased during the meet.

Any questions regarding the meet should be referred to the main office at (402) 731-2900.

NEW ENGLAND HBPA New Racetrack Update

By Lynne Snierson There is renewed enthusiasm and vitality concerning the viability of Thoroughbred racing and breeding in New England as the two leading racehorse organizations have teamed with the former owner of Suffolk Downs to secure the future of the industry.

The New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association Inc. (NEHBPA), the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association (MTBA) and Sterling Suffolk Racecourse LLC (SSR), which is the previous owner of the property now subject to redevelopment, have executed jointly a Memorandum of Understanding to pursue the development of a new racetrack at another Massachusetts location.

Under terms of agreement among the three parties, they will work together toward passage of the necessary legislation to restructure current Massachusetts horse racing statutes and to create a new facility offering live Thoroughbred racing and simulcasting once Suffolk Downs closes for good.

The Boston landmark, which is the last of the 17 Thoroughbred tracks that once crisscrossed New England, was sold by SSR last May to a major real estate development corporation, and the 161-acre site is one of 20 finalists to be the headquarters of AmazonHQ2.

Even though the property was sold in 2017, SSR retained the rights to the live racing and simulcasting licenses. Last year, under the aegis of SSR, the track hosted eight days of live racing, and there will be a 2018 meet of six days, with the possibility of additional dates added to the schedule.

But the 2018 meet absolutely will be the last at Suffolk Downs, which debuted in 1935 and has been a showcase for some of the most famous names in Thoroughbred racing history, including Seabiscuit, Whirlaway, John Henry, Cigar and Skip Away.

“We know even from the limited number of racing days in 2017 that our sport remains a popular activity,” NEHBPA President Anthony Spadea said.

“Preserving our industry is also about protecting jobs, preserving open green space and generating tax revenues for Massachusetts. But we need to move forward on this now so that we have a racing season in 2019 after Suffolk Downs has shut down permanently.”

As part of the agreement, the three parties will work together to identify and secure the purchase of land for a new track facility that may also include related horse and equine activities. An expanded facility would support the 56

Massachusetts breeding program while also supporting ancillary agriculture businesses in the state.

The 2018 live meet, which kicks off on Belmont Stakes Day, consists of three two-day weekends over the summer.

In addition to the June 9-10 live racing weekend, Suffolk Downs has also applied for racing weekends on July 7-8 and August 4-5. All three weekends include a racing festival with live music and food trucks in partnership with the NEHBPA. There will be trainer and owner participation bonuses and runners’ rewards available throughout the meet.

OHIO HBPA Mahoning Valley Race Course, Thistledown and Belterra Park Updates The winter-spring meet at Mahoning Valley Race Course has been extended through April 25.

Adverse weather conditions forced the cancellation of six racing days early in 2018 at Mahoning Valley. Three of those programs were being made up in March with the addition of Friday cards on March 2, March 16 and March 30.

The Mahoning Valley meet was originally scheduled to conclude on Saturday, April 21, but to make up the three other canceled dates, racing programs have been added on Monday, April 23; Tuesday, April 24; and Wednesday, April 25.

Despite the cancellations, the Mahoning Valley winter-spring meet has seen strong numbers. Average all-sources daily handle through the end of February exceeded $1 million per day and was up more than 15 percent from the same time period last year. Average daily purses came in at approximately $133,000 through the end of February, which is an all-time high at the Youngstown-area track.

Thistledown’s 2018 100-day live racing meet is set to kick off on April 30 and will run through October 20.

Racing will be conducted on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays each week. Post time will be 1:40 p.m. daily.

The barn area will open for horsemen who have been granted stalls on Friday, March 30. Stabling and training at the track will begin on Saturday, March 31.

Belterra Park, located on the banks of the Ohio River, was forced to close for over a week at the end of February due to the river going well above flood stage as seen in the accompanying photo taken on February 25 with the main track several feet underwater. Parts of the barn area can also be seen underwater in the photo.

BELTERRA PARK’S MEET WILL START AS SCHEDULED ON APRIL 27 DESPITE FLOODING IN LATE FEBRUARY.

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AFFILIATE NEWS Despite the flooding, Belterra Park’s live racing season will begin as scheduled on April 27. The 93-day meet will run through September 30. Racing will be conducted on a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule with the following additional holiday programs: Memorial Day, Monday, May 28; Independence Day, Wednesday, July 4; and Labor Day, Monday, September 3.

Trainers are reminded to sign up for the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Health Fund Retirement Assistance Program if they are eligible. Any trainer with a minimum of 40 Ohio starts and at least 51 percent of their total starts for the year having been in Ohio in 2016 is eligible, as well as any trainer with a minimum of 100 Ohio starts regardless of their percentage of total starts in Ohio.

Full details of the program as well as an application can be found on the Ohio HBPA website at ohio-hbpa.com.

THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA (OKLAHOMA HBPA) Will Rogers Downs Receives Enhanced TVG Coverage for Spring Thoroughbred Meet Trainers arrived from across the country for the 30-day Thoroughbred meet at Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs that opened March 12. The track is in its 12th year of operation, and track representatives expect a successful season as they embrace a few new changes.

The spring meet runs through Preakness Day on Saturday, May 19, and continues to hold the traditional calendar we’ve come to see over the past two seasons. Races begin at 1:05 p.m. every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, while the Monday cards begin at 12:55 p.m. in March and 1 p.m. for April and May, which allows for more simulcast coverage across the country.

“We are optimistic about our enhanced live coverage on TVG Mondays and Tuesdays,” said John Lies, racing secretary and track announcer. “We hope our efforts to avoid post-time conflicts with other tracks will be successful.”

The track also has seen an uptick in the amount of trainers preparing for the 2018 Thoroughbred meet. Trainer Karl Broberg, who led all trainers in North America for 2017 with 412 wins, was expected to bring a full string of 28 horses to Claremore. His arrival should figure both prominently at the entry box as well as in the standings.

Local standouts Scott Young and Roger Engel have returned for the meet on a backstretch where stall space was on high demand.

“We received stall applications from over 50 trainers for the coming season,” Lies said. “I feel we are poised to take another step forward, producing even better quality fields this spring.”

The meet offers more than $420,000 in total for the Oklahoma-bred program and more than $3.5 million in estimated total purses. Eight stakes races will be run over a six-week period within the meet with purses no less than $50,000-guaranteed per race.

The stakes end with the Cherokee Nation Classic Cup on May 15 for colts and geldings 3 years old and up. Horses will race 1 mile and 70 yards for a guaranteed $55,000.

Lies will return to the announcer’s booth in the afternoons this spring, with Quarter Horse racing announcer Jeff Cernik to perform on-air handicapping duties as part of the simulcast production.

For the spring 2017 Will Rogers Downs meet, more than $17.4 million was wagered on live racing, with one day surpassing $1 million.

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TRAO Membership Meetings and Member Survey TRAO held two general membership meetings in December to provide information to members and also to receive feedback.

Among the items discussed was the benevolence program, which in 2017 included more than $220,000 used for medical, dental and vision for horsemen, plus death benefits and scholarships. Additionally, TRAO supported several charitable organizations, including the Equine Special Olympics, and a donation was made to the National HBPA Foundation to assist those affected by the California wildfires.

TRAO is also conducting an important membership survey regarding breeding in Oklahoma and the Oklahoma-bred program. We encourage all horsemen (not just breeders) to provide your thoughts on the industry in the state and how we can continue to grow it. To take the survey, go to surveymonkey.com/r/ZFYC673.

Remington Park Handle Climbs for 2017 Season The 2017 Remington Park Thoroughbred season experienced increased handle, average field size and total purses compared with the previous year.

The final program on December 17, Springboard Mile Day, was the secondlargest betting day on Remington Park racing in the track’s history with allsources handle of $2,775,655. The record was set on February 24, 1990, when $2,808,243 was wagered.

Greyvitos won the 2017 edition of the $400,000 Springboard Mile, picking up 10 valuable points for 2018 Kentucky Derby eligibility in the process. This was the first year for the Springboard Mile as a Kentucky Derby points race.

The final day of the season capped 67 dates with total handle on Remington Park racing of $66,844,252, up 16.6 percent from the 2016 total of $57,332,509.

The increase was boosted by export handle on Remington Park of $63,188,252, up 18.2 percent from the previous year when the export betting was $53,466,844.

“Remington Park enjoyed a successful Thoroughbred season thanks to our fans, horsemen and business partners, helping drive our pari-mutuel handle,” said Matt Vance, Remington Park vice president of operations. “We had an increase in field size this season, and our stakes program was well supported both locally and from connections shipping horses from across the United States to compete in Oklahoma City.”

The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby was won by Untrapped, the first Derby win at the track by National Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen who wrapped up his record 13th leading trainer title at Remington Park. In 2017, for the first time, the Oklahoma Derby had three competitors—Battle of Midway, Girvin and Untrapped—who also raced in the Kentucky Derby earlier in the year.

Eclipse Award winner Champagne Room won the Remington Park Oaks on the Oklahoma Derby undercard. Her resume and success in the race helped bring it graded status for the first time in its history. The 2018 Oaks will carry a Grade 3 title, joining the Oklahoma Derby as Remington Park’s graded Thoroughbred events.

Remington Park purses grew in 2017 to $16,144,945 for an average of $240,969 per day. The total was up 1.8 percent over the $15,855,080 distributed in 2016.

A total of 5,410 horses took part in the 604 races—one less race than in 2016—at Remington Park last yearfor an average field size of 8.96, up from the average of 8.4 in 2016. Both seasons had 67 race dates.

Remington Park’s on-track handle of $3,454,413 slid 4.4 percent from 2016 when it was $3,613,712. Thunder Roadhouse in north Oklahoma City had handle on Remington Park of $201,587 as the track’s lone off-track location. There were three off-track sites in 2016 playing a total of $251,953 on Remington Park racing.

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Springboard Mile Winner Greyvitos Voted Remington Horse of the Meeting Greyvitos, the talented gray who won the $400,000 Springboard Mile by 2 ¼ lengths, was voted the 2017 Remington Park Horse of the Meeting. The seasonal titles are determined by a vote of media that covered the season along with track and racing department officials.

Owned by Triple B Farms and trained by Adam Kitchingman, Greyvitos was ridden to victory in the Springboard by National Racing Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza. Greyvitos, a Virginia-bred colt by Malibu Moon, overcame his outside number 12 post in the Springboard to take over the top 2-year-old race of the meet with just under a half-mile remaining. Greyvitos set a stakes record for the Springboard Mile, crossing the finish in 1:37.14 over a fast track.

Greyvitos was also a unanimous selection as the Champion 2-Year-Old Male for the Remington Park season.

Champion Sprinter and Champion Older Male—Ivan Fallunovalot Ivan Fallunovalot was dominant in his two races during the Remington Park season and was voted to his third consecutive titles as Champion Sprinter and Champion Older Male. Owned by Lewis Mathews Jr. and trained by Tom Howard, Ivan Fallunovalot was ridden in both his sprint triumphs by Luis Quinonez. The Texas-bred gelding by Valid Expectations easily won an allowance race early in the season before taking his fourth consecutive $150,000 David Vance Stakes.

Champion Oklahoma-bred and Champion Claimer—Eurobond Eurobond also received multiple honors, being voted Champion Oklahomabred and Champion Claimer. Finishing the meet with a perfect five-for-five record, Eurobond started the meet for owners James and Marilyn Helzer, scoring in claiming company. The 4-year-old gelding was claimed from that race for $17,500 by Danny Caldwell, who campaigned him to four more wins. Trained for the final four victories of the season by Federico Villafranco, Eurobond moved up the talent ladder, winning the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Sprint in late October.

Bred in Oklahoma by James Helzer, Eurobond is by Euroears. Eurobond won three races in open company and a pair of attempts against Oklahomabreds. He won twice at five furlongs, once at 5 ½ furlongs and twice more at six furlongs.

Champion 3-Year-Old Female—Champagne Room Champagne Room, the 2016 Eclipse Award winning 2-year-old filly, romped in her lone start at the track, winning the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks by 3 3⁄4 lengths in stakes-record time.

Owned by Sharon Alesia, Robin Christensen, Ciaglia Racing and Gulliver Racing and trained by Peter Eurton, the Kentucky-bred daughter of Broken Vow was a unanimous selection as Champion 3-Year-Old Female.

Champion 3-Year-Old Male—Untrapped Michael Langford’s Untrapped gave trainer Steve Asmussen his first win in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park.

A starter in the 2017 Kentucky Derby, Untrapped managed to work his way through traffic off the final turn to win the Oklahoma Derby by 1 3⁄4 lengths under Ricardo Santana. Untrapped finished ahead of Battle of Midway, another Kentucky Derby starter who went on to capture the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in November.

Untrapped is a Kentucky-bred colt by Trappe Shot from the Giant’s Causeway mare Exit Three.

Champion Older Female—Gianna’s Dream Gianna’s Dream returned to Remington Park in 2017 to capture two more stakes races and her second seasonal title in the process. She was voted Champion Turf Performer in 2016.

Owned by Jordan Wycoff and trained by Mike Maker, Gianna’s Dream won the $75,000 Ricks Memorial on the Oklahoma Derby undercard and her second 58

consecutive $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Distaff Turf.

Bred in Oklahoma by Center Hills Farm and Randy Blair, Gianna’s Dream is

by Twirling Candy.

Champion Turf Performer—Pacific Typhoon Owned by Carol Nelson and trained by Veronica Griggs, Pacific Typhoon captured all three of his starts—all on the turf—at Remington Park, including the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Turf and $50,000 Red Earth Stakes. Bred in Oklahoma by Clark Brewster, Pacific Typhoon is by Don’t Get Mad. Champion 2-Year-Old Female—Cosmic Burst Cosmic Burst made simple work in winning her only Remington Park start, the $100,000 Trapeze Stakes. The 2-year-old filly rolled to a commanding 5 ¼-length victory in the one-mile event, winning her third consecutive race to close her 2017 season. Owned by Norma Lee Stockseth and Todd Dunns, Cosmic Burst is trained by Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Famer Donnie Von Hemel. A daughter of Violence, Cosmic Burst was bred in Pennsylvania by Pewter Stable. She set a stakes record in the Trapeze Stakes and was a unanimous selection as Champion 2-Year-Old Female.

In the human award categories, Steve Asmussen, Ramon Vazquez and Danny Caldwell all topped the standings again.

Asmussen, a National Racing Hall of Fame and Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer, had 82 winners to earn his 13th Chuck Taliaferro Award as the top trainer at Remington Park. He now has more season titles in Oklahoma City than any other trainer. He came into the 2017 season tied with Donnie Von Hemel. Asmussen also led all trainers with record earnings of $2,252,190. No trainer had ever topped the $2-million mark in earnings during a Remington Park season until this year.

The leading trainer award is named after Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Chuck Taliaferro. A two-time leading trainer at Remington Park, Taliaferro was a top trainer for decades at different tracks around the nation. He passed away in 1994.

Vazquez won his fifth consecutive Pat Steinberg Award as leading rider, visiting the winner’s circle 94 times. Vazquez, 32, won his 1,000th race in the United States on October 5. The Puerto Rico native also led Remington Park jockeys with $1,997,140 in earnings.

Vazquez is the first-call rider for leading owner Danny Caldwell and became the first-call jockey for Asmussen over the second half of the meet. The leading jockey award is named after the late Pat Steinberg, who dominated the standings at Remington Park until his death in 1993. Steinberg, an Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame jockey, won nine consecutive seasonal championships in Oklahoma City.

Caldwell racked up his ninth Ran Ricks Jr. Award as leading owner and his eighth consecutive award. Caldwell’s horses won 39 races, finishing 15 ahead of Asmussen-owned runners. Caldwell also led all owners with earnings of $777,282.

Caldwell has won the Ran Ricks Jr. Award every year since 2010. The leading owner award is named after the first owner to stable horses at Remington Park. Ricks, an Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame owner, was a seven-time leading owner at Remington Park prior to his passing in 1996.

New Hall of Fame Class Inducted at Remington Park A new class was honored with induction into the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Remington Park on December 15. The inductees included jockey Luis S. Quinonez, trainer Joe Offolter, breeder/owner/trainer C.R. Trout, broadcaster Chris Lincoln and horses Caleb’s Posse, She’s All In and Okie Ride.

Quinonez, who started his career in 1989, won the first race he ever rode at Remington Park and is only the second jockey to win more than 1,000 races THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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AFFILIATE NEWS locally. Quinonez, who won the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby on Wally’s Choice in 2004, has more than 3,700 total career victories.

Offolter, present at Remington Park since the day the track opened in 1988, is just the third conditioner to train more than 500 winners at Remington Park.

Trout was honored for a breeding and racing operation that deals almost solely in stakes and upper-level competitors, including his homebred Shotgun Kowboy, who won the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby and two editions of the Oklahoma Classics Cup while earning nearly $1 million.

A longtime resident of Tulsa, Lincoln helped found the sports production company Winnercomm and developed horse racing programming for ESPN and other networks for over 20 years. Lincoln still works in the Tulsa market after retiring as executive sports director at KTUL-TV in Tulsa in 2011.

Kentucky-bred Caleb’s Posse, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs in 2011, was honored as the latest horse to win at Remington Park and go on to multiple Grade 1 success on the national stage.

Owned by the late Don McNeill in partnership with Everett Dobson’s Cheyenne Stables, both of Oklahoma, Caleb’s Posse won the Clever Trevor Stakes at Remington in 2010 as a 2-year-old. He was trained by Donnie Von Hemel.

She’s All In is only the second female Oklahoma-bred to become a millionaire. She won the Oklahoma Classics Distaff for four consecutive years for owner-breeder Robert Zoellner, retiring after her final Classics Distaff in 2013. She was trained by Roger Engel early in her career and by Von Hemel for the majority of her career.

Okie Ride, a four-time winner of the Oklahoma Classics Sprint, was inducted into the Hall of Fame for breeders and owners Kris and John Richter of Richter Family Trust and trainer Kenny Nolen. Okie Ride was one win away from tying the all-time Remington Park mark for career wins when he unexpectedly died in August.

TAMPA BAY DOWNS HBPA

OREGON HBPA Recapping Portland Meadows Meet and Looking Toward Summer Our Portland Meadows race meet ended January 30. The meet was successful as the weather cooperated beautifully. Well, that is in the eyes of us Oregonians who like rain! It would be nice to add more race days, but with the challenges we all face with fewer horses and generating sufficient revenues for purses, we feel pretty good about our race meet. Everyone has now moved off the grounds to a different race meet or is giving their horses and themselves a well-deserved rest.

With the closing of another Portland Meadows meet comes the challenge and opportunity to better our racing in 2018–19. The OHBPA contracts committee has met and is working diligently on a proposal for our race meet partner The Stronach Group. With a little luck, we hope to have a signed contract in the next couple of months. We appreciate the patience of our horsemen and racing fans as we work through this negotiation process.

There are quite a few directors with spouses and friends along with staff who were very excited to be attending the National HBPA convention in New Orleans. We hope to have seen a lot of you there.

Our summer fairs start in June, so we are getting prepared for what is sure to be a great time and fun racing! The OHBPA is once again showing our commitment to our summer fair partners by adding purse money, sponsoring feature races and increasing losing mount fees for jockeys. New this year is a $100-minimum purse guarantee for any Thoroughbred horse that starts at our summer fair meets. We are in the process of creating a very nice brochure

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outlining not only our summer fair programs but also those of our partners, the Oregon TOBA, Oregon QHRA and Oregon Racing Commission. And yes, Executive Director Randy Evers will be out and about promoting, recruiting and hustling horsemen and jockeys to come support our summer racing and have a great time!

The Oregon TOBA held its annual awards banquet February 17 in the Portland Meadows Turf Club. They had a very good turnout, and Dr. Ry Harwood returned to emcee and entertain all those in attendance.

Award winners were: 2-Year-Old Gelding—Grinning Tiger (Owner: Shelly Nancy, Steve Smith and Barbara Eakins; Breeder: Patrick Cosgrove) 2-Year-Old Filly—Stay In Grace (Owner: Carol Duby; Breeder: Dr. Jack Root and Cookie Root) 3-Year-Old Gelding—Gravel (Owner: Lisa Baze and Jerry Carmondy; Breeder: Larry and Gay Welliver) 3-Year-Old Filly—Furious Fire (Owner/Breeder: James and Carol Owens) Older Gelding—Cantchaco (Owner: Jackie Smith; Breeder: Larry and Gay Welliver) Older Mare—Milady Rocks (Owner: Laurie Lukas and Cookie Root; Breeder: Dr. Jack Root and Cookie Root) Sire of the Year—Harbor The Gold (Owner: Bar C Racing Stable) Broodmare of the Year—Cant Woman (Owner: Gay Welliver) Trainer of Oregon-breds for the Year—Rolland Fergason Breeder of the Year—James and Carol Owens Horse of the Year—Furious Fire Congratulations to everyone, and thank you for breeding, owning and running Oregon-bred horses!

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The TBD HBPA kicked off the 2017–18 season with its annual Christmas party, which was held on December 19. Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to help serve food to the enormous crowd of owners, trainers and backside employees.

Once again, charitable organizations that we are proud to be affiliated with include Catholic Charities Mobile Medical Services, Race Track Chaplaincy of America, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, RVR Horse Rescue and Step Ahead Thoroughbred Retirement. Sister Sarah Proctor of Catholic Charities and her army of volunteers work diligently to ensure that the health needs of our backside are met. Charitable organizations such as these not only enrich the lives of our backside but also ensure the safe retirement of our equine athletes.

A special shout-out to Philip Wasiluk for taking on the job of coordinating recreational activities for the backside. In no time, he was able to muster up volleyball teams and get things going.

Our spring events include the annual HBPA Owner/Trainer Appreciation Dinner held March 20 at the Countryside Country Club and the Horsemen’s Barbecue, catered by Sonny’s Real Pit Barbecue and held April 3.

The annual Florida Cup Day, sponsored by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association, Tampa Bay Downs and the TBD HBPA, was held on Sunday, March 25, with $600,000 in stakes purses. One of the most popular events of the meet, Florida Cup Day showcases Florida-breds as well as providing a special day for breeders, owners and trainers. Another important event this spring is our board of directors election, so please take the time to vote when you receive your ballot. Many thanks to those who have served on our board during the past three years, and we look forward to working with many of you again.

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NEWS Congratulations to the following TBD HBPA Groom of the Week winners: Roni Mansilla, trainer Harty; Gaudencia Mata, trainer Harty; Evencio Vargas, trainer Stidham; Esiquiel Martinez Cardosa, trainer Delacour; Miguel Nazario, trainer Tsirigotas; Jose Florian, trainer Bradley; Demetrio Cardoza, trainer Delacour; Alfonzo Torres, trainer Bradley; Ricky Moreno, trainer Stidham; and Alfonzo Torres, trainer Bradley. Each groom receives $50, a jacket and a photograph posted on our Wall of Fame.

AAA Feed owners, Nancy and Jerry Perrello, have graciously started sponsoring a Barn of the Month award given at the end of each month. So far, the lucky winners are Maria Bowersox, December; Brenda McCarthy, January; and Joan Scott, February. Congratulations to all and best wishes for a prosperous racing season.

Revolutionary Racing. The horsemen and the prospective new owner began by obtaining support for the concept from the governor and the Virginia Racing Commission. Then in January, when the Virginia General Assembly convened for its 60-day session, Revolutionary Racing’s principals and our state horsemen’s organizations joined forces in an extensive lobbying campaign that resulted in the passage of H.B. 1609 by comfortable margins in the House of Delegates (79–12) and the Senate (31–9).

Now, we begin attending to the nuts and bolts of restarting Thoroughbred racing at Colonial Downs. The Virginia HBPA’s goal at the outset is a 2019 summer or fall meet of at least 15 to 25 race days with purses averaging $250,000 to $300,000 a day. It’s an aggressive start, but with the continued cooperation of all stakeholders, we think it is well within reach.

VIRGINIA HBPA

WASHINGTON HBPA

Racing Returns to Colonial Downs

2018 Annual and Nominating Meetings Scheduled

Racing at Colonial Downs, Virginia’s only Thoroughbred track with parimutuel wagering, is on its way back to life. Colonial’s last Thoroughbred meet was in the summer of 2013. The following year the track shut down and surrendered its operating license because of an irreconcilable dispute with the Virginia HBPA. Colonial’s owner wanted to limit live racing to one or two weekends a year with huge purses. That was an extraordinary reduction from the usual six to eight weeks of well-supported meets conducted over the prior 17 years. Virginia’s Thoroughbred horsemen refused to accept management’s proposal. For that reason, the track has been dark for four years.

But the sun also rises. With the strong support of Virginia’s horsemen, ownership of Colonial is about to change hands. Revolutionary Racing, a Chicago-based group of experienced horse industry professionals, is under contract to buy the track and related facilities. The sale is scheduled to close in late April. Racing will begin next year.

In the interim, the track and facilities in New Kent will be renovated, and a large expansion of the grandstand will be built to accommodate installation of 800 historical horse racing video terminals like those in use at various racetracks in Kentucky and elsewhere. Wagering at the terminals is on an archive of previously run horse races using past performance data that does not disclose the names of the horses, trainers and jockeys.

Closing on the sale became economically viable with the Virginia Senate’s passage on February 28 of H.B. 1609, an amendment to Virginia’s Racing Act allowing historical horse racing games at the track and at off-track betting sites in Virginia. The bill previously passed the House of Delegates. Governor Ralph Northam was expected to sign the bill when it reached his desk sometime in March.

Colonial’s rebirth was the culmination of eight months of discussions and negotiations involving Revolutionary Racing, the Virginia HBPA and the Virginia Equine Alliance. The nonprofit Alliance was established in 2014 when Colonial closed. In addition to the Virginia HBPA, the Alliance includes the Virginia Thoroughbred Association (the breeders), the Virginia Harness Horse Association and the Virginia Gold Cup (the steeplechasers).

The first step in the recovery process was Revolutionary Racing’s negotiation and execution last fall of a purchase contract with Colonial’s owner, Jacobs Entertainment Inc. The next move was an agreement between horsemen and Revolutionary Racing on racing plans and the sharing of revenue generated by racing, simulcasting and historical racing games. After extensive negotiations, a binding Memorandum of Understanding was signed in December.

The final step was enacting legislation to permit historical horse race wagering. Without it, buying the track was not economically feasible for

It’s that time again! The Washington HBPA election process will officially begin with the naming of nominating and election committees on April 23. The election committee is responsible for the procedural aspects of the election, and the nominating committee is charged with soliciting qualified members eager to serve the membership as board members. Both committees require members who are not interested in candidacy themselves and do not have an immediate family member running for a position.

Customarily, the WHBPA holds the annual meeting and nominating meetings jointly, and this year will be no different. Based on feedback from the membership, this year’s event will be held earlier in the year and conforms to the required election timeline required by the WHBPA bylaws. The joint meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 23, at 12 p.m. at the WTBOA Sale Pavilion. (Post time that day is 5 p.m.)

“We plan to offer lunch and to invite speakers from the Washington State Governor’s Office, State Legislature, Washington Horse Racing Commission and management to discuss racing and breeding in the state of Washington and the efforts to strengthen our product and boost purses offered during our race meet,” said WHBPA President Pat LePley.

As of this writing, the agenda and committed speakers have not been finalized, but the meeting will include the naming of nominating committee candidates and the opportunity for members to nominate qualified members for the board of directors from the floor.

The WHBPA board of directors consists of a president, five owner members and five trainer or owner/trainer members who meet the required start criteria for eligibility. Further, the president must have served on the board previously in some capacity. The WHBPA holds an election every three years for all board of director positions. The 2018 election will be held on Monday, September 24.

All Emerald Downs owners and trainers licensed by the WHRC in 2017 or 2018 (qualification for WHBPA membership) are invited to participate in the annual meeting and the election process.

For questions regarding the annual meeting, nominating meeting and election or if you are interested in serving on a committee or as a board member, please contact the WHBPA office.

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WHBPA and Emerald Downs Agree on 2018 Purse and Stakes Schedule In a letter emailed to the membership on February 22, WHBPA President Pat LePley was pleased to announce the 2018 purses for overnight races will remain at their 2017 levels. This was good news to all those who were THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

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AFFILIATE NEWS aware of a decline in available purse money for the upcoming meet. Further, LePley announced that the participation purse (sixth through last place) and very popular ship-in bonus (for horses that have started but not at Emerald Downs) will also be available in 2018. In his letter, LePley described the cooperative negotiation process that took place over the course of several meetings and hours: “In early December, Emerald Downs management informed the WHBPA that the [Muckleshoot] Tribe’s direct contribution toward purses and horsemen’s incentives would be decreased substantially due to higher than anticipated operating costs at the racetrack site. Management initially was considering counteracting this decrease in direct funds by making an across-the-board 9 percent cut to overnight purses as well as eliminating a portion of the incentives. After a very long discussion with management over a number of days, the WHBPA suggested a different approach, which included reducing the number of race days from 70 to 67, reducing a portion of the stakes purses and securing some additional funds from the Tribe.

As a result of these efforts, the overnight purses will remain the same as the 2017 meet. Additionally, a sponsor has come forward who is providing $100,000 for a stakes race for 3-year-olds on the last day of the meet.

The same sponsor has agreed to provide an additional $80,000 to offset a planned purse cut for the first four stakes on our schedule, thus ensuring continuation of black-type status for these races.

Some of the incentives, such as the ship-in bonus, will also now remain.

The WHBPA’s working relationship with management and the Tribe continues to be strong and productive. The board is optimistic that if business at the track is robust, there may be opportunity to extend the meet or add additional races to the 2019 race schedule.”

Via the positive input from both management and the WHBPA, the generosity of the Muckleshoot Tribe and some race sponsorship donors, the proposed purse and stakes schedule paves the way for a very successful 2018 Emerald Downs meet.

Longacres Mile and Getaway Stakes Highlight Stakes Schedule The 67-day Emerald Downs live meet begins on Sunday, April 22 (with a giveaway of 20 4K TVs), and ends on Sunday, September 23. The stakes schedule kicks off on Sunday, May 20, with the Seattle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

The 82nd renewal of the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile is set for Sunday, August 12.

New for 2018, in an unprecedented development, an anonymous sponsor has donated $180,000 to be added to the 2018 stakes schedule at Emerald Downs. The donation will be used to fund a new six-figure stakes event for 3-year-olds and to restore purses for four stakes to $50,000 after being announced as $30,000 events for the 2018 season.

“This is truly astounding,” Emerald Downs President Phil Ziegler said. “This person wishes to remain anonymous, and we certainly plan to honor that request.”

The $100,000 Getaway Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1⁄16 miles will be run closing day, while the first four stakes of the meeting—the Seattle Stakes, Auburn Stakes for 3-year-old colts and geldings, Hastings Stakes for older fillies and mares and Governor’s Stakes for 3-year-olds and up—have all been bumped back up to $50,000.

The revised schedule increases the stakes total to 29 and aggregate stakes purses to $1.63 million.

Per the anonymous sponsor’s request, a portion of nomination, entry and starting fees for the Seattle, Auburn, Hastings and Governor’s stakes will be donated to four different Thoroughbred aftercare programs, and all of the entry THE HORSEMEN’S JOURNAL

SPRING 2018

and starting fees to the Getaway Stakes will be donated to the same charities: Prodigious Fund, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farms and Thoroughbred Charities of America.

Following is the complete stakes schedule: May 20 Seattle Stakes 3YO F 6F $50,000 May 27 Auburn Stakes 3YO C&G 6F $50,000 May 28 Hastings Stakes 3&UP F&M 6F $50,000 June 3 Governor’s Stakes 3&UP 6F $50,000 June 10 Kent Stakes 3YO F 6 ½F $50,000 June 16 WA State Legislators Stakes 3&UP F&M 6 ½F $50,000 Coca-Cola Stakes 3YO C&G 6 ½F $50,000 June 17 June 24 Budweiser Stakes 3&UP 6 ½F $50,000 July 1 Irish Day Stakes 3YO F 1 1⁄16M $50,000 July 8 Seattle Slew Stakes 3YO C&G 1 1⁄16M $50,000 July 15 Mt. Rainier Stakes 3&UP 1 1⁄16M $50,000 July 15 Boeing Stakes 3&UP F&M 1 1⁄16M $50,000 July 15 Angie C Stakes 2YO F 5 ½F $50,000 July 15 King County Express 2YO C&G 5 ½F $50,000 July 22 Washington Oaks 3YO F 1 1⁄8M $50,000 Muckleshoot Derby 3YO 1 1⁄8M $50,000 July 29 Aug. 12 Barbara Shinpoch Stakes 2YO F 6F $50,000 Aug. 12 WTBOA Lads Stakes 2YO C&G 6F $50,000 Aug. 12 Emerald Distaff 3&UP F&M 1 1⁄8M $50,000 Aug. 12 Longacres Mile (G3) 3&UP 1M $200,000 Aug. 26 Bank of America Challenge 3&UP 440Y $30,000 Aug. 26 WA Cup Sophomore Filly Stakes 1M $50,000 Aug. 26 WA Cup Sophomore Stakes 1M $50,000 Sept. 2 WA Cup Juvenile Filly Stakes 6 ½F $50,000 Sept. 2 WA Cup Juvenile C&G Stakes 6 ½F $50,000 Sept. 9 WA Cup Filly & Mare Stakes 1 1⁄16M $50,000 Sept. 9 Muckleshoot Tribal Classic 1 1⁄16M $50,000 Sept. 23 Gottstein Futurity 2YO 1 1⁄16M $50,000 Sept. 23 Getaway Stakes 3YO 1 1⁄16M $100,000

Emerald Downs, Hastings Racecourse Announce New ‘Northwest Triple’ Race Series The Pacific Northwest will host its own triple crown in 2018. Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington—separated by just 165 miles/265 kilometers—will offer a $100,000 bonus for any 3-year-old that sweeps a new three-race series.

The “Northwest Triple” begins with the Muckleshoot Derby at Emerald Downs on Sunday, July 29, continues with the BC Derby at Hastings on Saturday, September 8, and concludes with the debut of the $100,000 Getaway Stakes at Emerald Downs on Sunday, September 23. Additionally, any horse with a top-three finish in all three races will receive a $10,000 bonus, and any horse starting in all three races will receive a $1,000 bonus.

Emerald Downs Vice President of Racing Jack Hodge believes the bonuses will help both tracks. “Our partnership with Hastings grows each year, and the horsemen have a chance now to run for some nice bonuses,” he said.

Emerald and Hastings are also teaming up on three additional bonuses (paid in Canadian dollars): · $25,000 bonus for any horse sweeping the Longacres Mile on August 12 and BC Premiers on October 8. · $25,000 bonus for sweeping the Washington Oaks on July 22 and British Columbia Oaks on September 8. · $25,000 bonus for sweeping the Emerald Distaff on August 12 and Ballerina on October 8.

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Hastings opens its 52-day season on Saturday, April 21, and Emerald Downs opens its 67-day meeting on Sunday, April 22.

Horse Power Feed Owner Tony Loften Honored at Annual Awards Banquet “In honor of his countless contributions to backstretch programs and never-ending support of Emerald Downs’ horse racing community,” were the words used to recognize the generosity of tack and feed store and Thoroughbred owner Tony Loften at the Washington Champions Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, February 24, at Emerald Downs.

Loften received the Washington HBPA’s 2018 Willing Heart Award that recognizes people behind the scenes who often go unnoticed but make an incredible impact on the lives of people in the horse racing community.

Loften has a long history of organizing and contributing to stable area recreational and social events. For many years, he sponsored a very popular and well-attended horseshoe tournament. He has been a major contributor to charitable auctions, WHBPA picnics and, through his businesses, has financially aided many horsemen through difficult times.

Talkative, funny, compassionate and generous are the traits that depict his “Willing Heart.” Loften was unable to attend the banquet, so the award will officially be presented to him during the races this spring.

The annual awards banquet and stimulus auction and raffle were presented by the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, with support from Emerald Downs, Washington HBPA and Washington Thoroughbred Foundation. Coined by WTBOA President Dana Halvorson as the “social event the year,” the awards banquet is increasingly a well-attended and fun event.

The Washington HBPA wishes to acknowledge WTBOA staff members Anne Sweet, Tara Homfeldt, Sue Van Dyke, Julia Wolters and a host of volunteers for their efforts in creating a much-enjoyed evening by many.

Here are the Washington champions and award winners of 2017: Special Racetrack Achievement Awards: Blaine Wright for his outstanding 2017 season at Emerald Downs during which he led all trainers by wins (53 wins, 36 percent), earnings ($819,232) and stakes wins (11), and had a 72 percent 1-2-3 placement, and Joe Toye for his 38 wins (30 percent) during the meet and the development of 2017 Washington Plater of the Year Mike Man’s Gold.

Xpressbet Washington Horse of the Year, Sport Horse Medicine Champion Older Horse and Duane Weber Insurance Champion Sprinter: Mach One Rules, Trainer: Frank Lucarelli, Owner: R.E.V. Racing, Breeder: Bar C Racing Stables Inc. Castlegate Farm Washington Champion Older Filly or Mare: Citizen Kitty, Trainer: Jeff Metz, Owner: Highlander Racing Stables LLC, Breeder: Dunn Bar Ranch LLC

Blue Ribbon Farm Washington Champion 3YO and The Levine Law Firm PLLC Champion 3YO Filly: Risque’s Legacy, Trainers: Tom Wenzel and Valerie Lund, Owner and Breeder: Karl C. Krieg Clay Ward Agency LLC Washington Champion 3YO Colt or Gelding: Pulpits Power, Trainers: Blaine Wright and Alan Bozell, Owners: Below the Rim Stable LLC and Woodway Stable, Alan Bozell and Jack Stecker, Breeders: Gibson Thoroughbred Farm Bar C Racing Stables Washington 2YO Champion & Freight NW Champion 2YO Colt or Gelding: Elliott Bay, Trainer: Howard Belvoir, Owner: Rising Star Stable, Breeder: Blue Ribbon Farm Freight NW Washington 2YO Champion Filly: Bella Mia, Trainer: Blaine Wright, Owners: John and Janene Maryanski, Breeders: Griffin Place LLC Mahlum Thoroughbreds Washington Plater of the Year: Mike Man’s Gold, Trainer: Joe Toye, Owners: Greg Conley, Chuck Conley and Terra Firma Farm, Breeders: Swag Stables Save a Racehorse dba TRAC Most Improved Washington Plater: Exit Sixty Slew, Trainer: Blaine Wright, Owners: Below the Rim Stable LLC, Mediocre Racing and Blaine Wright Stable LLC, Breeders: El Dorado Farms LLC and Holly Sturgeon El Dorado Farms Leading Sire: Parker’s Storm Cat, Property of Mr. and Mrs. Elwin F. Gibson, Standing at Gibson Thoroughbred Farm Griffin Place Broodmare of the Year: Chedoodle, Owned by Swag Stables Drew and Jamie Baker Top Washington-bred OTTB: Back to Wine, Owner and Rider: Christina Klein, Breeder: Henry O. Gott Daily Racing Form Leading Breeder by Washington-bred Money Won: Nina and Ron Hagen (El Dorado Farms LLC), awarded on the basis of 2017 Washington-bred earnings of $392,670 NTRA Leading Owner by Washington-bred Money Won: R.E.V. Racing (Roy and Ellie Schaefer), awarded on the basis 2017 Washington-bred earnings of $164,620 S.J. Agnew Special Achievement Award: Nina and Ron Hagen of El Dorado Farms for their dedication to all aspects of breeding and racing, along with their many contributions to the Washington Thoroughbred community and the WTBOA Mark Kaufman Media Award: Dennis Box (Enumclaw Courier-Herald) for his many years of heartfelt and excellent coverage of Washington’s multifaceted Thoroughbred industry in South King County WTBOA Special Achievement Award: John Paker for his big heart, generosity, participation and many contributions to the Washington Thoroughbred racing scene.

Crofoot Named Emerald Downs Track Superintendent Eric Crofoot, a Pacific Northwest native with extensive racetrack experience, has been hired as track superintendent at Emerald Downs.

A 48-year-old native of Okanogan County, Crofoot has worked in track maintenance the last two years at Emerald Downs and was track superintendent for five years at Rocky Mountain Turf Club in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Crofoot said consistent communication with horsemen is vital.

“I’m excited for the challenge ahead,” he said. “My goal is to make the horses and the horsemen happy. The horses come first.”

The son of trainer Earl Crofoot, Eric Crofoot has been a racetracker virtually his entire life, working several years conditioning both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses. As a private trainer for owner Pete Schoeler, Crofoot saddled Poutnlori to a pair of Grade 3 wins in 2004–05. HJ

TONY LOFTEN WAS HONORED FOR HIS LONG HISTORY OF HELPING THE HORSE RACING COMMUNITY.

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