CEO’S CORNER

CEO’sCorner

I’d like to take time to have a brief and pretty candid conversation with you about just a few of the notable opportunities and challenges facing our Florida thoroughbred breeding and racing industry so far in 2021 and what we anticipate for 2022.

This past summer we were thrilled (as I’m sure you were too if you are a breeder) to increase breeder awards and stallion awards for the entire 2021 calendar year—which has not been a common trend around the country. Just as important, we will continue those same percentages into 2022 which is critical for industry stability going forward. And let’s not forget we did this without the important and long traditional contributions from slots at Churchill’s now decoupled Florida casino, formerly known as Calder Race Course.

This year, we also faced a historically high stakes, often contentious and very intense regular legislative session which prominently featured multiple initiatives to reshape the state’s gaming/pari-mutuel landscape including decoupling all pari-mutuels and breeds. Plus, the surprise, show-stealing development late in the session of a far-reaching new tribal gaming compact signed by the Seminole Tribe and Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The convergence of all these gaming tidal waves then brought about a previously unplanned and almost immediate special legislative session just on gaming.

Though there were a host of issues of concern for our Florida thoroughbred industry, the FTBOA approached three particular challenges.

First, we wanted to keep thoroughbreds coupled even though all the other racing breeds and jai alai were on the decoupling chopping block. We, the thoroughbreds, were included for probable extinction in the original draft language before the FTBOA went hard at this issue.

A simple way to understand this issue is to note that decoupled tracks are not required to race live. However, they are allowed to retain all current and future gaming products and revenues from those products and stop contributing to purses and breeder awards. For thoroughbred people, there is simply no “upside” to decoupling.

Second, we wanted to retain the non-profit racing permit held by the FTBOA and keep it from being forever eliminated.

And third, we wanted to create a Florida purse and awards pool with new purse revenue to be allocated to both Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs. This would keep purses competitive and continue with upward growth potential in Florida’s expanded and hypercompetitive gaming environment.

Through much hard work by the FTBOA lobbyist Matt Bryan and general counsel Warren Husband and most of the time finding ourselves going it alone, we were able to build solid legislative support from Senate president Wilton Simpson. With great assistance from president pro-tem Kathleen Passidomo and our entire Marion County delegation and others too many to mention, the thoroughbred tracks were the only parimutuel facilities that remain coupled.

In my 10 years with FTBOA, we have consistently opposed decoupling and any material reduction in Florida’s vital and successful year-round racing circuit, often with little to no help from our industry partners. Our legislative education and outreach and the sheer scope of the economics and jobs associated with the Florida thoroughbred industry really have made a difference from Tallahassee to Miami.

While the new law requires the revocation of dormant parimutuel permits where racing or jai alai has not recently been conducted, it preserves the non-profit thoroughbred permits including the permit held here in Ocala.

We, the thoroughbred tracks and horsemen, were very disappointed that we were unable to pass legislation to create a new Florida purse and awards pool during the recent special session. I anticipate this will be a focused and united priority and message for the Florida thoroughbred industry in future legislative sessions.

The thoroughbred tracks were particularly unhappy and frustrated with the terms of the new Seminole Gaming Compact.

We and the horsemen understand that there are a number of unintended consequences that radiate from this incredibly large and complicated 30-year agreement that may create additional competitive burdens and makes it more challenging for the tracks’ popular racing programs to grow at the pace we all would like to see.

We are working with our horsemen partners and the tracks and facilitating and coordinating where and when we can as the next session nears—particularly on the purse and awards pool and/or other revenue enhancing initiatives and presenting a united thoroughbred industry front.

Looking ahead—and please don’t think I’m crazy—I have reason to believe that in the next several years, our Florida thoroughbred industry stakeholders and their leadership will make a herculean effort to work together for the common good of our industry.

In the last few months, we have been in meetings with horsemen and track leadership that we requested with the motivation being to do our part in making a viable future for the Florida thoroughbred breeding and racing industry. I believe we are currently in or near a unique industry cooperation zone.

No doubt there are a number of good, intelligent and caring people trying hard and are committed to better cooperation, communication and moving forward.

This same group of leaders continues to join us in seeking ways to advance/explore/work on enhanced revenue opportunities for the Florida thoroughbred industry and its participants.

Very importantly, live racing dates at Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs individually and collectively remain relatively the same, including Gulfstream racing more than 200 days once again with modest shrinkage of the dates formerly run at Calder.

Our vital year-round racing circuit continues, which is particularly important to so many Florida horsemen, owners, workers and their families and of course those who wager on our Florida product.

The Stronach Group continues to invest huge money in their facilities including the new, innovative and popular Tapeta racing surface, making Gulfstream the only track in North America with three distinct courses; and new barns at their Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach. These have been impressive improvements that have been very well received by the entire Sunshine State thoroughbred industry.

We are also always mindful and appreciative of the important and positive contributions of Tampa Bay Downs and the positive impact the track has on our Florida thoroughbred industry.

As an industry and as a community/state/country and world, we must never underestimate or forget the disruptive uncertainty, negative health impacts and economic instability that the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted and will inflict on so many, our industry, people and Association included. At the FTBOA, we stepped-up early in the pandemic and began embracing and modeling robust practices to safeguard our staff, members, board of directors and guests. Our policies and procedures, starting sadly and shockingly almost two years ago, have become best practices adopted in many workplaces.

We are happy to say with gratitude and humble caution that none of our core FTBOA member programs and services, FEC operations or FTC’s support of retired thoroughbreds and student scholarships were materially disrupted or compromised during the very long stretch of this burdensome COVID road each of us still walks.

I think it is important to pass along some significant statistics that illustrate the importance of Florida-breds at both Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs.

An average of 96% of all thoroughbred foals that drop in Florida become registered Florida-breds.

Additionally, 2019 and 2020 produced even more registered Florida-breds than reported preliminarily by The Jockey Club for those years.

When it comes to our highly acclaimed and lucrative FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes program, data in recent years shows impressively that more than 60% of the FTBOA registered foal crop are made eligible for the Florida Sire Stakes program with approximately 50% of those advancing toward fully-paid status.

As far as how Florida-breds impact and contribute to the daily racing programs and seasons at the Gulfstream Park Winter Championship Meet and Tampa Bay Downs, as a breeder and/or owner of Florida-breds, I think that you may be very pleased to note the following statistics. It is clear that our fast and competitive horses, Association and Association programs, and the state’s breeding industry provides significant and irrefutable material and positive support to the Florida tracks and their horsemen, purses and incentives, viability and success.

Florida-breds at Gulfstream Park won a very solid 32% of all races run during the winter meet of 2020-21. Of those Florida-bred winners, an attention-getting 66% were sired by FTBOA registered Florida stallions. And we expect our impact on the current Spring/Summer and Fall Meets at Gulfstream to be even more dominating.

Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Phil Matthews for his phenomenal service as president and board member of the FTBOA.

It is very easy to praise someone so deserving. I have had the honor to serve with Phil my first two years here at FTBOA with an added bonus of this past year to wrap up the three-year term limit of this volunteer office serving as president and board chair. I consider him a mentor, teammate and good friend. Nothing speaks more to his level of service and commitment to our Association and the Florida thoroughbred industry than his amazing 11 years of service with nine of those as an officer and executive committee member with three of those nine years serving as our president.

We are fortunate his voting term on the board continues where he will serve on the executive committee in addition to the board of directors as immediate past president.

We also look forward to continuing our good work under our new volunteer president Valerie Dailey along with our outstanding group of officers and directors.

On behalf of everyone involved with the FTBOA, I thank you for your support, investment and contributions to our Florida thoroughbred industry.