The Horsemen's Journal - Winter 2022

HORSEMEN’S

in

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

WHEN IS ENOUGH GOING TO BE ENOUGH?

A

NATIONAL HBPA

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lot has been going on since our last issue. It is hard to pinpoint which item to write about because the news could change the very points you make before the next issue is printed. But what is not going to change is my feeling that some in this industry will not stop beating a proverbial drum until their message is forced upon everyone else. Some don’t care about a majority, some don’t care about right or wrong, and some don’t believe any opinion other than theirs even matters. I often look at a few situations in racing and ask myself, “When is enough going to be enough?”

Most of you who know me know I have an opinion on Lasix that starts with “it’s a choice”—or at least for many years it was. I believe in doing what is best for the horse in any situation, and I understand some think Lasix is not good for the horse. Everyone has or should have the choice. However, what should not be debated is that veterinary research has time and time again proven Lasix is beneficial in eliminating or mitigating exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) in our racehorses. This is not a message that needs to continue being debated. Period. Yet we still have entities who beat the “Lasix is bad” drum over and over because they aren’t getting their way—yet. As we know, if the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act does stay in existence, proper, research-based administration of Lasix could go away—not because of new research or new peer-reviewed science but because some groups did not stop until they got their way.

Racing commissions are, or should be, requesting a Lasix exemption from the Act’s defined corporation or authority (HISA). The exemption would still allow race-day administration of Lasix in races that are not for 2-year-olds or in any stakes race. Why? Not because new unearthed veterinary science says we should. In fact, all the science has pointed to the fact that EIPH is real and prevalent and that Lasix is a therapeutic benefit to the horse. Yet HISA will be conducting future research to guide its federal Lasix policies. Make sense? Not to me.

When will there be a recognition by some of the endless amount of Lasix studies that have been done on racehorses to this point? I believe most will agree the most convincing study, done in South Africa about 10 years ago, found Lasix did mitigate the impacts of EIPH in racehorses. Therefore, why are the conclusive results from studies like this, published time after time, not being recognized?

Recently, we saw the publication of an American Veterinary Medical Association study said to be comprehensive and that included a 4-million-plus population of horse starts. This article went on to proclaim horses racing on Lasix were 62 percent more likely to die within three days of racing than horses running without the therapeutic medication. However, what wasn’t stated is that true causes of equine sudden deaths can be elusive, even with a complete necropsy examination. The study also failed to list other medications besides Lasix and made no attempt to account for that fact in the study. Does this sound like someone stamping their feet to get the desired result through a headline?

If HISA is planning to do another study, why would we believe it will conduct anything differently than all the other broad studies before this? Won’t it twist the results of its study to fit the narrative that has been pushed for decades to “rid the industry” of Lasix? When will a conclusive study result be enough from its point of view? That answer I know—not until the results come back that fit HISA’s narrative. I do understand that no study is perfect, a study must acknowledge its own limitations and the way you get to the bottom of an issue is to do multiple studies. This is exactly what has happened historically, and we have found those studies end with similar if not identical results: Lasix prevents or mitigates EIPH, and it is safe for horses.

What I truly understand is that the public has not been properly educated enough on the benefits of Lasix, nor have they been given the facts that show Lasix does not harm horses.

However, the powers behind the anti-Lasix movement obviously have a different agenda and, as it turns out, a louder voice. This politically connected vocal minority is actually poised to make our horses and the bettors suffer the consequences if Lasix eventually becomes banned.

Our foal crops are shrinking, and the economic truth is there will not be enough horses to fill races without Lasix because we know from research that close to 80 percent suffer EIPH at some point.

J. Lloyd Yother

VICE PRESIDENT EASTERN REGION

Sandee Martin

If HISA wants big fields, it needs to be realistic rather than idealistic. The lack of effort to educate the public that nothing works as well as Lasix to reduce EIPH and that it is not performance-enhancing has been one of the largest mistakes in racing. Common sense and knowledge from years of research, rather than politics, should lead all decisions.

Please don’t let just another political manuever with a predetermined agenda come at the expense of the horse and the betting public.

Enough is enough when it comes to vilifying the use of Lasix.

PRESIDENT/ CHAIRPERSON OF THE BOARD

Dr. Doug Daniels

SECRETARY/ TREASURER Lynne McNally

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Eric J. Hamelback VICE PRESIDENT SOUTHERN REGION

Rick Hiles VICE PRESIDENT CENTRAL REGION

Joe Davis VICE PRESIDENT WESTERN REGION

SINCERELY, ERIC J. HAMELBACK

HBPA

WOULD LIKE TO THANK ITS CORPORATE

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AFFILIATES

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AFFILIATES

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Rick Hiles, Kentucky

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Jason Uelmen, Michigan

Pete Mattson, Minnesota

Jami Poole, Mountaineer Park

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Joe Poole, Ohio

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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 69 #4.

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CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. Kimberly Brewer Dr. Clara Fenger

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HORSEMEN, HORSES AND JOCKEYS WERE MET WITH COLD AND WET CONDITIONS FOR THE 2022 CLAIMING CROWN IN EARLY NOVEMBER AT CHURCHILL DOWNS, BUT IT DID LITTLE TO DAMPEN THE SPIRITS OF THE DAY’S PARTICIPANTS AND ORGANIZERS.

Record Handle for 2022 Breeders’ Cup

otal all-sources, global common-pool handle for the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course was $189,060,373, a record for the two-day event.

The total represents a 3.4 percent increase over the prior record of $182,908,409 set at Del Mar in 2021 and an 18 percent increase from the total handle of $160,472,893 at the 2020 event at Keeneland.

Total common-pool handle on the 12-race Breeders’ Cup card for Saturday, November 5, was a record $122,918,607. Total common-pool handle on the 10-race Breeders’ Cup card for November 4 was $66,141,766, a record for a Breeders’ Cup Friday. The 2022 edition marked the fifth consecutive year that Breeders’ Cup grouped all of its juvenile races together on the Friday card.

“We witnessed a spectacular two days of racing capped by Flightline’s absolute brilliance in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, once again showcasing the best Thoroughbreds from around the world, and we want to thank our partners here at Keeneland, who did a phenomenal job, and the greater Lexington community,” said Breeders’ Cup President and CEO Drew Fleming. “The Breeders’ Cup is truly an international championship event and the very best our sport has to offer.”

On-track handle for the two days was $28,326,478. Attendance for Championship Saturday was 45,973, and the two-day on-track attendance was 85,824.

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships will return to Santa Anita Park in 2023 for its 40th running.

2022 Keeneland 85,824 $ 189,060,373 2021 Del Mar 47,089 182,908,409 2020 Keeneland No attendance 160,472,893

2019 Santa Anita 109,054 174,628,986 2018 Churchill 112,672 157,445,841 2017 Del Mar 70,420 166,077,486 2016 Santa Anita 118,484 156,861,811 2015 Keeneland 94,652 149,869,035 2014 Santa Anita 98,319 151,158,813 2013 Santa Anita 94,628 160,704,877 2012 Santa Anita 89,742 144,272,332 2011 Churchill 105,820 161,512,867 2010 Churchill 114,353 173,857,697 2009 Santa Anita 96,496 153,271,176 2008 Santa Anita 86,588 155,740,328 2007 Monmouth 69,584 129,197,262

LARGE CROWDS TURNED OUT FOR THE 39TH EDITION OF THE BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, A TWO-DAY EVENT HIGHLIGHTED BY FLIGHTLINE’S VICTORY IN THE LONGINES BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC UNDER FLAVIEN PRAT.

BREEDERS’

Cody’s Wish Wins 2022 Vox Populi Award

Godolphin’s multiple Grade 1 winner Cody’s Wish, who shares an endearing bond with teenager Cody Dorman, was voted the winner of the 2022 Secretariat Vox Populi Award. Created by Secretariat’s owner, the late Penny Chenery, the annual award recognizes the horse whose popularity and racing excellence best resonated with the public and gained recognition for Thoroughbred racing.

Trained by Bill Mott and ridden throughout the year by Junior Alvarado, Cody’s Wish gained affection and admiration that transcended the sport of racing because of his special story. Cody’s Wish won four of five starts in 2022, including a pair of Grade 1s in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland Race Course and Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. The colt’s continued connection with his 16-year-old namesake Cody Dorman, who lives with a rare genetic disorder, captured fans’ hearts around the world and an abundance of Vox Populi votes.

The story started in 2018 when Dorman was offered a tour of Godolphin’s Gainsborough Farm as part of Keeneland’s Make-A-Wish Day. Dorman’s condition, Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, renders him unable to speak and relegates him to a wheelchair. During Dorman’s visit to the farm, an inquisitive 6-month-old foal walked over to young Cody and put his head in the boy’s lap. And with that, the bay colt earned his name: Cody’s Wish. Nearly four years later, the special bond and sweet interactions between the two continue, including just days before this year’s Breeders’ Cup when the now grown-up and strapping racehorse reconnected with his longtime pal.

“Cody’s Wish and his namesake, Cody Dorman, forged an instant bond that would grow to connect millions of fans to their inspiring story of hope and determination,” said Kate Chenery Tweedy, daughter of Penny Chenery. “Not only did Cody’s Wish win the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile as Cody predicted but both Codys won the hearts of people everywhere. Their uplifting story exemplifies the best ideals of the Vox Populi Award, just as Mom wished.”

The Vox Populi trophy will be presented January 14 at Santa Anita Park.

VOX POPULI WINNER CODY’S WISH AND JUNIOR ALVARADO CELEBRATE VICTORY IN THE 2022 BREEDERS’ CUP DIRT MILE.

SPORTSWIRE PHOTO

Dawson and Kearney Named 2022 New Owners of the Year

OwnerView announced in November that 2022 New Owner of the Year, sponsored by 1/ST Racing, was a dead heat between Richard Dawson and Pat Kearney.

Dawson races under the name Red TR-Racing, which campaigns 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike. Dawson entered racing in 2019, and he and trainer Eric Reed claimed Rich Strike in a $30,000 maiden claiming race in September 2021 at Churchill Downs. Dawson has only five horses in his stable.

Winngate Stables and has won four of her six starts, including two graded stakes. Winngate’s other runner, Cloudy, has won three of his last four starts.

“I have been a racing fan for years and thought I was imposing on my friend Shug when I asked him to help me get into racing, but I’m so glad I did it,” Kearney said. “Purchasing Kathleen O. was an amazing decision, and I am thrilled to be named as a new owner of the year.”

The New Owner of the Year Award previously has been presented to MyRacehorse, Larry Best, the Churchill Downs Racing Club, Charles and Susan Chu, LNJ Foxwoods, Sol Kumin and Boat Racing.

RICHARD DAWSON

“I can’t believe my luck in acquiring Rich Strike and achieving so much in such a short time in the sport,” Dawson said. “I can’t thank my trainer, Eric Reed, and all of our connections, including Rich Strike’s jockey, Sonny Leon, enough. I am honored and humbled to receive this award.”

Kearney entered the Thoroughbred industry in 2021 and was rewarded with a stakes winner in Kathleen O., his first Thoroughbred purchase. Kathleen O. was bought for $275,000 at the 2021 Ocala Breeders’ Sales April 2-year-olds in training sale by trainer Shug McGaughey. Kathleen O. races under Kearney’s

PAT KEARNEY

TAA Grants $3.6 Million to Accredited Organizations

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) announced that $3.6 million will be awarded as grants to 81 Thoroughbred aftercare organizations that currently hold TAA accreditation.

“As the industry’s leader in aftercare, the TAA is proud of what we have been able to accomplish in the last 10 years and

for aftercare. TAA has awarded more than $28.1 million in grants—earmarked specifically for equine care—to TAA-accredited organizations who have retrained, retired and rehomed more than 15,000 Thoroughbreds across approximately 180 facilities.

“Congratulations to the 81 accredited organizations who were awarded grants from the TAA,” TAA Accreditation and Grants Manager Janice Towles said. “Each aftercare organization accredited by the TAA has proven that they operate with the highest of standards, and while these organizations are busy day in and day out caring for thousands of retired racehorses, they can rest a little easier knowing the TAA is here to provide much-needed funding.”

of the collaborative effort of our industry stakeholders to help raise vital funds to assist our organizations,” TAA President Jeff Bloom said. “Please consider a donation to the TAA this holiday season and beyond as we continue to strive to fund aftercare across North America.”

The TAA has grown from 23 to 81 accredited organizations and from $1 million to $3.6 million in annual grants in 10 years as an umbrella organization

Accredited organizations undergo a thorough application and inspection process prior to accreditation being awarded to ensure they meet the TAA’s Code of Standards, which covers five key areas: operations, education, horse health care management, facility standards and services, and adoption policies and protocols. Facility inspections are conducted at all facilities housing Thoroughbreds for each organization. Ongoing updates and reinspections are required of all organizations as a condition of accreditation.

The TAA is supported by members from every aspect of the Thoroughbred industry, including owners, breeders, trainers, stallion farms, racetracks, sales companies, horsemen’s groups, foundations, veterinarians, horseplayers, racing fans, wagering technology companies and many others.

Keeneland Becomes Ed Brown Society Partner

The Keeneland Association made a $50,000 contribution to the Ed Brown Society in October to become an official Ed Brown Partner. The multifaceted partnership will further opportunities for young people of color to gain exposure, experience and professional job placements in the Thoroughbred industry.

As a cornerstone of the partnership, the Ed Brown Society will identify, recruit and place qualified minority students for paid professional internships at Keeneland. Upon completion of their internships, the Ed Brown Society will provide ongoing direction to these interns as they progress toward permanent professional placements in the Thoroughbred industry. The Ed Brown Society and Keeneland also will collaborate on existing initiatives such as Keeneland’s fifth grade field trips, College Scholarship Day and College Ambassador Program with an effort to promote diversity and inclusion.

The Ed Brown Society is named for the noted African American horseman Edward Dudley Brown from Lexington who achieved great success as a Thoroughbred jockey, trainer and owner from the latter 19th century to his retirement in 1903. Brown, who trained Baden-Baden to win the 1877 Kentucky Derby and developed future Derby winners Ben Brush and Plaudit, was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1984.

“Ed Brown Society and Keeneland have a collective commitment to expose the sport to new and diverse audiences and create more opportunities for people from all backgrounds,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “We are proud to expand our relationship with Ed Brown Society at the partner level.”

Details are also in the works for a Keeneland-sponsored Ed Brown Race Day during the 2023 spring meeting.

KEENELAND PRESIDENT AND CEO SHANNON ARVIN PRESENTS A $50,000 CHECK TO MEMBERS OF THE ED BROWN SOCIETY, INCLUDING CHAIRMAN GREG HARBUT AND PRESIDENT RAY DANIELS.

KEENELAND/COADY PHOTO

Charles Town HBPA’s Gaige Wins TIEA

Darla Gaige watched the videos of the other two finalists in the running for one of seven honors that make up the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA) presented by Godolphin and figured she might not need an acceptance speech.

“I told my husband before we ever went that we’re going to enjoy the trip, we’re going to meet some great people, we’re going to have a great time, but I’m not winning this,” said Gaige, office assistant for the Charles Town Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. “I watched the videos and thought there’s no way I’m winning this thing.”

Gaige did end up winning, taking home the Katherine McKee Administration Award, sponsored by Keeneland, along with a $7,500 prize and $2,500 to the Charles Town HBPA.

Gaige was one of 20 winners and finalists feted during an October 14 awards ceremony at Keeneland Race Course, which came after a daylong set of interviews by the final judging panel and other associated events.

“It was just an unbelievable trip,” Gaige said. “The people were amazing, and the horses were amazing.”

Gaige said she finally came down from the whirlwind experience a few weeks after, only to come back up when the trophy arrived in the mail. She was nominated by Charles Town HBPA Executive Director Maria Catignani, a finalist herself for the Administration Award in 2019.

“I could go on and on about how valuable she is to our organization,” Catignani wrote in her nomination. “Skill sets are innumerable. Dependable. Reliable. Solid. Darla is an exceptional individual who works tirelessly but not just on the job. She is more than an employee. Darla is an outstanding human being who understands emotion, the joys and fears of everyday life, and relates that understanding to everyone she meets to make a positive difference in that one person’s life and in the world.”

Naomi Long, a member of the Charles Town HBPA board of directors who attended the National HBPA Executive Committee meetings and Claiming Crown in Louisville in early November, echoed Catignani’s sentiments and added that Gaige’s versatility makes her a valuable member of the team.

“One day I was in the office looking for Darla, couldn’t find her and then I saw she was outside, under her car fixing it,” Long said.

The National HBPA is one of several sponsors of the TIEA, which awarded $122,000 to the winners and finalists in 2022. Tom Law, editor of The Horsemen’s Journal and managing editor of The Saratoga Special for ST Publishing Inc., served as a member of the final judging panel, and Frank Mirahmadi, track announcer at Santa Anita Park and Saratoga Race Course, served as the master of ceremonies at the 2022 awards luncheon. —Tom Law. HJ

NEWCOMER AWARD, SPONSORED BY NYRA

Winner: Johnathan Estrada, Groom, David Donk

Runners-up: Charles Churchill, Ed Brown Society and 1/ST Racing Intern, Stronach Group; Maddie Rowland, Apprentice Jockey, Monmouth Park

SUPPORT SERVICES AWARD, SPONSORED BY I AM HORSE RACING

Winner: Laura Scheer, Crossing Guard, NYRA Runners-up: Tim Tullock Jr., Compliance Officer, Maryland Jockey Club; Walter Johnson, Travel Agent, Protravel International

KATHERINE MCKEE ADMINISTRATION AWARD, SPONSORED BY KEENELAND

Winner: Darla Shoemaker Gaige, Office Administration, Charles Town HBPA Runners-up: Angela Ramsey, Finance Manager and Human Resources, Sequel Holdings; Blair Eads, Production and Marketing Manager, Equix

DEDICATION TO BREEDING AWARD, SPONSORED BY HALLWAY FEEDS

Winner: Don Jenkins, Groom, Darby Dan Farm Runners-up: Danny Mitchell, Foaling Manager, Denali Stud; Steve Holbrook, Assistant Manager, Coolmore America

DEDICATION TO RACING AWARD, SPONSORED BY THE NTRA

Winner: Felipe Pulido Mendoza, Groom, Richard Mandella Racing Runners-up: Alice Clapham, Assistant Trainer, Graham Motion Racing; Danny Ramsey, Exercise Rider, McPeek Racing Stables

LEADERSHIP AWARD, SPONSORED BY HAGYARD EQUINE MEDICAL INSTITUTE

Winner: Leanna Willaford, Assistant Trainer, Bill Mott Runners-up: Anne Eberhardt-Keogh, Visuals Director, BloodHorse Publications; Matthew Zehnder, Equine Resources Coordinator, University of Kentucky Maine Chance Farm

DR. J. DAVID “DOC” RICHARDSON COMMUNITY AWARD, SPONSORED BY CHURCHILL DOWNS

Winner: Jessica Hammond, Benevolence and Counseling Director and Program Administrator for Beyond the Wire Runner-up: Dr. Kyle Roper, Regional Medical Director, CHI St. Vincent

THE SEVEN WINNERS, INCLUDING CHARLES TOWN HBPA OFFICE ASSISTANT DARLA GAIGE (FAR LEFT), WERE HONORED DURING THE RACES AT KEENELAND AFTER THE SEVENTH ANNUAL GODOLPHIN THOROUGHBRED INDUSTRY EMPLOYEE AWARDS CEREMONY.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GODOLPHIN

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TOTAL OF

This

AVAILABLE

DID YOU KNOW?

that when you purchase a mare and bring her to Iowa, you can make her foal an Iowa-bred. Here’s how:

Register the mare with the Iowa Department of Agriculture. Call (515) 281-4103

The mare must be registered prior to foaling and must remain in the state until she foals.

If you brought the mare to Iowa and registered her before December 31, 2022, you may breed her back to any stallion.

If you bring the mare to Iowa after December 31, 2022, and registered her prior to foaling, you must breed her back to an Iowa-registered stallion if not in foal to an Iowa-registered stallion

The mare is required to be in the state of Iowa for a minimum of 30 days during the foaling period.

After foaling, the Department of Agriculture must inspect your foal before it leaves the state.

The foal must also be registered with the Iowa Department of Agriculture prior to racing.

Maline Steps Aside After Nearly Five-Decade Run

December 31 heralds the end of an era with the retirement of Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association Executive Director Marty Maline after almost 47 years in the post.

Maline worked under Kentucky HBPA presidents Tommy Stevens, Ed Flint, Stanley Conrad, Pete Salmen Jr., Dr. Alex Harthill, Susan Bunning and Rick Hiles.

“Marty and I have worked together pretty close to 40 years,” said Hiles, now in his eighth term as president. “We’re just losing a good man, and the horsemen are losing a good friend. I’m really going to miss him. We had conversations most every day. We’ve been through a lot of battles together and covered each other’s back, been best of friends. It’s been a great relationship.”

The position was part-time when Maline started in February 1976, having previously worked as a zookeeper at the Cincinnati Zoo and an inspector for the health department in Northern Kentucky. By the end of his first day, the Kentucky HBPA had its first full-time executive director.

Kentucky and racing in general have changed dramatically since that time. When Maline started, there was no on-track presence, with the Kentucky HBPA operating out of attorney Ned Bonnie’s office in downtown Louisville. Today, the Kentucky HBPA owns the 1 1/2-story brick house used as its state office right by the entrance to Churchill Downs’ backstretch, with seasonal satellite offices on the Churchill, Keeneland Race Course, Ellis Park and Turfway Park backstretches as well as year-round at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington and Churchill’s Trackside training center.

“That was really important to horsemen, to be able to communicate directly to the HBPA,” Maline said. “And getting the right staff was really the key, to get people who were dedicated. At the time, we didn’t have a lot of money, but we got good people involved.”

Back then, there were no exotic wagers (not to mention separate betting windows for win, place and show), no simulcasting and no turf racing in the state. Turfway was Latonia, surrounded by farmland with no interchange off Interstates 71 and 75. Ellis was run by Ruth Adkins for the estate of James C. Ellis with an iron fist and a pistol on her desk. As Maline stepped down, Churchill has owned Ellis not just once but now twice. When he started, Kentucky Downs was 15 years away from being created as a one-day meet to largely showcase steeplechase racing. Keeneland didn’t have an announcer, and 24 horses were considered a substantial stable.

Joe Clabes, who headed the Kentucky HBPA’s government affairs and advocacy as a consultant, was hired as interim executive director.

Maline ranked among the country’s best-known and most-respected executive directors of any racing organization. Not only was he the longest serving Kentucky HBPA executive director but it’s unfathomable that any HBPA affiliate has had its top staffer in the job longer.

“A couple of years ago, [racing consultant] Wilson Shirley said, ‘You’ve got to have the Guinness Book of Records,’ ” Maline said with a laugh in late November.

Maline groomed horses in the summers at River Downs while growing up, graduating from Ohio State in 1973 with a degree in animal science. He said now just seemed the right time to retire. Maline said he’s been impressed with the younger generation of horsemen on the Kentucky HBPA board, referring to owner representative Travis Foley and last year’s addition of trainers Jason Barkley, Norm Casse and Bentley Combs.

“We’ve got such a complement of young guys on our board now,” he said. “More than anything, maybe it’s time to turn it over to a younger person with a lot of enthusiasm, and they can all improve the organization. … We’re in good shape. We’ve got this great office here. There’s a whole different set of issues, obviously HISA being one. [But] we’ve got good people. I’m really excited about those young guys.”

Maline remembers his first day at Ellis, when he thought people were looking at him funny, like they weren’t sure if they wanted to meet him.

“I had a suit on and everything,” he said. “Of all people, I see Nettie Herman (owner with husband Shorty of the tack shop). I’m walking around the barn area, introducing myself to everybody. It’s probably 90 degrees; I’m wringing wet. I talk to Nettie and Shorty, and she says, ‘Can I give you some advice?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’ She said, ‘Lose the suit.’ ”

Maline laughs at the memory.

“It was a different deal back then,” he said. “You had so many horsemen. They might have anywhere between five and 15 or 16 horses, so it’s changed a lot.”

From being the only employee, Maline has seen the Kentucky HBPA staff expand to have full-time employees in treasurer John Griffith (brought on in 1988 and now mostly retired while continuing to oversee the books), Julio Rubio (hired in 2000 as backstretch services coordinator and Hispanic liaison to the many Spanish-speaking workers) and office manager Sara Toomey (who came aboard in 2008). Most recently long-time trainer Bill Connelly was brought on full time as field representative, with Donna Davis full-time during the Turfway and Ellis meets. Today, the Kentucky HBPA has a staff of 11, including part-timers. Yearround consultants also have been added.

MARTY MALINE’S NEAR 47-YEAR ASSOCIATION WITH THE KENTUCKY HBPA CAME TO AN END IN LATE DECEMBER WHEN HE STEPPED DOWN AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.

“It’s hard to imagine the Kentucky HBPA without Marty,” Toomey said. “He hired me fresh out of the University of Louisville’s equine program back in 2008 and gave me my first opportunity in the Thoroughbred industry. Under Marty’s guidance, I’ve learned so much about not only Thoroughbred racing but also what it means to be a diplomat for horsemen and a true leader. He genuinely cares about horsemen and his employees. He knows the Kentucky HBPA, from the ‘beginning of time,’ and it’s impossible to put into words what a loss he is both professionally and personally. He has worked tirelessly, quite literally, since 1976, and his retirement is extremely well earned.”

Maline says his proudest moment came when a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Kentucky HBPA in its 1993 lawsuit against Turfway after the track tried to send its race signal to an out-of-state outlet without the Kentucky horsemen’s approval. The court determined that the rights of horsemen under the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 supersede simulcasting contracts between racetracks. The case remains the gold standard in upholding horsemen’s right to control where the signal showing their horses racing is sent.

“It’s become so pivotal for the whole industry,” Maline said. “Now there’s no one who can question that we have the rights. When Congress passed the Interstate Horseracing Act in 1978, they determined who better to determine where our signal should go. If you relied totally on the racetracks, they’re all about the bottom line. They might not care about the future of racing, but horsemen do. It’s still the seminal case that determines horsemen’s rights.”

Another proud accomplishment—helping to get the regulation changed to where revenue from uncashed pari-mutuel tickets goes into a fund for needy horsemen (the Kentucky Racing Health and Welfare Fund) rather than into the state’s general fund. With so much betting now online, Maline has worked with the Kentucky HBPA board, racetracks and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to find additional funding for that important program.

Maline was a pivotal part of the team that worked with lawmakers in 2020 to pass legislation that protects historical horse racing, the innovative parimutuel technology that has been a game-changer for Kentucky’s entire racing circuit.

He was at the forefront when a tornado hit Ellis and after barn fires at tracks and training centers, coordinating assistance for those impacted both immediately and in the long run.

At one stage, Maline served as interim executive director of the National HBPA—his work included the resurrection of The Horsemen’s Journal—while maintaining his Kentucky post.

Maline leaves with the satisfaction of being on the team that has negotiated the best horsemen’s contracts in the country for years.

“Of course, we’ve got good people: Dale [Romans], Frank [Jones] and Rick,” he said of the HBPA’s negotiating body. “They’ve been dynamic. Just like the days [of free stall rent and training] we get before and after meets. That’s unheard of for most of these states.” —Jennie Rees

Clabes Named to Kentucky HBPA Interim Post

Joe Clabes brings more than 20 years of working in equine policy and vast experience with nonprofit organizations into his new post as the Kentucky HBPA’s interim executive director. Clabes, who headed the Kentucky HBPA’s government affairs and advocacy, takes over from Marty Maline, who will retire December 31 after almost 47 years.

Clabes has been an independent consultant advising clients in government affairs, grassroots advocacy, public policy and media relations on the federal, state and local level since 2006. A graduate of American University, he spent 2 1/2 years as executive director of the multi-breed Kentucky Equine Education Project. Clabes’ current involvement in the horse industry includes serving as managing partner of Selima Thoroughbreds, an investment group that buys, races and resells young horses.

Clabes also co-hosted, with communications specialist Jennie Rees, last winter’s weekly radio show Kentucky Racing Spotlight, presented by the Kentucky HBPA.

The son of the late owner/trainer/breeder Gene Clabes and Judy Clabes (both were journalists and are in the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame), Clabes grew up in the racing markets of Henderson and Northern Kentucky and lives in Lexington.

Clabes’ prior roles include serving as director of industry relations for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and spending more than five years on the Washington, D.C., staff of U.S. Representative Ken Lucas (KY-4). He also served as a member of the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority and was appointed to terms by two Kentucky governors. —Jennie Rees HJ

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS

THE NATIONAL HBPA’S EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (LEFT PHOTO) AND NATIONAL HBPA PRESIDENT DR. DOUG DANIELS AND CEO ERIC HAMELBACK GATHERED IN LOUISVILLE FOR A TWO-DAY MEETING AND TOOK IN THE NOVEMBER 12 CLAIMING CROWN AT CHURCHILL DOWNS.

Bluegrass Equine Surgery Opens in Kentucky

Westport, Connecticut. In addition to expanding its footprint with Bluegrass Equine Surgery, PetVet has partnered with Hagyard Equine Medical Institute of Lexington and Churchill Downs to install an equine positron emission tomography (PET) scan machine at the medical center in the track’s stable area (see Affiliate News page 52).

“We recognize Kentucky’s unique connection to the equine industry, and we want to be leaders in that industry,” said Anthony Loomis, DVM, chief medical officer of PetVet. “Our addition of Bluegrass Equine Surgery is another step, following the acquisition of successful practices like Hagyard and our new partnership with historic Churchill Downs. This allows us to ensure we bring the right care to all of our equine communities.”

“This new hospital’s values are based on the work ethic and horsemanship I learned growing up in the industry,” Baker said. “Our philosophy has always been to work hard, treat people fairly and, above all, do what’s best for the horse.”

Baker graduated with honors from the veterinary program at Auburn University in 2006. He completed a surgical residency at Peterson and Smith Equine Hospital in Ocala, Florida, and then in 2010 joined Woodford Equine, a practice owned by his father, Bill Baker, DVM, before joining Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in 2014.

Baker is a regular part of Thoroughbred sales and specializes in orthopedic, conformational and upper airway surgeries. He is a published researcher on surgical management of angular limb deformities as well as equine colic and is performing ongoing research into the effects of juvenile injuries on racing performance.

Bluegrass Equine Surgery has opened what it calls a comprehensive, world-class surgical and recovery facility in Versailles, Kentucky, with on-site diagnostics, imaging, pharmacy and lab access to care for any equine need on or off the farm. Bluegrass Equine Surgery will be led by Woodford County native W. True Baker, DVM.

Bluegrass Equine Surgery is part of a growing investment in the Kentucky equine industry by its parent company, PetVet Care Centers of

Lauren Javernick, DVM, has joined the practice as head of ambulatory services. In addition to her extensive background in equine reproduction and herd health, she brings expertise in traditional Chinese veterinary medicine and acupuncture. Two other veterinarians on the team are Jessica Thornton, DVM, who specializes in equine reproduction and neonatal medicine as well as herd health, and Kristen Near, VMD, who was the resident veterinarian on a large horse farm and has experience in all aspects of the Thoroughbred industry.

Boehringer Ingelheim Announces Research Awards

Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health announced the recipients of the 2022 Advancement in Equine Research Awards during the 68th annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in San Antonio, Texas, November 18-22.

The recipients, who were chosen based on research proposals centered on equine infectious respiratory disease and equine asthma syndrome, are:

• Renaud Leguillette, DVM, MSc, PhD, DACVIM, ACVSMR, and Macarena Sanz, DVM, PhD, DACVIM—University of Calgary College of Veterinary Medicine, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• Shadira Gordon, DVM, MPVM, and Nicola Pusterla, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DAVDC—University of California, Davis, Davis, California

• Noah D. Cohen, VMD, MPH, PhD—Texas A&M AgriLife Research and School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, College Station, Texas

• Shannon Massie, MS, and Renaud Leguillette—University of Calgary College of Veterinary Medicine

• Shadira Gordon, Nicola Pusterla and Beatriz Martinez Lopez, DVM, MPVM, PhD—University of California, Davis

In support of their research, each recipient will receive $15,000. With the inclusion of this year’s recipients, Boehringer Ingelheim has given more than $700,000 toward the advancement of equine research since 2011. HJ

WOODFORD COUNTY NATIVE DR. W. TRUE BAKER WILL LEAD THE NEW BLUEGRASS EQUINE SURGERY OPERATION IN VERSAILLES, KENTUCKY, THE LATEST INVESTMENT BY PETVET CARE CENTERS OF WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT.

DAY:

The Claiming Crown made a successful return to Kentucky November 12, a day marked by morning snow that left Churchill Downs’ main track sloppy and forced races off the grass. Thankfully, the weather didn’t deter horsemen and horseplayers.

Churchill and Claiming Crown co-partners the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association reported total handle of $8,963,000 for the 11-race card. The program featured eight Claiming Crown events, one fewer than recent editions with no Distaff Dash carded.

“Obviously, none of us can control the weather, but at the end of the day we were all very pleased with the way things shook out,” said National HBPA CEO Eric Hamelback. “We have to thank the Kentucky HBPA. For them to step in, in a year that we didn’t have a secure home base after leaving Gulfstream, they came in and helped us put on a great day of racing, now with more

than $1 million in purses. We can’t thank Rick Hiles and the Kentucky HBPA board enough.”

Churchill hosted the Claiming Crown—the first in Kentucky since Ellis Park staged the event in 2007—after a 10-year run at Gulfstream Park. Fair Grounds, which hosted the Claiming Crown in 2011, is the likely site for the 2023 edition.

“Looking to the future, it’s been an amazing opportunity to work with the management of Churchill Downs because, again, on that day, being late to the table so to speak, Mike Ziegler, Ben Huffman, Dan Bork and Vicki Tomlinson couldn’t have been a better team to work with,” Hamelback said. “Moving, we hope, next year to the Fair Grounds and to be able to work with some of the same team members under Churchill Downs just makes it a great seamless transition. From behind the scenes, this quite possibly was one of the smoothest Claiming Crowns that we’ve ever been able to put on. It was a great show despite the weather. —Tom Law

SNOW AND A WET MAIN TRACK AT CHURCHILL DOWNS GREETED HORSEMEN AND FANS FOR THE CLAIMING CROWN’S RETURN TO KENTUCKY

JEWEL— KEYSTONE FIELD

Mike Maker made his way to the winner’s circle—finally, after watching the Claiming Crown Jewel from high above the racetrack with owner Kirk Wycoff—and summed up his situation in a word.

“Blackjack,” Maker said, acknowledging his 21st Claiming Crown victory after Keystone Field won the featured $199,875 Claiming Crown Jewel at Churchill Downs November 12.

Maker, who came into the day as the leading trainer in Claiming Crown history, collected his 20th win early on the card when Invaluable won the Glass Slipper for owner Paradise Farms Corp. He picked up the 21st for another longtime and loyal client, the Wycoff family’s Three Diamonds Farm.

Maker and Wycoff watched from the Stakes Room on the fourth floor. Wycoff, who made the short drive to Louisville after shopping the Keeneland November breeding stock sale that morning and early afternoon, said he picked that spot for a few reasons.

“I like to go up there; I don’t like to stay down here like we think we’re going to win,” Wycoff said. “I watched it in the same place I watched Stolen Base win the American Turf this year on the [Kentucky] Derby Day card. They wait for you if you win a big enough race.”

Keystone Field and jockey Gerardo Corrales waited in the early stages of the 1 1/8-mile Jewel, racing in fourth as Monmouth Park shipper and 3-1 second choice Benevengo led longshots Frosted Grace and Calibrator through the opening half-mile on the sloppy and sealed track in :47.91. Corrales inched Keystone Field into third through 6 furlongs in 1:13.16 while Benevengo came under pressure from Frosted Grace.

Keystone Field continued to advance while wide on the far turn, took over in the stretch and led by 3 lengths at the eighth pole and through a mile in

1:39.45. Intrepid Heart, the 2-1 favorite in the field of nine coming off five straight runner-up finishes for trainer Joe Sharp, cut into the lead through the lane but came up a half-length short after 1:53.29. Intrepid Heart finished 7 1/4 lengths clear of Benevengo with Tiz Rye Time fourth.

Keystone Field won for the third time in six starts after being purchased privately by Three Diamonds from breeder Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stables. The now 8-year-old Candy Ride gelding raced for CRK Stables and Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, running primarily on the grass.

MIKE MAKER, THE CLAIMING CROWN’S ALL-TIME LEADING TRAINER, MAKES IT NO. 21 WITH KEYSTONE FIELD IN THE FEATURED JEWEL.

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS INNOVATION

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GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS INNOVATION PHOTO

SHOP TALK

“One of the agents we deal with called me and said, ‘I think this horse would suit your program,’ ” Wycoff said. “We do like to stretch horses out, and we obviously keep older horses in training longer.”

Keystone Field finished fourth, beaten 4 lengths, in his first start for Three Diamonds and Maker in the race immediately after the Kentucky Derby going 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. Stretched to 9 furlongs, Keystone Field handled Roderick by 2 lengths June 17 before an off-the-board effort in a similar race in early July.

“He was a very aggressive horse to train, but we had a favorable impression of him,” Maker said. “We bought him with this in mind. He was running on the grass, and we switched him to the dirt on Derby Day, and he ran a decent race with the competition.”

Keystone Field didn’t run again until September 10, when 12th and 33 lengths back after leading early in his return to the grass in the Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

“That’s a million-dollar race, we’re going to Kentucky Downs, and he had the turf form,” Wycoff said of the decision to go back to the grass. “Unfortunately, he went way too fast that day. That’s not really emblematic of his ability on the turf. Now we know he likes the slop, so we might be hunting the rainstorms.”

Keystone Field picked up $113,000 to boost his bankroll to $391,529, with $257,249 since changing barns. He also improved to 6-for-21 in his career and 3-for-8 on the dirt. —Tom Law

Trainer Joe Sharp on the decision to run Palace Coup in the Emerald

FAS Racing’s Adis Smajlovic, owner of Emerald winner Palace Coup

this is just the start and I’m back with a Derby runner one day.”

Trainer John Kirby after winning the Ready’s Rocket Express with Hero Tiger

“It’s a dream for me. I’ve told [Tom Van Berg] for years I’d want nothing more than a Claiming Crown race.”

Owner Jeff Evans, part of the Grit to Glory Racing syndicate celebrating Petit Verdot’s victory in the Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial before the group’s The Queens Jules won the Rapid Transit

“He sure looks the part, doesn’t he?”

National HBPA President Dr. Doug Daniels before presenting the trophy to Keystone Field’s connections for the Jewel

“I’ll take windy and cold and win than 80 [degrees] and lose.”

Trainer Bobby Mosco after winning the off-the-turf Tiara with Out of Sorts

“I don’t know enough to make a decent bet, but I know enough to follow my friends and listen to their advice.”

Gary Nelson, a member of the Grit to Glory Racing syndicate that won the Rapid Transit with The Queens Jules and Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial with Petit Verdot

“Dad always said if you put a canary on a horse they’re going to run big. [Willie] Shoemaker was that way; he was just quiet on them. Pat Day was that way. If you stay out of the horse’s way, and they’re ready and happy and healthy, they’re going to run for you.”

Trainer Tom Van Berg, the son of the late Hall of Famer Jack Van Berg

“If you want a long interview, get Maker.”

Owner Kirk Wycoff to TVG/FanDuel TV’s Paul Lo Duca after winning the Jewel with Keystone Field

“You always want to move forward. This horse has done all we’ve asked, taken steps forward. Being on your home turf makes it easy to make decisions like this.”

“It’s the Breeders’ Cup for the claiming horse. That’s what we do. It’s nice to have a race that puts a crown on your claimers, because that’s exactly what it is.”

“Hopefully

TIARA—OUT OF SORTS

John Fanelli and Bobby Mosco cut it close—almost too close— when they claimed Out of Sorts in early October at Parx Racing.

“That was all the owner; he picked the horse out with 18 minutes to post,” Mosco said after winning the $167,150 Claiming Crown Tiara with the Dramedy filly. “It was his intention for this race because it got her eligible the day we claimed, because she ran for a quarter and had never run for (that) claiming price.”

Out of Sorts, claimed October 4 for $25,000, made that move look shrewd with a 10-length victory in the Tiara as the 6-1 fifth choice in the field of eight under Paco Lopez. The Kentucky-bred improved to 3-for-3 on wet tracks in the Tiara, one of three races moved to the main track because of wet weather.

Stakes-placed at 2, a stakes winner at 3 and a consistent stakes competitor at 4, Out of Sorts was claimed for $30,000 out of a turf race at Laurel Park in late July by Madison Avenue Racing Stable and Jagger Inc. and trainer Jamie Ness. That price wouldn’t have made her eligible for the Tiara, open to fillies and mares who started for a $25,000 tag or less in 2021-22.

Fanelli’s call to Mosco came eight minutes before the cutoff for claims at Parx, causing a few anxious moments for the trainer.

“I didn’t even know the horse,” Mosco said. “And I told him, ‘We only have eight minutes and nobody over here.’ But it all worked out.”

Out of Sorts trained well enough at Parx after the claim for Mosco to take a shot at his fifth Claiming Crown. He’d competed in four other editions at Gulfstream without success.

Out of Sorts changed that, attending the early pace of World of Wonder through the opening half-mile in :49.05 over the sloppy and sealed surface before taking over toward the end of the far turn. She opened up by 5 lengths in midstretch and poured it on late to win in 1:47.34. The Kentucky-based quartet of Misty Veil, the 7-5 favorite for trainer Chris Hartman; World of Wonder, who drew in as a main track-only runner for Joe Sharp; Cherokee Song; and Good Fight filled out the next four spots.

A $1,000 yearling originally trained in Maryland by Brittany Russell, Out of Sorts improved to 5-for-20 with three seconds and a third for $301,560 in earnings.

“She’s been great [since the claim],” Mosco said. “Trained tremendous. I couldn’t talk him out of not coming because she’s been training so well. We figured we’ve got to take a shot. I’ve been to the last three at Gulfstream with different horses and hit the board, but, whew, this one was unbelievable.

“She’s a turf horse, but she’s 3-for-3 in the slop now,” Mosco added. “Now I know I can take her back home and run in the winter. I don’t have to worry about laying her up, just hope for mud or slop.” —Tom Law

PARX RACING SHIPPER OUT OF SORTS, CLAIMED LAST TIME OUT FOR $25,000 BY OWNER JOHN FANELLI AND TRAINER BOBBY MOSCO, WINS THE CLAIMING CROWN TIARA.

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS

EMERALD—PALACE COUP

The day wasn’t going great for Joe Sharp and his team.

Sure, the Kentucky-based trainer was able to escape the damp chill by heading to the Churchill Downs Stakes Room with his wife and two children between races, but he also endured close-but-not-quite-good-enough results in the Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial, Tiara and Jewel.

Palace Coup and Big Agenda helped remedy that situation with a 1-2 finish in the closing event on the card, the $160,010 Claiming Crown Emerald. Palace Coup, drawing into the race as the lone main track-only runner, took the lead on the far turn and held off his stablemate to win by 2 lengths under Paco Lopez.

“I’m proud of both the boys,” Sharp said. “It was fun to watch them turning for home because it looked like the result was inevitable that one of them was going to get there. It’s been an exciting but frustrating day. All the horses really showed up for the most part. The weather was a little unfortunate today, but this horse, being able to draw in main track only, was the beneficiary of the rain.”

The Emerald, one of three races on the card moved off the grass after rain and morning snow, still wound up with a field of 10 despite six scratches. Palace Coup started as the even-money favorite, ahead of 3-1 Onenightstandards and 6-1 Big Agenda.

Sharp and owner Adis Smajlovic of FAS Racing claimed Palace Coup for $25,000 out of a third going 1 1/16 miles June 18 at Churchill. The Ontario-bred

son of Bernardini ran three times for his new connections before the Emerald, including a second in the slop July 21 at Saratoga Race Course and a win for a $50,000 tag September 29 at Churchill.

“A lot of things played in our favor, obviously the weather,” Smajlovic said. “The track—a lot of horses didn’t favor it, but our horse actually does. He runs great in the slop. We were very confident going into the race. When he made the lead, I was confident he was going to finish the way he did.”

A half brother to 2009 Queen’s Plate Stakes winner Eye of the Leopard, 2010 Queen’s Plate runner-up and multiple stakes winner Hotep, Grade 2 winner Deceptive Vision and stakes winner Desert Isle, Palace Coup started his career for Neil Howard, Stuart Simon, Gail Cox and Phil D’Amato before being claimed for $40,000 by Vann Belvoir and A and J Racing in August 2021 at Del Mar. He ran once for Belvoir before being transferred to Robertino Diodoro, who won two races from five starts with the gelding before Sharp and Smajlovic dropped a claim slip.

Palace Coup picked up $84,000 for the Emerald, his seventh victory in 24 starts. He’s also earned $135,200 since the claim.

“We have five horses right now; this is a huge win for us,” Smajlovic said. “Anything you win when you win is great. It’s more the experience than the money. The money is just a bonus. The experience, you can’t pay for that.

Tom Law

PALACE COUP TOPPED STABLEMATE BIG AGENDA TO GIVE TRAINER JOE SHARP A 1-2 FINISH IN THE CLAIMING CROWN EMERALD TO CLOSE THE CARD.

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS INNOVATION

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CANTERBURY TOM METZEN

MEMORIAL—PETIT VERDOT

Jeff Evans needed to change things up.

Interested in claiming a handful of horses as part of the Grit to Glory Racing syndicate on the last day of the 2021 Churchill Downs fall meeting, Evans and trainer Tom Van Berg watched as they were outshook on the first four.

“We actually went to claim five horses that day, and he was the last one,” Evans said of Petit Verdot, at the time a 3-year-old gelding by Vancouver making his 16th start. “So we had my son Camden drop the slip on the fifth one.”

“To change our luck,” Van Berg said.

“And it worked,” said Evans, telling the story with sons Camden and Max in the winner’s circle along with Van Berg and the Grit to Glory team after Petit Verdot splashed home to win the $160,600 Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial to open the Claiming Crown portion of the card.

Petit Verdot and jockey Florent Geroux won the 5 1/2-furlong Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial—moved from the turf to the sloppy and sealed main track because of wet weather in Louisville—by a head over Towing to start a big day for Kentucky-based connections. Petit Verdot was also one of two Claiming Crown wins for Grit to Glory and Van Berg, along with The Queens Jules in the Rapid Transit, and three overall on the day for Van Berg.

“The horses are happy,” Van Berg said. “All I can do is get them over here happy and healthy and let the jockey do the rest. And Flo knows this horse really well. I didn’t even have to give him any instructions. He was like, ‘I know, I know,’ before I even walked in the paddock. Hearing that I said, ‘We’re good.’ ”

Geroux kept Petit Verdot in his preferred spot toward the outside and behind the speed of Spycraft, Towing and C C’s Kitten through a quick quarter in :22.36. They advanced toward the end of the far turn and continued to gain in the stretch before taking control just outside the eighth pole. Petit Verdot maintained the advantage inside the final furlong to win by a head in 1:05.52. Towing held second, 4 ½ lengths clear of New York shipper Seven Scents.

The Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial took the biggest hit of the Claiming Crown turf races, losing six of its original 11 entrants.

Van Berg kept a close eye on the weather that moved into Louisville the day before the Claiming Crown, hoping for a surface change. Petit Verdot raced on synthetic at Presque Isle Downs this summer but hadn’t raced on the grass since September 2021 at Kentucky Downs, almost three months before he was claimed at Churchill for $10,000.

“We weren’t running unless it came off the grass,” Van Berg said. “So, when it did come off the grass, we thought we had a chance. He was a little overmatched with some of those turf specialists, but on the dirt he liked the off track; he liked speed. We knew he liked this track, and it played to his favor. It worked out pretty well.”

Petit Verdot improved to 7-for-27 and boosted his bankroll to $304,606. Four of the victories in 11 starts and $189,437 in earnings have come after the claim through the end of November. —Tom Law

PETIT VERDOT KICKED OFF THE CLAIMING CROWN CARD WITH A VICTORY IN THE CANTERBURY TOM METZEN MEMORIAL FOR THE FIRST OF TWO WINNERS FOR TRAINER TOM VAN BERG AND OWNER GRIT TO GLORY RACING LLC.

GWEN

RAPID TRANSIT—THE QUEENS JULES

Gary Nelson tried to coerce some of the Grit to Glory Racing partners to join him along the rail while the final strides of the $138,755 Claiming Crown Rapid Transit replayed over and over on Churchill Downs’ mammoth 15,000-plus-square-foot ‘Big Board’ LED video screen.

He couldn’t get any takers, even when it looked like The Queens Jules held off Divine Leader in the last jump of the 7-furlong Rapid Transit. Trainer Tom Van Berg wouldn’t take the bait either, opting to stay under the heat lamp of the owners’ boxes lining the back of the winner’s circle.

“I know better than that,” Van Berg said after The Queens Jules’ number went up for the third win of the day for the trainer and second in a Claiming Crown race after Petit Verdot kicked it off in the Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial.

The Queens Jules, at eight times the most frequently claimed of the day’s winners and haltered by Van Berg and company for $20,000 November 6, 2021, at Churchill, won his third race of the year from 12 starts and pocketed another $79,000.

“I can tell you this: Nothing has been more fun this year than to be part of this group,” said Nelson, also part of Van Berg’s Chicken Fried Racing syndicate. “Friends of ours, they asked us to go in on this. I’ve got four small children, so obviously any time you have expenses outside of things that aren’t necessary it’s challenging, but this has been the most fun in the world. We pay for the corn and the hay, and every once in a while, the horses get a better massage than I do, but you always hope one day it’s going to pay off. It’s what it’s all about.”

The Queens Jules, coming off a win going 6 furlongs for a $20,000 tag October 15 at Keeneland, and jockey Florent Geroux worked out a trip from the outside post in the field of 10 for the Rapid Transit. Just off Cajun Brother’s opening quarter-mile in :22.96, The Queens Jules took over on the far turn and opened up a length to the half in :46.13.

Geroux let the Scat Daddy gelding draw off even more in the lane, and the 8-1 sixth choice led by 2 lengths at the eighth pole with Divine Leader gaining. Divine Leader, second and a head behind The Queens Jules in that mid-October race at Keeneland, gained a slight advantage in deep stretch but didn’t get his nose down at the finish. The Queens Jules won in 1:25.10 for his 12th win from 59 starts, to go with 12 seconds and nine thirds.

“This horse doesn’t like kickback, and we were able to get in front and in the clear,” Geroux said. “He was game as could be on the inside and didn’t want to let the other horse get by.”

Third in the Dads Caps Stakes in March 2021 at Aqueduct, The Queens Jules changed barns five times before Van Berg claimed him out of a third going 6 1/2 furlongs for trainer Lynn Cash. Van Berg didn’t run the gelding the rest of the year, and after a slow start to 2022—when he didn’t win the first six months while only placing once—The Queens Jules has since won three of six.

“It’s crazy; horses don’t usually blossom this time of year,” Van Berg said. “You really don’t see it. They start growing their hair long, start getting-readyfor-winter kind of mode. This horse after his last race, he turned the corner and didn’t think he could be beat. He was like Superman. Every day coming out to the track he was blowing more steam and felt great.” —Tom Law

GRIT TO GLORY RACING AND TRAINER TOM VAN BERG SWEATED OUT THE PHOTO BEFORE CELEBRATING A VICTORY BY THE QUEENS JULES IN THE CLAIMING CROWN RAPID TRANSIT.

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS INNOVATION

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TRADITION OF SUCCESS

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GLASS SLIPPER—INVALUABLE

Mike Maker couldn’t remember his first Claiming Crown win after collecting his 20th at the 2022 renewal, but there are a few takeaways from that sweltering day back in 2007 at Ellis Park.

“It didn’t cross my mind until you mentioned 20, then I thought, ‘Damn, I’m old,’ ” Maker said after winning his 20th Claiming Crown race in the $109,850 Glass Slipper with Invaluable. “Actually, I think it was at Ellis Park and I won three.”

Maker, 53, did saddle a trio of winners in the 100-degree temps of Ellis Park’s lone Claiming Crown, taking the Iron Horse with Bargainwiththdevil, the Emerald with One Eyed Joker and the Jewel with Miami Sunrise. He added to his haul in the near-freezing temps at Churchill Downs in 2022, starting with Invaluable and finishing with Keystone Field in the Jewel.

Invaluable, claimed for $32,000 two starts back by Peter Proscia’s Paradise Farms Corp. and Maker, won the 1-mile Glass Slipper by 1 1/2 lengths over Maoilin as the 3-1 second choice under Luis Saez. The 5-year-old daughter of Include finished third for a $10,000 tag going 6 1/2 furlongs in mid-October at Keeneland, one of a few races the last few years that made her eligible for the Glass Slipper, open to fillies and mares who started for $12,500 or less in 2021-2022.

Maker said Proscia claimed the Kentucky-bred mare with the Claiming Crown in mind, something the series’ all-time leader is always thinking about as the season winds down.

“She was consistent, fit this race well,” Maker said. “I thought a stretch out would be in order and that she’d appreciate the wet track.”

Invaluable won the Glass Slipper in 1:39.84 over the sloppy and sealed track. Maker said the rains that blew into Louisville the day before the Claiming Crown followed by snow showers the morning of the event “didn’t hurt my feelings one bit.”

Invaluable, claimed out of her debut in May 2020 at Gulfstream Park, came into the Glass Slipper with a pair of wins in six starts on wet tracks. Hashtag Lucky took the early initiative, leading Invaluable by a head through quick opening splits of :22.59 and :45.86. Invaluable took command 3 furlongs from home, clicked past 6 furlongs in 1:12.16, opened up by 3 ½ lengths in midstretch and had plenty left to hold off Maoilin. Teller to Sing finished threequarters of a length back in third.

Invaluable improved to 7-for-25 with the win, to go with six seconds and six thirds and earnings of $334,024. Proscia, who watched the race from Las Vegas, and Maker claimed the mare out of a victory going 6 furlongs September 1 at Saratoga Race Course. She’s earned back her claiming price and then some since, adding $68,645 to her connections’ account. —Tom Law

PARADISE FARMS CORP.’S INVALUABLE, CLAIMED FOR $32,000 TWO STARTS BACK WITH THE CLAIMING CROWN IN MIND, WINS THE GLASS SLIPPER FOR JOCKEY LUIS SAEZ AND TRAINER MIKE MAKER.

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS INNOVATION

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KENT STIRLING IRON HORSE— TIME FOR TROUBLE

Perhaps Time for Trouble wanted more distance. Or turf. Or a fast track. Perhaps.

Time for Trouble showed that he didn’t need any of the above, or much else, in giving trainer Jeff Hiles back-to-back victories in the $108,433 Claiming Crown Kent Stirling Iron Horse. The English Channel gelding, co-owned by Hiles and Paul Parker’s Thorndale Stable, stayed in the clear through the early stages of the 1 1/16-mile Kent Stirling Iron Horse and kicked away late to win by 3 1/4 lengths under Joe Talamo.

“He’s done well for us,” said Hiles, who claimed Time for Trouble in June 2021 for $8,000 from Repole Stable and Mike Maker. “Last year we claimed him and stretched him out. This really isn’t his preferred distance, but Joe got him to lay up a little closer today and he was able to pull it off.”

Hiles added the 2022 Kent Stirling Iron Horse to his victory in 2021 at Gulfstream Park with Blue Steel, who was entered for his defense by new trainer George Leonard but scratched. Hiles considered running Time for Trouble in the Emerald, open for horses who have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less, but opted for the Kent Stirling Iron Horse, for those who have started for $8,000 or less.

“He’s an English Channel out of a Galileo mare, which screams long turf,” Hiles said. “That’s why we put him on the grass down at Kentucky Downs going the mile and five-sixteenths. He set the track record at Belterra for a mile and

three-eighths on the grass. He’s very versatile. Very versatile. He has a small foot. We thought let’s give him a shot. We thought about putting him in the [Emerald]. I’ve got another horse in there that’s a longshot. He’s won on the dirt, and we might catch a little less competition. Then it came off the grass anyway. Looks like we made the right move.”

Time for Trouble led a 1-2 finish for Kentucky-based runners in the Iron Horse and was one of six winners from the Bluegrass State to win a Claiming Crown event on the cold, damp and windy afternoon. Time for Trouble and Talamo stalked the early pace of Bless the Kitten before overtaking that rival in the lane. Bless the Kitten finished 4 ½ lengths clear of Moment, with Malibu Star fourth in the field of eight.

“On this track, you’ve got to be close, and Joe gave him a perfect ride,” Hiles said. “If you go back and watch the replay, he started riding him at about the (nine-sixteenths pole) to get him going.”

Bred by Calumet Farm and a $170,000 yearling buy at the 2018 Keeneland September sale, Time for Trouble started in New York with trainer Todd Pletcher before moving to Maker’s barn in the summer of 2020. He’s won five of eight for Hiles since the claim, starting with that course-record score in 2:13.05 on the Belterra Park turf course July 29, 2021, and continuing to the Claiming Crown, while earning $233,107. —Tom Law

TIME FOR TROUBLE KEPT THINGS ROLLING FOR THE HOMETOWN CONTINGENTS WITH A VICTORY IN THE KENT STIRLING IRON HORSE FOR TRAINER AND CO-OWNER JEFF HILES AND THORNDALE STABLE.

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS

READY’S ROCKET EXPRESS —HERO TIGER

John Kirby wasn’t about to leave anything to chance.

“I rode down with the horse,” Kirby said of Hero Tiger, shipped from Parx Racing just outside Philadelphia to Louisville for the trainer’s first foray at Churchill Downs. “And he shipped unbelievable.”

Hero Tiger ran to his trainer’s impressions when he toppled a big field that included 2022 win machine Beverly Park in the $106,899 Claiming Crown Ready’s Rocket Express. Claimed three starts back at Saratoga Race Course, Hero Tiger came from off the pace while running wide under Luis Saez to give Parx-based runners two wins on the card with a 1 1/4-length victory over Joyful Heart. Hero Tiger joined fellow Parx runner Out of Sorts, winner of the Claiming Crown Tiara in the race prior to the Ready’s Rocket Express.

A native of New England who got his start at Suffolk Downs, 25-year-old Kirby realized a dream standing under Churchill’s famous twin spires.

“Everything went his way, and I’m thrilled to be here,” Kirby said. “I’m a third-generation guy, and this is our first time running at Churchill. Really special. He’s the first horse I’ve saddled here in three generations. To win here, in horse country, it’s just unbelievable.”

Owner Gregg O’Donnell claimed Hero Tiger for $40,000 September 4 at Saratoga, winning a shake with David Jacobson for the 6-year-old gelding by Hero of Order. He finished fourth that day to eventual Grade 3 Fall Highweight

Handicap winner Greeley and Ben.

Hero Tiger, who ran in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby in 2019 and finished fourth in the 2021 Express at Gulfstream Park, became eligible for the Ready’s Rocket Express when he won for an $8,000 tag in August 2020 at Gulfstream.

Sent off as the 4-1 third choice in the field of 11 behind 2-1 favorite Beverly Park and 3-1 second choice The Wolfman, Hero Tiger raced fifth early before inching closer to a battle between Elle’sbigseacret and Beverly Park at the quarter-pole. Beverly Park, looking for his 13th win of 2022 (he later secured that mark November 28 at Mahoning Valley Race Course), never made the lead but hung tough with Elle’sbigseacret as Hero Tiger and Joyful Heart ran by in the lane. Joyful Heart finished 2 ¼ lengths ahead of Elle’sbigseacret with Beverly Park fourth.

“The two scratches [Powerfully Built and Silver Moon Road] really helped us in the pace setup,” Kirby said. “The way he shipped and the way he was training for this race I knew he had a hell of a shot. Luis, he rides great for us. I always feel confident with him in the irons. This horse is all class, and no matter what you do with him he shows up. Everything went his way, and we got lucky.”

Hero Tiger won for the eighth time, with 17 seconds and nine thirds, in his 52nd start and boosted his bankroll to $303,275. He finished fourth and second at Parx in his first two starts for Kirby and O’Donnell and earned $128,600 since the claim through November. —Tom Law

HERO TIGER GAVE TRAINER JOHN KIRBY, A THIRD-GENERATION HORSEMAN WHO GOT HIS START IN NEW ENGLAND, REASON TO CELEBRATE WITH A VICTORY IN THE CLAIMING CROWN READY’S ROCKET EXPRESS.

GWEN

Not So Simple

Function of the ubiquitous substance bufotenine remains unknown

KEENELAND

PHOTO

By Clara Fenger, DVM, PhD, DACVIM; Peter J. Sacopulos, JD; Kimberly Brewer, DVM, MSc; Jacob Machin, MS; and Thomas Tobin, MRCVS, PhD, DABT

Hay, oats and water. It should be simple.

If we only give horses hay, oats and water, we should be safe from positive tests that sully the name of horse racing, threaten trainers’ livelihoods and discourage owners who rarely win races or profit from their horses, all while safeguarding the health and welfare of the racehorses.

However, even as medication regulations have become stricter and stricter and horsemen and veterinarians have pulled back withdrawal times and limited the use of therapeutic medications, the rate of positive tests has doubled (albeit from 0.3 percent to 0.6 percent).

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as decreasing the number of medications that we give horses. As we have repeatedly reported in these pages, positive tests are often beyond the control of veterinarians, horsemen and horsewomen.

Trace amounts of therapeutic medications have been identified days, weeks or even months beyond any possible effect (The Horsemen’s Journal Winter 2021, Winter 2020); trace levels of substances never intentionally administered to horses have been identified (The Horsemen’s Journal Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Winter 2018, Summer 2018); and substances that are naturally occurring in hay, bedding and feed have been called positives (The Horsemen’s Journal Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Summer 2018). We are assaulted by daily reporting of positive tests, almost all of which are along these lines, with only a handful of intentional administrations of illicit substances.

One such naturally occurring substance is bufotenine. Bufotenine is well characterized as an endogenous alkaloid among both animals and plants. It has been detected commonly in mammals in urine and feces and less commonly in blood.

The biological function of this ubiquitous substance is unknown, other than to say that it is clearly a metabolite of the protein building block amino acid tryptophan.

Although closely related tryptamine compounds (dimethyltryptamine) have psychedelic properties, high doses of bufotenine, well above the levels present naturally, administered intravenously to a human volunteer resulted in profound anxiety but had no other effects.

Bufotenine, chemically N,N-dimethyl-5-hydroxytryptamine (Figure 1a), is a small molecule closely related to the well-known human/mammalian neurotransmitter serotonin (Figure 1b).

Of particular interest to the racing industry is the fact that bufotenine and its chemically related precursor 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine are also found in various plants, including reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea).

In addition to being an endogenous substance present at a low background concentration, bufotenine is routinely detectable in equine plasma and urine if the horses in question have grazed or been fed hay containing the common contaminant of hay fields, reed canary grass. The question that then arises is what represents a “normal” concentration of bufotenine in horse plasma and urine—and also what kind of plasma or urinary concentrations should be considered “abnormal.”

Further confounding the racing regulatory picture is that this alkaloid has long been the subject of myth as “frog juice,” a toad venom extract used for its hallucinogenic properties. It turns out that toads of the genus Bufo have a number of toxic principles in their venom, of which bufotenine is the least effective.

Nonetheless, bufotenine was first chemically identified in these toads, ergo the name. Toads of both the Bufo and Osteocephalus genera concentrate bufotenine in their salivary secretions and in their eggs, which serves as protection from predation, presumably because eating either the toad or their eggs produces adverse effects in predators.

The reports of such impressive effects of frog juice on mammals make the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s classification of this substance in the S0 (banned at all times) category no mystery.

However, as the substance is both endogenously produced in the animal and readily consumed as a component of hay, the proposed screening limit, identical to that of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities at 10 micrograms per milliliter in urine, is appropriate. Inappropriate, however, is the lack of a matching plasma screening limit.

In studies in mammals to date, most were unable to find bufotenine in blood, owing to the lack of sensitivity of the methods employed. Horse racing laboratories are considerably more proficient at detecting low levels of substances than the laboratories that conducted these previous studies. This urine screening limit without a corresponding plasma/serum limit makes the penalizing limit of detection identifications in blood an arbitrary line. In the few human studies in which blood concentrations were reported, they range from 22 picograms per milliliter to 40 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), with the majority of samples below the limit of detection of the respective laboratories.

Unfortunately, restricting intake of all but hay, oats and water to horses is not as simple as it sounds.

The recent cluster of bufotenine positives in Pennsylvania in Standardbred and Thoroughbred racing, below the international threshold in urine in some cases and below the 40 ng/mL shown to be an endogenous level in human blood, underscores the problem with the current sensitivity of testing.

American racing commissions have been slow to identify this problem with the limit of detection of endogenous and environmental substances, and it appears that HISA is not going to improve this inherently arbitrary regulation.

HJ

Continued Concerns

Q&A with Joseph Bertone examines role of the FDA in racetrack practice and its relationship to HISA

By

The relationship between the Food and Drug Administration and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is complicated, to say the least. To help clear up some of the confusion, our team discussed the relationship and some potential issues with Joseph J. Bertone, DVM, MS, DACVIM, Professor Emeritus of Equine Internal Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences and former reviewer

the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.

Clara Fenger, DVM, PhD, DACVIM; Peter J. Sacopulos, JD; Kimberly Brewer, DVM, MSc; Jacob Machin, MS; and Thomas Tobin, MRCVS, PhD, DABT

at

ACCORDING TO DR. JOSEPH BERTONE, OWNERS OF RACEHORSES AND VETERINARIANS MUST DEFER DECISIONS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL ANIMAL CARE TO AN ABSENTEE REGULATORY GROUP— IN THIS CASE THE HORSERACING INTEGRITY AND SAFETY AUTHORITY—THAT IS UNABLE TO EXAMINE THE HORSE.

Bertone received his DVM and BS degrees (nutrition concentration) from Cornell University and completed an internal medicine residency training program and an MS degree at Colorado State University. He previously served on the faculties of Louisiana State University and Ohio State University and was an FDA veterinary medical officer and pharmacology fellowship trainee. He has been seated on multiple American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) committees and served on the Drug Compounding Task Force. He also served on the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents and was endorsed for this position by the AAEP. In addition, he served on the AVMA Steering Committee for Antimicrobial Resistance.

Joseph Bertone: Before we can investigate where the HISA medication rules are related to the FDA regulations, we need to first understand what the FDA does. The purpose of the FDA is to provide people and animals with effective and safe drugs, food and medical devices and to act as a defense from sham and dangerous health practices.

The first federal law regulating food and drugs was the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which defined “misbranding” and “adulterated” for the first time and eventually led to the establishment of the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1930. The rules under which the FDA operates were laid out in the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 and are found in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. “Mislabeling” was later added to safeguard the public against misleading advertisement.

In general, the FDA protects public health by regulating all human and animal food and drug products offered in interstate commerce. In the case of drugs, the FDA determines the marketing status (labeled drug claims) via its approval process, requires registration of all drug manufacturing facilities and requires that all manufactured drugs are produced in accordance with current good manufacturing practice (CGMP). The FDA inspects drug manufacturing facilities on a regular basis and reviews all procedures conducted within those facilities and also reviews labels. All this ensures that products are not misbranded, adulterated or mislabeled.

In the case of food/feed, the FDA determines what constitutes food and what may be added to food, works with the Association of American Feed Control Officials and requires that all human and animal food is manufactured under CGMP conditions. All food and supplements are regulated by the FDA.

Compounded medications are generally regulated at the level of the state pharmacy boards, and there is no aspiration that compounding pharmacies meet the standards of CGMP. Hence, compounded drugs are and should be viewed as filling special needs.

HJ: What does FDA approval mean?

JB:

FDA approval of drugs means that they are safe, efficacious and manufactured under CGMP conditions. CGMP assures consistency from bottle to bottle, tube to tube, pill to pill, etc., so as to provide the greatest assurance that what is on or in the bottle is represented by the label and all marketing materials and has controlled unbiased scientific proof of efficacy.

HJ:

JB:

No. FDA approval indicates what can go on the label and how it is marketed. All drugs (Drug Listing Act of 1972) must be listed with the FDA and manufactured in a registered manufacturing facility. Registered drug manufacturing facilities are inspected by the FDA on a regular basis for conformity with CGMP to assure identity, strength, quality, purity and potency of the product. All drugs must be manufactured to CGMP standards, and this includes both listed and approved products. The FDA regulates what can be stated on the label of approved drugs, listed drugs, supplements and even compounded medications.

JB:

Absolutely. Compounded medications are primarily regulated by state boards of pharmacy. The FDA provides recommendations for compounded medications (Guidance for Industry #256), which include guidelines for labeling. Compounded medications cannot be legally marketed. However, this does not mean that they are illegal for use in animals. To the contrary, even the FDA has indicated that compounded medications are appropriate where there is a “need for such drugs when no FDA-approved or -indexed drug is medically appropriate to treat the animal.” The FDA may initiate enforcement action when compounding pharmacies act in any way to market their formulations when FDA-approved products exist for the use or when safety concerns arise, etc.

Prescriptions for compounded medications that are patient-specific and prescribed in the context of a veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR) are not subject to enforcement action by the FDA. The areas where the FDA intends to take action include: (1) drugs that pose human or animal safety concerns; (2) drugs administered to food animals; (3) copies of marketed FDA-approved products; and (4) non-patient-specific or office stock drugs.

The Horsemen’s Journal: The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) places a lot of emphasis on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of drugs in its new regulations. What is the relationship between HISA and the FDA?

Are drugs that are not FDAapproved unregulated?

HJ: Does the FDA regulate compounded medications?

JOSEPH J. BERTONE, DVM, MS, DACVIM, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF EQUINE INTERNAL MEDICINE AT WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

JB:

Yes. The typical veterinary use of “for office use” compounded medications is when veterinarians purchase quantities of a compounded product that they expect to use in a reasonable time frame (say two to four weeks) and dispense or administer to their patients. A typical day on the racetrack may begin at 5 a.m. with pre-workout Lasix (approved formulation) and other treatments, such as antibiotics, post-workout endoscopies, routine lameness and health examinations, etc. Among the compounded medications they may use are various compounded versions of FDA-approved medications when the FDA-approved version is unavailable, including L-arginine, methocarbamol, glycopyrrolate and others. These substances are acquired as “office use” and dispensed by the pharmacy to the veterinarian, who administers them to the horse and keeps the original bottle in their possession. Also, if a veterinarian diagnoses a condition in a horse, they will dispense off their vehicle a supply (usually a week to a month) for the patient and may order it specifically for that patient if more is needed (known as patient-specific compounding). This use is reasonable, complies with FDA guidance and is associated with the submission of a medication report to HISA as well as to the regulatory veterinarian in many jurisdictions.

HISA clarifies their regulations by referencing the FDA’s non-legally binding guidance on compounding:

“For the avoidance of doubt, compounded products compliant with the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act (AMDUCA) and the FDA Guidance for Industry (GFI) #256 (Compounding Animal Drugs from Bulk Drug Substances) are not prohibited under this section S0.”

“Any pharmacological substance that (i) is not addressed by Rules 4112 through 4117 (lists of banned substances), (ii) has no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for veterinary or human use, and (iii) is not universally recognized by veterinary regulatory authorities as a valid veterinary use, is prohibited at all times.”

JB: This is very concerning. This statement suggests that “regulatory authorities” need to be universally in agreement that a medicament is valid. Under this scheme, both owners and veterinarians must defer decisions about individual animal care to an absentee regulatory group that is unable to examine the horse.

This statement by HISA takes a non-legally binding document and codifies it into a federal regulation, exceeding the intention of the FDA itself. However, taken at its face, the FDA guidance affords veterinarians wide latitude to prescribe a compounded medication over an FDA-approved medication for a patient-specific use as long as it is based on a medical and not economic rationale. Additional restrictions are placed on office stock compounds, such as limiting these products to its “List of Bulk Drug Substances for Compounding Office Stock Drugs for Use in Nonfood-Producing Animals,” which includes substances both on the list and those currently under review. The takehome message from the FDA on this issue is that to be compliant, racetrack veterinarians need to:

1) Use FDA-approved medications when available and medically appropriate.

2) Purchase only the compounded medications expected to be used in a short (two- to four-week) period.

3) Regularly check to determine the availability of backordered FDAapproved medications.

4) Dispense very limited quantities of office stock compounded medications and reorder refills as patient-specific versions of the same medication.

As state pharmacy and veterinary medical boards sometimes have further restrictions (such as the restriction of the dispensing of a compounded medication to a two-week supply), it is also important that veterinarians check with the requirements of the states in which they practice.

For further information, check out the following websites:

• GFI #256: https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fdaguidance-documents/cvm-gfi-256-compounding-animal-drugs-bulkdrug-substances

JB: HISA regulations are a major change in how veterinary practice is regulated in the horse racing environment. While I have no special insight into how the individual regulators of HISA intend to interpret and enforce their own rules, I can certainly offer general guidelines into how the FDA views compounding.

• Animal Drug Compounding: https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/ unapproved-animal-drugs/animal-drug-compounding

What is evident is that this may be a complicated issue. Horse owners and trainers need to be fully aware as the rules can and have been variably interpreted. This has affected the patient, as well as the livelihood of those involved with the health and care of horses. HJ

HJ: Is there a manner in which equine veterinarians may use “office stock” compounded medications?

HJ: Do you see a conflict between current federal and state regulations regarding the use of medications in equine practice and HISA? HISA regulations state:

HJ: As the new HISA rules regarding compounding are set to go into effect January 1, can you offer any advice to veterinarians and horsemen and women about how best to comply with the new regulations?

What is evident is that this may be a complicated issue. Horse owners and trainers need to be fully aware as the rules can and have been variably interpreted.

JOSEPH J. BERTONE, DVM, MS, DACVIM

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

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

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

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

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

We horsemen are the National HBPA.

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

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

Facebook: www.facebook.com/NationalHBPA • Twitter: @nationalhbpa

JEN ROYTZ PHOTOS

A Day in the Life of… …A Young Racetrack Practitioner

By Jen Roytz

Early to bed, early to rise. For some it is just a saying, but for a racetrack practitioner and for most working on the backside of a track, it is a way of life. A typical day for Central Kentucky racetrack veterinarian Evan Becker, DVM, starts well before sunrise and often can last well into the evening, taking him around the backside as well as to a number of area farms and training centers where he works on everything from routine examinations, diagnostics and treatments to critical care and triage in emergency situations.

The long hours, miles logged and stressful situations are all worth it for Becker, though, because he is doing exactly what he has wanted to do since childhood—working with and caring for horses and helping them reach their potential as equine athletes.

Growing up on his family’s farm in Frederick, Maryland, Becker came by his love of horses honestly. Raised by a dressage-riding mother and foxhunting father, Becker was at home in the saddle and around horses and knew from an early age he wanted to pursue a veterinary career. It was when he came to Kentucky for his undergraduate work at the University of Kentucky that he began to focus on the racetrack as a viable specialty for his future career.

Upon graduation from veterinary school at Auburn University and completion of his veterinary internship in Ocala, he returned to the Bluegrass State to work at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute alongside racetrack specialist Dr. Nathan Chaney and support his rapidly growing practice.

“I was very lucky to find a mentor who was willing to be so hands-on and teach me while at the same time giving me work and my own clientele as he expanded the Thoroughbred sales aspect of his practice,” Becker said. “We work well together because we get along and both have the same approach to veterinary medicine—do what’s best for the horse and don’t make things too complicated.”

A DAY IN THE LIFE…

During a typical race day, Becker’s alarm goes off around 4:45 a.m. (or earlier if needed), and after a quick shower and his first cup of coffee, he heads to the track to check in on his clients.

“If trainers have horses to breeze and need preventative measures like Lasix [furosemide], we give that early, around 5 a.m. to 5:30 a.m., depending on when they plan to work,” Becker said. “There could also be some horses that need a bit of Ace [acepromazine] to train safely if they are particularly tough or coming off of an injury or rest period.”

After that, his focus becomes more reactive, responding to calls based on what trainers and their staff are noticing when they get to their barns or as their horses go out to train.

“Maybe one didn’t clean up its feed, has a temperature or just isn’t quite right, so I’ll run over to examine the horse and likely pull blood to identify what is going on and how best to treat,” he said. “Horses are shipping in and out all the time, so I’ll often get asked to do health certificates, give electrolytes or to pull blood on a horse before it ships out to race, just to be sure everything is as it should be.”

Throughout morning training hours, Becker’s to-do list continues to grow as his clients text him with things they’re seeing as horses are exercising and cooling out that they want him to evaluate. As training hours wind down, Becker’s day gears up.

“A lot of my morning isn’t scheduled beforehand; it’s reactive to what people need based on what they see or feel that day,” he said. “A trainer might see something they didn’t like on the track, a rider feels something that’s a bit off or a trainer or groom feels heat in a leg or notice a gait abnormality as a horse cools out and wants to have me watch a horse jog, feel their legs or take some X-rays.”

Morning rounds often include a number of horses that trainers want scoped after a breeze, along with pre-race and pre-breeze examinations.

“I am required to watch any horse under my care jog within five days of a breeze and within 72 hours of it being entered to race, so if a client has a bunch to breeze and enter, we try to schedule a time to do as many of them as possible in one visit,” he said. “Between scopes after breezes and pre-breeze and prerace jog-ups, it gives me a good baseline for each horse so I can hopefully catch anything going on beneath the surface more easily. This is often how we identify horses that would benefit from supportive therapies, such as chiropractic, joint injections, massage or other therapies, as well as acute injuries in the early stages of presentation.”

Becker noted that with the increased number of horses not running on Lasix in recent years, he will often do pre-race treatments to help those horses with hydration.

Once he has visited all of his trainers on the backside, he and his assistant head out to make rounds at the various farms and training centers that utilize his services. There, he will do different versions of the same thing he did at the track—treating sick horses, evaluating and diagnosing lameness and performing castrations and other routine veterinary work.

With such a diverse equestrian population in and around Lexington and his own background as an equestrian, Becker counts several sport horse farms among his clients.

“Being in Central Kentucky, I’ve made a conscious effort to develop a practice that’s stationary, as opposed to many racetrack vets that travel with the racing circuit,” said Becker. “I’m lucky that the area has enough work to keep me here all winter and that my clients at farms and training

Evan Becker, DVM

JEN ROYTZ PHOTOS

Becker said his clients at farms and smaller training centers typically plan their days around doing veterinary work in the late mornings and early afternoons, especially during the race meetings, allowing him to stay at the track through morning training hours and during the races.

“I enjoy the diversity working with the sport horse clients adds to my routine,” he said. “Sometimes my sport horse patients end up being horses I cared for at the track. Having that depth of knowledge about their medical history can be helpful, and getting to help them make that transition to a new career is very rewarding.”

Becker often has his veterinary technician, Shannon McCall, ride along with him on rounds, allowing him to be more efficient with his time and more available to his clients.

“In addition to assisting me with things like scrubbing and prepping a horse for injections or helping me with radiographs, Shannon often takes care of logging the treatments and medications administered and getting that uploaded to our billing department,” Becker said. “On days that we have horses in the first few races and, say, several castrations to do at farms, I might leave her at the last farm to make sure the horses get up and back on their feet safely as the sedation wears off, or she may run my truck back to the clinic to restock if we’re running low on supplies while I am at the track during the races.”

Which races his clients’ horses are entered in will dictate when Becker has to be back to the racetrack. This often means grabbing a bite to eat or additional caffeination on the go.

“On a race day, a veterinarian has to be around when his clients’ horses are running in case something happens during the race, to scope them after a race or to evaluate them if the trainer feels they aren’t cooling out quite right,” said Becker, who added that he probably scopes 75 percent of his clients’ horses after they race.

DR. EVAN BECKER’S WORK FEATURES CALLS AT SPORT HORSE FARMS IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY ALONG WITH REGULAR CALLS AT THE TRACK DURING THE SPRING AND FALL MEETS AT KEENELAND.

JEN ROYTZ

PHOTOS

JEN ROYTZ PHOTO

VETERINARIANS NEED TO BE AROUND CLIENTS’ HORSES ON RACE DAY FOR SEVERAL REASONS, INCLUDING TO MAKE SURE THEY COOL OUT PROPERLY.

Becker’s day typically concludes after the last of his clients’ horses has come back from a race and cooled out and he has gone back to the clinic to restock his truck for the next morning.

In addition to spending time with his family, the evenings are often when Becker might catch up on industry-related news or do research on any out-ofthe-ordinary cases he is treating.

Then, he sets the alarm for 4:45 a.m. and does it all again the next day.

EVERY JOB HAS ITS CHALLENGES

Becker’s professional demeanor, horsemanship and depth of knowledge often conceal his true age, which is significantly younger than not only the majority of his peers but also many of his clients. While the age disparity can present challenges, Becker also finds that with such challenges come opportunities if you have the right perspective.

“With eight years of pre-vet and vet school and an internship, most young veterinarians gain an excellent understanding of current science and medicine, but your practical experience is based on the cases that come through the door,” Becker said. “You work with a trainer at the track who’s been doing it for 50 years and they’ve seen a lot more than you have, and that can work for you or against you. Some of these trainers that have been at it that long have seen so much and can be very helpful to you.”

Becker said having a good working relationship with trainers based on mutual respect for one another’s experiences and education helps to get the most out of both his and their professional skill sets. Working alongside Chaney and having access to the resources a large-scale equine hospital like Hagyard

DR. EVAN BECKER HANDLES BUSINESS AND THE RACETRACKS AND TRAINING CENTERS IN THE LEXINGTON AREA – ALONG WITH FARM AND SPORT HORSE WORK – AND RESPECTS FELLOW VETERINARIANS WHO COVER RACE MEETINGS ALL YEAR LONG “BECAUSE I CAN IMAGINE WHAT A GRIND THAT IS.”

JEN ROYTZ PHOTO

JEN ROYTZ PHOTO

provides have allowed the breadth and depth of his knowledge to advance far more rapidly than those peers who may not have such resources.

“In the past few years, Nathan and I have weeded out the types of clients that might try to steamroll a vet or disregard our professional opinion,” said Becker. “Our current clients trust and respect our opinions as we do theirs as well. That ease of communication between the trainer and veterinarian can be a huge benefit to the horse.”

Racetrack veterinarians are required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education (CE) every two years to maintain their veterinary license. These educational opportunities allow them to stay on top of new trends and findings in veterinary medicine or to advance and refine the skills they use regularly. Like many of his peers, Becker tries to focus on CE opportunities that will complement the work he does for his racetrack and sport horse clients.

“Last year I did a three-day ultrasound CE that was really good,” he said.

“I try to choose CE opportunities that will benefit my clients. I also have to maintain my license with the Drug Enforcement Administration in order to carry and administer controlled substances, such as ketamine (an anesthetic) or Euthasol [phenytoin and pentobarbital solution used to euthanize animals].”

While the demands of a racetrack practitioner are many, Becker said he has no regrets about the career path he chose to pursue all those years ago, especially because of where he gets to do it.

“There are veterinarians that work race meets all year long, and I have tremendous respect for them because I can imagine what a grind that is,” said Becker. “I am happy with the balance of work I have with the race meets in the spring and fall at Keeneland, the year-round training centers here in Lexington and the sport horse work here and there. I am truly fortunate to be in the situation I am, working with these incredible equine athletes. The work can be demanding, but it is very rewarding.” HJ

over 45 years — and the passion is still as strong as ever. ank you for sharing in the love.

ALABAMA HBPA

Kudzu Juvenile Returns, Classic Continues

Birmingham Race Course, now named Birmingham Race Course Casino, has instant racing machines. What does this mean for the horsemen of Alabama? The reinstatement of the $25,000 Kudzu Juvenile and the continuation of the $50,000 Magic City Classic. Sponsored by the Birmingham Racing Commission, these two races were slated to be run Friday, December 9, at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

The commission also agreed to pay up to $500 for the hauling of horses for these two races.

The commission also is reinstating the Breeders Development Fund for breeders of Alabama-bred horses. The payouts will be based on the point system used in prior years for horses running January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. Look for more on this when it has been finalized.

Alabama HBPA continues to pay the supplemental purse funds for horses running in open company at any track in the U.S.—$800 for first, $600 for second, $400 for third and $200 for fourth. The added monies continue to be paid to horses running at any of the four Louisiana tracks.

If you have not already notified us of your horse running, please send your information to the Alabama HBPA at your earliest convenience by email at nancy.m.delony@ms.com or phone at (205) 969-7048.

Wishing all a merry Christmas and, as always, a safe and happy racing year ahead.

Nancy Delony, Executive Director

CHARLES TOWN HBPA

Legislative Visit

Members of the West Virginia Legislature paid a visit to Charles Town Races as part of the fall interim session. The trip allowed legislators from across the state to learn about the economic impact that Thoroughbred racing has on the county as they visited the track to watch training, met Grade 2 Charles Town Classic winner Runnin’toluvya and chatted with trainers and workers in the barn area. They also learned about the West Virginia Thoroughbred breeding program during a visit to O’Sullivan Farms, where they met many of the weanlings and saw the work that goes into a Thoroughbred breeding farm.

West Virginia-Bred Hall of Fame

Six horses were inducted into the initial class of the West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Association Hall of Fame in a winner’s circle ceremony following the sixth race on the October 8 West Virginia Breeders’ Classics card at Charles Town Races. The class included five millionaires, four horses who won West Virginia Breeders’ Classics races and two Grade 1 winners.

The Hall of Fame is limited to horses who were bred in West Virginia and have been retired from racing for at least five years. Hall of Fame plaques will be displayed at the track, and future classes are scheduled to be inducted annually.

“It gives the horsemen something to look forward to, to see their horses showcased,” said Judy Grams, a West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Association board member. “It means that the horses aren’t forgotten. That’s a big thing.”

The 2022 honorees:

• Onion Juice, a son of Quartermaster out of the Victoria Park mare Menage. Onion Juice won 27 times in his 65-race career, earning $226,715.

• Soul of the Matter is the richest West Virginia-bred of all time. A son of Private Terms out of the T. V. Commercial mare Soul Light, Soul of the Matter won seven of 16 starts while posting more than $2,302,818 in earnings.

• Afternoon Deelites, by Private Terms out of the Medaille d’Or mare Intimate Girl, won seven of 12 career starts while notching a bankroll of $1,061,193. He won Grade 1 stakes at 2 and 3, competed in the 1995 Kentucky Derby and finished second in the 1996 Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap in his career finale.

• Russell Road, a Wheaton gelding out of the Verification mare Roberta Grump. He won 22 stakes, including the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic three times over six racing seasons, the first coming in 2009 at age 3 and the last in 2014 when he was 8. A 31-time winner in 62 starts, Russell Road earned $2,001,586.

• Confucius Say, an Eastover Court gelding out of the Feel the Power mare Mo Chun, won back-to-back editions of the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic in 2001 and 2002. He didn’t race again until 2006, when he returned as an 8-year-old to win the West Virginia Onion Juice Breeders’ Classic Stakes. He returned the following year to win the Classic at 9 for the third time.

• Down Town Allen, a daughter of Windsor Castle out of the Roy mare Like Down Town, won 25 of 42 starts while earning $1,029,387. She won at least one stakes in six consecutive seasons, starting as a 2-year-old and extending through her 7-year-old year of 2014, when she went 6-for-6 with five stakes wins. She won the West Virginia Jefferson Security Bank Cavada Breeders’ Classic Stakes, the top Breeders’ Classic for fillies and mares, in 2012 and 2014.

2022 Virginia West Breeders’ Classics Winners

Muad’dib won the $300,000 Sam Huff West Virginia Breeders’ Classic Stakes for the second year in a row October 8. Muad’dib is a son of Fiber Sonde who was bred by John McKee and is owned by David Raim and trained by Jeff Runco. He has now won 11 of 12 starts and earned $693,720.

Leading the other winners on WV Breeders’ Classics night was Hessica, a 3-year-old daughter of Juba who held off The Sky Is Falling by a half-length to win the $112,830 West Virginia Cavada Breeders’ Classic Stakes. Hessica is owned, bred and trained by Kristy Petty.

Seneca Rocks won the $67,995 West Virginia Department of Tourism Breeders’ Classic Stakes. The 3-year-old Summer Front filly is a homebred for O’Sullivan Farms and trained by Javier Contreras.

C R’s Mandate, a 4-year-old gelding by Strong Mandate, won the $67,940 West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Association Onion Juice Breeders’ Classic Stakes for owner Antonio DiCarlo and trainer Raimondo Schiano-Dicola.

Penguin Power, a 7-year-old gelding by Fiber Sonde bred by John McKee, won the $67,830 West Virginia Dash for Cash Breeders’ Classic Stakes Presented by ROCKWOOL in his eighth stakes win for owner David Raim and trainer Jeff Runco.

Juba’s Notion won the $68,050 West Virginia Vincent Moscarelli Memorial Breeders’ Classic Stakes. The 2-year-old gelding by Juba is owned, bred and trained by John Casey.

Marz Express, a 2-year-old filly by West Coast bred by James Miller, won the $68,050 West Virginia Triple Crown Nutrition Breeders’ Classic Stakes for owner Ultra Championship Racing and trainer Anthony Farrior.

Stowe Angel, a 5-year-old daughter of Warrior’s Reward bred by Newborne Farm, won the $67,940 West Virginia Roger Ramey Breeders’ Classic Distaff Stakes Presented by Beau Ridge Farm for the second year in a row for owner David Raim and trainer Jeff Runco.

Free Sailin, a 3-year-old gelding by Freedom Child, was the winner of the $68,050 West Virginia Lottery Breeders’ Stakes for breeder Susan Wantz and owner/trainer Jason DaCosta.

Silky Serena, a 3-year-old daughter of Fiber Sonde bred by Cynthia O’Bannon, won the $51,900 Blue and Gold Stakes for owner Cynthia McKee and trainer John McKee.

Congratulations to Sarah Davis, who won third place in dressage at the 2022 Thoroughbred Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, with West Virginia-bred Brave Native. The 6-year-old Fiber Sonde gelding had 15 outings during his career for owner-breeder Dennis Finger and trainer Timothy Grams. Showcasing the trainability and athleticism of the recently retired racehorse, the Makeover hosted 281 horses in 426 individual performances across 10 disciplines. The competition took place over two days of preliminary performances, plus a finale championship event that was presented to thousands of livestream viewers globally as well as an in-person audience.

the outstanding talent, diligence and commitment of the farm and racing stable staff who are at the heart of our sport. Finalists in seven categories attended the event at Keeneland, which included visits to area farms, the awards dinner and a day at the races.

Sarah Davis, Brave Native Place at

Congratulations to CTHBPA’s Darla Gaige

Congratulations to Charles Town HBPA Office Administrator Darla Gaige, who won the Katherine McKee Administration Award at the 2022 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards presented by Godolphin USA October 14 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington. The awards recognize and reward

DARLA GAIGE (RIGHT) WITH MARIA CATIGNANI AT THE GODOLPHIN TIEA CEREMONY

MUAD’DIB WINS HIS SECOND SAM HUFF WEST VIRGINIA BREEDERS’ CLASSIC STAKES.

COLORADO HBPA

Numbers Up for Bally’s Arapahoe Meet

Colorado finished its lone race meeting October 4 at Bally’s Arapahoe Park with massive gains in handle, attendance and purses paid. All-sources handle for the 41-day meet (there was one weather cancellation) was $7,361,952, a 64 percent increase over the previous year’s abbreviated 30-day season. Attendance was reported at 74,150, an average of 1,808 daily. Record purses averaged more than $105,000 per day thanks to strong weekend attendance and significant contributions from advance deposit wagering commissions on out-of-state wagering.

Bally’s Arapahoe Park plans to apply for 39 days of racing in 2023, running June 17 to September 11 on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. First post on the weekends will remain 1 p.m. MT while Mondays will be for twilight cards with first post at 4 p.m. MT.

For more information on stabling and racing at Arapahoe, visit casinos.ballys.com/arapahoe-park or contact the Colorado Horse Racing Association at cohorseracing.com.

IOWA HBPA

IAHBPA Preps for 2023 Meet

As Prairie Meadows Racetrack works on upgrades and improvements to the stable area, the Iowa HBPA is preparing for the 2023 racing season.

The 2023 season will be an 80-day meeting beginning the second weekend in May, with only Thoroughbreds running for the first six weeks followed by Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing until the meet’s conclusion. The meet is tentatively scheduled to end September 30. The Festival of Racing and Classic Night, which highlight Iowa-breds, are still to be determined, but the Iowa HBPA continues to engage Prairie Meadows to ensure optimal placement of those events.

The Iowa HBPA feels confident in holding a strong racing season for 2023 with purses comparable to previous years. The Iowa HBPA again feels confident the actions that were taken in 2022 will provide the stability and quality purses horsemen expect and deserve for racing in the state.

Aside from national meetings, conventions and major holidays, our office is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. You also can reach Jon or Michelle in the office at (515) 967-4804.

KENTUCKY HBPA

President’s Message

The issues with the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) continue to surface. First, as you may recall, regulations regarding HISA’s shoe policy and whip rule came under scrutiny. Subsequently, the shoe policy was revised.

As far as the HISA registration process, language requires registrants to waive certain substantive rights, agreeing to arbitrate any disputes, only bringing claims in certain venues in Kentucky, broadly indemnifying HISA against claims and waiving the right to bring claims as a class. When the Kentucky HBPA pointed this out, HISA removed the language from its website.

Horsemen charged with violating an anti-doping or medication control rule do not have a realistic guarantee of a real due process hearing in which they may call witnesses and cross-examine adverse witnesses before an impartial arbitrator/adjudicator.

The proposed assessment methodology to fund HISA has drawn the wrath of horsemen’s organizations and various racing associations that explain that the mechanism whereby each state’s contribution is based on the purse value as opposed to the number of racing starts is contradictory to the governing statute.

Now the adverse ruling in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that certain aspects of HISA are unconstitutional.

For the most part, I believe horsemen are in favor of uniformity in medication and drug testing and in leveling the playing field, but implementing rules without first taking the pulse of a cross section of everyone involved in racing was misguided.

On another topic, you probably have heard that Marty Maline has decided to retire as the executive director of the Kentucky HBPA. He has served this organization for close to 47 years. His accomplishments are many, and if you ever needed his assistance, he was there. I wish him the best.

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

Successful Van Berg Client Appreciation Day

Tom and Angi Van Berg sure know how to stage a client appreciation day. The trainer and his wife wanted to host a social gathering of their owners to show their thanks for the most productive season in Tom Van Berg’s training career. By design, the event coincided with the first Claiming Crown at Churchill Downs. They had tried to rent adjacent suites, but those weren’t available and couldn’t accommodate the crowd of 32. So Churchill Downs offered to set aside part of the fourth-floor Stakes Room, selling the Van Bergs the additional tickets and making the Van Bergs’ group a party within the Claiming Crown horsemen’s party.

KENTUCKY-BASED TRAINER TOM VAN BERG ENJOYED A CAREER-BEST SEASON IN 2022, HIGHLIGHTED BY A PAIR OF CLAIMING CROWN VICTORIES AND MORE THAN SEVEN FIGURES IN PURSE EARNINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME.

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS INNOVATION PHOTOS

Then Tom went out and won three races on the November 12 card, the last two being Claiming Crown events, with Petit Verdot by a head in the $160,600 Claiming Crown Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial and The Queens Jules by a nose in the $138,755 Claiming Crown Rapid Transit. But the celebration started even before then, with Van Berg winning a race November 11 as well.

“The clients and the horse owners are the group that makes this happen,” Van Berg, who is on the board of the Arkansas HBPA, said a few days later. “None of us have a job without them in the business. So when we got these groups together with the idea of doing claiming syndicates, it took a lot of people. There are 22 shares in one [partnership], Grit to Glory and Chicken Fried Racing. It took a lot of people to come in and put their trust in us as a stable. We were just so appreciative of everybody. Our stable really took off this year. We had some new clients reach out and send us some horses. My wife and I discussed doing something to give back to them, and we decided to do a Client Appreciation Day.”

Crown races, those people made it happen. It was good to have them here for it. Most of them are newer, but a couple of clients have been in the game for a long time. Their wish list for a long time has been Claiming Crown races. They never had one before. For them to win two on the day was really special.”

Petit Verdot was claimed for $10,000 almost a year before at Churchill, an afternoon that Grit to Glory partner Jeff Evans recalled being outshook for the first four horses for which they dropped claims.

“It’s been a dream for me,” Evans said. “I’ve told Tom for years, ‘I want nothing more than a Claiming Crown horse.’ It was fantastic. … The Claiming Crown is really much more than for claiming horses. These horses are warriors. If it’s a starter-allowance horse or an allowance horse, all those horses are warriors. They’re the cloth of horse racing. This is a very special event for the everyday people.”

Van Berg trained from 1999 to 2007, leaving the backstretch to spend more time at home with their young sons. He returned to assist his ailing father, Hall of Famer Jack Van Berg, taking over the stable upon the iconic trainer’s death in late December 2017. While continuing to use his father’s gold and purple colors and creating the JVB Legacy Racing partnership, Tom rebuilt the stable almost from scratch.

“If it wasn’t for Grit to Glory and Chicken Fried, Runnin’ Down a Dream and JVB Legacy—the syndicates we set up—we would have eight horses probably in the barn,” said Van Berg, who found himself needing owners for nine yearlings purchased by Jack 2 1/2 months before his death. “It just so happened that the dads of some of our boys’ friends from school were interested. They were from Louisville and had never had horses.”

Other friends wanted in but also wanted more immediate action. Hence the creation of the Grit to Glory Racing partnership to claim horses. When that syndicate filled up, Chicken Fried Racing was born.

At $1.4 million through November 19, Van Berg’s medium-sized stable has surpassed $1 million in purses for the first time. With 33 wins through November 19—and winning at a 24 percent clip—he could surpass his singleseason best of 37 wins, back in 2003.

Van Berg said he’s most proud of the fact that Runnin’ Down a Dream, Grit to Glory Racing and Chicken Fried Racing have been self-sustaining from their launch through conservative management, requiring “zero ‘cash calls’ ” to keep them going. Grit to Glory, in its second full season of existence, has won 23 races (with The Queens Jules’ Claiming Crown win its 15th victory in 2022) and more than $1.13 million in purses overall after starting out with the partners’ total investment of $220,000.

It was only the second Claiming Crown to be held in Kentucky, the first being at Ellis Park in 2007. Where that day was 100 degrees, for the 2022 event, the two-month streak of superb weather in Kentucky ended November 11 with rain and even snow early November 12, forcing the three Claiming Crown turf races off the grass.

Even that worked in Van Berg’s favor as he planned to scratch Petit Verdot if the Claiming Crown Canterbury stayed on the turf.

Even before the event, a bit of serendipity might have foreshadowed a big day with the close finishes going their way.

The clients’ gift bags included bottles of Maker’s Mark bourbon handdipped in purple and gold wax, the Van Berg stable colors. Upon hearing that Maker’s Mark had done such a bottle to commemorate the Lakers, Tom Van Berg called scores of liquor stores in Los Angeles until finding one with those bottles still in stock. He bought them all.

“It turned out great,” Van Berg said of the celebration to thank their owners. “To top it off by winning three races on the card and two in the Claiming

Kentucky horsemen dominated, with trainer Mike Maker extending his record Claiming Crown victories to 21 with Invaluable in the $109,850 Glass Slipper and Keystone Field in the $199,875 Jewel. Joe Sharp finished 1-2 in the nightcap with his main-track-only entrant Palace Coup winning the $160,010 Emerald over stablemate Big Agenda.

Coming the day after Veterans Day, former Marine Jeff Hiles repeated his victory in the Claiming Crown’s Iron Horse Kent Stirling Memorial in Florida, albeit with a different horse, this time 8-1 shot Time for Trouble in the $108,433 race.

While Parx-based trainers Bobby Mosco (Out of Sorts in the $167,150 Tiara) and John Kirby (Hero Tiger in the $106,899 Ready’s Rocket Express) broke the streak of Kentucky guys winning, those horses were registered Kentucky-breds and as such were able to benefit from the new statute that allows Kentucky

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS INNOVATION PHOTOS

GWEN DAVIS/DAVIS INNOVATION PHOTOS

TOM AND ANGI VAN BERG HOSTED A LARGE GATHERING DURING THE NOVEMBER 12 CLAIMING CROWN DAY AT CHURCHILL DOWNS AND ALSO WON THREE RACES ON THE CARD.

FORGE A NEW PATH

TO EQUINE VETERINARY MEDICINE

The path to a career in equine veterinary medicine just got a little easier.

Thanks to an innovative approach at Lincoln Memorial University through its Equine Veterinary Education Program (EVEP), the goal to become an equine veterinarian is now more attainable.

Designed for students entering college with a strong background working with horses, the EVEP provides a

more affordable and focused opportunity to complete the full degree program with an emphasis on equine in 6 1/2 years versus the typical 8,

If you’re looking for a program designed to fulfill your dreams, look no further than Lincoln Memorial University. We’re Ready for You.

Applications are now being accepted for selection in Spring 2023 and first semester of study in Fall 2023.

Campuses in Harrogate, TN and Ewing, VA

To learn more, email EVEP@LMUnet.edu or visit the website at www.lmunet.edu and search “equine.”

Thoroughbred Development Fund purse supplements to be awarded on claiming and starter-allowance races.

Although the afternoon was dry, cloudy and hovering above freezing (and about 40 degrees cooler than 48 hours earlier), horsemen seemed to have a festive time in Churchill’s Stakes Room. Total wagering on the card was just under $9 million.

The Claiming Crown came a week after the Breeders’ Cup World Championship was held at Keeneland for the third time. The Breeders’ Cup wasn’t the haul local horsemen enjoyed two years ago at Keeneland, when Brad Cox won a record-tying four races and Ron Moquett, Mike Maker and Wesley Ward all won races, but Cox did increase his career total of Breeders’ Cup victories to nine—all in the past five years—as 42-1 longshot Caravel led all the way to beat the boys and the Europeans in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Cox also finished second in the Grade 1 Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile with Cyberknife coming in a head shy of Cody’s Wish.

In an agreement with the Kentucky HBPA, Kentucky Downs transferred $1 million in purse money to the Breeders’ Cup to fund the undercard races on Future Stars Friday and Championship Saturday. —Jennie Rees

PET Imaging Coming to Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs provided a sneak peek November 16 of the equine PET scan machine, which produces detailed three-dimensional images while horses are standing and under simple sedation, scheduled to be in place at the track’s equine medical center next March.

The technology, developed by Longmile Veterinary Imaging, was adapted from positron emission tomography (PET) scans designed to find cancer in humans. The MILE-PET scanner detects abnormalities in horses’ legs with more sensitivity than traditional X-rays while also indicating if a finding is new or old. In a virtual presentation, Dr. Mathieu Spriet, associate professor of diagnostic imaging at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, showed how PET imaging can be used to find problem areas at the onset and also to monitor healing.

“To have the advanced diagnostic here on-site is a huge resource for our horsemen,” said Dr. Will Farmer, equine medical director for Churchill Downs Inc. “We will put a tool in our veterinarians’ and our trainers’ hands that they can use to help make our horses safer.”

Churchill Downs will be only the second racetrack to have the equine PET technology permanently housed on-site, with Santa Anita Park becoming the first in December 2019.

Hagyard Equine Medical Institute and Churchill Downs will co-own the machine. The first question from a trainer was the cost of a scan. Farmer

said it’s estimated between $1,200 and $1,400 per session. In response to a question from National HBPA CEO Eric Hamelback, Farmer said that they will be seeking grants that could bring the cost down for participants in a research project.

“Our main goal is to make it as reasonable as possible for horsemen,” Farmer said later. “We want guys to be able to use it and not let cost be a limiting factor for that. Unfortunately, the equipment itself is incredibly expensive, as is most technology, but we are not in the process of making this a revenue generator.”

Among the advantages of the MILE-PET scanners is that horses do not require general anesthesia. The scan takes about 10 minutes, and after a short recovery from sedation, the horse can walk back to its barn. The collected digital images can be viewed instantaneously by the trainer’s private practitioner.

“Any new technology to give us better imaging and understanding of issues in a horse—maybe some lamenesses we can pick up—it’s got to be good for the horse and it’s got to be good for racing,” said Dr. Bruce Howard, the equine medical director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. “If we can identify horses at risk a little bit earlier with a little more sensitivity than just us looking with our human eye watching these horses go, I think that’s very valuable.”

“All horsemen want what is best for their horse,” Hamelback said. “This could be a very productive tool going forward for horsemen to help identify problems and, ultimately if necessary, to have the ability to say when it is best for the horse to take time off or possibly stop.” —Jennie

Rees

Supplemental H-2B Visa Rule Submitted to OMB

The H-2B visa rule was submitted to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). We are thankful to our partners in the administration for working tirelessly to get this rule drafted and submitted. The internal politics were undoubtedly complicated; the trips to Washington, D.C., have paid off; and we were grateful they were able to get this done prior to Thanksgiving.

If a lottery is necessary (hopefully not), there should be enough time for those who are not selected to reapply January 1 for an April 1 date of need. The allocated H-2B visas for November were exhausted, and trainers across the country were in a predicament, but with the revised H-2B rule, they will be able to bring their much-needed workforce hopefully before the end of the year. It normally takes about a week to 10 days from the time a rule is submitted to OMB to publication in the Federal Register

This past spring it took 14 days, but this was highly unusual. Once the rule is published in the Federal Register, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept petitions over a five-day window. At the conclusion of these five days, USCIS determines if a lottery is necessary.

AFFILIATE NEWS

Hypothetical timeline:

• November 22: Rule submitted to OMB.

• December 2: Rule published in the Federal Register

• December 5-8: USCIS accepts petitions. You can only submit a petition if you have a labor certification. The day the rule is published counts as the first day.

• December 9-14: Receipt notices issued. By December 14, we should be able to discern if a lottery would be necessary.

We still do not know what the split will be between visas allocated to the first and second halves. If we receive any intelligence on this prior to the publication of the rule, we will pass it along, but this was certainly something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We are hopeful that many of our members will have clarity if they are receiving their returning workers prior to Christmas. What a difference from prior years. —Julio Rubio

The HBPA Is You

The HBPA, established in 1940, is an organization of owners and trainers, approximately 40,000 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 negotiates 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.

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 with regards 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 into 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 that 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 “Become a Member.”

LOUISIANA HBPA

Delta Downs

The 2022-23 Delta Downs Thoroughbred Meet concludes February 25. Louisiana Premier Day is February 4, featuring more than $800,000 in purses for Louisiana-bred horses. For additional information, contact the Delta Downs racing office at (888) 589-7223.

Evangeline Downs

The Evangeline Downs 2023 Thoroughbred meet is scheduled to begin April 5. Stall applications are due by late February. For additional information, contact the Evangeline Downs racing office at (337) 594-3022.

Fair Grounds

The Fair Grounds 2022-23 Thoroughbred meet began November 18 and is scheduled to end March 26. The 151st race features the track’s largest stakes schedule with more than $8.5 million awarded. As 2022 wound down, Fair Grounds hosted a final chance for Louisiana-bred juveniles to earn black type in the male and female divisions of the $100,000 Louisiana Futurity December 31. Following the turn of the calendar into 2023, graded stakes action returns to New Orleans January 21, when Kentucky Derby hopefuls square off in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes on a card with five supporting undercard stakes. The Road to the Kentucky Derby then continues at Fair Grounds February 18 with the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes presented by Lamarque Motor Company and concludes March 25 with the Grade 2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby. Early-bird nominations for the Louisiana Derby, which include nomination fees for the Lecomte and Risen Star, are due January 1. For more information, contact the racing office at (504) 948-1288.

Louisiana Downs

The 2023 Quarter Horse meet will begin January 5 and end April 1. For more information, contact the racing office at (318) 741-2511.

MINNESOTA HBPA

Canterbury Handle Almost Hits $100 Million

In 2022, Canterbury Park established an all-time record handle of almost $100 million. In the past, a $1 million handle day was a rarity. Now, the opposite is true. It bodes well for the future. For instance, in 2023, there will be a guaranteed minimum of $200,000 in daily purses and a completely new state-of-the-art lighting system.

Also boding well for the future is a massive redevelopment plan well in swing that is horse-themed throughout. The backdrop of Canterbury and the Thoroughbreds working out in the morning and racing in the evening has proven exceedingly popular with various parties, from property companies to restaurants to business developers.

RENDERINGS OF PLANNED ADDITIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENTS AROUND CANTERBURY PARK, INCLUDING THE TWIN CITIES-FIRST AMPITHEATER AND WALKING-FRIENDLY VILLAGE.

Construction is underway of a Twin Cities-first amphitheater adjacent to the racetrack grounds that will present A-list entertainment. The amphitheater is expected to open in the summer of 2024 and is certain to attract hundreds of thousands of new people to Canterbury and Thoroughbred racing. The long-term plan is to create a walking-friendly village near the amphitheater and bordering the grounds that will, among other things, provide and promote horse racing and betting among its neighbors of restaurants and shops.

Opening day is slated for Saturday, May 27, with closing day set for Saturday, September 16.

MOUNTAINEER HBPA

Mountaineer Park Chaplaincy

The Mountaineer Park Chaplaincy hosted its first golf scramble this fall. Thanks to all who generously donated money, time and talents. The fundraiser was a great success and was enjoyed by all.

The employees at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort generously hosted a food drive that completely stocked the Mountaineer Chaplaincy’s food bank for the winter months. The food bank will be available by contacting Chaplain Rick Anderson or the HBPA office. On Thanksgiving, members were treated to a Thanksgiving dinner at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort. The end of the race meeting concluded with a Christmas breakfast in the chapel at which breakfast, coffee and hot chocolate were served along with a special Christmas treat celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Those who are interested are invited to attend Sunday services with Chaplain Rick at the Tri-State Community Church in Chester. The food bank will remain open through the winter months. Please call the HBPA office at (304) 387-9772 or contact the chaplain for more information.

Retirement Plan for Backstretch Workers

West Virginia Racing Commission Retirement Plan for Backstretch Workers is moving toward a participant-directed plan. As this process unfolds, more information will be forthcoming. The allocations for the 2021 plan year were expected to be available toward the end of this December. Please remember that participants must apply each year around April 15 for the preceding year.

Continuing Education for Horsemen

The Mountaineer Park HBPA continues to host education classes for trainers and assistant trainers. Trainers and assistant trainers are required to have four hours of continuing education in order to be licensed.

Classes will continue when the barn area opens for the 2023 race meet. For more information on how trainers and assistant trainers can receive their continuing education hours, please call the HBPA office or visit our Facebook page, mphbpa.com or HorsemenU.com.

The Mountaineer Park HBPA wishes everyone a merry Christmas and a blessed new year.

NEBRASKA HBPA

New Facility, Renovations Mark 2022

WarHorse Lincoln Casino, the first gaming facility in the state of Nebraska, opened its doors September 24.

A major track renovation of Legacy Downs, formerly known as Lincoln Race Course, began shortly thereafter and continues into 2023. With a little good luck and decent weather, we are tentatively preparing for an eight-day live meet on the newly laid track. Legacy’s live meet will begin Saturday, May 13, right after Fonner Park finishes its meeting. We will run every Saturday and Sunday through June 4.

Horsemen’s Park in Omaha has moved to a new interim simulcast building in the infield to make way for an extensive remodel and construction of WarHorse Omaha Casino. We are grateful to our loyal customers for their continued patronage throughout these changes and look forward to the progress ahead.

NEW ENGLAND HBPA

Revival of Racing, Breeding on the Ballot

The New England horsemen and industry stakeholders circled January 7 on their calendars as that is the date for a special election in the Town of Hardwick, Massachusetts, that will decide whether live racing will be restored and breeding can be revitalized in the region.

Commonwealth Equine and Agricultural Center (CEAC), headed by Richard Fields, proposes to develop a new Thoroughbred racetrack, breeding center and racehorse retirement facility at the 360-acre Meadowbrook Farm in the Town of Hardwick in central Massachusetts and has executed a purchase and sales agreement with the property owner.

But the project required approval from the town’s three-member select board and that resulted in an on-again, off-again saga over several months involving the board and the town citizens.

To review the changing tide in the town, at an October 25 board meeting in Hardwick and in the wake of growing opposition to the project, the threemember panel voted to delay an up or down vote so the local community could have more input. Only 48 hours later, the board changed course and voted 3-0 to reject the project. The board reversed itself again November 9 and voted 2-1 to approve.

Separate signed petitions by community members both in support of and in opposition to the new track were submitted to the town clerk over the monthslong process. The last vote by the board November 21 set up the January 7 special election.

Letting the Hardwick voters decide is the newest development on whether Thoroughbreds will be racing on an all-turf course for a proposed short boutique meet of two days with an estimated average daily purse distribution of $750,000 in September 2023.

At that same November 21 meeting, the board decided that a committee would be assembled to gather more information about the proposal to develop the farm into the racetrack and equine center and present the complete findings to the voters in advance of the election.

“Over the next 45 days, the horsemen will be making our case that this project is not just good for the investor but it is equally good for the horsemen, the breeders, the town and for all the jobs involved that will be created even with a two-day meet to start,” said Paul Umbrello, executive director of the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. “We will present the facts so there are no misconceptions or misunderstandings. We are fighting to keep racing and breeding alive.”

Fields, who is one of the owners of Sterling Suffolk Racecourse LLC (SSR), which operated Suffolk Downs when that track held live meetings, and his different partners in CEAC filed an application for a 2023 live Thoroughbred racing license with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) before the October 1 deadline.

The MGC was mandated by state law to rule on that application by November 15, but commissioners suspended that meeting during a November 14 emergency session before casting their vote on the application. It is being held in abeyance until the local townsfolk in Hardwick have their say.

SSR sold the Suffolk Downs property to a real estate developer in May 2017. The last live meet in New England was hosted by the New England HBPA at Suffolk Downs and ended June 30, 2019. Rockingham Park in Salem, New Hampshire, another of the 17 defunct Thoroughbred tracks that once dotted the New England region, last held a live meet in 2002, and the property was sold for a multi-mixed-use real estate development in 2016. —Lynne Snierson

OHIO HBPA

Perfect Weather for Best of Ohio Finale

The third and final leg of the 2022 Best of Ohio series was conducted October 29 at Mahoning Valley Race Course on a perfect fall day in Austintown.

Grand Isle kicked off the stakes action, rallying along the rail to score a 5 1/2-length victory over the subsequently disqualified Need to Know Basis in the $100,000 Best of Ohio Juvenile Stakes at 1 1/16 miles. Sammy and Shorty was promoted to second after Need to Know Basis’ disqualification for interference. Grand Isle scored his second career victory and first stakes win in the Juvenile from five starts for trainer Tim Hamm and owner-breeder Winblaze LLC. Jeffrey Sanchez rode Grand Isle to the win.

Odds-on favorite Back to Ohio kept her record perfect with a dominating 7 1/4-length win over Soft Talk under jockey Jareth Loveberry in the $100,000 Best of Ohio John W. Galbreath Stakes. Back to Ohio covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:50.33 in running her career mark to five wins from as many starts for trainer Larry Rivelli. Back to Ohio, a daughter of Midshipman bred by Trail M Boarding and Guest Farm, was a $385,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales April 2-year-olds in training sale for owner Patricia’s Hope LLC. She had earned $245,700 through late November.

Morestride scored a neck victory after a long battle through the stretch with Dougie D Oro in the $100,000 Best of Ohio Sprint Stakes while covering the 6 furlongs in 1:10.72. Luis Rivera was aboard Morestride, who scored his 11th win from 20 starts for owner-trainer Mike Rone. Morestride, a 4-year-old colt by Midshipman bred by Steve DeMaiolo, boosted his earnings to $388,780.

I Recall scored an impressive 7 3/4-length victory in the $100,000 Best of Ohio Distaff Stakes over Market Success. Angel Stanley guided the winner, who covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:53.76 while winning for the third time in seven starts in 2022. John Bourke trains the daughter of Misremembered that he co-owns and co-bred with Lowell Allen. I Recall increased her bankroll to $284,522.

The stakes action wrapped up with the $100,000 Best of Ohio Endurance Stakes at 1 1/4 miles. I Wanna Win scored a game neck victory over defending champion Forewarned in the Endurance after a stretch-long battle. Malcolm Franklin was aboard I Wanna Win with the pair scoring their fifth consecutive win. James Jackson trains I Wanna Win for his owner-breeder Elkhorn Oaks Inc. With the win, I Wanna Win, a 6-year-old gelding by I Want Revenge, inched closer to the $500,000 mark in earnings, with $494,567 after the Endurance.

Commission Grants 2023 Racing Dates

The Ohio State Racing Commission granted 2023 racing dates at its November meeting.

Belterra Park was granted 93 Thoroughbred days from May 4 through October 10 on a Tuesday through Friday schedule.

Mahoning Valley Race Course was granted 101 Thoroughbred days. Mahoning will run a 61-day winter-spring meeting meet from January 1 through April 15 and a 40-day fall meeting from October 21 to December 30. Mahoning Valley is scheduled to run a Monday through Thursday schedule during its winter-spring meet.

Thistledown was granted 125 Thoroughbred days from April 24 through November 28. The 125 days requested by Thistledown is the minimum requirement without an agreement with the Ohio HBPA. Should an agreement be reached with the Ohio HBPA, the number of dates may be altered by the commission. Thistledown will race mainly on a Monday through Thursday schedule.

I RECALL, A HOMEBRED FOR LOWELL ALLEN AND JOHN BOURKE, CRUISES TO VICTORY IN THE BEST OF OHIO DISTAFF.

BRADLEY CONRAD PHOTO

ELKHORN OAKS’ HOMEBRED I WANNA WIN FENDS OFF DEFENDING CHAMPION FOREWARNED TO WIN THE BEST OF OHIO ENDURANCE.

BRADLEY CONRAD PHOTO

THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATION OF OKLAHOMA

TRAO Retired and Unwanted Thoroughbred Fund

The Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma’s Retired and Unwanted Thoroughbred Racing Stock Fund’s mission is to provide funding for the care and retraining of Thoroughbred racing stock that has participated or attempted to participate in the racing industry of Oklahoma.

Guidelines have been developed to assist in accomplishing this objective. In any event, the TRAO board reserves the right to approve, deny or discontinue funding for any entity or applicant requesting funding from this program.

To find out more information about the TRAO Retired and Unwanted Thoroughbred Racing Stock Fund, please visit traoracing.com.

TRAO Elections for Trainer or Owner/Trainer

The TRAO election process for the 2023 to 2025 term opened up October 1 for the trainer or owner/trainer elections. Floor nominations were held Saturday, October 15. At that time, there were no nominations confirmed by the TRAO Election Committee of Joe Alexander, Randy Oberlander and Bill Anderson.

Per the bylaws, Section 6: Manner of Voting paragraph (H), for any election of directors should there be no nominations to oppose an incumbent running for reelection, the election committee will verify all eligibility requirements outlined in the bylaws to be presented to the board president allowing all incumbent candidates to be elected by acclimation. They were confirmed during the TRAO board meeting held Tuesday, November 15.

TRAO wants to congratulate the returning incumbents for trainer or owner/ trainer reelection (2023-25 term): Mike Biehler, Theresa Luneack, Kenny Nolen, Joe Offolter and Scott Young.

Thoroughbred Racing Dates Set for 2023

Remington Park (67)

August 18, 19, 25, 26

September 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30

October 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28

November 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 29, 30

December 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Will Rogers Downs (29)

March 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28

April 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26

May 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17

Fair Meadows at Tulsa (34)

June 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30

July 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22

WASHINGTON

HBPA

Derby Day Racing Is Back

The Washington Horse Racing Commission approved Emerald Downs’ request for a 52-day live racing meet in 2023 at its November 18 meeting. The 2023 Emerald Downs meet begins May 6 and runs through September 17. Opening day features a special 1 p.m. post and shares billing with the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby. The 52-day Emerald Downs meet consists of 20 Saturdays, 19 Sundays, 11 Fridays and two Mondays. Saturday post time is 2 p.m. from May 13 to June 24 and 5 p.m. July 1 to September 16. Sunday post is 2 p.m. throughout the meet, while Friday post (beginning June 9) is 7 p.m. Holiday racing is scheduled Monday, May 29, at 2 p.m., and Monday, July 3, at 5 p.m.

Washington HBPA President Pat LePley was pleased about the start date, which added two more weekends to the race schedule. Everyone at the meeting agreed Derby Day was a great way to kick-start the 2023 season. Trainers and horses may begin moving in Saturday, February 25, with training to begin on the following Monday. Weather permitting, the track will be open seven days a week until live racing starts. Thereafter, the plan is for the customary Tuesday track closure.

As part of his date request at the WHRC meeting, Emerald Downs President Phil Ziegler noted that there were eight additional days earmarked for the 2023 live meet. He said Emerald Downs prefers a live race day over a simulcast day because live racing is a positive for both management and horsemen. As a caveat, Ziegler added that returning to the commission with a request for additional days depends on gains in projections for the horse population and available purse funds. A recent downturn in simulcast and ADW handle was attributed to the recent legalization of sports betting. Sports betting venues are limited to tribal casinos in Washington and were supported by the Washington HBPA in Olympia when passed. At the time, there was optimism that the number of Washington OTBs would grow and complement the sports book sites, but that has yet to come to fruition.

The Washington HBPA and other industry leaders are actively pursuing state legislation to aid racing and the entire Washington horse industry. Building on efforts from a successful bid in the house in 2022, the new legislation is designed to overcome some of the hurdles that hindered the bill in the senate. Efforts are already underway to educate senators and representatives regarding the Emerald Downs statewide economic impact and the interconnectedness of horse racing and all other equine activities in the state.

Note: Please remember that season passes for the 52-day meet are on sale now with a 20-percent discount through the end of 2022. HJ

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