Page 13 - September 2016

testing for Los Alamitos and New Mexico racing jurisdictions and will process hair samples from out-of-competition testing for the Challenge Championships. As previously announced
in press releases regarding hair testing at the Challenge Championships, AQHA recommends a minimum six-month withdrawal time to avoid a positive hair test for clenbuterol. In addition
to hair testing, traditional post-race urine and blood testing will occur during the event under California Horse Racing Board authority.
Hair samples will be collected by the track veterinarian within 48 hours upon arrival, but horses already on the grounds prior to Oct. 12 can have hair samples collected by the track veterinarian at an earlier time. Los Alamitos is covering the cost of the tests.
A positive hair test will result in a horse
being ineligible to compete in the Challenge Championships, but no other penalty will be assessed. Traditional post-race urine and blood testing will occur during the event under California Horse Racing Board authority, and a positive test for a urine or blood sample will subject the responsible party to California Horse Racing Board penalties.
The UC Davis Maddy Lab will be conducting pre-transport hair testing for those who wish to determine the status of their qualifying horse prior to arrival at Los Alamitos. The laboratory recommends that those horsemen who wish to check their horse for traces of clenbuterol, albuterol, zilpaterol, or ractopamine order a pre-transport hair test by Sept. 20 so as to have ample time to collect a sample, send it to the lab, and receive results prior to transport. AQHA will send order forms to the owners of
the top three qualifiers for each of the Challenge Championship races, and pre-transport hair tests can also be ordered by calling Jeremy Sadler, UC Davis Maddy Lab Sample Custodian, at (530) 754-5595. Pre-transport samples must be collected by and submitted by an official racetrack veterinarian.
The cost of a pre-transport test is $250. AQHA will fully reimburse a horseman for
such cost if the horse tested qualifies for the Challenge Championships and is transported to Los Alamitos for the Challenge Championships. For questions regarding the 2016 Bank of America Challenge Championships, contact AQHA’s Malynda Reed at (806) 378-4740.
IntermountaIn racIng SucceSS
Great Falls Turf Club’s four-day meet ended July 31 with $488,396 wagered on races at the Montana meet. The record wagering during the meet was achieved with large attendance numbers. Almost 4,000 fans were in attendance on closing day.
Efran Prado, who is 62, was the leading rider of the Great Falls meet. He’s earned the title two of the last three meets.
In Evanston, Wyoming, on July 31, Wyoming Downs was completing a successful meet that included eight days of racing. A track-
record 2,700 fans were in attendance for the meet’s closing card.
Wyoming Downs’ two-day closing weekend attendance and handle set records, too, with 5,012 fans attending and $214,996 wagered.
On closing day, the track honored its leading horsemen: owner A & C Racing and Roping, trainer Chancey Spencer, and jockey Oscar Cervantes.
Wyoming Downs owner, Eric Nelson, said the track plans to offer eight weekends of racing in 2017 with the 16-day meet slated to start on June 17. Wyoming Downs new historic racing terminals were recently turned on in the off-track betting facilities and will be operating at the track next year.
FlorIda troubleS
The Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association has filed a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation claiming that the DBPR improperly issued licenses to Hialeah Park. Track officials have entered into an agreement with the South Florida Quarter Horse Association to replace the FQHRA as the group that represents horsemen at the track. Hialeah and FQHRA’s contract ended July 1.
Hialeah Park is causing further waves by seeking changes for its annual Quarter Horse meet including cutting the number of race days and beginning the meet in June 2017. The track wants to run 36 race cards on 18 days next year in June. Hialeah conducted 36 race cards over 36 days in its latest meet, which opened in late December and ran through February.
Hialeah Park moving its horsemen’s contract
to the newly formed South Florida Quarter Horse Association has caused quite a stir. The new
group has links to Gretna Racing in the Florida Panhandle town of Gretna, which conducted pari- mutuel barrel races beginning in 2011 before ruled unlawful in 2013. Gretna is currently involved in a suit being heard by the Supreme Court of Florida that is seeking to require the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuels to approve its application for a casino that would have slot machines.
Ron Smith, who is president of FQHRA, sent out a letter to members in June. The letter can be read in its entirety by clicking the news tab at www.fqhra.com.
the following are some excerpts:
Each year since 2009, the first year AQHA racing began at Hialeah, there has been some version of an attempt to form a new horsemen’s group, other than FQHRA, that would represent the horsemen in purse negotiations at Hialeah. In past years the track has filed lawsuits in an attempt to wear us down by using up our time and resources.
All these lawsuits did was prove that FQHRA has run the organization and represented the horsemen in an outstanding manner. Our books were gone over from 2009 through March 2015 by the opposing side’s
attorneys and accountants and they were found to be squeaky clean. This process took about 16 months and thousands of man-hours but in the end FQHRA was victorious.
The new SFQHA was formed March 14, the afternoon before the racing licenses went out on March 15. None of these timelines follow the rules that are set up at DBPR. At that time SFQHA had only a few members and those members were the officers previously used in the 2011 attempt to circumvent the pari-mutuel racing requirements. Since that time SFQHA has also recruited some owners who have benefited greatly from AQHA racing in Florida and these people have apparently jumped on board, apparently with the lure of short term gain for themselves.
The SFQHA requires anyone racing at Hialeah to be a member of SFQHA. Their proposed purse structure would be 4% of the card room revenue. That would be a far cry from the current purse structure negotiated by FQHRA.
It is much easier to make a favorable deal for yourself if you own both sides of the table.
This was clearly not the intent of the legislature when they required a full schedule
of live racing and a written signed agreement with FQHRA or the group that represents the majority of the horsemen at the track in order to have the privilege of a slots or card room license.
FQHRA is clearly the majority horsemen’s group and has represented the horsemen in
the legislature and legally since October 2005. That slots/card room privilege was in trade
for the economic engine that horse racing and breeding brings to the state, not a free pass for a few individuals to become even wealthier. Many of the horses in setups like this run more than once a day and a few times a week and then are sold after “the meet” is over. FQHRA on the other hand spent many years and a lot of money getting the ARCI medication rules and penalties passed as state law in order to protect the horse and jockey. FQHRA has and always will keep the welfare of the horse as our primary goal.
FQHRA is challenging the legality of the new horsemen’s group since its members will be horsemen who would supposedly race at Hialeah a year from now, and it is a closed “house” group. Thus a present slots/card room license for July
1, 2016, to June 30, 2017, is based on a possible future group that might race in June 2017.
If we always put the health and welfare of the horse and riders first and always do our best to put out a quality product, the other issues will take care of themselves. It’s called growing pains and it’s what happens when you pack a good lunch. Lots of people see it and want to eat it. This situation is nothing new and FQHRA is well versed in it and knows how to deal with it. It’s just another day under the Florida sunshine. Our goal is to have things back on track in about 90 days or less. Stay tuned.
SPEEDHORSE, September 2016 11
track chatter