Page 15 - Speedhorse April 2019

Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker, LQHBA scholarship winner Hunter Fertenbaugh, LQHBA board members Jimmie Hatcher and JoBaya Foreman, and LQHBA scholarship winner Maddison McFadden.
ALBUTEROL PROHIBITED IN INDIANA
At the March 12 meeting of the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, the commission voted unanimously to prohibit the use of albuterol in American Quarter Horses.
The new rule states: “No Quarter Horse participating in a race shall carry in its body albuterol in excess of the threshold provided in section 4.2(2) of this rule. A finding by the chemist or commission designee that alb- uterol in excess of the threshold is present in the test sample shall be prima facie evidence that albuterol was administered and carried in the body of the horse while participating in a race.”
Albuterol will be a level of detection
drug meaning any detected amount of albuterol in the horse will be considered a violation. If a violation is found, either pre- race or post-race, the owners or lessees of the horse from which the specimen was obtained shall forfeit any purse money and any trophy or award. If the winnings are associated with a qualifying race, a positive test for albuterol shall render the horse ineligible for any subsequent related race.
Earlier in the year the commission asked horsemen to voice their opinions on the possible rule change. Dianne Bennett, the Executive Director for the Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI), voiced the QHRAI board’s support of the rule change stating, “The QHRAI board supports the policy proposed to prohibit the use of albuterol in Quarter Horses.”
The new change is in place in time for the 2019 race meet at Indiana Grand Racing and Casino, where a total of 19 stakes races totaling more than $1.5 million in purses are on the calendar. The season
will begin April 16.
NEWS FROM THE GRAND CANYON STATE
Arizona Downs, which is located in Prescott Valley, is scheduled to open its inaugural season on May 24. The 35-day meet is slated to offer live racing on weekends through Sept. 2. The track’s stable area will welcome horses on April 29, and timed workouts begin May 2.
For more information about the inaugural season at Arizona Downs, contact racing sec- retary Randy Wehrman at (859) 640-7947.
After a three-year hiatus, racing will return to the Cochise County Fair in Douglas, Arizona, for a two-day meet May 18-19. The track last held live racing in 2016, when an estimated 10,000 people attended the fair meet.
LQHBA SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATION
On March 16, Harrah’s Louisiana Downs hosted the first futurity of the year when HH Gailforce won the $305,296 Mardi Gras Futu- rity-RG2, and then TDZ Louisiana Toast won the $120,782 Mardi Gras Derby. They weren’t, however, the only winners of the day.
The afternoon also featured the first opportu- nity of the year for eligible Louisiana students to receive scholarships from the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association Scholarship Fund.
In the winner’s circle for the scholarship presentation were Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker, LQHBA scholarship winner Hunter Ferten- baugh, LQHBA board members Jimmie Hatcher and JoBaya Foreman, and LQHBA scholarship winner Maddison McFadden. The two area students are now able to further their education in a higher education institution of their choice with the $2,000 scholarships. Both are currently attending Louisiana Tech University.
The LQHBA Scholarship Fund was the vision of the late Jim Mitchell and Executive Director Emeritus Leverne Perry. More than $570,000 has been earmarked for this program since its inception in 2001.
TEXAS-BRED CHANGES
At the March 19 meeting of the Texas Racing Commission, the Texas Quarter Horse Association proposed a rule change to Accred- ited Texas-bred rules regarding requirements for
Accredited Texas Broodmares. The proposed rule change deletes the requirement that in order to be accredited as a Texas broodmare the mare must be permanently domiciled in Texas.
This rule proposal was passed by the commis- sion and will now be posted in the Texas Register. The next meeting of the Texas Racing Commission is scheduled for June 11. If there is no objection, this rule change will most likely be adopted at that meeting. If adopted, the change will allow mares to be domiciled anywhere and still produce Accredited Texas-bred foals as long as the foal is born in Texas and the mare was bred to an Accredited Texas Stal- lion at least every other breeding. The mares must still be accredited with the TQHA.
The TQHA Race Committee, with the ap- proval of the Executive Committee, made the decision to start accepting foals of 2018 to be Texas Accredited using these new guidelines. If you have a 2018 foal that was born in Texas and meets all other ATB rules, that foal is now eligible to be an Accredited Texas-bred.
Even though this rule change cannot be of- ficially adopted until after the deadline to consign to the 2019 TQHA Yearling Sale, which is May 1, TQHA will allow consignors to consign yearlings that meet the new guidelines. In the event the rule is not adopted, the association will refund all consignment fees for horses deemed ineligible.
For additional information, please contact TQHA at (512) 458-5202 or email Rob Werstler at rwerstler@tqha.com.
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TRACK CHATTER