Page 14 - December 2015

Got Good News to Share?
Do you have a positive story that you’d like to share?
by Jennifer K. Hancock
IndIana Horse racIng summIt
The Indiana Horse Racing Commission hosted its first Horse Racing Summit at
the Indiana State
Fairgrounds in
Indianapolis on Nov.
20. The open-invita-
tion public meeting
provided participants
an opportunity to
share their thoughts,
concerns and sugges-
tions with members of
the Indiana Horse Racing Commission.
More than 100 people attended the meeting and represented the three breeds racing in Indiana – Quarter Horse, Standardbred and Thoroughbred. Representatives from Indiana’s two pari-mutuel racetracks, Indiana Grand and Hoosier Park, along with IHRC staff and racing officials also attended. Topics of discussion included commission rules, breed development programs, marketing and meth- ods to grow the industry.
“We are very pleased with the number of horse- men who took time out of their busy schedules to share their thoughts with us. They are a vital piece of our horse racing industry, and we will be looking into the many suggestions made today,” said Indiana Horse Racing Commission Chairman Thomas Weatherwax.
The commission members and staff will ana- lyze the input received to assist them in identify- ing ways in which Indiana’s racing industry can be improved.
“Today was an important step in moving forward with the Commission’s goal of creating an open dia- logue between all facets of the industry,” Weatherwax said. “The Commission hopes to expand upon
what we’ve accomplished here today by considering additional Summits in the future.”
Learn more about the Indiana horse racing indus- try at www.in.gov/hrc.
WyomIng Back on track
The Wyoming Pari-Mutuel Commission (WPMC) on Oct. 2 ordered a shutdown of the historical racing terminals at Wyoming Downs and its off-track betting facilities following the attorney general’s opinion that the terminals didn’t comply with state law, claiming they contained a component of luck or randomness. The software
issue that the state attorney general’s opinion stated was the basis for the shutdown took seven weeks to resolve, but, “We’re back in action,” said Wyoming Downs managing partner and part- owner Eric Nelson.
Wyoming Downs brought back many of the employees that were laid off during the shut-down and has opened all eight of the Wyoming Downs’ locations that house the racing terminals.
“It’s the holidays, and we’re glad to be back,” said Nelson. “We’re especially happy to bring employees back to work.”
oHrc neW executIve dIrector
The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission (OHRC) named Kelly Cathey as the agency’s new executive director on Nov. 19.
Cathey, who had been
serving as interim execu-
tive director since August
when former executive
director Constantin
“Tino” Rieger resigned, is 45 and lives in Jones, Oklahoma. Cathey grew up in the horse industry as his father was a horse trainer, and he accepted his first job in the horse racing industry at 14. He’s worked in the industry ever since and has had just about every job, including groom, assistant trainer, assistant starter, racing official and assistant racing official. He worked in Texas at Retama Park, Lone Star Park, Sam Houston and Manor Downs.
Cathey became the racing secretary at Will Rogers Downs in 2005 and was later promoted to direc-
tor of racing. He began working for the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission in 2012 as a steward at Remington Park.
ortIz JoIns 3,000 cluB
Veteran Quarter Horse jockey Gilbert Ortiz kept chip- ping away and reached an elite milestone on Nov. 27, joining the 3,000 career win club.
His 3,000th career victory came aboard Raul Penaloza Canada’s Baby Separatista in the third race, a 400-yard trial for the Evangeline Downs Futurity. Ortiz is the seventh jockey to reach the milestone and joins
The MonTh in review
Send photos and news items to jennifer_k_hancock@hotmail.com.
12 SPEEDHORSE, December 2015
Track chaTTer
©Sandra Beck Coady, Coady Photography