Page 23 - December 2007 The Game

Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper HBPA Ontario Update The Game, December 2007 23 HBPA Administrative Offices: 135 Queen’s Plate Drive, Suite 370, Toronto, Ontario M9W 6V1
Phone: 416-747-5252
A Conversation with the HBPA of Ontario President Sue Leslie Continued....
HBPA Woodbine Backstretch Office Hours
for a meet in 2008 that will run from Kentucky Derby day in May till the end of October.
Q- Are there any new initiatives that are up and coming that horsemen can expect for next year or the next few years?
The HBPA Backstretch of ce at Woodbine will keep the following hours:
The of ce will be closed December 22, 2007 and will re-open at 7am on Tuesday, January 29, 2008.
The Fort Erie issue is a complex issue because the slot machine revenue every year at Fort Erie has fallen off alarmingly. We have a Canadian dollar which is now worth more than the US. We have a border that you can hardly travel back and forth across. We have no smoking here and we have smok- ing available within 20 miles of us. It is very hard right now to think of how we are going to rejuvenate the slot revenue. So we have a problem, as horsemen, with our funding. Then you have a racetrack owner that is losing money. We have a project that the owner of the racetrack has proposed, a $300 million luxury hotel, retirement home, water park that we are pushing and encouraging the government to move on.
Open seven days a week 7 am to 3 pm until December 14, 2007.
The HBPA Administrative of ce will remain open during regular business hours throughout the winter months. They can be reached at 416-747-5252.
All of these issues kind of come together and in order to make this work, all parties need to continue working together to nd solutions that result in enhanced revenues.
What is the long term plan? What
is the nancing for long term going
to be? What is our relationship in the industry in terms of WEG, the ORC, the CTHS, the CPMA, and OHRIA? This is what we have been working on.
A - We are in the process of doing a total review of our nancial structure and are in the middle of doing a review of our pension plan for our members. We think that we might be able to make the pension plan a little better.
Open Monday to Friday 7 am to 3 pm December 17 to 21, 2007.
I think the current Board
of Directors have done a great job in that we haven’t just taken short term measures to plug holes. We are trying to look at a long term plan for the security of our horsemen.
The HBPA would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all the workers here at Woodbine.
I think we have a Board with vision and will continue to do an overview
of how the HBPA operates within ourselves, for the horsemen and within
Outstanding Assistants & Grooms of 2007
The following is a list of the six people who were awarded the Outstanding Assistant Trainer and Outstanding Groom of the Year awards for 2007.
We are representing our horsemen as best we can. We are 100% unanimous on our Board that we have to have Fort Erie. We need a second racetrack in Ontario.
We are trying tolookata long term plan for the security of our horsemen
In a special presentation in the winner’s circle at Woobinde on November 17, the three recipients of the 2007 Outstanding Assistant Trainers Awards and the three recipients of the 2007 Outstanding Groom Awards were each presented by the HBPA with a cheque for $500 as well as a certi cate honouring their achievement:
HBPA Executive Director Nick Coukos; HBPA Director Sam Lima;
Lorie Allen (Assistant to Josie Carroll); HBPA Director Danny Vella;
Martha Gonzalez (Assistant to Nick Gonzalez); Leroy Trotman (Assistant to Reade Baker); HBPA Director Lynne Hindmarsh; HBPA President Sue Leslie.
HBPA Executive Director Nick Coukos; HBPA Director Lynne Hindmarsh; Salim (Mickey) Mohammed (groom for Danny Vella); Dexter Braithewaite (groom for Barbara Minshall); HBPA Director Nick Gonzalez; HBPA Director Sam Lima; Christine Windsor (groom for Mike Keogh); HBPA President Sue Leslie
Q - The ORC have implemented a new strategy for licensing next year?
Assistant Trainers Photo (above) from Left to Right:
A - We went to the ORC last spring and advised them that we were not prepared to put up with the long line ups and unfair disrespect for the way people get licensed in this industry.
the industry.
For the health of our indus-
We were well received when
we went in and we made some suggestions as to how to alleviate it.
try I believe it is imperative that racetracks and horsemen have open, ongoing communication that embodies cooperation, compromise and trust.
The ORC have staggered the expiration dates for the backstretch people to alleviate line ups. They are also going to make the board room in the race of ce available to add two more people to do licensing. So there should be 4 people next year rather than 2. They will have a separate line for people who are simply getting licensed. Someone who is getting
a hotwalkers license or an owners license doesn’t have to get in line
with those who are doing agents and partnerships, stable names and colours. We are hoping that we can expedite the simple ones.
If our racetrack does well,
the horsemen will do well. If the horsemen do well the racetrack will do well. We are all one community.
I think we need to do more and we are going to see how it works this Spring. If it is not satisfactory then we will be back at the table with them to re-address the issue.
We have different interests to represent but at the end of the day
if you don’t work together to have a successful industry, all else is a mute point.
I am a big believer in OHRIA. The industry needs to come together to solve its own collective issues. If we all get in the same room together at the end of the day we are all intertwined, we need the leaders of our industry to meet as a group and say, where are we going, what do we need to do.
Grooms Photo from Left to Right:
We need to jointly develop a clear vision for our industry.
Visit the HBPA of Ontario on-line at www.hbpa.on.ca
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