Nearly a year after permanently disabling comments on The Paulick Report, the comments section is back! Well, sort of. We can't fire up story comments again. The number of hours our staff was collectively losing in moderation (which, despite automation tools, often failed to remove libelous or trolly comments) was too great, and the few bad actors out there made it too labor-intensive to continue, even as we tried many different systems to combat them. The good news is, we are bringing back reader voices here on the Paulick Report with this new feature. Read a previous edition here.
In response to Chelsea Hackbarth's piece 'Help Wanted: KEEP Helping Kentucky Farms With Strategies To Improve Employee Retention In A Tough Labor Market'
I love working with horses and the equine industry in general.
Why would anyone not involved with horses from a young age want to work these types of jobs when they could make more at a restaurant, work less hours and get paid overtime when they work it? Retail, warehouse, factory, restaurants and just about every other industry pays far more than farm industry.
If most general farm managers can make six-figure salaries and department managers make $60-$80k, regular employees should start out making at least $35k a year after taxes, employees shouldn't have to work six days a week, should get paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours and have access to benefits.
This industry keeps talking about how vets suffer from long hours and low pay and poor treatment, if they're treating the doctors who treat their horses like this, how do you think they treat the grooms, night watchman and the lower tier personnel? Do you think our personal well-being is valued more than a vet?
Most equine workers are there six days a week in the rain, snow, ice, blazing heat or below freezing temperatures. We're constantly filling up buckets in the summer and breaking up ice in the winter. We're watching for illness and signs of distress. We're anticipating weather movements so we can determine what to do with our horses that day. We're waiting for a mare to foal and stay as long as it takes to make sure it's all taken care of before we even consider leaving for that day.
Are we not important enough to keep happy? Are vets the only ones that matter? We are there for the horse every day while vets are there for your horse every so often, shouldn't we be part of the focus?
The love of the horse goes a long way in helping us stay in the industry but that love doesn't pick up where the low pay ends. Morale on a lot of farms is down. Spirits are low. Help is scarce.
The pandemic has and still is driving up the cost of everything and the wages are staying stagnant while most other industries have started to raise theirs to retain and gain new employees. The equine industry has refused to do this thus far and it's hemorrhaging skilled workers and deterring new ones.
I've watched more horsemen and women walk away than stay and it's still happening. More farms are losing help, they then overwork what help they have to compensate and then more leave because of that. It's a vicious cycle and until pay and hours worked and overall treatment of the equine employee gets better, it'll continue to die a slow painful death.
—Jon Hyman, fan, groom, and foreman
In response to Ray Paulick's commentary 'View From The Eighth Pole: Soul Searching, Restitution In Order For Owners Who Supported Jorge Navarro's Stable':
Regarding your View from the Eighth Pole about restitution to owners of horses who finished behind Jorge Navarro horses: my wife and I are owners of Aaron Racing Stables and had a very nice mare named Mia Bella Rossa, who in the years 2019 through 2021 and won eight races for us after being claimed for $12,500.
On July 16, 2019, she ran very well and lost a close battle with a Navarro horse named Cuddle Kitten. We were three and a half lengths ahead of the next horse and the rest of the field were far behind. Navarro received Cuddle Kitten from her owners, Flying P Stables, a start before this one, and she promptly won four races in a row including a starter at Saratoga. The Equibase numbers in those races were 10 to 20 points higher than she had ever run before.
It would be nice for a small owner, one or two horses at a time, to receive the $12,800 difference between first and second in that race. While we doubt that Navarro will pay restitution to all of the owners so cheated, we look forward to following the path of this issue.
—Andy Aaron, owner
I disagree with applying restitution if the prosecution is not required to prove the medication given changed the order of the races involved. For example, the federal charges are things like “misbranding conspiracy, obstruction, smuggling, and unlawful distribution of prescription drugs.” These have a far lower standard for proving guilt than proving a drug is both performance enhancing and forbidden. As a result, the punishment should be far less as well.
In Navarro's case he admitted to using a blood booster, which I assume is Erythropoietin (EPO). It is a Class 1 drug with a Class A penalty that would result in a loss of purse. However, other trainers like Servis are accused of using clenbuterol, which is permitted under certain circumstances, and SGF-100, which both the Australian and Hong Kong racing authorities have stated their belief that it is useless.
The key problem with Navarro is the concept of an estoppel. My understanding is that the racing commission's failure to assert its right to enforce the rules in a timely manner makes the rules unenforceable. Navarro's juice man shoes illustrate that he was making little effort to disguise his behavior and that the commission made even less effort to punish it. The commission's complacency may have encouraged other trainers to join the “dark side.” I assume I am in the minority with my opinion.
—Richard Neil Braithwaite, horseplayer
Although it didn't make it into a Paulick Report story, Ray tweeted last week questioning the choice of trainer by NYTHA president Joe Appelbaum, who was running a horse with Juan Vazquez via his Off The Hook stable. Those questions prompted this response from writer Tom Noonan:
“In his statement to me, Joe Appelbaum accepted responsibility for retaining Vazquez. He also responded to my query promptly (within hours on a Friday afternoon) and exhibited the transparency that is so rare in racing. Would that New York's State Gaming Commission had the same level of accountability. After all, they granted Vazquez a license after denying him with no meaningful explanation in early 2018.
Racing has plenty of room for examining the accountability of owners as I argued in this post about owners much more prominent than Joe Appelbaum. And it must be done with transparency.”
–Read Noonan's complete op/ed on his blog here.
2021 has been a busy news year for horse racing, and we know there will be more stories that spark discussion and reaction from our readership. As always, you can send your letters to the editor, tips, comments, and rants to our publisher and editor here.
The post The Comments Section: Owner Responsibility And An Appreciation For The Workers In The Barn appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
