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‘I Don’t Have The Right Words To Describe It’: Jockey Alice Beckman Celebrates First Winner At Turfway Park

In her first race as a licensed jockey on March 20 at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., Alice Beckman finished second by a half-length. Back in the irons five days later, the end result saw the exact same margin between the first and second-place finishers: a half-length. This time, however, Beckman came out on the winning side of the wire.

“Going into it I thought the horse had a chance, so I tried to mentally prepare myself,” Beckman explained. “But you just can't prepare yourself for that feeling. It was so fun, and I don't have the right words to describe it, really.”

Both horses, Crown the Prince (1st on March 25) and So Caught Up In U (2nd on March 20), are trained by Beckman's boyfriend of the past several years, Keith Kinmon. The two-person team operates a training, breaking, and breeding business about 45 minutes away from Turfway in Northern Kentucky, doing all the work themselves on anywhere from 20 to 30 horses at a time.

“He's been so supportive of me wanting to ride races,” said Beckman, 28.

Beckman acknowledges that she's a bit later to the game of race-riding than most of her peers, despite growing up around horses in Ohio.

“It's always kind of been in the back of my mind, that I want to be a jockey,” she said. “I remember in kindergarten, the teacher had us write down what we wanted to be when we grew up. I wrote down three choices: a trick rider in the circus, a cowgirl, or a jockey.

“I'd always been drawn to the racetrack, so when my college plans to go to vet school weren't really working out like I'd hoped, I made a new plan. My advisor was so great, he asked me, 'Taking away all the expectations of others, what's your dream job? What do you want to do every day?' The answer was simple: be a jockey.”

That advisor got Beckman into the Kentucky Equine Management Internship Program, and she spent several years working for Juddmonte Farm before heading to Payson Park in Florida to work with young racehorses. She loved the high-paced atmosphere of the racetrack, and so when she moved home to Ohio, Beckman started freelance exercising full time.

Beckman met Kinmon at Belterra Park in Cincinnati when he asked her to gallop a few horses one day. They've been inseparable ever since, working overtime to take care of their eight horses at Turfway and another 15-20 at the farm. Beckman couldn't have been more thrilled that her first win as a jockey came on a horse he both owns and trains.

“Have owned a few racehorses myself, it's always fun to be in the winner's circle,” said Beckman. “But when it was him and me in there, and I was on top of the horse, it was a whole different level.”

The post ‘I Don’t Have The Right Words To Describe It’: Jockey Alice Beckman Celebrates First Winner At Turfway Park appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Belterra Wants To Dismiss Ohio HBPA Lawsuit Over $2.7M in ‘Deprived’ VLT Money

The present and former owners of Belterra Park have filed a motion to toss out a federal lawsuit filed by the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (OHBPA) that seeks to recoup more than $2.7 in gaming revenues that the OHBPA alleges the track wrongfully withheld between 2014 and 2018.

According to a motion to dismiss filed Feb. 16 in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Eastern Division), the defendants are alleging that “OHBPA has failed to state any viable claims against Defendants. OHBPA's cleverly labeled claims are nothing more than an attempt to plead around the fact that there is no private right of action under the relevant Ohio statute or regulation. Quite simply, OHBPA has no right to receive the “catch up” payments and only the Racing Commission is authorized to enforce [the relevant state codes] and the Resolution.”

Back on Dec. 18, the OHBPA's suit contended that Belterra never made good on a four-year difference between a placeholder rate first established for video lottery terminal (VLT) gaming and the eventually revised rate, which it claims totals $2,769,652.

“The OHBPA has been deprived of these funds, which go directly toward the benefit of horse breeding and horse racing in Ohio,” the OHBPA contended in its suit (which is explained in greater detail here).

On Tuesday, the defendants outlined a four-plank argument for dismissing the lawsuit:

“First, OHBPA has no right to the claimed payments under the relevant statutory or regulatory scheme, and even if it did, there is no private right of action for it to enforce the statute or regulation. Although OHBPA crafts its attempt at enforcing the statutes and regulations as tort claims, those claims fail.

“Second, the applicable statute, rules, and resolution regulating the payment of the VLT
commission percentage rates to the horsemen's associations are not retroactive. Therefore,
in contravention of an express contract and statutory and rule authority vested in the Racing
Commission, OHBPA is asking this Court to order Defendants to go back in time and pay
OHBPA additional funds for the time period between May 1, 2014 and July 1, 2018. Quite simply, OHBPA has no right to any extra payments and no authority to bring this action.

“Third, because OHBPA has no right to possess the payments Defendants' retention of
those payment cannot be wrongful, and therefore, its claim for conversion fails.

“Finally, OHBPA's claim for unjust enrichment fails because (a) there is an express contract covering the same subject, which precludes the unjust enrichment claim, (b) OHBPA has not conferred a benefit on Defendants, and (c) Defendants' non-payment of the purported extra VLT
commission rate payments is not “unjust” because OHBPA has no right to those payments…. Defendants have paid all amounts required to be paid and distributed according to Ohio law. As such, Defendants respectfully request that the Court dismiss OHBPA's Complaint.”

Belterra Park itself is named as a defendant, as is the racino's current owner/operator, Boyd Gaming Corporation. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc., (which, according to the suit, owned Belterra between 2011 and 2018) and Penn National Gaming, Inc. (which, according to the suit, briefly had an ownership interest in Belterra in 2018), are also listed as defendants.

The post Belterra Wants To Dismiss Ohio HBPA Lawsuit Over $2.7M in ‘Deprived’ VLT Money appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Ohio HBPA Sues Belterra to Recoup $2.7M in VLT Money

The Ohio Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (OHBPA) filed a federal lawsuit against Belterra Park’s present and former owners Dec. 18 seeking more than $2.7 in gaming revenues that the OHBPA is claiming the track wrongfully withheld between 2014 and 2018.

“This action arises from Defendants’ failure to pay the OHBPA its share of net-win video lottery terminal [VLT] commission from Belterra Park,” states the complaint filed Friday morning in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Eastern Division). “The OHBPA has been deprived of these funds, which go directly toward the benefit of horse breeding and horse racing in Ohio.”

According to the complaint, when VLT gaming was first legalized by Ohio in 2009, the state authorized racinos to retain 66.5% of revenues, with “between 9% and 11%” of those net-win proceeds to then be paid to Thoroughbred and Standardbred entities.

Those percentages were set five years before any actual VLT gaming happened at Belterra, and in 2012 the state authorized the Ohio State Racing Commission to set the actual rate that would go to purses, based upon that 9-11% range. But until a new, firm rate got set, 9% was to be used as the placeholder to determine purse proceeds.

“At all relevant times, the OHBPA and Belterra Park each understood that, pursuant to the statute, the actual percentage rate was to be set at some future time, and that Belterra Park would need to make a ‘true-up’ payment to the OHBPA for any difference between the 9% placeholder rate and a statutorily-set rate that was greater than 9%,” the suit contends.

Belterra didn’t open for VLT gaming until May 1, 2014, largely because the former track known as River Downs was undergoing a substantial renovation to rebrand the property as Belterra Park Gaming & Entertainment Center. The capital expenditures for that project were to be a factor in determining the new calculation rate for purse money, but the suit alleges Belterra stalled and tried to overstate the costs it incurred fixing up the property.

The complaint continues, “Upon information and belief, the delay in setting the statutory rate was due to Belterra Park’s years-long delay in providing to the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission a submission of reasonable capital expenditures incurred, such capital expenditures being the basis for the setting of the percentage rate.”

“Belterra’s submissions were unrealistic and overly aggressive attempts to persuade the authorities that it was entitled to a lower statutory rate; this caused delays in the determination by the Racing Commission,” the complaint alleges. “The OHBPA had no access to Belterra Park’s records of purported capital expenditures, and no way to expedite the rate-setting

process.”

Eventually, on June 27, 2018, the racing commission set the percentage of Belterra Park’s net-win VLT commission that it owed to the OHBPA at 9.95% (both retroactively and moving forward, according to the suit).

And four days after that rate was established, the OHBPA did, in fact, begin receiving its full 9.95% from Belterra.

But the bone of contention has to do with retroactivity: The OHBPA is arguing that Belterra never made good on the four-year difference between the placeholder rate and the revised rate, which it claims totals $2,769,652.

“The OHBPA has demanded the difference between the 9% placeholder rate and the 9.95% rate set pursuant to the statute in its negotiations with Belterra at various times since May 1, 2014, by, for example, proposing alternative methods of receiving the earmarked funds,” the suit contends. “Indeed, the Racing Commission itself has acknowledged that the true-up payment from Belterra Park is due and has asked the OHBPA if it would accept installment payments on the past-due amount.”

“The OHBPA has a right to possess the Converted Funds, which are identifiable and traceable, yet Defendants continue to withhold the Converted Funds from the OHBPA,” the complaint asserts.

In addition, the OHBPA is asking the court to make Belterra and the other defendants pay $25,000 in damages, plus pre- and post-judgment interest and the OHBPA’s attorney fees and court costs.

Belterra Park itself is named as a defendant, as is the racino’s current owner/operator, Boyd Gaming Corporation.

David Strow, Boyd’s vice president of corporate communications, answered a request for comment from TDN by emailing that it is company policy not to discuss pending litigation.

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc., (which, according to the suit, owned Belterra between 2011 and 2018) and Penn National Gaming, Inc. (which, according to the suit, briefly had an ownership interest in Belterra in 2018), are also listed as defendants.

The post Ohio HBPA Sues Belterra to Recoup $2.7M in VLT Money appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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66-Year-Old Perry Ouzts: ‘As Long As I Can Keep Winning, I Will Keep On Riding’

On his way to and from Keeneland's Jockey Quarters for Sunday's first race, 66-year-old rider Perry Ouzts received a series of shout outs and congratulations from those on hand at the Lexington, Ky., track. The accolades were for his latest milestone: becoming North America's sixth all-time leading rider by wins on the Oct. 9 closing-day program at Belterra Park near Cincinnati.

The victory that day was the 7,142nd of Ouzts' career, pushing him one win ahead of Hall of Famer Chris McCarron and holding him steady as the leader among active jockeys. Congratulations arrived via texts, calls and videos from numerous fans, including McCarron and Hall of Famer Pat Day, while an especially meaningful greeting came from retired trainer W.J. Danner, who provided Ouzts with his first victory on April 2, 1973, at Beulah Park in Ohio.

Ouzts' Keeneland mount on Sunday, Maurice Miller's homebred It's Summer, finished fifth.

“It is very special to come to Keeneland, but it is harder to win,” said Ouzts, who has ridden here sparingly during his career and has five wins. “Horses at Keeneland are a much higher level than the ones at Belterra.”

Ouzts will be at Keeneland a little in the coming days. In Friday's second race, he is named to ride Jerome Russell and Kristina Russell's She's No Drama.

Sunday's ride aboard It's Summer was business as usual for Ouzts, who said he pays little attention to his statistics. With no plans for retirement, Ouzts expects to compete this winter in Northern Kentucky at Turfway Park, where he has been a regular for nearly 50 years. His summer base is Belterra (formerly River Downs.)

“I get through the day, turn the page and go to the next day,” said Ouzts, who attributes his success to dedication, determination, desire to win – and a naturally light physique.

On the list of all-time leading riders by wins, Ouzts trails only Russell Baze (12,842 wins), Laffit Pincay Jr. (9,530), Bill Shoemaker (8,833), Pat Day (8,803) and David Gall (7,396).

“I have never found anything else that gives me that thrill (of winning) every time, no matter if it is an (ordinary) race or a stakes race,” Ouzts said. “I get that same thrill every time. That is what keeps me going. As long as I can keep winning, I will keep on riding.”

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