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Turf Paradise, Arizona HBPA Agree To 84-Day Meet In 2021

Turf Paradise and the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA) have agreed to resume live racing at the Phoenix-based oval with an 84-day meeting running from Jan. 2 through May 1, 2021.

The meet will run on a five-day a week schedule, Saturday thru Wednesday. Horsemen can arrive Nov. 19 for stall preparations and then bring horses into the stable area Nov. 25. Training will begin Dec. 2.

Following months of negotiations between the AZHBPA and Turf Paradise management, following a March 14 cancellation of the live meet in progress due to the Coronavirus, the two sides were able to craft a 26-point agreement. The forum for on-going discussions between the two sides was provided by Rudy Casillas, the Director for the Division of Racing, the state's regulatory body for the sport.

In a letter penned by Casillas and addressed to Bob Hutton, President of the AZHBPA and Jerry Simms, the owner of Turf Paradise, he said: “Many thanks to both of you for finally reaching terms to allow for the racing industry to move forward. The Licensees and horseracing patrons will be pleased.”

“The AZHBPA is all about live racing,” said Hutton. “The AZHBPA is enthusiastic to help provide the opportunity for horsemen to race close to home and be with their families. Racing close to home will help eliminate unnecessary travel expenses and financial anxiety for our members.”

“We're happy for our horsemen that they're going to be racing,” said Simms. “Unfortunately we still have to deal with Covid-19, and we will. We thank Rudy Casillas for bringing us together and getting this done.”

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View From The Eighth Pole: The Skunk In Arizona Racing

“You don't get in a pissing match with a skunk.”

Those words were first conveyed to me in the mid-1970s when I was dealing with a political operative in Washington, D.C., who wasn't happy with something written by a newspaper columnist nationally syndicated by the company for which I was working.

While that may be good advice, sometimes you just can't avoid confrontations with skunks.

One example came from a recent letter from Turf Paradise general manager Vincent Francia to horsemen who race at the Phoenix, Ariz. track.

The letter, likely dictated to Francia by Turf Paradise owner Jerry Simms, was both delusional and insulting. It said, in essence, if you want us to open Turf Paradise for an abbreviated race meeting in 2021, you'll have to find another organization besides the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association to represent you. Either that, or the current board and executive director of the Arizona HBPA can resign, and then we'll consider opening for a live meet in January.

“Simms is trying to do the same thing with the horsemen that he did with the racing commission a while ago: divide and conquer,” said Robert Hutton, president of the Arizona HBPA. “His move to get rid of the HBPA is because he doesn't want anyone holding him to a standard.”

Simms and Francia are upset that Hutton and the Arizona HBPA took control of $2.1 million in the purse account generated primarily from Simms-controlled off-track betting facilities from the time live racing at Turf Paradise abruptly ended last March and horsemen were given short notice to leave the stable area.

“We were well within our rights,” Hutton said. “We want to take the purse money and give it to anyone who wants to run a live race meet in the state.”

The move came after Turf Paradise told the Arizona Racing Commission in August that it wouldn't be possible to run a 2020-'21 race meeting because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtually every other track in the country has been able to meet the challenge of the pandemic and operate with or without fans on-site.

Turf Paradise said it wanted to hold the horsemen's purse money for a meeting at some time in the future. Never mind the short-term pain having no 2021 meet would inflict on horsepeople who have supported Turf Paradise for years or decades.

According to Hutton, Francia and Simms simply may be trying to buy time and keep churning profits out of their OTB network – which he said can only operate if there is live racing.

“No live racing, no OTBs. That's the law,” Hutton said. “In his settlement agreement with us in March, one of the things we agreed to was he (Simms) could have OTB signals until the end of the year. We're willing to stick to that, but that date is fast approaching.”

In response to Francia's Sept. 17 letter to horsemen, Hutton issued one of his own on behalf of the Arizona HBPA the following day

In it, he calls Francia's bluff and agrees to a January-May race meet on the following conditions:

That Simms “respect the horsemen's choice of representation and refrain from your attempt to tell us, the horsemen, who we can have as our representatives. Respect us, our choices, our leadership, our solidarity, and our industry.”
That Simms “honor the arbitration agreement and allow the AHBPA control of the horsemen's purse account (with the understanding that it will be used for purses during Turf Paradise's live meet). Additionally, reimburse AHBPA purse money from March 2020, when you killed the contract, to present, what the state law requires: 50% of the OTB revenue, when a contract is not in place.”
“The track must be safe for horses and people. Right now, the main track, the turf track and the training track are not fit to run on. The back side is full of trenches, power boxes with wires exposed, and the roads and bridle path are in terrible condition. The barns are, as always, dilapidated. And the clubhouse is uninhabitable. No doubt, to meet this condition, a safety inspection will be required.”

Hutton then added: “As an aside, the condition of your facility and grounds gives us pause as to the genuineness of your proposal. Could it be that you are simply after an AHBPA that you can control so that you will be able to collect revenues from OTBs without live racing and secure approvals for importing the signal without live racing, as you are now? If that is the case, then we will have racing on your terms which is no racing at all. Which would violate state law, and we would be forced to have the Commission regulate compliance.”

There is a skunk involved in Arizona racing, for sure, but it's not the horsemen who started this pissing match.

That's my view from the eighth pole.

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AZHBPA to Turf Paradise Racing Proposal: We’ve Conditions Too

The Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA) would be amenable to Turf Paradise’s latest proposal to conduct a live 2020-21 race meet as long as certain conditions of their own are met, according to a letter written by AZHBPA president Bob Hutton dated Friday and obtained by the TDN.

“Because we are the heart and soul of horse racing in Arizona, we offer you all we have to help make Turf Paradise the venue for racing it can be and once was,” Hutton wrote, pointing to the horsemen’s horses, approval rights for signals and purse money. However, “there are conditions,” he added, arguing that the condition of the facility and grounds “gives us pause as to the genuineness of your proposal.”

The letter is in response to a missive Turf Paradise sent to the horsemen Thursday, detailing a proposed live meet next year that will run Jan. 2 through May 1.

For that proposed meet to go ahead, however, Turf Paradise management listed in the letter a number of caveats, namely that $2.1 million of disputed purse account monies be returned to Turf Paradise, and that the Arizona horsemen form a new representative organization or for the current AZHBPA board members and their executive director to resign.

These purse account funds have been the latest bone of contention in a long-running dispute between Arizona horsemen and management of Turf Paradise. Track general manager Vince Francia previously told the TDN that these funds contractually belong to Turf Paradise for the horsemen that race there.

The horsemen, however, argue that they ultimately wield control over the purse account, as per a prior arbitrated settlement. Indeed, earlier this week a widely circulated email stated that the AZHBPA has secured a good chunk of this money and placed it into a trust to pay purses if and when racing resumes elsewhere.

Francia told the TDN that he has advised facility owner Jerry Simms that the AZHBPA’s written rebuttal is an “olive branch” to conduct negotiations, and that all conditions are on the table.

The main conditions outlined in the AZHBPA’s Friday response are as follows:

“The first condition is that you, Mr. Simms [Turf Paradise owner], respect the Horsemen’s choice of representation and refrain from your attempt to tell us, the Horsemen, who we can have as our representatives. Respect us, our choices, our leadership, our solidarity, and our industry.

“Here is the second condition: Honor the arbitration agreement and allow the AHBPA control of the horsemen’s purse account, (with the understanding that it will be used for purses during Turf Paradise’s live meet). Additionally, reimburse AHBPA purse money from March 2020, when you killed the contract, to present, what the state law requires: 50% of the OTB revenue, when a contract is not in place.

“This takes us to the third condition: The track must be safe for the horses and people. Right now, the main track, the turf track and the training track are not fit to run on. The backside is full of trenches, power boxes with wires exposed, and the roads and bridle path are in terrible condition. The barns are, as always, dilapidated. And the clubhouse is uninhabitable. No doubt, to meet this condition, a safety inspection will be required.

“If you meet these conditions, we will fully engage in arriving at a new contract. Suffice to say, efforts have been made to resolve our differences, but when you remove the AHBPA from our mutual account so that we, the Horsemen, cannot access our own purse funds, that should have been the end of our efforts to revitalize racing at our venue. Yet, here we are, offering to race again. Join us by respecting our choices and the laws that govern our industry. Then, both being reasonable, we can enter into a new contract.”

The AZHBPA’s latest overture, said Francia, is a “positive” one. “Mr. Hutton is offering an olive branch to discuss everything, including the two terms that we put forth. Something we both want is to have live racing reactivated here the day after New Year,” he said.

“I hope there’s resolution for both of our sides,” Francia added, “because it effects the livelihood of thousands of people in an industry that has a very ingrained attachment to this state. There’s 65 years of memories here.”

Francia also struck a more personal note. “When all this is said and done, I grieve the loss of friendship with Bob Hutton. We were good friends, we enjoyed each other’s company,” he said. “But that friendship has unfortunately been lost. And I understand.”

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Turf Paradise, Arizona HBPA Continue To Dispute Settlement Agreement, Winter Meet Cancellation

The following letter was written by Arizona HBPA president Bob Hutton and posted on social media on Aug. 15, following Turf Paradise's announcement that the track would not host a live racing season this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Below Hutton's letter is a response from Turf Paradise's general manager Vincent Francia, posted on the track's website on Aug. 17.

TO: HBPA MEMBERSHIP
FROM: PRESIDENT BOB HUTTON
DATE: August 15, 2020

As I am sure everyone is aware, Turf Paradise announced Thursday at the Arizona Racing Commission Meeting they are not running a race meet in 2020 / 2021. This is not a big surprise to me. As you all remember, when we fought last year to keep the track open till May 10th, Jerry Simms stated to all trainers they should take everything with them, do not leave anything behind, including walkers and pens. That was my clue that there would not be any more racing at Turf Paradise. At the commission meeting I stated no permittees will benefit from OTB revenue after the current signed consents for simulcasting have expired! No new approvals for signals will be signed if there is no live racing!

The HBPA has made numerous attempts to engage Turf Paradise in resuming negotiations to successfully run the 2020 / 2021 meet. It was obvious Jerry Simms had no intention of running a race meet, when for the most part the meetings deteriorated quickly once threats of lawsuits were thrown out in the direction of the HBPA Board members.

The arbitration settlement in October of 2019 resulted in the following changes: 1. The OTB split changed from Turf receiving a 60% / 40% split to 52% / 48%. 2. The advertisement contribution from the HBPA was reduced from $400,000 a year to $150,000 a year. 3. It was established that the purse money was the property of the Horsemen, and the purse account was to be in a HBPA controlled trust account, not in a Turf Paradise account. I believe once this happened Jerry Simms made the decision to close the track. The Covid 19 pandemic was just a convenient excuse.

I want all of you to know that in our most recent discussions with Turf Paradise, the Boards number one concern was to avoid the unprofessional behavior that we experienced in March of 2020. The HBPA could not in good conscience inform its membership they could return to Turf Paradise without some guarantee that the race meet would be run in its entirety. Jerry Simms refused to give that guarantee.

During the time that we were on the backside from March 14th till May 10th Jerry Simms charged the HBPA to keep the backside open for the horsemen. Although the HBPA Board did agreed to contribute to 50% of the expense, they were led to believe that it would be approximately $7,500 a week for the HBPA's portion. Jerry Simms then made the HBPA pay a security deposit of $20,000 up front or horseman would have been evicted on March 28th. Not wanting to have everyone evicted on March 28th, we were forced to pay the deposit and sign the agreement to stay. When we starting receiving the weekly bills instead of being charged $7,500 a week, Jerry Simms charged us anywhere from $13,000 to $15,000 a week for a total of $121,162.70. This was almost double what we were told was the estimate. The HBPA filed a grievance in May 2020 with the board of stewards asking for a refund. As of today, we have had no response.

As I stated above, in October 2019 we went through an arbitration with Turf Paradise. As a result of that arbitration it was ordered by the arbitrators that purse money is the property of the HBPA and is to be held in a HBPA trust account, not in Turf Paradise account. Despite several requests throughout the year by the HBPA to have the money moved to the HBPA trust account Jerry Simms has continued to refuse to comply. Again, we filed a grievance with the board of stewards to get this money released to the HBPA's trust account. As of, today we have heard nothing from the commission. We currently have $1.8 million in Turf Paradise's purse account, that he will not move to the HBPA trust account. This purse money belongs to the Arizona Horsemen to be used for a 2020 / 2021 fall and winter race meet in Arizona.

I know these are scary times and I do not want to give anyone any false hopes. However I want everyone to know we currently are having negotiations with other permittees to run a fall and winter race meet. The Arizona HBPA is committed to year around racing and will continue to work with other track owners who may want to come to the Phoenix area! I would like to thank those who have supported the HBPA in their efforts to provide the horsemen in the state of Arizona with a racing venue you deserve! Year around racing in Arizona is our GOAL!

Following is Vincent Francia's response:

Dear Horsemen,

This letter is written to respond to a post written by Mr. Bob Hutton, President of the AZHBPA that appeared on Facebook on August 15. This letter is written to clarify some of the statements and impressions in Mr. Hutton's letter. In other words, to set the record straight.

Mr. Simms has owned Turf for 20 years; 19 of those 20 years race meets were successfully conducted, from beginning to end. It's only this year, specifically when Governor Ducey declared a state of emergency on March 11 because of the Coronavirus that a race meet has
been cut short. The Coronavirus is the only reason Turf cut short its race meet on March 14 and the only reason Turf withdrew its request before the Arizona Racing Commission on August 13 to run a race meet from Nov. 1 to May 1, 2021. Turf does not want the liability of running a race meet while the Coronavirus is active.

Settlement Agreement (Attachment 1)

The Settlement Agreement was written by Mr. Casillas, Director of the Arizona Division of Racing, who also served as the mediator for Mr. Simms and Mr. Hutton as the two men compromised, negotiated and eventually signed the agreement in good faith on March 22.
Either side could have argued specific points of the agreement or declined to sign the agreement. But both sides agreed to sign. Read Attachment 1 for the complete terms of the agreement.

In his posting Mr. Hutton gives the impression that the Settlement Agreement, which by definition is to settle differences between parties, was somehow arrived at without the consent of both parties. On the contrary, both Mr. Simms and Mr. Hutton signed the 14 point
agreement. For example, the parties agreed to split the costs < 50‐50 > of maintaining the backside and training on the man track for 45 days. The AZHBPA was invoiced weekly and the invoices were promptly paid. When the 45 days expired the AZHBPA asked for an additional 10 days, at their own expense, and the request was granted.

It appears that Mr. Hutton's personal feelings toward Mr. Simms and Turf are clouding his judgement. The HBPA is to be neutral, treating all tracks equally, but Turf is treated differently. When Arizona Downs abbreviated their race meet they continued to simulcast without racing live. When that track announced that it would not be able to conduct a meet because of Yavapai County and the City of Prescott Valley's concerns about the Coronavirus, Arizona Downs, without objection from the AZHBPA, maintained their simulcasting and OTB system.

Why not the same for Turf?

Arizona Downs Letter (Attachment 2)

On May 22 Turf became aware of a letter from Mr. Dave Auther of Arizona Downs to Mr. Casillas. Specifically what caught our attention in the letter was the following that revealed how Arizona Downs was going to fund its purses: “This will include a contribution from the HBPA
toward purses. HBPA has a plan to secure purse money from the Turf Paradise purse fund.”

You cannot use the purse money of one race track to subsidize the purses of another track.

Mr. Hutton stated that without live racing there would be no simulcasting. Turf's contract with the AZHBPA goes until May 2021. Turf expects the AZHBPA to honor that contract.

At a meeting in early August with Mr. Hutton and two members of the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders' Association in my office at Turf, Mr. Hutton asked me if I believed a contract existed between Turf and the AZHBPA. I replied in the affirmative that I believed a contract existed between us. Mr. Hutton then asked Mr. Simms (who was participating by phone) the same question. Mr. Simms answered that he not only believed a contract existed but that it was in effect until May 2021. Mr. Hutton responded that he did not believe a contract existed because we cancelled the race meet due to the Coronavirus, thus rendering the contract void. Mr. Simms then asked Mr. Hutton that if he really believed that, then why are we having a discussion about contractual matters. Mr. Simms then said, “Let's continue to talk.” Mr. Hutton then stood up abruptly and said “We're done,” and left my office.

The abrupt ending of the meeting notwithstanding, Turf has never declined a phone call, an email/ text or a request to meet with the AZHPBA. That door is still open.

Sincerely,
Vincent Francia
General Manager

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