Eric Hamelback | Horse Racing Free Tips

Speakers Announced for Track Supers Field Day at Indiana

The lineup of speakers has been announced for the 20th annual Track Superintendents Field Day set for June 14-15 at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino. Among the speakers on the agenda are Joe Morris, senior vice president of racing for Caesars; Mike Ziegler, senior vice president and general manager of Churchill Downs, Dr. Michael DePew, an agronomist/soil scientist and industry-leading leading soil expert; trainer Michael Dickinson, president of Tapeta Footings Inc.; Dr. William Farmer, equine medical director for Churchill Downs Inc.; and Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA. The meeting brings together track superintendents and staff to discuss best practices related to track maintenance, safety and operational issues for racing and training facilities.

“We encourage not only track supers to attend, but also those from training centers as well as farms with training surfaces,” said Roy Smith, founder of the event and track superintendent at Indiana Grand.

Registration, free to track supers and staff, is now open for the event. For more information, go to www.tracksupers.com.

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Dickinson, Ziegler Among Speakers For 2021 Track Superintendents Field Day

A strong lineup of speakers has been announced for the 20th annual Track Superintendents Field Day set for June 14-15 at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino. The meeting brings together track superintendents and staff to discuss best practices related to track maintenance, safety and operational issues for racing and training facilities.

Among the speakers on the agenda are Joe Morris, senior vice president of racing for Caesars; Mike Ziegler, senior vice president and general manager of Churchill Downs, Dr. Michael DePew, an agronomist/soil scientist and industry-leading leading soil expert; trainer Michael Dickinson, president of Tapeta Footings Inc.; Dr. William Farmer, equine medical director for Churchill Downs Inc.; and Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA.

“There is nothing more important to horsemen than the safety of horses and jockeys, so I'm looking forward to interacting with the men and women who work tirelessly to make our racing surfaces as safe as possible,” said Hamelback.

Registration is now open for the event, and there are no registration fees for track supers and staff thanks to the support of sponsors.

“We are excited to have such a distinguished list of speakers this year and think this will be one of the best gatherings we've ever had,” said Roy Smith, founder of the event and track superintendent at Indiana Grand. “We encourage not only track supers to attend, but also those from training centers as well as farms with training surfaces.”

For more information, go to www.tracksupers.com.

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Op/Ed Feedback: Why Is Legality Considered Optional?

by Peter Ecabert

Bill Finley, in his Mar. 17 TDN opinion piece on the National HBPA challenging the legality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, wrote: “It's hard to imagine that there is one horseman anywhere who cares one bit whether or not HISA is unconstitutional or not.”

To Mr. Finley, it doesn't matter if this legislation, ramrodded through to passage with no Senate Committee discussion or debate as a little-known add-on to December's COVID relief bill, is legal or not. Who cares about the law's legality? he asks. The National HBPA cares.

We believe thousands of horsemen and horsewomen, including HBPA members and those in other racing jurisdictions, care, but many are afraid to say aloud that the emperor has no clothes. If they don't care today, we are confident they will down the road when the harmful consequences of HISA are put into effect.

No reasonable person should take issue with the National HBPA, North America's largest Thoroughbred horsemen's association, doing its due diligence to make sure that any such fundamental change to the running of horse racing has a solid legal foundation. It's the due diligence that should have been done in the first place by the well-funded power-brokers pushing this legislation that raises more questions than answers.

Let's be perfectly clear, the National HBPA is and has remained in favor of uniformity. We demanded safety protocols be the norm, not a half-hearted attempt to service public perception. We have never spoken against USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) as a contracted entity to aid in enforcement, and we have never stood in favor of the protection of proven cheaters. To label any horsemen's group with that is misinformed and has no basis in fact. However, we have stood for due process and the protection of horsemen and horsewomen's rights. Rest assured we will continue to call for such protection.

What does it matter if the underpinning of what would oversee medication policy, testing, enforcement and safety measures isn't legal? Here's what: those cheaters Mr. Finley believes that HISA will eliminate will have a get-out-of-jail-free card if the law that set up the process for their sanctions is found to violate the U.S. Constitution.

Mr. Finley writes because no one cares about legality (which is what constitutionality comes down to): “Instead, one is left to connect the dots and after doing so, it wouldn't be hard to reach the conclusion that the only reason to have HISA overturned would be that they prefer the status quo over a new system under the control of USADA.” The fact is, there are no dots here–and that's the problem with HISA. It's illegal and open-ended with more questions than answers.

We believe horse owners and horseplayers likely will be forced, with no say-so, to pick up the cost of HISA's unfunded mandate to create a new bureaucracy.

We also believe thousands of horsemen and horsewomen in the trenches want answers to the many questions before putting their livelihood under control by a group which almost certainly will be indirectly selected by and unduly influenced by the elites (i.e., The Jockey Club, whose largely homogeneous membership of approximately 150 is by invitation only).

For those wanting to portray the National HBPA as being obstructionists for demanding due diligence rather than blind faith, we in turn ask: is it really clear how HISA provides integrity, other than establishing an authority with a vague mission and unchecked power? It's like people are reading the bill title, thinking that's all this is to it and all problems are solved.

The National HBPA along with the Liberty Justice Center went beyond the good-feeling title and read the fine print. That's why we're in court.

Peter Ecabert is General Counsel for the National HBPA and owner of Ecabert Law Offices in Lexington, Ky.

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Horsemen, Fans Embrace Claiming Crown At Gulfstream Park With Big Fields, Record Handle

By the time the Claiming Crown had ended Saturday at Gulfstream Park – after a record $14.6 million was wagered on the event – it was clear how much the Claiming Crown had grown over the past nine years at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track.

Not only was this a day when a horse claimed six weeks ago for $6,250 could win an $80,000 race, but this was also a day when a Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) runner-up could prep for the $3-million Pegasus World Cup (G1).

“No question, this event has evolved,” said Dan Metzger, president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). “I thought Saturday's fields, from top to bottom, were some of the best we ever had.”

Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA), which partners with TOBA on the Claiming Crown, believes the event is looked upon differently now that it is at Gulfstream.

“I believe in the past some people looked at it as a year-end blowout. But I see it as the launch of a new year,” Hamelback said. “The Breeders' Cup kind of wraps up the year. But because it's at Gulfstream, and the opening weekend of the Championship Meet, I think it's become the beginning of a new year. I think if it was earlier in the fall or summer, you wouldn't have the buildup or the quality you have. The job [vice president of racing] Mike [Lakow], [stakes coordinator] Eric Friedman and, of course [executive director of Florida racing operations] Billy Badgett did was incredible.”

In the nine years the Claiming Crown has been held at Gulfstream, handle on the day's program has increased each year. Prior to 2012, the largest handle on the previous 13 Claiming Crown programs – Claiming Crown races only – was $4,906,096. On the nine Claiming Crown races held at Gulfstream Saturday, handle was $12,074,238.

“The support of the fans who set a record for total wagering is a testament to the competitive and quality fields,” Metzger said.

Along with Breeders' Cup Mile runner-up Jesus' Team prepping for the Pegasus World Cup with a victory in the $150,000 Jewel, there were 10 other horses that won or placed in graded stakes participating in the Claiming Crown. In total, there were 108 horses entered in the nine Claiming Crown races.

“When the card was drawn we knew we had something special to offer,” said Lakow.

Along with those graded-stakes winners and placed horses, there were also stories like Descente, claimed for $6,520 in October, winning the $80,000 Glass Slipper; the 55-1 longshot High Noon Rider winning the $95,000 Emerald; the promising 3-year-old Fiya remaining undefeated on turf winning the Canterbury; and the former $16,000 claimer Krsto Skye winning the $75,000 Express.

“I think at the beginning not a lot of people targeted [the Claiming Crown],” said trainer Peter Walder, who won his second consecutive Glass Slipper with Descente. “But now that it's at Gulfstream, a lot of people are shipping in for the Championship Meet, and there's a lot of owners who want to come here. Why wouldn't you?”

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