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Keeneland Releases Spring Stakes Schedule

Keeneland will present 18 stakes, featuring the 97th running of the $800,000 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. and the 84th running of the $400,000 GI Central Bank Ashland S., worth a total of $4.1 million during its 2021 Spring Meet from Apr. 2-23. Post time for the first race during the 15-day season will be 1:05 p.m. ET. Keeneland will be closed Easter Sunday, Apr. 4.

“Keeneland is excited to welcome racing back to the Bluegrass in April,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “With the cancellation of last year's Spring Meet because of the pandemic, it is critical to the Thoroughbred industry that we are able to offer our full slate of April stakes on their traditional dates. These races are key fixtures on the international racing calendar.”

“For this year's Spring Meet,” Arvin added, “Keeneland is working on plans for ticketing options under our COVID-19 safety protocols and we plan to make an announcement in the next few weeks.”

Keeneland will conduct a total of 10 stakes on grass and eight stakes on dirt while offering multiple stakes on four days during the Spring Meet.

Opening day, Friday, Apr. 2, features three stakes: the $150,000 GIII Kentucky Utilities Transylvania S., a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds; the $150,000 GIII Beaumont S. at seven furlongs, 184 feet, on dirt for 3-year-old fillies; and $100,000 Palisades Turf Sprint S., for 3-year-olds going 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass.

The Toyota Blue Grass and Central Bank Ashland will be contested the following day, Saturday, Apr. 3, as part of a blockbuster card of six stakes. Both are worth 180 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Road to the Kentucky Oaks, respectively. The winners of each stakes will earn 100 qualifying points to the respective races. Joining the Toyota Blue Grass and Central Bank Ashland on April 3 are the $300,000 GI Madison S. for older fillies and mares at seven furlongs; $200,000 GII Appalachian S. for 3-year-old fillies at one mile on the grass; $200,000 GII Shakertown S. for 3-year-olds and up at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf; and $200,000 GIII Commonwealth S. for older horses at seven furlongs.

For the remainder of the Spring Meet, racing will be held Wednesday through Sunday. For the entire stakes schedule, visit Keeneland.com.

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Legislative Fix For HHR In Kentucky Is Coming; Supporters Hope It Will Leave Committee This Week

A legislative fix for the legal question of historic horse racing (HHR) in Kentucky is on the way, according to legislators speaking at a rally held at Keeneland Feb. 1. Sen. John Schickel (R-District 11) told observers at the track and watching online that he plans to introduce a bill before a legislative committee this week that would make the HHR machines at Keeneland and the Red Mile part of the state's definition of parimutuel wagering.

The rally was organized by the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP).

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled in September that the HHR machines made by Exacta Systems do not qualify as parimutuel wagering because wagers are pooled from multiple races to determine the payout for a wager placed from a given machine. The ruling was in response to a suit brought in civil court by The Family Foundation to have the games halted. The court decided last week not to rehear the case. On Jan. 24, Keeneland and Red Mile, which both have Exacta Systems terminals installed, closed their HHR operations.

“Tonight, I'm going to appeal to your worst fears,” said Sen. Damon Thayer (R-District 17). “Our worst fear is if HHR goes away — and we've already seen it, hopefully temporarily, suspended down at the Red Mile — the result will be cataclysmic. Catastrophic. We are on the cusp of greatness in Kentucky. Now this unfortunate Supreme Court decision last fall has put a temporary straw in our pathway, and we're going to do everything we can to sweep this straw aside.”

Thayer also pointed out that there have been questions about how much of the revenue on HHR goes to the state's general tax fund, with some critics claiming the state is getting short-changed. Thayer said it's important to note that the tax rate of 1.5 percent of gross income on HHR wagering is the same rate paid by living racing and simulcasting. Thayer claimed the rates have been twisted by HHR's critics, who fail to recognize that the 1.5 percent is against the gross income before the tracks pay out to the customer and to purse accounts, and the rate actually works out to roughly 33 percent of net profits.

“You're going to see all kinds of specious arguments and wailing and gnashing of teeth as we try to get this bill passed,” said Thayer. “The opponents of this will make all sorts of wild claims. One of them will be that 1.5 percent of gross is a sweetheart deal; it's not … there's no reason for the racing industry to be ashamed of that. It's worked very well since 2014.”

Schickel took a somewhat different tack, saying that as Kentucky's signature industry, racing should get special consideration.

Both legislators said they had been asked why they weren't advocating for legalizing sports betting along with the new HHR definition, and said that it's important to consider the issues one at a time.

“There are some people who support historical horse racing who do not support sports wagering and casinos,” he said. “One of the reasons I'm so committed to historical horse racing is that the focus is on racing. My buddies at happy hour razz me all the time and say, 'John why are you giving the tracks this sweetheart deal?' And I plead guilty as charged. The reason they are is that Thoroughbred racing is our signature industry, and that's where our focus should be this session.”

KEEP executive vice president Elisabeth Jensen urged attendees to think beyond the Central Kentucky area when pushing their representatives to support HHR. Jensen pointed out that many of the people at the rally were from the same eight or ten counties surrounding Lexington, but successful lobbying will require those who are passionate about the issue to reach out to friends and colleagues in more far-flung areas.

KEEP offers an easy tool for Kentucky residents to contact their legislator about the issue and a petition for those who live outside the state to voice their opinion.

So far, Jensen said people have used the system to send 4,500 unique messages to Kentucky legislators requesting their support for HHR.

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Thoroughbred Safety Coalition Adds Reforms to Platform

Members of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition Steering Committee voted unanimously to adopt four new medical and operational reforms to further reduce the use of medication in racing, enhance consistency across racing jurisdictions and promote transparency, according to a press release from the organization Monday.

The Thoroughbred Safety Coalition is an industry-led effort to advance safety measures in Thoroughbred racing.

“These new reforms set the stage for another productive year of advancing meaningful changes to strengthen the culture of safety in thoroughbred racing,” said the release.

The following recommended reforms have been added to Coalition's platform:

Prohibit intravenous, intramuscular, transmucosal, topical, nasal and oral administration of medications and substances that are not specifically authorized within 48 hours of racing
Impose requirements for the identification and treatment of hypothyroidism in horses
Adopt testing and maintenance standards for racetrack surfaces
Advocate for the adoption of all facility specifications outlined in the RMTC's Test Barn Best Practices for onsite test barns and follow the protocols consistent with the Best Practices for sampling occurring at another location

“Building out our reform platform remains the Coalition's top priority as we continue to advocate for uniform measures that will protect the well-being of our horses and the integrity of our sport across state racing jurisdictions,” said Shannon Arvin, President and CEO of Keeneland Association Inc. “Testing, whether it's for racing surface consistency, hypothyroidism or controlled substances, strengthens accountability and ensures an even playing field.”

“HISA marks a significant achievement for our community and will benefit horses, participants and fans alike by implementing uniform anti-doping, medication control and racetrack operation measures. The Safety Coalition's mission directly complements the Authority's efforts and we look forward to working together,” said Drew Fleming, President and CEO of Breeders' Cup Limited.

“The work that goes into ensuring our athletes are racing under the safest and most transparent conditions possible is constant and requires collaboration across the thoroughbred community,” said Martin Panza, Senior Vice President of Racing Operations at the New York Racing Association. “The racetrack surface maintenance and testing protocols are the direct result of such collaboration led by the NTRA and the members of this coalition and will serve as the basis for HISA's racetrack operations program.”

Coalition Steering Committee members include Breeders' Cup Limited, Churchill Downs Incorporated, Keeneland Association Inc., the New York Racing Association Inc., Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and The Stronach Group.

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Dale Romans Op/Ed: Historical Horse Racing a Game Changer

As a second-generation horse trainer and Kentuckian, my entire life has been spent in Thoroughbred racing. I've seen Kentucky racing at its finest, and I've seen how quickly out-of-state competition can render us increasingly irrelevant. Right now Kentucky is at the top. But it doesn't have to stay that way.

I currently have 50 employees and do business with more than 100 vendors in Kentucky alone. Without Historical Horse Racing (HHR) revenue supplementing the purses for which our horses compete, many of those jobs will have to leave the state, as will our business with all those area vendors.

People forget, but it wasn't that long ago that Kentucky racing was badly hemorrhaging amid regional and national competition for horses. As more horse owners and trainers opted to race at tracks with purses fueled by slots and casino gaming, Ellis Park's summer meet and Turfway Park's winter racing were on life support. Even legendary Churchill Downs and Keeneland struggled with a profound horse shortage. Our breeding farms suffered from an exodus of mares they'd previously boarded, leaving the Bluegrass for states with more meaningful incentives–supported by revenue from racinos and casinos– for horses foaled in those jurisdictions.

First introduced by then-struggling Kentucky Downs in 2011, Historical Horse Racing proved the game-changer for good, reversing the downward spiral for Kentucky's signature industry. HHR is not a subsidy for horse racing. It's an innovative, racing-based product that reinvests in our iconic industry. This is one of those win-win-win situations that has benefitted the whole state. It has sparked significant economic development and creates and preserves jobs.

Purses are the universal language of horsemen. We follow the money. And where our horses go, so go the jobs. American horse racing is not the sport of kings. It's the sport of thousands of stables operating as local businesses employing real people in communities across the country.

Horse racing is an extremely labor-intensive business; you're never going to automate caring for a horse. And that's a good thing. We want it to be labor intensive and give people the opportunity to work in our industry.

Because of Historical Horse Racing and combined with our quality of life and affordable housing, Kentucky is now the mecca for horsemen. Trainers and jockeys on both coasts are increasing their presence in Kentucky, if not making it their primary base. Ellis Park and Turfway's barns are full for their meets, as are area training centers. The horses occupying those stalls reflect added jobs.

Within the short period of time in which it has been up and running, HHR has completely changed the dynamics of racing on a national level, with Kentucky once more at the forefront.

This provides a huge boost for the entire economy of Kentucky, not only horse racing. Just ask the mayors and county judge executives in Henderson and Simpson counties what HHR has meant for their communities. Historical Horse Racing has brought entertainment dollars back to Kentucky, with HHR operations themselves employing 1,400 people in six cities. Our racetracks have invested nearly $1 billion the past 10 years in capital projects with another $600 million planned.

Make no mistake, that will change for the worse if the Kentucky Legislature doesn't act to protect HHR. It needs to follow the simple blueprint the Kentucky Supreme Court provided to address its constitutionality concern.

It is not hyperbole to say three of our five Thoroughbred tracks will close without HHR: Ellis Park, Turfway Park and Kentucky Downs. Harness racing will be history. Jobs will evaporate, millions of economic development and tourism dollars lost.

Whether you approve of alternative gaming or not, it is right here in our market–just across the border in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia and not far away in Pennsylvania. The majority of Kentucky's population can get to a casino to gamble within 30 minutes.

Kentucky's horse industry has a $5.2 billion economic impact and employs 60,000 people directly or indirectly. The commonwealth's racetracks pay more than $100 million annually in state and local taxes. Out-of-state money flows into Kentucky's coffers as a result of horse racing and its economic driver, HHR.

Do we want to needlessly sacrifice that?

It's important to have a year-round, consistent racing circuit in Kentucky. Without HHR, Kentucky racing will be an afterthought in a very quick period of time. Legislators must ask themselves: Can we afford that?

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