HBPA

Open Letter To The Industry: Thomas B. Little DVM

In horse racing, the betting public counts on owners and trainers trying to win within safe and lawful parameters. A critical component associated with both is the private veterinary practitioners they employ to help prepare the horse for competition. To date there is no evidence that the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act and the private corporation Authority (both known as HISA) that the legislation birthed has given any thought to the role of the private practitioner except to mandate onerous and dubious vaccinations, piling on bureaucratic duties and counterproductive medication...

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Oaklawn's Purse Growth Continues

The largest purse increase in Oaklawn Park history was unveiled in a release Wednesday by the track. Purse distribution for the upcoming 2023-2024 season is set for $60 million, which amounts to a $10 million or 20% increase over last season's record-setting $50 million distribution. The average daily purses will top $900,000 when the season starts on Dec. 8. Purses for allowance races will be $140,000--$145,000, maiden special weights will be $115,000 and the minimum purse on any race will be $30,000. "Let me put this in perspective," said Oaklawn...

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Letter To The Editor: An Open Letter To The Horsemen

by Beau Lane Rumor has it that Mike Repole said he was going to get out of the business if things didn't change. Well, I can see how Mr. Repole could feel that way; he's had some real kicks in the behind this year. But the racing industry needs more people like Mike Repole. He goes to the sales, buys nice horses, goes to the races, and takes his chances. He spends more than most and has Todd Pletcher for a trainer (there is no better), and so his chances...

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HBPA On HISA: This Court's Job Is To Again Tell Congress 'No'

With oral arguments tentatively scheduled for the first week in October, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) and 12 of its affiliates told the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday that the rewritten version of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) remains "patently unconstitutional," and that the Authority overseeing the sport "is basically a private police department" whose sweeping powers equate to "oligarchic tyranny." As the appellants in a lawsuit that has persisted in the federal court system for more than 27...

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Invaluable Named Claiming Crown Horse of the Year

Invaluable (Include) was named the 2022 Claiming Crown Horse of the Year by the National HBPA's Industry Awards Committee chaired by Todd Mostoller from the Pennsylvania HBPA. Invaluable will be recognized at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association annual awards dinner on Sept. 9. Trainer Mike Maker and owner Peter Proscia's Paradise Farms Corp. claimed Invaluable, then 5 years old, in the final days of Saratoga's 2022 meet with the intention of running in the Claiming Crown on Nov . 12 at Churchill Downs. After finishing third in a $10,000...

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Claiming Crown Returns To Fair Grounds

The 2023 Claiming Crown will be staged for the first time since 2011 at the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans on Saturday, Dec. 2, the National HBPA and the TOBA said in a joint release early on Thursday. The event will feature eight races totaling $1 million in base purses, headlined by the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel. Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HBPA said, "The Claiming Crown was designed to celebrate our hard-knocking, unsung heroes of the turf. What better place--especially for our 25th running--than...

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HISA, FTC Link Grim Headlines to HBPA's Desire for 'Status Quo'

In two separate court filings Thursday, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) both sharply criticized the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA)'s decision to seek an injunction that would delay the May 22 implementation of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program. What stood out was that neither the HISA Authority nor the FTC shied from trying to link the NHBPA's desire to maintain the "status quo" to the grim headlines that have dominated the sport over the past week. "Seven...

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NHPBA Criticizes FTC Delay Announcement

Even as the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) is trying to halt the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) for good, its attorneys filed a response in federal court Thursday that criticized the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s Apr. 27 order that mandated the third delay in nearly a year for the implementation of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program, this time from May 1 to May 22. The NHBPA told the court that the FTC's issuance of the order to delay the program without first providing a...

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HISA Authority Challenges 'Piggyback' Strategy in Amended Louisiana Lawsuit

The recently amended federal lawsuit spearheaded by the state of Louisiana against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is facing a new challenge from the HISA Authority defendants, who filed a Mar. 6 motion to strike the latest version of the complaint based on allegations that the plaintiffs are "improperly" attempting to use federal rules of civil procedure to turn the case to their advantage. The chief beef in the HISA Authority's Mar. 6 "motion to strike" filed in U.S. District Court...

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Letter to the Editor: Opposing Is Easy

As the legal saga that is HISA continues to be bantered around the courts horse racing fans have heard some common themes develop from those in support of and in opposition of the legislation and regulations. Those in opposition have raised many points they have repeated used as arguments for what is wrong with the entire idea and process. One of the themes that has been made as part of every opposition argument is that there is a better way to go about this, and a better set of uniform...

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Dueling Grounds Derby winner Kitodan Named HBPA's Claiming Horse of 2022

Turf specialist Kitodan, who went from being claimed twice last year to winning Kentucky Downs's GIII $750,000 Big Ass Fans Dueling Grounds Derby, has been selected the National HBPA's 2022 Claiming Horse of the Year, the group announced Friday morning. "We are blessed that we were able to claim that kind of horse compared to where we were just a few years ago," said western Kentucky-based trainer Eric Foster,  whose wife Brooklyn's Foster Family Racing and partners Doug Miller and Bill Wargel campaign the now 4-year-old colt after claiming him for...

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Open Letter to the Industry: We'll Push for Positive Change, Flawed HISA is Not Answer

The National HBPA issued a letter today saying the organization was approached by trainers Wesley Ward and Larry Rivelli to help facilitate an open letter to the industry. While this is being distributed by the National HBPA, which also assisted in putting the letter together, the sentiments are those of trainers Wesley Ward, Larry Rivelli and the undersigned horsemen and racing participants. They encourage others who agree with this letter to add their name by using the link here and below. More than 400 have signed up in 24 hours...

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