Archive for the ‘Kentucky’ Category

By Ray Paulick
I’ve known Damon Thayer going on 20 years, and I don’t think he’s a bad person. But I’ve seen how good people can be intoxicated with power, and am convinced that is what is going on with the former racing industry executive who is now a Kentucky state senator from Scott County representing the 17th district.

A few weeks ago I reported on an interview Thayer did on the Horse Racing Radio Network (click here for the article), in which he complained that no one from the Thoroughbred industry was contacting him about his proposed constitutional amendment calling for a statewide referendum and local option vote to permit slot machines in Kentucky counties where racetracks are located (not necessarily at tracks, but in counties where tracks are currently located).

Woe is him.

Perhaps the reason no one is interested in calling the senator from Scott is the fact his proposed amendment is outrageous because it would ultimately lead to out-of-state casino companies and developers putting Kentucky racetracks out of business. That’s exactly what is happening in the state of Maryland, where slot machines were approved for a location not at Pimlico or Laurel but at a shopping mall owned and operated by the Cordish Company. Yes, that’s the same Cordish Company that developed Fourth Street Live in Louisville.

If Thayer’s folly is somehow approved as written (very much a longshot at best), Cordish will be salivating over the prospect of getting the slots license in Jefferson County, Kentucky, where Churchill Downs is located. Another well-funded casino company would surely end up with the license in Northern Kentucky. So we’d have Turfway Park certainly out of business as a racetrack, and Churchill Downs severely impaired financially.

But, Thayer says with almost ghoulish delight, we’ll have all that slots money going into purses, based on how his amendment is written. Yes, Damon, just like in Maryland, where there will be money for purses, but no tracks able to stay open to run the races where the purses will be offered.

Sources tell the Paulick Report that employees of the Maryland Jockey Club are being told Laurel is going to be bought by a developer (Cordish?), and closed for live racing. Someone will operate Pimlico for 30 days during the Preakness meeting in the spring, at least as long as the walls of the rickety old racetrack grandstand don’t collapse. And that, along with a short meeting at the state fair in Timonium will be it for live racing.

If true, it will be a devastating and final blow for the once-proud Maryland breeding industry, where the mighty Northern Dancer once stood as the world’s most important stallion. Allowing Thayer’s folly to proceed will cause similar destruction to Kentucky’s signature industry.

So Thayer, in a snit because no one was calling him to discuss his ludicrous proposal, decided to drop another bomb when a reporter from the Lexington Herald-Leader called him to inquire about the horse industry’s exemption on sales tax for certain horses sold at auction (the exemption, which does not apply to all horses sold, is not as comprehensive as that given to the horse industry in other states).

When asked whether the exemptions should be discontinued, Thayer said it is “certainly cause for serious debate.”

It was his way of flipping the almighty bird to a now struggling industry that is not only vital to the economic future of this state, but one that has provided him and his family a very good living for many years.

Speaking of the almighty, it’s amazing to me that a Senate committee chaired by Thayer (the State and Local Government Committee) wasted taxpayers’ time and money on Wednesday, approving along a straight party-line vote (Thayer’s Republican colleagues won the day over Democrats 7-5) something called the 21st Century Bill of Rights. Among other things, this new and improved bill of rights (as if our Founding Fathers weren’t very wise) would prohibit a ban on the Ten Commandments being posted in public buildings. If you get a chance, check out this troubling and funny video clip of a Georgia Congressman, Lynn Westmoreland, who sponsored a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in public buildings. (Click here to view.) Seems the Congressman has a hard time knowing exactly what those Commandments are…which makes me wonder how Sen. Thayer and his colleagues would do on a pop quiz.

But I digress.

Thayer is essentially drunk with power, sitting on his senatorial throne while waiting for individuals in the horse industry to come to him, hat in hand, begging for some scraps. If he were a true leader, he would have been out amongst the people, meeting with horse farmers, trainers and racetrack owners who are suffering now, watching stallions, mares and racehorses being tugged away from Kentucky by states with more favorable economics and more enlightened legislators. It is the same kind of arrogance and insular thinking that we’ve witnessed most recently in the White House, where a president who was elected under the mantra of change failed to understand how deep the suffering and unhappiness is among the very people who voted for him, leading to an embarrassing defeat for the Democratic Party Tuesday in Massachusets, the most liberal state in the union.

I hold out little hope that my old friend, the senator from Scott, will understand  how wrong he is and how much help the horse industry needs. There is little to do but find and support a strong candidate to displace him from his office in 2012.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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In a rather bold move, Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky produced a budget that assumes $780 million in revenue from expanded gaming. The problem? Gaming is not yet legal in Kentucky.

Beshear stated Kentucky would need to find an additional $850 million in cuts during the next two fiscal years, compared to about $78 million with it.

Click here for the Courier-Journal article

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

Nothing like kicking someone when they’re down. 

The Lexington Herald-Leader took aim at a number of sales tax exemptions in Kentucky and specifically questioned the exemption provided to the horse industry, which is going through extremely hard economic times right now. Sales of horses purchased for breeding and sales of horses less than two years old to non-residents and sent out of state immediately, have been exempt since 1976, according to the article written by Janet Patton. Some other states have similar exemptions. (I wonder if publishers pay Kentucky sales tax on newspapers sold at vending machines.)

Sen. Damon Thayer said he is not proposing elimination of the exemption but thinks it is an issue that is "certainly cause for serious debate." Thayer’s opposition to legislation permitting Kentucky racetracks to install video lottery terminals and level the playing field with most other racing states has already put him in hot water with horse industry leaders. If he pushes for elimination of the sales tax exemption on some horse sales, he might end up as lonely a guy as the Maytag repairman.

Click here to read the Lexington Herald-Leader article.

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think about this issue. — Ray Paulick

By Bradford Cummings

As we enter into the 2010 general session of the Kentucky House and Senate, it is important for Kentuckians to take a moment and look back at where we have come from in this fight to level the playing field with other states through expanded gaming in the Bluegrass State. While I am a bit of a latecomer to the discussion, my desire to merely add onto the gaming menu we already have at Kentucky racetracks grows with each day. As a Republican, one who rose to the position of chairman for the largest county in the state, the debate against slots at racetracks confuses me.
 
The Republican Party I signed up for was one that wanted less government control and more economic expansion. Talking to some of you in the last year, I suspect there will be many shaking their heads in agreement when I say that putting the irresponsible behavior of those few who would put their mortgage on the line for a slots jackpot should not hold more weight than the economic impact of killing our signature industry. Allow me to make my own decisions and stop shielding me from the consequences. That’s a party I can fully get behind and that’s the broken promise that finds many citizen GOPers very frustrated with the current climate.
 
Yet despite the party of Reagan falling off the edge in an overly zealous attempt to stonewall this economic issue of choice, it is important that we look back at the last couple of years and see how far we have come. The horse industry lost the last special election when Republican Jimmy Higdon beat Democrat Jodie Hayden, so it is easy to lose sight of our progress. But remember that election, for an open Senate seat in the 14th district, was about the lack of support for President Obama in Kentucky, not an opposition to expanded gaming.
 
A LOOK BACK

In 2007, our sitting Governor based his entire reelection campaign on the opposition to gaming. The Speaker of the House, a Democrat, was so unsupportive that he had never taken the issue to a committee vote much less the entire House.
 
While the Senate majority for the anti-slots argument is still intact today, it was much larger then and showed little chance of the needle moving on this issue.
 
And most troubling, a statewide poll showed that about 40% of Kentuckians supported putting VLT’s at racetracks.
 
SINCE 2007
 
The industry supported a candidate in a crowded Democratic primary field who largely based his campaign on expanded gaming. Not only did he win the nomination, but he was overwhelmingly elected Governor.
 
Greg Stumbo challenged Jody Richards, the aforementioned former Speaker of the House, and the horse industry worked tirelessly and effectively behind the scenes to help elect the pro-slots Stumbo.
 
The Kentucky Equine Education Project, or KEEP, has become an integral part of the discussion, becoming a strong branding tool for the state’s signature industry. KEEP has helped launch a broad-based communications and grassroots effort to educate Kentuckians about what the horse industry means to citizens of Kentucky. The focus was properly taken off the millionaire hobbyists and placed on the tens of thousands of farmers, insurance agents, feed companies and backstretch and farm workers that make this industry so important to our future.
 
HEADING INTO 2010
 
And where do we stand today? We have a Governor in Steve Beshear who is solidly committed to helping our industry by pushing for VLT legislation.
 
We have a Speaker of the House who drafted the legislation, helped push it through committee, brought it to the floor of the House and passed it. All firsts.
 
We have staged two extremely successful rallies – one in Frankfort and one at Keeneland – that had over 1,000 industry participants in attendance. While this industry is relatively new to political activism, we are certainly up for the fight!
 
And most importantly, we have significantly moved the needle on public opinion as a statewide survey taken before the Special Session this summer demonstrated support for racetrack VLT’s at 69%. This is a dramatic and unprecedented change in mood on what has been portrayed as a divisive issue. Can you imagine gay marriage shifting nearly 30 points over three years in Kentucky?
 
GETTING OVER THE FINISH LINE
 
Moving over the finish line and securing the victory that a clear majority of Kentuckians want to see will, just like in other endeavors, be the most challenging and rewarding part of this journey.
 
We must continue to support the efforts of KEEP, who under the leadership of former Democratic Gov. Brereton Jones and executive director Patrick Neely (a fellow Republican of mine) have helped push the needle in the right direction. Both have been instrumental in the progress described above.
 
We must not let up on our leaders in Frankfort. Continue to call your legislators and let them know how you feel. Ask your friends, family and associates to do the same. (Pick up the phone, dial it and hand it to them if you have to for God’s sake!)
 
Continue to support candidates that support the industry, both financially and through volunteer hours. And make sure to not only look to Democrats but also to pro-slot Republicans. I promise they’re out there.
 
Take heart in Attorney General Jack Conway’s opinion this last week that Instant Racing is constitutional with a few tweaks from the Governor’s office. This greatly hurts the rationale from those who claim passing slots legislation would get tied up in our court system for any extended period of time. Is Instant Racing that much different than a slot machine when opponents cite the major concern over slots as the speed in which a person can lose their money? Don’t ignore this development as insignificant.
 
Finally, despite what you feel about Damon Thayer’s amendment proposal, at least understand that this coming from a Republican in David Williams’ Senate means we are having an effect on the process. Can anyone imagine Williams allowing a member of his caucus to propose this type of legislation even last year? Indeed, this may be the strongest sign that the pendulum is shifting in our direction.
 
We are by no means out of the woods in this fight to save our industry. But there is also no doubt that it is a fight that can be won. Whether we find ourselves victorious in this year’s general session or if we have to fight it out at the polls in November, we must always remember just how far we’ve come in such a short period of time.
 
This is the year we take control of the conversation.
 
This is the year we have all been working so hard to be a part of.
 
This is the year of victory for the horse industry.
 
We have too much at stake for it to be any other year.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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According to Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, adding instant racing machines to Kentucky’s racetracks would only require a few regulatory tweaks by Governor Steve Beshear.

For those not familiar with Instant Racing, these slot-like machines are programed with thousands of previously run races for the player to bet on. Oaklawn Park currently uses these machines and report great returns on this investment.

Is this enough to give Kentucky racing the boost it needs? Or will this only hurt the slots argument and therefore keep slots from ever winding up in the Bluegrass State?

Click here for the Herald-Leader article

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think.

- Bradford Cummings

In what can’t be an uplifting article for industry folks in Kentucky, Greg Hall of the Courier-Journal writes that slots moving through the legislature is a 50-1 shot in 2010. Instead, Hall seems to conclude the only real chance to get slots done in Kentucky is through a constitutional amendment proposed by Sen. Damon Thayer, the same amendment that former Governor Brereton Jones calls too little, too late.

Of course, Kentuckians know a little something about 50-1 shots (Mine That Bird anyone?) so there’s always a chance. Anyone have Calvin Borel’s number?

Click here for the Courier-Journal article

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think.

- Bradford Cummings

True, we don’t cover much Standardbred racing on the Paulick Report but when Alan Leavitt of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and prominent Standardbred breeder makes the following comment, we feel called to bring it to your attention.

"This is a sad day for Kentucky, which likes to call itself the Horse Capital of the World, when the greatest trotter ever to stand in the state is forced to move because a small group of arrogant, world class hypocrites in Frankfort refuse to give the Standardbred breeding industry the support it needs to remain viable."

A small group of arrogant, world class hypocrites in Frankfort…who on earth could he be talking about?

For the rest of this article, click here. Then come back to the Paulick Report and tell us what you think.

- Bradford Cummings

By Ray Paulick
I guess this is what you call serendipity. Only a few minutes after I scraped a couple of high school kids off the hardwood of the YMCA basketball court in Lexington (okay, so maybe they were sixth graders), I received the following email from Elisabeth Jensen at the Race for Education, the organization that has done so much to help fund college educations for the sons and daughters of people who work in the horse industry:

“This year 16 teams will play for the trophy and prestigious title of Horse Farm Basketball Champions.  The 2010 tournament will be held Jan. 20-25 at WinStar Farm and benefit the Race For Education and Blue Grass Farm Charity.  Entry fee is $250 per team.  Spectator admission is free. Last year’s tournament raised approximately $10,000 for scholarships for Dara and Chase Mullins.

“To enter a team or for more information call 859-252-8648.”

I checked with Elisabeth to see if the media could enter a team, and she said “bring it on!”

Brad Cummings, associate publisher here at the Paulick Report, may be a little wet behind the ears, but I hear the boy can play a little ball, and I know I can pull from my long-ago high school experience as the 13th man on the Hononegah High School junior varsity team in Rockton, Ill., where I mostly learned to hold a clipboard (pictured, left, wearing No. 11).

So the Paulick Report is in, but we need some help, since five on two would make this a bit of a challenge, especially against those teams that include recently hired “interns” who all happen to be young, tall and fast (would Darley really do that?).

Therefore, I hereby am throwing down the gauntlet to recruit players from all the other Thoroughbred media here in Central Kentucky to team up for a very good cause. I would think that between Blood-Horse Publications, Thoroughbred Times (we’ll even let them include staff from some of their sister publications like Hobby Farms, Reptiles USA and Bird Talk), Daily Racing Form, Indian Charlie (maybe that Ed Musselman fella can rebound), we should be able to field a team that can put a few points on the scoreboard—or at least make it up and down the court without passing out. We compete against each other all year. Let’s all play on the same team for a change.

You know who you are and you know how to reach me. Game on. Let’s have some fun and help a good cause.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Every Kentuckian’s favorite piñata, Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer, was Mike Penna’s guest last Saturday on the Horse Racing Radio Network’s “Equine Forum,” discussing, naturally, the issue of slot machines at Kentucky racetracks.

(To listen to a rebroadcast of the interview, click here.)

Thayer is feeling his oats these days, following the drubbing Republican Jimmy Higdon gave the horse industry-backed candidate, Jodie Haydon, in the recent special election for a Senate seat in the 14th district made available when the Republican incumbent accepted a judgeship offered by Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear. Had Haydon defeated Higdon, the Republican majority in the state Senate would have been wafer thin and the heavy-handed rule of Senate president David “Blackjack” Williams might have been in jeopardy.

But Williams and, I would assume, Mitch McConnell, the U.S. Senate’s minority leader from Kentucky, devised a brilliant last-minute scheme targeting prominent Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid as Higdon’s real opponents. It was enough to turn the election in Higdon’s favor in this rural, conservative district, where Democrats in name only outnumber Republicans in voter registration rolls by a wide margin. Higdon won despite being heavily outspent by Haydon, thanks in large measure to a 527 organization, Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky, formed by prominent members of the horse industry who backed Haydon because of his position in favor of video lottery terminals or slot machines at Kentucky racetracks.

Thayer is feeling much maligned these days as a result of his non-support of a bill permitting racetrack VLTs that died in a Senate committee last summer and his more recent proposal for a constitutional amendment on the issue. That proposal fell on deaf ears during an October meeting with horsemen who called the measure “too little, too late.”  (click here for details). In the wake of the horse industry’s recent setback at the polls, Thayer said he plans to push his proposal forward in the legislative session that begins in January and urged leaders of Kentucky’s horse industry to get behind it, or at the very least work with him on the bill.

“It’s not beneficial to the horse industry that despite the election loss they keep speaking out on my bill,” Thayer said during his radio appearance. “I have some Republican votes for this bill. I think you’ll be surprised by the number of Republicans who would vote for this. Democrats said they would block vote against this, which I think is fraught with peril.”
 
Thayer repeated his stand that he believes “slots by statute”–as he called the bill that was passed by the House but stopped in a Senate committee last summer—is not constitutional and would be held up by a lengthy legal challenge if it passed. Kentucky’s current attorney general said the statute would not be unconstitutional, though previous attorneys general opinions have gone the other way. “And by the way,” he added, “it is dead for the foreseeable future, OK, because there are not the votes in the Senate.”

A horse industry consultant who formerly worked for Jerry Carroll at Turfway Park and as an executive with the Breeders’ Cup, Thayer said he understands the economic pressure the horse industry is facing from the slumping economy and gaming in other states that is subsidizing tracks and purses. “There is no doubt, absolutely no doubt, the horse industry in Kentucky is suffering from not only the downturn in the economy, as is the horse industry throughout the United States, but also from an uneven playing field. I get it. I worked at Turfway Park when casino boats landed in Indiana.”

Thayer said many in the horse industry misunderstood the challenge those casino boats presented at the time. “No, no we don’t need to worry about those riverboats in Indiana, we don’t need to worry about casinos and slot machines in surrounding states” he cited as the prevailing opinion. “We’re Kentucky. We can withstand that. All those people changed their opinion.”

Penna challenged Thayer on the timeline a constitutional amendment would present, along with language in the bill that would open bidding on VLTs to businesses other than racetracks in the seven Kentucky counties were tracks exist. Thayer’s proposal, if it is approved by the legislature and passed by a simple majority of Kentucky voters in November, would then require local referendums, followed by a bidding process.  Opponents have said implementation could stretch out until 2012 or ’13 if approved, but Thayer said slots could be up and operating as early as mid-2011. He also thinks the statewide referendum “could pass…my personal opinion is it’s probably a tossup. I believe the horse industry has made progress convincing people of the importance of this industry to every county. I think you shouldn’t be afraid of having a statewide debate on this issue. It would be huge. Huge. The press would cover it. You would get an opportunity to make your case like you’ve never done before in a statewide debate, and I think it would have a chance of passing.”

As for opening the bidding process to non-racetracks, Thayer said, “These slot licenses are things of value to the Commonwealth.” One of the things he said he heard during last summer’s failed effort to pass legislation was, “Why do the racetracks get a monopoly on this?”

Thayer chided the horse industry to work with him on the legislation calling for a constitutional amendment, which he said the Kentucky Equine Education Project and pro-slots Gov. Beshear previously supported. “Somewhere along the way in the last 12 months they changed their positions and decided they wanted to pursue what I call slots by statute,” he said. “People see (Beshear) has flip-flopped on the issue…and he has egg on his face.”

“My bill is the only bill that has the potential of passing the next legislative session,” he said. “A hundred million dollars would go into purses and breeders incentives in Kentucky…I guess I’m struggling to find out what part of $100 million doesn’t benefit the horse industry…

“I’ve had this proposal out since September. That’s three months ago. I put it out there early so we could have a discussion about it and people could talk to me about what they have issues with in the bill. Since then all that’s happened is people have criticized me and questioned my motives. If they really want to pursue this they need to come talk with me. This is a very controversial issue that’s been debated since 1993. It’s time to move the bill.”

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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Press Release

(LEXINGTON, Ky.)— In a meeting held this morning, the Kentucky Equine Education Project Board of Directors unanimously voted to redouble their efforts to protect Kentucky jobs and put our signature horse industry on a level competitive playing field.
 
“As we all know, our competitor states are using revenue from expanded gaming to enhance their purses and breeders incentive funds, which is causing a severe loss of Kentucky racing and breeding stock to those other states,” commented KEEP Chairman Brereton Jones. “When horses leave our state, jobs go with them, from the farmer who grows the hay, to the veterinarian, feed supply salesperson, equipment manufacturer, groom, equine insurance agent and on and on.”
 
“One-hundred thousand Kentuckians depend on the horse industry for their livelihoods. We have a duty to make our industry as healthy as possible, to bring back the jobs that have already left the state, and to protect and create new jobs right here in Kentucky. We have no choice but to keep fighting for our industry.”
 
“The KEEP Board voted unanimously to pursue a legislative strategy that would save jobs and provide immediate relief by putting our industry on a level competitive playing field,” continued Jones. “The Board also voted unanimously to further engage our 15,000 members statewide in the political and fundraising process, and to continue the trend of growing our membership across the state. Our industry is committed to recruiting and supporting candidates that will support the horse industry.”
 
“This will continue to be an industry wide effort,” concluded Jones. “Seventy percent of Kentuckians agree that our industry should be put on a level competitive playing field, and a bill passed the House of Representatives for the first time ever this past June. We are so close to reaching our goal, and our resolve has only strengthened. We will not quit until the fight is won.”

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