Posts Tagged ‘barack obama’
Friday, February 12th, 2010
By Ray Paulick
The good news on this Friday is that Oaklawn Park owner Charles Cella appears to have pulled it off, getting commitments from the owners of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and undefeated two-time champion Zenyatta to contest the Apple Blossom Invitational, which is being moved from April 3 to April 9 at the Hot Springs, Ark., track and will carry a $5 million purse if both compete.
But that’s just one race, and it is hoped the two champion distaffers will face each other a number of times before the year is over. How can racing, an often dysfunctional industry, pull off this even bigger challenge?
I have a proposed solution to this challenge, whether the Apple Blossom dream match comes to fruition or not.
Remember when Barack Obama was campaigning for president and promising to deliver on health care reform, in part by avoiding backroom deals and pledging transparency? He said the negotiations for legislation could be televised on CSPAN. Well, we’re 13 months into Obama’s presidency, and that promise was broken. It was business as usual in the nation’s capital as legislators, lobbyists and the Obama administration went back and forth on health care, winding up with separate bills in the House and Senate that are unlikely to be reconciled with enough support to be voted into law. He should have stuck to his promise.
Jess Jackson, the majority owner of Rachel Alexandra, has been an advocate for transparency in many aspects of Thoroughbred racing in the few years he has been active as an owner. But Jackson, in a press release issued on Wednesday night in which he said Rachel Alexandra would not compete in the Apple Blossom on its original date of April 3, admitted that he had been secretly working behind the scenes with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to come up with a series of races between his filly and Zenyatta. Those talks were taking place without consulting with Jerry and Ann Moss, the owners of Zenyatta, trainer John Sherriffs or his wife Dottie Ingordo, the racing manager for the Mosses.
Jackson, according to sources, has been pushing for three races, with purses ranging from $3 million to $5 million for each race. I thought Jackson was keeping Rachel Alexandra in training for the benefit of the sport, not for the good of his bank account. In my opinion, this is not the way to get a deal done that’s in the best interests of the industry.
So here’s the proposal.
Instead of backroom deals, let’s negotiate this racing series in the light of day. More specifically, on racing’s version of CSPAN—either TVG or HRTV. The two racing networks can bid for the right to televise the negotiations. Of course, we’d want the races to be televised on more widely distributed networks.
We’ll need a tough facilitator with some experience in racing, and I’ve got the perfect candidate: Tom Meeker, the former CEO of Churchill Downs. Meeker is a former U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel who did three tours of duty in the Vietnamese conflict. He’s a no-nonsense leader who speaks his mind. Meeker has just returned from Haiti, where he assisted in logistics for a surgical team sent into the earthquake ravaged nation by Thoroughbred owner and breeder Earle Mack, a philanthropist, businessman and former U.S. Ambassador to Finland for President George W. Bush. Come to think of it, if Meeker can’t serve as facilitator, perhaps Mack could. The lives he helped save in Haiti would call him a miracle worker.
Racetracks and associations interested in luring Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta would be required to put together detailed written proposals for a race that include the two champions, along with their plans to promote it. Each proposal would be accompanied by a non-refundable deposit of $50,000.
The money from the rights to televise the negotiations, along with those non-refundable deposits from tracks would all go to a racing charity chosen by the connections of the horse that does best in the head-to-head matchups. (Update: this proposal is not for match races of just two horses,)
The facilitator would lay out all the proposals to Jackson and the Mosses and their respective advisers (limit of three, please). He would then put on a pair of brass knuckles, lock the doors, and not let anyone out of the room until an agreement is reached on where and when they will try to meet—all while the cameras were rolling.
Racing has a rare opportunity to make something very special happen in 2010. Please, let’s not allow this one to slip through our hands.
Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Ambassador to Finland, Ann Moss, Apple Blossom Invitational, barack obama, Charles Cella, CSPAN, distaff, Dottie Ingordo, Earle Mack, George W. Bush, Good News Friday, Haiti, Hot Springs, HRTV, jerry moss, jess jackson, John Sherriffs, liberation farm, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, oaklawn park, Rachel Alexandra, tom meeker, tvg, zenyatta
Posted in Good News Friday | 27 Comments »
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
By Ray Paulick
President Barack Obama, on his first full day in office, called for higher standards in transparency and accountability for his administration. While there already have been some bumps on that road, our new president’s demands are in line with a broader movement toward greater transparency, accountability and openness, not only in government but in private enterprise as well.
A recent scandal in Lexington, Ky., involving the executive director of Blue Grass Airport and several of his key staff was uncovered only after the local newspaper, the Herald-Leader, filed an open records request and examined travel and expense reports of airport executives. What the paper found was shocking: thousands of dollars of taxpayer’s money spent on a night of partying at a Texas strip club, airport credit card purchases of a shotgun, audio systems, DVDs and other items seemingly unrelated to the operation, including scalped tickets to a Hannah Montana concert at Rupp Arena.
The airport’s oversight board at first dismissed the newspaper’s charges that the executive director’s travel and entertainment expenses were exorbitant, but after conducting an internal audit discovered numerous irregularities and suspended him. Shortly thereafter he resigned.
The episode teaches us several valuable lessons, including the importance of a free press, open records law, and vigilance by members of oversight boards. Without transparency or sunshine laws, it’s likely the airport scandal never would have been uncovered and taxpayers would continue to be abused by officials entrusted to serve them.
While I am by no means suggesting similar transgressions are taking place, a call for greater transparency and accountability is also at the heart of Thoroughbred owner and breeder Peter Blum’s recent criticisms of the Breeders’ Cup – a non-profit company funded in part through stallion and foal nominations by thousands of breeders. Following a guest commentary he wrote for the Jan. 10 edition of the Thoroughbred Times and a follow-up letter to the editor published in both the Jan. 31 Thoroughbred Times and Feb. 2 Paulick Report, Blum has heard from a number of fellow horsemen who are in philosophical agreement.
“As a result of my willingness to speak out, many people have contacted me and have expressed their concerns and serious reservations about Breeders’ Cup management,” Blum told the Paulick Report. “One theme that continually comes up when people share their thoughts with me is, ‘What are they trying to cover up?’ Have there been any bonuses recently paid, particularly in this troubling economy when (President Obama) in the last few days referred to bonuses paid to bankers as shameful, outrageous and the height of irresponsibility? If there have been any bonuses, who got them, when they did get them, and how much did they get? And if they were given, why were they given, especially in light of the Breeders’ Cup announcement to cut off supplemental funding for 121 races throughout the year? (That decision was quickly reversed.) Furthermore, have there been any recent senior management contract extensions. If so, who got them, and when and why were they given?”
Blum sees things only getting worse unless there are changes in how the Breeders’ Cup operates. “There is very little transparency and it is apparent that is the core of all major issues,” he said. “Does the Breeders’ Cup management not understand how angry its members are? Unless transparency soon occurs, the Breeders’ Cup cannot succeed in its present form. And has there been any disclosure to membership of an agenda of board member meetings, votes, and minutes? If not, why not?”
The Breeders’ Cup moved toward a democratically elected board in 2006 after complaints from some breeders that it had been run for too long by a handful of people selected by a self-perpetuating board of directors. But as Blum pointed out in his letter to the editor, there are flaws in the revised bylaws that appear to stack the election process in favor of the status quo.
Thirty-nine individuals are elected to the board of members and trustees by stallion and foal nominators (each year, 13 of the 39 seats are up for election to three-year terms). Those members and trustees are responsible for electing the 13-member operating board of directors. However, in addition to the 39 elected members and trustees who vote for the smaller board, also given votes in the small board election are six “founding fathers” of the Breeders’ Cup: Brownell Combs, formerly of Spendthrift Farm; William S. Farish of Lane’s End; Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm (whose proxy has been permanently bestowed upon farm executive Jim Friess); Brereton Jones of Airdrie Stud, John T. L. Jones, director emeritus of Walmac Farm; and James Philpott, an attorney who has served as Breeders’ Cup secretary. Two former Breeders’ Cup presidents, James E. (Ted) Bassett III and D.G. Van Clief Jr., also are entitled to vote in the small board election, as are four current officers of the Breeders’ Cup, including CEO Greg Avioli.
It strikes me as unfair to “grandfather” any founding fathers onto the board of members and trustees. When the U.S. Constitution was written, individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence were not given a lifetime seat in Congress. Representatives of farms like Coolmore, Darley and Three Chimneys, among many others that have been major financial contributors to the Breeders’ Cup, are forced to actively run for a board seat while those farms associated with founding members get an automatic seat. Furthermore, at least two of the founding Breeders’ Cup members are no longer actively engaged in the business. Doesn’t seem right.
It also seems downright scandalous to allow paid staff, including CEO Avioli, to vote for who their bosses will be on the operating board of directors. Human nature suggests they will always favor those who butter their bread.
Blum also takes issue with how votes are allocated to those farms with stallions (stallion owners are entitled to one vote for each $500 of a stallion’s stud fee).
“It appears that large farms standing stallions may control the outcome of the election of inner and outer board members,” Blum said. “For example, if Gainesway stands a syndicated stallion like Tapit or Mr. Greeley, the farm is given all of the votes, not the actual owners or shareholders of the stallion. If this is true, won’t this inequity come as a surprise to most breeders?” (Editor’s note: It is believed that some stallion syndicate agreements may convey Breeders’ Cup votes to majority shareholders.)
As a result of the inequities he sees in the bylaws, Blum calls for widespread change in the election process.
“In view of the existing controversy, will management agree to submit to membership the right to hold a new election for board members under a more democratic process sooner rather than later?” he asked. “When will the BC provide an accounting of all the nomination fees paid in, and why have we not received them to date?”
Breeders’ Cup board member Satish Sanan wrote a rebuttal to Blum’s commentary that was published in the Thoroughbred Times of Jan. 24. Sanan later spoke with the Paulick Report about some of the issues raised by Blum, along with his own role as chairman of a Breeders’ Cup strategic planning committee.
“Mr. Sanan appears to be a constructive voice at the Breeders’ Cup and I hope his efforts bring much needed changes in transparency and benefits to breeders,” said Blum.
Blum said he hopes his decision to speak out on the management and direction of the Breeders’ Cup is not misinterpreted
“My remarks were intended as constructive criticism of Breeders’ Cup management and recommendations for change,” he said. “In no way were they made to be personal in nature or an attack on the Breeders’ Cup concept or festival of racing. On the contrary, my remarks were intended to encourage needed change and redirection of management.”
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: airdrie stud, barack obama, blue grass airport, blue grass airport scandal, Breeders' Cup, Breeders' Cup board of directors, brereton jones, brownell combs, Claiborne Farm, coolmore, D.G. Van Clief, darley, gainesway, Greg Avioli, James E. Bassett, james philpoptt, jim friess, John T.L. Jones Jr., Lane's End, Paulick Report, peter blum, Ray Paulick, satish sanan, Seth Hancock, spendthrift farm, Ted Bassett, Three Chimneys, walmac farm, Will Farish, William S. Farish
Posted in Breeders' Cup, Industry Organizations | 21 Comments »
Monday, January 19th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
When Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44 th president of the United States, he will be entering office with enormous support from the American people and carrying the hopes that the message of change that worked so well for him during his historic campaign will be just as effective as he takes on the formidable challenges that we face as a nation.
The Thoroughbred racing and breeding world is a microcosm of the greater problems around us that a President Obama will tackle. The infrastructure is fragile. The fundamentals of our industry’s economic footing are anything but sound. Divisiveness and infighting have poisoned the waters of progress. There is an overall feeling that our greatest days are behind us, and not a part of our future. And, yes, in many ways, our leadership has failed us.
Obama’s arsenal of hope is built on a foundation that has stood the test of time since our forefathers declared their independence in 1776 and a short time later created a more perfect union. We have a form of government that, for all its flaws, has helped make the United States of America the envy of people throughout the world and a symbol of freedom.
We have no such foundation in our smaller world of racing and breeding. Complicated by onerous and disparate state regulations, the Thoroughbred industry is without any form of central authority. We represent one of this country’s oldest sporting activities, and certainly nearly all of us believe its equine participants are noble and beautiful, but we have been passed by other sports which, quite simply, have a better business model than ours, with a definitive structure and central leadership.
When racing enjoyed a monopoly on gambling and a playing field less crowded with other sports, the old ways of doing business worked. Its leaders were largely sportsmen who raced their horses against one another. These men were not required to be innovative in the ways of marketing a sport in a competitive environment, or to recognize the need to adapt to a changing world and embrace new technologies. It was a local sport then whose biggest stars were national heroes.
Times have changed. Thoroughbred racing and breeding is an interstate and in many ways international business, yet remains locally regulated. The sportsmen have mostly disappeared, though a few remain, clinging on to the vestiges of the past and still wanting to lead in the way their fathers and grandfathers may have done.
We are past being at a crossroads; that happened some years ago. Sadly, we are on the wrong path in this industry and heading in a direction that will not lead us to a better future. The only way to get back on the right path is to ask how we got here and what can we do to reverse our course.
Leadership is essential, whether it’s an individual business, an industry or the greatest nation on the face of the earth. But no one, not the United States of America, and certainly not the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry, can have great leadership without having a structure that permits someone to rise to the top, to speak for everyone, and to work toward bringing about a brighter future.
How we create that structure is a difficult question. Can the federal government be trusted to help us form a national federation to oversee and regulate our business? Can the various fiefdoms in racing and breeding find enough common ground to give up individual power to help us grow collectively as an industry? Is a true league office possible, one that has authority to create a vision for our future, and to see it through?
Change is possible, if you believe in it, and work for it.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: barack obama, Horse Racing, Paulick Report, presidential inauguration, Ray Paulick, thoroughbred racing and breeding
Posted in Industry Reform | 59 Comments »
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
As a native of Illinois, I take a perverse pride in the corruption that has been such a big part of the Prairie State’s modern political history. If today’s bizarre indictment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has been charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, lands him in jail, Gov. Blago will be the fourth Illinois governor in the last eight to wind up in the slammer.
The first Illinois governor in the modern era to check into the Graybar Hotel was Otto Kerner, who in 1973 was found guilty of accepting racetrack stock in 1962 as a bribe in exchange for awarding choice racing dates and other favors to Arlington Park and Washington Park. The person who in 1969 admitted to offering the stock to Kerner was Marjorie Lindheimer Everett, the daughter of Benjamin Lindheimer who ran the two tracks for her father and took control of them following his death. Click here for a brief history of Illinois racetracks.
Everett was never charged with a crime in the Kerner investigation, though she was named as an unindicted co-conspirator. The investigation began after she allegedly claimed the bribe as a long-term capital loss on her federal income tax return, which the IRS red-flagged. Eventually, she turned into a government witness against Kerner, who was found guilty of 17 counts of bribery, conspiracy and perjury and sentenced to three years in jail. He died in 1976, shortly after being released from prison.
Click here for the U.S. Court of Appeals brief on the Kerner investigation. It’s a fascinating lesson on how influence can be bought.
During the Kerner investigation, Everett sold her Illinois racetrack stock and in 1972 headed west, where she gained control of Hollywood Park near Los Angeles. She ran that track with an iron fist while cultivating Hollywood celebrities like Cary Grant, John Forsythe and Mervyn Leroy to the board of directors. Hollywood Park was highly successful for much of Everett’s tenure, though expansion and construction of a new pavilion to coincide with the first Breeders’ Cup in 1984 proved her undoing. Everett fought off several takeover attempts, finally losing a proxy battle to R.D. Hubbard in 1991.
A colorful and tough executive who knew how to get things done (including wooing the first Breeders’ Cup away from Santa Anita Park), Everett retired to the Arizona desert and has been seen occasionally at major racing events.
Interestingly, her longtime friend and legal counsel was Neil Papiano, who defended Kerner in the corruption trial in Illinois. Papiano knew how to get things done, too, especially on issues of importance to Hollywood Park in front of the California Horse Racing Board.
If Papiano’s name is familiar, it should be. He’s a horse owner and remains a very active attorney, having defended a number of trainers hit with medication violations. His latest client is Todd Pletcher, who was just recently charged with a positive test for procaine on 2006 champion filly Wait a While during her third-place finish in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Arlington Park, barack obama, Benjamin Lindheimer, Hollywood Park, Marjorie Lindheimer, Neil Papiano, Otto Kerner, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, Rod Blagojevich
Posted in Race Tracks | 7 Comments »
Monday, November 10th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
The challenges that confront racing seem to be the sport’s universal language, and potential solutions, it seems, are similar from one continent to another. Winfried Englebrecht-Bresges, CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and chairman of the Asian Racing Federation, outlined those challenges and proposed some solutions during his opening address of the 32nd Asian Racing Conference in Tokyo on Tuesday morning.
Looking back on the last conference, held in Dubai in January 2007, Englebrecht-Bresges referred to the “racing without borders” theme that required a strategic plan to deal with the harmonization of regulatory issues and business strategies. Some progress has been made on the regulatory front, he said, but many hurdles remain before international commingling of pari-mutuel wagers becomes commonplace. “It must be a winning proposition for all stakesholders,” Englebrecht-Bresges said, including customers, governments and operators. "Currently," he said, "we are not structured correctly to deal with the challenge."
Among the hurdles are laws in some countries, most notably Hong Kong and Japan, that prohibit or restrict commingled betting; double taxation on commingled bets; marketing and sponsorship issues; TV and data rights questions, and software challenges among tote companies that will require investment and commitment by the various stakeholders. “We will struggle if we won’t change,” he said.
Englebrecht-Bresges outlined what he called “three guiding principles” to address the challenges. Racing must exert influence on the regulatory side, he said, because “the integrity of the sport is a fundamental issue. Drugs will bring the sport to its knees if we don’t proactively fight this problem.” He referenced cycling and how the burden of doping could cost the sport dearly in lost television rights if not addressed.
Secondly, Englebrecht-Bresges said, the industry must facilitate the sharing of best practices in racing and in other outside industries by bringing together stakeholders who have common interests.
Finally, he said, bigger organizations must mentor smaller organizations, especially those countries who are in the early stages of expanding their racing and/or breeding industries.
While some countries are in that early stage, Englebrecht-Bresges said, overall there is stagnancy for the Asian Racing Federation members, with six-year projections that show pari-mutuel wagering turnover declining while other forms of gambling enjoy moderate growth. “We will be a dinosaur,” he said, adding, “it’s not that we are unattractive. But we have to offer different value propositions.”
Not surprisingly, those value propositions are predicated on knowing what customers want, especially new customers that racing needs if it is to survive. He called for all jurisdictions to conduct strategic assessments, and outlined some of the findings the Hong Kong Jockey Club discovered in its own research. Non-racing fans see no relevance in the current racing schedule/fixtures, programs and bet types; much of the activities are not appealing to young people, women, families, and the middle class. Racing lacks innovation, and has a poor approach to its “channel strategy” and customer loyalty programs. Furthermore, he said, industry fragmentation is a key reason for slow response to the challenges.
Regarding channel strategy, Englebrecht-Bresges said racing is “catering to its current customers” through its web sites, where new customers “get lost. We need an integrated channel strategy” that will appeal to existing, new and potential customers, he added.
Englebrecht-Bresges said racing must reach the next generation, but that the strategy of attack must be powered by customers, especially the new customers with which the industry must learn how to better communicate.
“We are in a race,” said the German native who has been with the Hong Kong Jockey Club for 10 years. “Is it a race we can win?”
Englebrecht-Bresges then showed a slide of America’s new president-elect, Barack Obama, featuring the campaign theme of change that stated “Yes, we can.”
“I say," Englebrecht-Bresges concluded, "‘Yes, we must.’"
THE REST OF TUESDAY MORNING’S conference program was baffling. Following Engelbrecht-Bresges was Hiroshi Okuda, who rose through the ranks of the Toyota Motor Corporation to become president and later chairman and is now chairman of the board of governors for the Japan Racing Association.
It’s possible Okuda brought the wrong speech to the Asian Racing Conference, for he devoted his entire talk to "global warming issues." I guess if we all rode horses instead of automobiles, we could help develop a low carbon society, as Okuda said is necessary. But I’m not sure what major impact racing executives could have on global warming.
If that talk didn’t cause the conference focus to jump the tracks, the next two certainly did. Robyn Williams (no, not that one), described as a "mad cap science presenter" from Australia, enlightened (?) the audience about how the world will be changing due to technology. You know, robotics, energy and transportation. Hell, I learned that from watching too many episodes of "The Jetsons" as a kid. In truth, Williams was at least entertaining, and would have made a good lunch-time speaker. But he added little to the serious issues at hand among the Asian Racing Federation delegates.
Andrew Main, the morning’s final speaker, likewise, had little to say linking racing to his area of expertise as business editor of The Australian newspaper.
Filling the opening morning with three speakers who had little relevance to racing left many in the audience scratching their heads and wondering who thought this was a good idea. Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: 32nd asian racing conference, asian racing conference, asian racing federation, barack obama, commingled pools, englebrecht-bresges, hong kong jockey club, Horse Racing, international commingling, international horse racing, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, thoroughbred racing, tokyo, winfried englebrecht-bresges, yes we can
Posted in Industry Conferences, International Racing, Simulcasting, Thoroughbred Business | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
(UPDATE: A Paulick Report reader pointed out that by including a link to Indian Charlie or Ed Musselman on our home page, we may tacitly be approving or condoning potentially insensitive or offensive material in the Indian Charlie newsletter. To erase any doubts, we do not approve or condone such material. The home page links to the newsletter are being removed.)
Jim Squires, the former editor of the Chicago Tribune who with wife Mary Anne operates Two Bucks Farm in Versailles, Ky., was scratching his head after being the subject of what many saw as a race-baiting cartoon in the Indian Charlie newsletter recently, so he did what many people would do under similar circumstances: He wrote a letter to the editor of the publication, Ed Musselman.
The cartoon depicted Squires in the company of three prominent African Americans — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, along with political activitists Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson – under a headline: GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE, and said Squires was “poising” with the three men at what Musselman referred to as a “DemocRAT fundraiser.”
The letter, emailed from Squires to Musselman, read:
Subject: equal space
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:22:58 -0400
Dear Indian Charlie, I have been looking for you at the sale to thank you for putting my picture in your sheet with my buddies Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama.
I know you are just trying to help me sell my yearlings to the liberal African-American community organizer share of the market that Tom Thornbury has assured me will definitely show up in week 16, Book 26, where I am catalogued.
If you see them before I do, please tell them my yearlings come with a free supply of Clenbuterol.
Gratefully yours, Two Bucks Jim Squires
Musselman opted not to run the letter and give equal space to Squires, who followed up his years at the politically conservative Chicago Tribune by serving as spokesman for the third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot in 1992 (the same year he bought his first Thoroughbred; Squires later bred 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos). Squires also was a member of the Kentucky Racing Commission. His reference to Clenbuterol in the letter to Musselman is connected with a reported positive test for Clenbuterol in Delaware in a horse owned by Squires and trained by Larry Jones. Squires is disputing the test result.
Instead, Musselman put his cartoonist to work on another racially-charged cartoon, this one showing Squires sitting next to a woman the newsletter parodied as TV talk show host “Offa Winfrey” in front of a large television monitor displaying Obama’s picture. The cartoon accompanied a story under a headline about an “Irate DemocRAT,” Squires, who had complained to a fellow consignor at Keeneland about the original Indian Charlie cartoon. The story included an “apology” from Musselman that said: “We would like to sincerely apologize to Two Bucks if we hurt his feelings.”
In the accompanying article, Musselman wrote that Squires “ was not happy with what this publication thought was a complement (sic), referring to Mr. Squires as having a ‘great mind,’ which he obviously does, having won the Pulitzer Prize while editor of the Chicago Tribune.” (The Tribune actually won seven Pulitzer Prizes under Squires’ leadership.) The article concluded by saying Squires will be “the featured guest on the Offa Winfrey show this Friday afternoon.” (Oprah Winfrey’s talk show is taped in Squires’ former residence, Chicago, which is also the home of Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama.)
These newsletter items about Squires are not the first sarcastic or potentially offensive references to members of minority groups by Musselman, who has repeatedly referred to California owner-breeder Jess Jackson as the “white Jesse Jackson” and in a recent edition referred to Kentucky breeder Arthur Hancock as “the luckiest white man in Bourbon County” because he “got a good woman AND a hoe.” Another reference this week used the term “Chinaman’s chance,” which Asian American organizations and others have called offensive.
The United States Constitution protects free speech and freedom of the press, which entitles Musselman to continue to publish what some may view as an often racially charged publication. What is curious about the Indian Charlie newsletter is what might be interpreted as tacit approval of Musselman and his racial parodies by Keeneland, which has constructed a specific distribution box for the publication in the entrance to its sale pavilion.
Keeneland, which has supported the newsletter through advertising, does business with buyers and consignors of many races, religions and ethnic groups from around the world. The company also has a history exclusively employing African Americans in such positions as washroom attendants and auction ring handlers.
Perhaps Squires should have directed his letter to Nick Nicholson, the president and CEO of Keeneland, rather than to Musselman. Nicholson might be able to better explain the meaning of Musselman’s attempts at ethnic humor and why Keeneland does everything possible to support the newsletter. While he’s at it, Nicholson also might explain that to Keeneland’s African-American work force.
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: al sharpton, arthur hancock, barack obama, chicago tribune, democratic party, ed musselman, Horse Racing, indian charlie, jess jackson, jesse jackson, jim squires, Keeneland, kentucky derby, kentucky racing commission, monarchos, nick nicholson, oprah winfrey, Paulick Report, pulitzer prize, Ray Paulick, ross perot, Thoroughbred Auctions, tom thornbury, two bucks, two bucks farm
Posted in Keeneland, Racing Media | 20 Comments »
Friday, July 25th, 2008
Gavin Landry, the New York Racing Association’s new vice president of sales and development, borrowed a highly successful concept from the Boston Red Sox when he recently created the NYRA Nation racing fan club. Could it be the biggest thing New York lifted from Boston since the Yankees signed Babe Ruth in 1919?
The early money says "no."
The execution of NYRA Nation makes it look like a cheap and poorly executed imitation of the robust Red Sox Nation, the official Boston Red Sox fan club that was formed in 2005 and has spread throughout the country (thanks, no doubt, to the recent World Series successes of the team). (Sidenote:The Red Sox just launched a new ad campaign for Red Sox National created by the Conover Tuttle Pace agency that has been responsible for some horse racing campaigns, including the "Who Do You LIke Today?" ads developed for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.)
Give NYRA credit for at least recognizing the value of establishing a fan club that can be used to reach out to horseplayers as a marketing tool. And we’ll even give them time to see if they build on the program’s low-budget launch.
NYRA isn’t the only organization getting onto the “nation building” bandwagon. Republican presidential candidate John McCain recently created the McCain Nation, which the irreverent political blogger Wonkette had some derisive words for when it launched the other day as a late starter in the race against Democrat Barack Obama, whose online fund-raising and organizing efforts have set a new standard in politics.
Come to think of it, there may be some similarities between McCain’s campaign strategists and the NYRA braintrust, but I won’t get in to that here.
By Ray Paulick
Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: babe ruth, barack obama, boston red sox, conover tuttle pace, gavin landry, john mccain, mccain nation, New York Racing Association, new york yankees, nyra, nyra nation, Paulick Report, ray pauick, red sox nation
Posted in Marketing, New York Racing Association | 5 Comments »
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