Posts Tagged ‘lexington herald-leader’

With fewer incentives than other less traditional racing states, the Horse Capital of the World is reeling from the failure of opportunities like expanded gaming at racetracks combined with the overall economic impact of the worldwide recession.

Ro Parra of Millennium Farms said in Alicia Wincze’s column, "I’m not sure if the number of stallions leaving is more than it has been in past years, but it sure feels like it."

Read it at the Lexington Herald-Leader

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

- Bradford Cummings

Robin Webb, the Kentucky Democratic Senator the horse industry helped elect during a special election in 2009, is at the center of a “controversy” in the wake of allegations that she called Republican Senate President David “Blackjack” Williams a naughty name. We weren’t there to hear what she called the horse industry hater, but the Lexington Herald-Leader, which put the story on the front page of Saturday’s edition and devoted nearly 27 inches to the story, gave us a pretty good clue: “a four-letter expletive that has the same first three letters as dictator” (the latter word the one Webb claims using to describe Williams).

I don’t do crossword puzzles, have never liked watching “Wheel of Fortune,” and don’t event play that stimulating numbers game called “Sudoku.” But even I can figure out that the word Webb is accused of calling Williams is D-I-C-K.
 
That’s pretty tame, because there’s a lot of people in Kentucky who think Williams is not only a dick, but that he’s a $%#$@%&$%^@#, a $%^&#@$%, and an @#$%@&#%^.

As for Robin Webb, all we can say is “You go, girl!”

House Speaker and slots supporter Greg Stumbo has all but declared slots dead in Kentucky. “I really don’t see a scenario where those bills will become an issue in this session,” Stumbo said. “Nothing has changed in the Senate, so why would the House want to act again?”

Click here for the entire article by the Lexington Herald-Leader’s blog

Then come back to the Paulick Report and give us your reaction

- Bradford Cummings

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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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 Ray Paulick
Wednesday’s Lexington Herald-Leader “For the Record” section includes a batch of lawsuits filed by Darley Stud Management LLC against a number of individuals or businesses for money claimed due on a contract: While it’s not that unusual to see a Thoroughbred farm, especially one that stands stallions, file suit against someone they’ve done business with, I don’t ever recall seeing so many suits reported at one time by one specific business. Darley is part of Sheikh Mohammed’s global Thoroughbred empire. The sheikh is also the ruler of Dubai, where Dubai World, a company formed by the emirate government and said to be controlled by Sheikh Mohammed, recently told lenders that it is not in position to stay current on $59 billion in debt to various creditors. The aggregate of the lawsuits filed by Darley Stud Management is less than $500,000.

 Here is the list, as published in the Herald-Leader. A reminder that lawsuits are allegations representing one side of a dispute and there should  be no presumption of guilt:

- Thomas Balak, for $48,400, etc.

- Karen Crouch for $27,200, etc.

- Jon and Danele Durham for $23,100, etc.

- Sarum LLC d/b/a Sarum Farm for $22,840, etc.

- Pamela Ridley for $20.175, etc.

- Owen Kiernan for $10,024, etc.

- William Sorokolit for $67,250, etc.

- Dare to Dream Farm LLC for $13,600, etc.

- Sue Dowling d/b/a Stoneview Farm for $15,900, etc.

- Brian Wallis d/b/a Dormello Stud for $54,400, etc.

- Hidden Lake Farm LLC for $13,450, etc.

- Joe Norton for $22,650, etc.

- Wade Sanderson for $53,166, etc.

- Diane Szymezak for $13,750, etc.

- Mike Maroney for $20,175, etc.

- Carl Vanburger for $20,400, etc.

- Denise Dommel for $20,400, etc.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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While Ray is traveling back from Osaka (hopefully we won’t have to hear too much about jet lag once he returns to the United States), he wanted to reignite the debate over Horse of the Year. The following piece was submitted by Jeff Shapes, a marketing communications consultant, freelance writer and horse racing enthusiast, not necessarily in that order.

By Jeff Shapes
There’s one overriding reason Zenyatta should win the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year over Rachel Alexandra, and it has nothing to do with their comparative records on the racetrack. No, Zenyatta has earned the honor because her electrifying performance in the Breeders’ Cup Classic flew in the face of the general negative assessment of her chances to win the event, while at the same time capping off a brilliant, undefeated career that put her into the discussion of who is history’s greatest female race horse. Now, if that doesn’t make her Horse of the Year, they might as well retire the award.
 
Yes there had been speculation that if Zenyatta ran in the Classic and won, there’d be a Horse of the Year debate. But in their heart of hearts, not to mention their racing opinions, those speculators, whether in public or not, didn’t believe Zenyatta had what it took to beat the “big” boys in the big race. Indeed, there were some who said she shouldn’t even run in the Classic, since there wasn’t really anything to gain. Better to protect her legacy as an undefeated champion with another romp in the Ladies’ Classic, than to go out with a loss chasing an unattainable goal.
 
Need some proof of how little regard the experts had for Zenyatta in the run up to the Classic? Despite being tabbed the pre-race wagering favorite, not one of the 11 media members whose selections were published by USA Today in its Breeders’ Cup preview picked Zenyatta to win. And east coast bias wasn’t in play. Joining writers from the New York Daily News, New York Post, Lexington Herald-Leader and Albany Times-Union in giving Zenyatta the thumbs down were the national correspondent of the Daily Racing Form, horse racing writers from the Associated Press and USA Today, an editor of the Thoroughbred Times, an on-air personality from HRTV and racing writers from the Los Angeles Daily News and San Diego Union-Tribune, in whose backyard Zenyatta ran all except one of her career races.
 
Want to bring in some more exulted names? Joe Drape of the New York Times did not pick Zenyatta, and neither did Steven Crist of the Daily Racing Form. The Washington Post’s Andy Beyer, inventor of the Beyer Speed Figure, the acknowledged statistical method for comparing racetrack performances under different race conditions? He labeled Zenyatta a throw out.

Luckily, Zenyatta’s connections had much greater faith in their magnificent mare than the experts.  Questioned for not shipping Zenyatta to a traditional dirt track to take on Rachel Alexandra head-to-head, team Zenyatta stuck to their guns of getting her ready for the Breeders’ Cup the best way they thought how. If that meant staying in Southern California and competing exclusively on synthetic surfaces, well that’s how it would be done. And though they never stated it, the guess here is that winning the Classic as a finishing touch on a Hall of Fame career, not to mention the historical achievement such a win would represent, was probably the long-range goal of those who guided Zenyatta’s career.
 
Of course, Rachel Alexandra’s connections, like most others in the racing world, assumed their filly had a stranglehold on Horse of the Year when she concluded her 2009 season with a win in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in early September. It was Rachel’s eighth victory in eight races, accomplished at seven racetracks in six states, with three coming over male competitors. Her campaign encompassed eye popping performances in such keystone events as the Kentucky Oaks, Preakness Stakes, Mother Goose Stakes, Haskell Invitational and the aforementioned Woodward, and was highlighted by either record breaking victory margins or historical firsts just about every time she left the starting gate.
 
With such a resumé, who could blame Jess Jackson for putting Rachel away for the winter, especially since she probably needed a rest after an exhausting year (visible in the Woodward). But, had the Breeders’ Cup Classic not been held on a synthetic surface, there’s little doubt Rachel would have continued her season and run at least one more race to conclude a campaign for the ages. After all, it was Jackson himself who announced his intention to run Rachel in next year’s Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs at the same time he said he would not run her this year on Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride because of his distaste for synthetic surfaces (or plastic as he labeled them).
 
Can we know how a Zenyatta-Rachel Alexandra showdown in the Breeders’ Cup Classic would have played out? Is there a certainty that had Rachel been entered in the race, Team Zenyatta would have taken her on? Would Rachel have performed as poorly on the synthetics as last year’s Horse of the Year, Curlin, and as other “dirt” horses seem to? These questions can never be answered. But what is fact is that Zenyatta showed up on Championship Saturday and won the most important North American race that’s open to all Thoroughbreds regardless of age or sex. This was no Raven’s Pass swooping in and leaving nothing behind but a few footprints.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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