Posts Tagged ‘Ro Parra’

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

By Ray Paulick
Oh, the irony. Damon Thayer, the Republican state senator in Kentucky who opposes legislation permitting slot machines that would benefit the state’s horse industry, is a former racetrack and Breeders’ Cup executive who, for now, makes his living as a Thoroughbred industry consultant.

One of Thayer’s clients is the Millennium Farms owned by former Dell Computer executive Ro Parra. On Thursday, Millennium Farms announced it was forming a partnership with Louisiana-based Moon Lake Farm and would be sending 30 of its Kentucky-based mares to Louisiana. It previously announced that two of its Kentucky stallions would move to Louisiana.

“We will likely move more mares over time,” said Parra. “We feel that the Kentucky program is not as competitive as other regional programs like the one in Louisiana.”

(Click here to see the complete press release, published by Thayer Communications and Consulting LLC.)

Louisiana’s racing and breeding programs are supported by revenue from slot machines. Kentucky’s breeders’ incentive program, developed by Thayer, is funded by the sales tax on stud fees, which are sinking almost as fast as the senator from Scott County’s approval ratings among Kentucky owners and breeders.

Thayer has opposed slot machine legislation in Kentucky though he recently announced he would be sponsoring a constitutional amendment to permit Kentuckians to vote on whether VLTs should be permitted. If that legislation is approved by the Kentucky House and Senate (a longshot at best), and the referendum is passed by Kentucky voters, the proposed constitutional amendment would then require local referendums in the counties where the VLTs would be authorized. If the measures are approved in those locales, there would then be a lengthy licensing and bidding process.

Some have estimated that, if all these measures are approved, Kentucky might not get VLTs installed until late 2013 or early 2014.

By then, you have to wonder how many stallions and mares will be left in Kentucky and how many horse industry clients Thayer Communications and Consulting will have in the Blue Grass State.

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