Posts Tagged ‘rob whiteley’

Stuart serves as scholarship coordinator of the fund, which recently awarded 32 scholarships for 2009-2010, bring to 384 the number of annual scholarships (at an average of $2,000 apiece) handed out since the program began in 1996. Approximately 125 recipients have been graduated from college or technical programs, several with honors and many on the Dean’s list, including a 4.0 valedictorian.

The students must apply by July 1, and the scholarships are based on need, merit, essays and personal interviews with Stuart and the board members in late July. They are required to re-apply and interview each year during college. To be eligible, the applicant must have at least one parent working at a Kentucky Thoroughbred farm.

“These kids have these huge work ethics,” Stuart said, “and because most of them have never had family members go to college, it’s a whole new life experience. Some of them are shocked that they are actually getting the chance to go to college. It’s so gratifying for us because we get to hear their hopes and dreams, and it’s fun to see their confidence grow year to year. They have so much presence and are just the greatest kids.”

The idea for the scholarship fund came from Liberation Farm’s Rob Whiteley, who serves as president of the Horse Farm Workers Educational Assistance Fund, and Tom Evans of Trackside Farm, the fund’s vice president and treasurer.

Board members include Whiteley; Evans; Judge Wilson of Wyatt, Tarrant and Combs,, the fund’s secretary; Dan Pride of Fasig-Tipton; John Stuart of Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services; John Sikura of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm; and Chet Blackey, DVM. Churchill Downs Inc. chairman Carl Pollard serves as an informal advisor.

“I would like to thank all of the board members for their time, caring and commitment, as well as the many individuals who have generously supported and valued this remarkable group of young scholars since the Fund’s inception,” said Whiteley. “We are especially grateful to the Carl Pollard Foundation, Thoroughbred Charities of America, Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, Darley America, Fasig-Tipton, Keeneland, the Crafty Prospector syndicate, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers’ Club, and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders for their substantial contributions. In addition, I am appreciative that six of our female scholars for 2009-2010 will receive awards funded by the generosity of the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee.”

This year’s scholars have a working parent at one of the following farms: Beech Spring Farm, Bradyleigh, CASA (2), Cedar Ridge, Claiborne (4), Crestwood, Darby Dan, Darley America (4), Denali, Fab Oak, Golden Age, High Point, Indian Creek, Loch Lea, Manchester, Niknar, Pin Oak, Six Winters, Stonehaven Steadings, Sunnyside, Three Chimneys (2), Wimbledon, and Winstar Farm.

The 2009-2010 Horse Farm Workers’ Educational Assistance scholars and the schools they will be attending are as follows:

By Ray Paulick

(UPDATED JUNE 3 TO REFLECT A CHANGE IN RECOMMENDATION FOR GEORGE ISAACS)

The 25 candidates running for election to the Breeders’ Cup board of Members and Trustees may have different backgrounds, income levels and positions within the Thoroughbred industry, but I think they all share a common thread: a desire to help the Breeders’ Cup grow. All are to be commended for their interest in helping achieve that goal, even if their philosophies do not follow the same path.

There are, however, only 13 positions for these 25 individuals on the board of Members and Trustees, whose principal role within the Breeders’ Cup organization is to elect the 13 members of the board of Directors at an annual meeting, scheduled this year for July 9. The smaller board of Directors makes all major decisions regarding the operations and governance of the Breeders’ Cup and elects a chairman and vice chairman each year. 

So who nominators elect to the board of Members and Trustees is critical in shaping the smaller, operating board of Directors. The six individuals whose two-year terms on the board of Directors expire in July of this year are: Reynolds Bell, Donald Dizney, Tracy Farmer, Don Robinson (who served out the remainder of B. Wayne Hughes’ term after Hughes’ resignation), G. Watts Humphrey Jr., and Robert T. Manfuso. Only elected Members and Trustees may run for the smaller board of Directors.

Fifteen of those running for the board of Members and Trustees submitted answers to questions from the Paulick Report or statements about their candidacy (click here to see their responses in an easy-to-read or print PDF document). Biographies of all the candidates can be viewed here at the Breeders’ Cup election web site.

I have covered the Thoroughbred industry for nearly 30 years and have seen a number of these candidates in board-room settings, talked with others about issues of interest to the Breeders’ Cup and Thoroughbred racing and breeding in general, and consider many of them friends. Some are or have been advertisers of this web site. In making the following comments and voting recommendations to nominators, I have done my best to remain objective in rating the various candidates without regard to friendships or business relationships.

Here is my summary of each candidate, along with a voting recommendation:

JOHN AMERMAN: Skilled businessman who as retired chairman and CEO of Mattel certainly understands consumer products and traditional marketing. I’ve not seen great leadership or fresh ideas spring from Amerman in his various industry roles and cannot recommend a vote for him on the board of Members and Trustees.

NADIA SANAN BRIGGS: Daughter of the outspoken but highly successful businessman Satish Sanan, who has played a major role in the Breeders’ Cup as chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee. Briggs has her own independent streak and would bring a fresh, young perspective to the board. She is bright, totally committed to the industry, and would make an outstanding member of the board of Members and Trustees. Recommend for election.

JACK BROTHERS: Has played a major if understated role in the success of Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs breeding and racing operation after virtually growing up in the horse business. Doesn’t claim to have all the answers for resolving the challenges at the Breeders’ Cup, but I doubt there would be a more fair-minded or harder-working individual on the board of Members and Trustees. Recommend for election.

BILL CASNER: Few people in the industry have shown the courage to stand up to the failed, old-guard industry leadership like Bill Casner has. He understands racing from the standpoint of the blue-collar horseman and now plays the game at the highest level while not forgetting his humble beginnings. Recommend for election.

CASE CLAY: One of the up-and-coming “next generation” industry leaders, Clay is the son of Three Chimneys Farm owner Robert Clay but was not heavily involved in the farm’s operation or the industry until the last five to seven years. I do have concerns that as one of three candidates with close ties to Three Chimneys (see below), there may be an effort to “stack the deck” for a future agenda, and for that reason cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees at this time.

LINCOLN COLLINS: One of three individuals (along with Case Clay and Tracy Farmer) closely allied with Three Chimneys Farm. Collins has a good reputation for honesty and integrity in his Kern Thoroughbreds bloodstock agency, though seems light on service and industry experience. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

DONALD R. DIZNEY: A member of both the board of Members and Trustees and the smaller Breeders’ Cup board of Directors, Dizney has done little to distinguish himself as more than a rubber-stamp voter for the status quo. There have been suggestions among some at the Breeders’ Cup that Dizney has not been as engaged through his board or committee attendance as others, but a request for attendance records of board meetings from Breeders’ Cup secretary Jim Philpott was ignored. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

TRACY FARMER: Politically powerful in Kentucky through his work and fund-raising with the Democratic Party, Farmer has been a close ally of Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and was appointed to the Kentucky Racing Commission, on which he serves as vice chairman. Farmer serves on both the board of Members and Trustees and Breeders’ Cup board of Directors, where sources say he has not distinguished himself as an independent voice. The Paulick Report requested minutes of Breeders’ Cup board meetings to analyze the involvement of each board member, but secretary Jim Philpott denied the request. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

H. GREG GOODMAN: Houston native has been a partner with Lane’s End Farm’s Will Farish, which doesn’t necessarily suggest he will be a “yes” vote for a potential Farish-orchestrated board of Directors slate. However, his non-response to the Paulick Report questionnaire and his vague personal statement on the Breeders’ Cup voting web site does not build confidence in his independence. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

GEORGE ISAACS:(UPDATED JUNE 3, FOLLOWING RECEIPT OF RESPONSE TO PAULICK REPORT QUESTIONNAIRE) Veteran horseman is well respected throughout the industry for his work as general manager at Bridlewood Farm in Florida. Relatively new to national industry organizations, but in his responses to the Paulick Report questionnaire demonstrated a commitment to adding value to Breeders’ Cup nominations and increasing accountability and transparency within the organization. i believe it is also important to have representation among Florida breeders. Recommend for election.

TOM LUDT: One of the most independent-minded, cut-to-the-chase people I’ve seen in this industry in recent years. Has distinguished himself on the Kentucky Racing Commission, having been appointed by both a Republican and Democratic governor (and without being a major financial contributor to either of their campaigns), on committees at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and Breeders’ Cup board of Directors. Recommend for election.

REILEY McDONALD: Has many years of experience in the auction arena, most prominently as co-owner of Eaton Sales. Has not been as involved in industry leadership positions as I would like to see for someone with his knowledge and insight, though it is encouraging to see him step up at this critical time. However, I cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

MICHAEL McMAHON: One of the individuals running who is completely invested in the Thoroughbred industry and its future, McMahon may lack in national industry organizational experience but more than makes up for it in passion. My instinct is he will add a truly independent voice who takes his responsibilities seriously. In his reply to the Paulick Report questionnaire, McMahon repeatedly spoke of the importance of increasing participation at the grass-roots level among breeders, by adding value to the program for nominators. Recommend for election.

CLEM MURPHY: Coolmore principals and associates are often guarded in what they say to the media, but I’ve found Murphy to be accessible and a source of innovative thinking when it comes to both the Breeders’ Cup and the racing industry. Recommend for election.

OGDEN MILLS PHIPPS: The phrase “lead, follow, or get out of the way” comes to mind. The Jockey Club chairman has had his opportunities to lead (New York Racing Association declined during his years of power), has not shown much interest in following, and that leaves one alternative. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

DAN PRIDE: Believes in accountability and transparency, and has brought fresh ideas and enthusiasm to Fasig-Tipton since joining the auction company from Darley. Pride does a good job representing a younger generation of leaders that have real-world experience. Recommend for election.

ANDRE REGARD: For a relatively young man, Regard has a broad base of knowledge, and I think there is little doubt that he will be a growing influence in future years as he gains experience in the industry and its various organizations. One to keep an eye out for in the future, but at this time cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

RICHARD SANTULLI: An enormously successful businessman, Santulli is a no-nonsense kind of guy who brings independence, integrity and a serious commitment to the Breeders’ Cup because of his passion for the Thoroughbred game,first as a fan and horseplayer and later as an owner and breeder. Last year’s effort by the old guard to keep Santulli off the smaller board of Directors represented a low point in the history of the Breeders’ Cup. Recommend for election.

JOSEPH V. SHIELDS JR. Has served on the board of Members and Trustees and board of Directors, but has not publicly articulated a clear vision for how the Breeders’ Cup can grow. Closely associated with old-guard Members and Trustees who have lacked innovation. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

JOHN SIKURA: Fiercely independent and driven to build his own business, Sikura has a vision to grow the Breeders’ Cup to become an even more important world championship by incorporating horses from different parts of the globe. He is one of those “all in” horsemen who do not look at the Thoroughbred industry as a part-time hobby but as a full-time commitment of his time and financial resources, and his personal success is tied to the growth of events like the Breeders’ Cup. Recommend for election.

OLIVER TAIT: Represents Darley USA, one of the most important contributors to the Breeders’ Cup in terms of nominations and participation in the world championships. Tait may not be a household name in the U.S. at this stage of his career, but he has accumulated extensive international experience in Europe and Australia. Recommend for election.

DUNCAN TAYLOR: Listening to your customers seems like a logical approach to any business, but I don’t think that has been a strong suit of the Breeders’ Cup board of Directors or management in the past. Taylor Made has developed into the industry’s leading sales agency because of its customer-centric approach, an approach that can only help the Breeders’ Cup. Recommend for election.

ROBERT TRUSSELL JR.: Was a member of the Gainesway Farm team when John Gaines created the Breeders’ Cup in the early 1980s, so he has a great depth of knowledge and history of the organization. However, it is difficult to grasp where he stands on issues of importance given his lack of response to the Paulick Report questionnaire and the absence of a personal statement accompanying his biography on the Breeders’ Cup election web site. (In the original version of this article, I reported the Breeders’ Cup web site did not include a biography of Trussell; that has since been added here.) Cannot recommend a vote at this time for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

ROB WHITELEY: If you are in favor of maintaining the status quo, Whiteley is not your candidate. He was an outspoken critic of the decision last December to suspend the stakes supplement program, and I believe his leadership on that issue led to a quick reversal by the board of Directors. Strongly believes in accountability, transparency and fiscal responsibility. Recommend for election.

JACK WOLF: Knowledgeable about the importance of the Breeders’ Cup in the industry and bullish on the role the organization can play to increase the popularity of the sport, something it has not yet been able to do. Refreshingly candid, independent and with outstanding credentials both in racing and in the outside business world. Recommend for election.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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Do you know an individual or organization who you think we should consider for an upcoming “Good News Friday” feature? Then please e-mail info@paulickreport.com with the name of the individual or organization and a brief description of why you think they should be featured. Additionally, we’d like to thank Rob Whiteley and Liberation Farm for encouraging us to bring to light some of the industry’s positive stories and for sponsoring this exclusive Paulick Report feature.

By Ray Paulick
Her name is Mary Lee-Butte, but many who have benefited from her work with the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy call her “Mary Christmas.” Whether it’s helping organize the chaplaincy’s annual “Festival of Christmas,” an event that brings joy to hundreds of children from needy, horse industry families, or stopping by a nursing home to visit and drop off the latest copies of Blood-Horse and Thoroughbred Times magazines to former horse industry workers, Lee-Butte has a heart, as track announcer Trevor Denman likes to say, as big as the racetrack.

But the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, as the name implies, serves a community much larger than the track. “When we started this organization,” said industry consultant Lonny Powell, the chaplaincy’s founding president, “we saw that it was an enormous challenge. With a racetrack chaplaincy, you draw a square and define the stable area as your community. With the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, we’re serving several counties in Central Kentucky. But it’s worked, and it’s given me great satisfaction and pride to see how many people have benefited.”

The chaplaincy was formed in 2003 by a group of individuals in Central Kentucky that included Powell, David Foley of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the Jockey Club’s  Dan Fick, Tom Thornbury of Keeneland, Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association CEO Remi Bellocq, breeder Ben Walden, Bobby Maxwell of Sallee Horse Vans and Bethlehem Farms’ Sandra White. (Click here to learn more about the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy.)

“Back in the early days, we’d hired a part-time administrator and a part-time chaplain to get this kicked off,” recalled David Foley, a past president and current treasurer of the chaplaincy. “We used to meet several times a month the first few years trying to get the ministry going. Both of these positions ended up going full-time and we were covering a lot of ground; however, fundraising was always a challenge. Then, along came Mary–as the song goes. She came to us initially as a volunteer a few years back, began participating and then inquired about setting up a Ladies Guild to assist the chaplaincy with additional needs and to help with fundraising. She was ‘on fire’ for this ministry, back then and remains so today.”

When the chaplaincy’s original executive director left Central Kentucky and resigned her position, Lee-Butte was working virtually full-time as a volunteer. The executive director job was offered to her, and she stepped in to help the organization through a transition without missing a step. It’s grown under her leadership and expanded its outreach to the community in many ways. Lee-Butte is one of three employees, along with the chaplain Claudio Toro and executive assistant Deanna Widaman.

“On a day to day basis, we are able to take care of any emergency needs the workers have,” Lee-Butte said, “whether it’s physical, spiritual, financial or medical. It’s a one-stop resource center.”

The chaplaincy, which was previously affiliated with the Racetrack Chaplaincy of America but ended its ties with that national organization earlier this year, opened an Enrichment Center at its Lexington office in the last year.  The center is used as a classroom, where courses on safety and English as a second language are taught. The center will be used this summer for a new children’s reading program, and it also hosts a mentoring program for mothers who either have husbands working on horse farms or themselves are farm employees. A computer lab is being created, thanks to a gift of eight computers from Darley Farm. Classes will be taught to help farm workers develop word processing and basic computer skills that will help them on the job. Lee-Butte hopes to arrange for regularly scheduled medical and dental services to also be available for those in need.

“Our greatest achievement last year by far was opening the Enrichment Center,” said Fritz Widaman of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the chaplaincy’s current president. Its development, Widaman said, would not have been possible without the generosity of many people in the industry.

Lee-Butte echoed Widaman’s sentiments about the widespread support, saying funding comes from all levels of the industry, from wealthy farm owners who make substantial donations to individuals who send in $5 or $10.

“Taylor Made Farm has been phenomenal in their support,” she said, “Beau Lane of the Lane Foundation has supported the chaplaincy for a long time and has been one of our major donors. Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton have been supportive, and so has the Blood-Horse family, especially at Christmastime. Darley has been very supportive, both with funding and with the recent donation of computers.”

The heart and soul of the chaplaincy’s fundraising, however, comes from the Ladies Guild that Lee-Butte helped start.

“The Ladies Guild is a very cohesive, supportive group of women who are cheerleaders for the industry and for each other,” Lee-Butte said. “It raises money, but it’s also an outreach for people who want to be involved in doing something. That’s what drives me; volunteer work is very rewarding.

By Ray Paulick

When Rob Whiteley managed the Foxfield commercial breeding operation for corporate raider Carl Icahn, he had to justify every dollar on the ledger sheets for the real-life Gordon Gekko. You couldn’t pull the wool over Icahn’s eyes on fiscal matters.

Today, free from Icahn, Whiteley runs his own operation, Liberation Farm, breeding and selling Thoroughbreds for the commercial market. He applies many of the lessons and disciplines he learned from his old boss. Coming out of the recent Keeneland September yearling sale, the most important marketplace for commercial breeders, Whiteley examined the profitability of the business he has dedicated himself to since leaving academia 25 years ago (his pre-racing resume includes Stanford, Rutgers, Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley).

The resulting article was published in the Thoroughbred Daily News last Friday, Oct. 3. If you haven’t read it, and you have any interest in the future of this business, Whiteley’s analysis is a must-read. (The TDN is a subscription-only site, but there is no charge for an online subscription.)

What Whiteley found may have been shocking to some, though not necessarily surprising to the many small, blue-collar breeding operations scattered across the rural landscape of Central Kentucky: breeders are bleeding red ink. Many of them face uncertain futures, even without the greater financial crisis brought on by tighter credit markets from the Wall Street/banking meltdown.

Whiteley found that fewer than one in five yearlings catalogued to the Keeneland September sale led to a break-even or profitable result for its breeder. He detailed the example of how a yearling produced through a $20,000 stud fee and selling for $70,000 at public auction (3.5 times the stud fee) does not cover all the expenses associated over the 30 months it took to plan, produce, raise and bring the horse to market.

The most profitable days of the September sale, of course, came at the front end, when not quite two of five yearlings catalogued (38% on days one and three, 37% on day two) broke even or sold for a profit. After the first eight sessions of the 15-day sale (in other words, all of the second half), profits were as thin as a Parisian runway model – the high was 14% of horses catalogued on day nine and the low 0% on day 15.

Worse, Whiteley’s expense assumptions in his profit-loss formula may be on the conservative side. He doesn’t factor in the general and administrative expenses that most businesses absorb or the three in 10 chance that a mare will have a non-productive year (barren, slipped or dead foal).

The problems breeders face are mounting. The price of hay, feed, fencing and vanning are quickly accelerating. Auction prices are retreating, and there is little being done on the national level to bring new end-users (horse owners) into racing. The industry is retracting on many fronts.

Not all breeders are affected equally. For those operations that are secondary businesses or hobbies for multi-millionaires or billionaires who inherited their money or made it in other industries, the losses may be used to write-off profits made elsewhere. Major breeders who stand high-end stallions have that lucrative end of their business to hold them up.

But where this hits especially hard is the backbone of the industry, the small mom-and-pop operations that may own a half-dozen mares, sell their best yearlings and race the rest. They don’t have income from other industries or trust funds to balance their spreadsheets, but they do, collectively, have a huge impact on the overall infrastructure of the horse industry.

Whiteley isn’t whining, and no one put to a gun to his head to buy all those mares he now owns (or co-owns with a bank). He also understands that free-market economics, and the laws of supply and demand, need to run their course. He didn’t publish his complaints without also coming up with what he believes is a short-term solution.

The article describes the industry’s “big three” as sale companies, the veterinary community and stallion owners, and suggests they will be the next group to suffer if the economics for breeders do not improve, and they are forced out of the industry. Fewer breeders will result in lower demand for stallion and veterinary services, and certainly lower profits for Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton.

Whiteley calls for an economic stimulus plan to be borne by the big three: for 2009 only, a 50% reduction in stud fees, a 50% reduction in the cost of services (and medication markup) provided by veterinarians and a 50% reduction in the commission collected by sale companies.

Of course the chances of this actually happening are somewhere between slim and none. Stallion owners will say their fees are based on demand, and veterinarians will cite their rising costs and the investments they’ve made in equipment and education. Sale companies will say they’ve got to making a living, too.

Something, somewhere has to give, or we will see a major exodus from the industry of small businesses. That won’t be good for anyone.

MORE BAD NEWS ON THE RACING FRONT. Turfway Park closed its fall meeting with significant declines in business, both on and off-track, where handle fell 18% and 20%, respectively. There were circumstances to the numbers being so far down (aren’t there always?), but they add yet another chapter to a very troubling sequence of bad economic news for the pari-mutuel side of the Thoroughbred industry.

Keeneland did a very good thing when it purchased Turfway Park and perhaps kept it from being developed for commercial use, though I’m not sure why it is necessary for the cash-rich company to have a partner in Turfway that has no interest in the success of horse racing (a casino company). Many blue-collar Kentucky breeders race their horses at Turfway Park, and the decline of the track since its purchase by Keeneland and partners has been yet another blow to those breeders, who are now shipping their horses to race out of state in increasing numbers to places like West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Turfway needs an injection of capital and creative or intellectual investment that Keeneland so far is not providing. Investing in Turfway is one way of helping Kentucky’s breeders.

 Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report

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