national horsemen’s benevolent and protective association

Due process is a fundamental and accepted constitutional right in our country. In a government sanctioned and regulated industry, it is required. Every person in our industry who holds a license to participate is given a right to due process when their livelihood is threatened. We are an industry that operates according to rules and […]

Nominations for the fourth annual Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA) will open on Tuesday, May 21, and close on Monday, July 15. The TIEAs were held in America for the first time in 2016. Godolphin, the global racing stable founded by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is the principal sponsor of the […]

Eric Hamelback, chief executive officer of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, is developing a concept he believes would help stewards navigate the increasingly complex world when highly sophisticated testing collides with environmental contamination and the inadvertent transfer of matter to racehorses. Speaking Friday on the last day of programming at the National HBPA […]

Sports betting and its possible effects on horse racing. Stemming the dearth of backside employees. Horses’ inadvertent exposure to recreational and prescription medications. Needing solutions, not just funding, for Thoroughbred aftercare. Where the trainer absolute-insurer rule stands. Horsemen as citizen marketers. Those are among the discussions taking center stage at the National HBPA Convention, March 13-17 at […]

The California Horse Racing Board has confirmed that 46 horses perished on Thursday when the Lilac Fire destroyed nearly half the barns at the San Luis Rey Downs training center, according to bloodhorse.com. A small number of horses believed to have broken through a fence are still unaccounted for. Approximately 360 Thoroughbreds from San Luis Rey […]

Four defending champions are among 294 nominations to the 19th running of the $1.11 million Claiming Crown set for Saturday, Dec. 2, opening day of Gulfstream Park’s 2017-2018 Championship Meet. This year marks the sixth consecutive year Gulfstream Park will serve as host to the nine-race Claiming Crown, created in 1999 by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and […]

John V. Finamore, Senior Vice President of Regional Operations for Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course authored the following response to a piece written by Ray Paulick Wednesday regarding the outcome of the federal trial of trainer Murray Rojas in Pennsylvania: Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course (“Penn National Race Course”) shares in the public’s concern […]

It must be disheartening at times to be an honest Thoroughbred owner or trainer, especially one that happens to race in Pennsylvania. It’s bad enough, as we learned last week in the federal trial of trainer Murray Rojas, that widespread and systematic cheating has been going on at Penn National racecourse in Grantville, Pa. for […]

A jury in United States District Court in Harrisburg, Pa., has convicted Thoroughbred trainer Murray Rojas on 14 of 21 counts brought against her by the U.S. attorney’s office in a wide-ranging FBI criminal investigation into corruption at nearby Penn National racetrack. Their verdict came Friday evening after day-long deliberations that followed a nine-day trial. The […]

A recently formed non-profit association affiliated with the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association is helping fund the legal defense of trainer Murray Rojas, who has been charged with multiple counts of wire fraud and criminal conspiracy in a long-running federal investigation of horsemen and racing officials at Penn National racetrack in Grantville, Pa. Articles […]