Minutes
Ohio HBPA Board Meeting
11:00 am, Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Ohio HBPA Main Office
Members Present: President Joe Poole Directors Susan Anderson, Bobby Cline, Linda Carrera, Christy Estvanko, Brian Poe, Kim Puhl, Mike Rone, George Sikora, Doug Shanyfelt
Members Unable to Attend: Tim Hamm, Jeff Jarvis
Others Present: Executive Director Dave Basler
Call to Order/ Approval of Minutes:
President Poole called the meeting to order. After review Director Cline moved and Director Rone seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the March 20, 2026 Ohio HBPA board of directors meeting. Motion passed.
President Poole moved and Director Rone seconded a motion to grant Director Poe an excused absence from the March 20, 2026 OHBPA board of directors meeting as he was travelling out of the country at the time. Motion passed.
Executive Director’s Report:
The executive director informed the board that Director Hamm had submitted a written resignation due to being out of state and not being able to attend the board meetings. Basler informed the board that Mark Doering who is the current alternate in the trainer category would take Hamm’s place for the remainder of his term.
Basler provided an update on the recent decision on lasix by the HISA board detailing that the board had decided to maintain their current policy allowing lasix in all races except for 2-year-olds and stakes races.
Basler provided the board with an update regarding the OTBO and some recent problems within that organization that had been brought up publicly during a recent Thoroughbred Advisory Board conference call.
An update on the upcoming OHBPA board of directors election was provided including details for a nominating committee conference call to take place the following week,
New Business:
Purses and Wagering
Handouts were provided to the board showing VLT results for all three thoroughbred tracks in Ohio for April 2026 as well as previous years VLT results for comparison purposes. Belterra Park showed a net win of $8,375,396 in April up over $2,400,000 from the $5,912,814 net win in April 2025 at the track but that number was not an apples to apples comparison as the track was closed for nearly a week in April 2025 due to flooding. Thistledown had a net VLT win of $17,787.221 in April which was up over $1,500,000 from the prior April net win. Mahoning Valley had a net VLT win of $16,733,407 in April which was an increase of nearly $1,700,000 from the $15,040,270 net win at Mahoning Valley in April 2025.
Basler detailed purse account balances for each track Belterra Park had a total of $1,375,619 available for purses as of April 1, 2026 compared to a total of $2,329,208 on the same date the previous year.
Mahoning Valley had a total of $3,408,526 available for purses as of May 1, 2026 over $1.1 million above last years $2,288,727 on the same date in 2025.
Thistledown had a total of $8,743,197 available for purses as of April 1, 2026 compared to $9,008,319 on the same date in 2025.
Benevolence, Policies and Organization
The Benevolence, Policies and Organization recommended to the full board that the following clarification be made to Ohio HBPA procedures regarding excused absences from board meetings.
“The executive director shall grant an excused absence if each of the following conditions are met. 1) the director is the listed owner and/or trainer of a horse which races at an Ohio track on the same day as an Ohio HBPA board of directors meeting 2) the director was at the track on that date 3) the director makes a request for an excused absence to the executive director.
For any other circumstances the director shall make a request to the executive director for an excused absence. The executive director will present the request to the full Ohio HBPA board of directors for a determination.”
Following discussion the board was in agreement with the procedure clarification.
Discussion was held regarding the next board meeting date with the board setting Friday, July 17, 2026 as the next meeting date beginning at 11am at the Ohio HBPA main office in Grove City.
Adjournment:
President Poole moved and Director Shanyfelt seconded a motion to adjourn. Motion passed.