October 2019

Minutes
Ohio HBPA Board Meeting
11:00 am, Monday, October 10th, 2019
Ohio HBPA Main Office, Grove City, OH

Members Present:

President Joe Poole Directors: Bobby Cline, Doug Cowans, Jeff Jarvis, Dick McCall, Mike Rone, Robin Schuster and Kristi Tumblin

Members Unable to Attend: Susan Anderson, Mark Kuntz, John Royer and Kim Williams

Others Present:

Executive Director Dave Basler, OHBPA Lobbyist Tom Pappas

Call to Order/ Approval of Minutes:

President Poole called the meeting to order. After review President Poole moved and Director Cline seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the August 5th, 2019 Ohio HBPA board of directors meeting. Motion passed.

Special Order of Business:

OHBPA lobbyist Tom Pappas updated the board on the current status of proposed sports betting legislation in the state. Due to the sensitive and ongoing nature of the proposed pieces of legislation no further details will be provided in these minutes.

President’s Report

With the recent passing of former Ohio HBPA President Jim Morgan, President Poole moved and Director McCall seconded a motion that the Ohio HBPA make a recommendation to the Thoroughbred Advisory Board that the Tah Dah Stakes run in August at Belterra Park annually be renamed the Tah Dah Jim Morgan Memorial Stakes going forward. Motion passed.

Executive Director’s Report:

The executive director updated the board regarding negotiations with Belterra Park management on revising the track contract. Discussion was held regarding those negotiations and the Ohio HBPA’s strategy moving forward. Due to the sensitive and ongoing nature of these negotiations no further details will be provided in these minutes.

Discussion was held on a three page handout provided by the executive director which sets new medication thresholds for many therapeutic medications in Ohio with the new thresholds set to take effect January 1st, 2020. Basler detailed that the main changes in the schedule were that new thresholds had been established for many intra-articular corticosteroids with the thresholds roughly establishing a suggested seven day withdrawal time on IA corticosteroids with the exception of Methylprednisolone where the new threshold is consistent with at least a 14 day withdrawal time.

Following extensive discussion President Poole moved and Director Cline seconded a motion that the executive director write a recommendation letter on behalf of the OHBPA to the Ohio State Racing Commission for Mike Rone to fill the newly vacant trustee seat on the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Health Fund. Motion passed with Director Jarvis voting no.

New Business:

Purses and Wagering

Basler updated the board on the current status of the purse accounts at all three Ohio thoroughbred tracks and discussion was held regarding the numbers.

Basler went through handouts provided to the board showing VLT revenues for the state’s seven commercial racetracks which showed that the net win at Thistledown in September, 2019 came in at $11,746,720 up over 14% from the previous September. Mahoning Valley recorded a net win of $10,451,369 in September up over $600,000 from the September, 2018 net win figure at the track. The net win at Belterra Park in September, 2019 was $7,070,315 which was down over $250,000 from the prior year figure.

Discussion was held regarding the 2020 proposed Ohio Thoroughbred Fund Stakes schedule which included handouts of two different proposed stakes schedules, one from Belterra Park racing secretary Bill Couch and one from the executive director.

Director Jarvis moved and Director McCall seconded a motion that the Ohio HBPA recommend the executive director’s proposed 2020 OTF stakes schedule to the Thoroughbred Advisory Board at that group’s next meeting. Motion passed.

Budget and Finance

Extensive discussion was held regarding the 2020 Ohio Thoroughbred Fund program.
Director Cline moved and Director Schuster seconded a motion that the Ohio HBPA will provide additional funding beyond its contractual obligations from the Industry Initiative fund to maintain the current supplements and stake schedules levels for the OTF program in 2020 provided that the expenses in the following categories remain at the following levels or lower; administrative $100,000, Advertising/trophies $75,000 and Promotions/ Research $121,000. Motion passed.

Following discussion Director Jarvis moved and Director Tumblin seconded a motion that a contribution of $12,000 be made from the Industry Initiative Fund to the Racetrack Chaplaincy of America to support the work of Chaplain Smith at Mahoning Valley for the fall and winter/spring meets. Motion passed.

Discussion was held regarding an email request for financial assistance with legal expenses from a member fighting an OSRC ruling in the court system. A copy of the email was provided to the board members. No motions were made on this issue.

Discussion was held regarding the next meeting date for the Ohio HBPA board of directors with Thursday, December 5th, 2019 being selected as the date for the next meeting.

Adjournment:

President Poole moved and Director McCall seconded a motion to adjourn. Motion passed.