Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association News Bulletin | May 28, 2020 UPDATES
A Message from PTHA President Sal DeBunda The PTHA is currently using this downtime to give the PTHA website a much needed renovation, but the video can be shared from all PTHA social media and also seen HERE!
Field Taking Shape for 2020 Belmont Stakes
RACING May 26th, 2020 BY Bob Ehalt CONTENT PROVIDED BY BLOOD-HORSE As the connections of Maxfield weigh their options, a field of at least nine is taking shape for the $1 million Belmont Stakes, which will open the delayed 2020 Triple Crown season June 20 at Belmont Park.
Godolphin’s undefeated grade 1 winner Maxfield returned from a 7 1/2-month layoff to capture the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes May 23 at Churchill Downs, putting the son of Street Sense squarely in the Triple Crown mix. Trainer Brendan Walsh said Monday that a decision on the 3-year-old’s Belmont Stakes status was not imminent.
“It looks like he came out of the race good but we don’t know yet about the Belmont Stakes. We’ll have to see once he gets back to training. To be honest, I haven’t spoken to [the Godolphin team] yet. I think, like me, they want to give it a few days or a week to see how he is before they come up with a plan. Nothing’s on or off yet.”
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PA COMMISSION VOTES TO SUPPORT BILL AUTHORIZING TRACKS TO BEGIN LIVE RACING
Posted: May 26, 2020
The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission May 26 unanimously approved a motion to support legislation that would grant horse racing a waiver to Gov. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus (COVID-19) business closure order and facilitate the resumption of live racing. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Barry Jozwiak of Bucks County, where Parx Racing is located, would order the Secretary of Community and Economic Development to issue a waiver for a race meet if licensed racing entities can adhere to social distancing practices and other mitigation measures defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect workers and mitigate the spread of COVID-19; if the PHRC authorizes the activities necessary to regulate racing; and if the equine drug-testing program is operational at the time meets are conducted. The legislation would take effect immediately if passed by both the House of Representatives and Senate and signed by the governor. Continue reading....
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HORSE OWNERS, TRACKS ELIGIBLE FOR PPP LOANS UNDER NEW FEDERAL GUIDANCE By: THA
The application for the Paycheck Protection Program is available here.
The Paycheck Protection Program is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that passed Congress in March. Similar legislation signed into law April 24 provides another $310 billion for the PPP on top of the original $349 billion.
The new legislation also provides another $60 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. The THA and NTRA were successful in getting a restriction on agricultural enterprises—breeding farms with 500 or fewer employees, for example—removed from the program language.
Further information on the EIDL program is available via the U.S. Small Business Association and individual lending companies.
Go to PATHA.org Parx Backside Opens to Incoming Horses
Starting last weekend, Parx horses began to return to the backside with permission from the racing office. Horses were on the move to take advantage of the training track, which was never paused during the COVID-19 shutdowns. The starting gate crew is to resume morning gate training on June 2 and continue after the break on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Trainers are encouraged to keep their barns running under recommended safety protocols, which will be updated again as soon as the PA Department of Health approves submitted guidelines. Race and returns are being approved by management and we are ready for a return to racing without fans as soon as approved by the Governor. Your PTHA has lobbyists in place pushing in Harrisburg all the time, and the PA Racing Commission has been working with the Health Department to make sure we will be in compliance when that happens. Please listen to the video messages for the most up-to-date information. Your board is working for you!
UPDATE ON THE POTENTIAL RESUMPTION OF RACING
AT PENN NATIONAL AND PRESQUE ISLE DOWNS
May 28, 2020
This afternoon, the Pennsylvania HBPA participated in a very good meeting with the Governor’s office and officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The Pennsylvania HBPA received affirmation that yesterday’s statement from Governor Wolf - allowing professional sports to resume in green and yellow counties - includes horse racing.
We anticipate COVID-19 safety protocols being submitted from the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission to the Department of Health no later than Monday morning, June 1st. We will then do everything we can to receive an expedited approval. Upon approval of COVID-19 safety protocols by the Department of Health, live racing will be allowed to resume in the Commonwealth (in counties which have been labeled green or yellow).
This is the revised - though still tentative - schedule for Presque Isle Downs: Stable area re-opening June 15th Live racing resuming July 6th
PLEASE DO NOT ship horses to Presque Isle Downs in anticipation of the stable area re- opening. We will announce a firm re-opening date as soon as we can.
We will continue to keep you informed,
Todd Mostoller
Executive Director, Pennsylvania HBPA
(717) 469-2970
Protocols at the Horsemen’s Gate during live racing at Laurel Park
The Maryland Jockey Club has issued the following protocols for horsemen when they access Laurel Park through the Horsemen’s Gate during live racing. The protocols are effective May 30 when live racing resumes.
Everyone entering through the Horsemen’s Gate must have a face covering and their Maryland Racing Commission badge. There are no exceptions.
Everyone will have their temperature checked as the enter. The trainer or their representative responsible for saddling the horse will be the only person allowed through the Horsemen’s Gate for their specific race. Once the race is finished, they must leave immediately through the Horsemen’s Gate. A racing official will be stationed at the Horsemen’s Gate to collect papers, coggins, colors, checks for the bookkeeper, or anything else that needs to go to the Racing Office. The claims box will be with the racing official at the Horsemen’s Gate, where a claim must still be dropped 10 minutes to post. No one will be allowed past the gate to observe the horses in the paddock. Any money that needs to get to the Horsemen’s Bookkeeper must either be wired (instructions are on the Laurel website) or be in the form of an official bank check made out to the Maryland Thoroughbred Purse Account and given to the racing official at the Horsemen's Gate. Please call the Racing Office if you are in need of papers or colors or anything else so we may get it out to the racing official at the Horsemen’s Gate. No family members, guests, owners, or jockey agents will be allowed through the Horsemen’s Gate. All grooms must have a MRC badge and face coverings once they leave the receiving barn or their respective barns to head to the paddock for their race.
Text Link Help for HORSEMEN CARES ACT
N TRA New SBA Guidance Makes Tracks Eligible Recordings on for Paycheck Federal Protection Program; Response to Farms Can Now Apply For Economic Injury Coronavirus Disaster Loan Pandemic
NTRA.com Plan for Pennsylvania Pennsylvania is facing a new set of realities every day as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We all have work we need to do to build a new commonwealth. Governor Wolf has outlined a plan for relief, reopening, and recovery that will keep Pennsylvanians alive and repair the damage this virus has caused across Pennsylvania. The Plan Phase 1: Relief Phase 2: Reopening Phase 3: Recovery
HORSES RETURNING TO PARX
May 26th, 2020 By Dick Jerardi
It was not quite an invasion over Memorial Day weekend, but the Parx stable gate was quite busy as the first of what will be hundreds of horses that had been stabled elsewhere were permitted into the barn area to join the horses that have remained in training at the track during the shutdown.
It is not quite a return to racing, but it is a start, with more stalls filling up. When racing will return remains unclear. Bucks County moves into the state’s yellow zone in early June so it is getting closer. New York racing returns June 3 at Belmont Park. Live racing returns to Delaware Park June 17, pending state approval. Looks like they are close at Laurel Park in Maryland, but nothing definite yet. Racing returns to Belterra Park in Cincinnati June 4.
Gotham Stakes winner Mischevious Alex will be returning from South Florida to Parx for trainer John Servis to get ready to run in the 7-furlong, Grade I Woody Stephens June 20 at Belmont Park. If all goes well there, Servis may look at the Indiana Derby. Depending on that result, Servis may also look at the Kentucky Derby in September.
Yes, the Triple Crown has been reconfigured with the longest race now the shortest and the last race now the first, but an actual schedule gives us all hope that something approaching normal is closer.
In addition to Mischevious Alex, owned locally by Chuck Zacney and Glenn Bennett, there is a chance for a second horse with Parx connections to be a player in the Triple Crown races.
Ny Traffic, owned by John Fanelli, Zacney and Bennett, just keeps getting better. The horse, who made the first three starts of his career at Parx, finished third in the Risen Star Stakes, second in the Louisiana Derby and, last Saturday, second to unbeaten and highly- touted Maxfield in the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs. His Beyer figures have gone from an 82 to an 89 and now to a 95.
Was nice to see 2018 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Discreet Lover back to the races for owner/trainer Uriah St. Lewis. The horse, who had not raced in 13 months, ran 11th of 12 at 102-1 in the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs. Hopefully, now that Discreet Lover has had a race, there will be better days ahead.
AN ADDITION TO THE BEST AT PARX LIST
I knew I was going to miss a few on my list of the best horses to run at Parx since the track opened in 1974.
I forgot the 2016 Pennsylvania Derby that featured the winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Nyquist and Exaggerator.
The horses did not run well at Parx, with Nyquist sixth and Exaggerator seventh. But they both had wonderful careers. Nyquist, the 2015 2-year-old champion, earned $5.1 million and won five Grade I races, including the Derby, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Florida Derby. Exaggerator earned $3.5 million and won three Grade I races – the Preakness, Santa Anita Derby and Haskell. He finished second in the Kentucky Derby.Continue Reading
Backstretch Views KEEP THE FAITH!
Together, we are strong! Your Elected Board is working hard to 1. Work with Management to allow Race and Returns (done) and 2. Allow shipping in for training and 3. Return to Racing under Recommended Coronavirus Policies for Maintaining Spectator Free Racing
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PENNSYLVANIA'S ELITE: THOROUGHBREDS PART 2
By Averie Levanti
Read at Pennhorseracing.com
In a typical year, 1,600 Pennsylvania- breds compete on the racetrack for average earnings of $27,600. Of the 50,000+ who have raced across the globe since 1985, only an elite group of 31 horses have broken the seven figure mark in earnings. Over the course of summer 2020, the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Association will be chronicling a ten-part series featuring the select group of Pennsylvania-breds who reached the unique and rare accomplishment of $1,000,000 in racetrack earnings. Join us to celebrate and remember some of the greatest racehorses the Keystone State has produced....
UTC STUD Breezing May 27
Parx Horses Prepared to Race!
Do you have any story ideas, especially horsemen who would like to be interviewed? Let us know by emailing [email protected] The Retired Racehorse Project’s online Horse Listings are now free to use during the COVID-19 crisis. As horsemen may be faced with the sudden need to retire and rehome racehorses sooner than they may have anticipated, we would like to encourage them to diligently list their available horses to help them find good homes.
Our listings are our most-viewed resource on our retiredracehorseproject.org website and are regularly visited by equestrians seeking their next mount, as well as Makeover-eligible candidates. More information can be found at:
Retired Racehorse Project
The PTHA and HPA Store have provided parx backstretch residents with care Call in your HPA packages including gloves, thermometers, Orders! disinfectant wipes and information on Lowest Prices Every Day on All your Stable resources. Masks can be picked up at the Needs! store. Trainers should be enforcing CDC 267-223-3494 recommendations for disinfecting barn areas. With respect to COVID-19, HPA is requesting that you call in large orders, pay over the phone or with CC when possible, and respect social distances to Hours of Operation stop the spread! Pick up at side doors! (open every day except Wednesday and Sunday during COVID-19) Store Direct Line: 267-223-3494 Tack Shop: 8:00 am –- 12:00 pm Shipping Address: 2786 Galloway Road, Feed/Shavings Trailers: 8:00 am –- 12:00 Bensalem, PA 19020 pm Mailing Address: P.O. Box 300, Bensalem, PA 19020 Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association | 215-638-2012 P. O. Box 300, Bensalem, PA 19020 | http://www.patha.org