When I became Chair of the Thoroughbred Owners of California two years ago, I pledged to keep working on issues that were of the utmost important to owners. These issues were the reasons I ran for election to the board of directors of the TOC in the first place, and for the past four years I and my fellow directors have worked to see those goals accomplished. More...
A New Year by Marsha Naify
It’s been 15 years since the Thoroughbred Owners of California was approved for incorporation with the Secretary of State, back on March 3, 1993. Papers were filed and received by the state on Jan. 19, 1993, and today you can review those documents online at the TOC website. Set up as a non-profit mutual benefit corporation, today TOC represents about 10,000 thoroughbred owners throughout the great state of California. It took several years to get TOC up and running, but today the organization is one of the
strongest and most respected horse racing industry groups in the country. More...
It’s been three years since I was first elected to the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. As the saying goes, if I had known then what I know now, I might not have ever run for the board. But all in all, it has been a good three years. We’ve seen a lot of changes in those three years: TCO2 testing on all horses that race in California, the establishment of the California Jockeys Welfare Corporation and the installation of all weather tracks in California. More...
Forging the Future (Winter 2008) by Marsha Naify
As we enter 2008, what will the future hold for Thoroughbred racing in 2008 and beyond? Our board of directors understands that forging the future means creating change. Whether that change is in medication, drug testing, track security, sales integrity, owners' rights or just taking care of our horses once their racing careers have ended, TOC's mission is to keep moving forward. More...
Vision and Verse...(Fall 2007) by Marsha Naify
For the Love of the Game (Summer 2007) by Marsha Naify
Thrills, Fears and Perseverence (Winter 2006) by Alan Landsburg
Looking forward to the status of racing in California as 2007 begins, I found myself awed at the manner in which this sport niche continues to survive.As a representative of the nearly 9,000 individuals who hold licenses for ownership of thoroughbred racehorses, I share both their thrills and fears. No other sport is propelled solely on individual guts, hopes, dreams, and purses. Progress of our horses occurs with all the alacrity of grass growing. Good things are happening that provoke visions of better times ahead. More...
As we enter 2008, what will the future hold for Thoroughbred racing in 2008 and beyond? Our board of directors understands that forging the future means creating change. Whether that change is in medication, drug testing, track security, sales integrity, owners’ rights or just taking care of our horses once their racing careers have ended, TOC’s mission is to keep moving forward.
One important area we are currently focused on is working with Barretts Equine Ltd. to make our sales auctions in California a model of success and integrity, and to educate owners on their rights when they go to buy a horse at auction. Recently Barretts announced that anabolic steroids would be banned at all sales except for two year olds in training. The board of directors of TOC wants to see anabolic steroids banned for every sale, including two year olds. We also want to see full disclosure of ownership and the complete availability of medical records as well as surgeries performed on all horses sold in California. We also feel that licensing consignors as well as agents in California would be useful. Last fall, the Sales Integrity Task Force came out with their recommendations for the industry. While we applaud their efforts, we feel the Task Force fell short of the mark by making recommendations that were not requirements. While I understand the task force was set up in response to changes in Kentucky, clearly the scope of the task force was meant to have national impact, yet Western racing states were much underrepresented. TOC hopes that by the end of 2008 we can see full transparency and disclosure at all auctions and in all sales of Thoroughbred racehorses across the country. California owners buy horses not only here in California, but spend a considerable amount of money in Kentucky and other states.
One of the most successful programs that TOC has continued over the years has been our seminars for current and future owners.We want to expand those programs in 2008 by working with Barretts to educate owners on how to buy a horse at auction and to develop a "Buyer’s Rights" handbook for people who buy horses in California. Along with expanded conformation clinics at the actual sales, we hope to continue educating existing owners as well as being able to bring new owners to racing.
All of these changes, as well as many other important issues the TOC is working on, would not be possible without a strong board of directors. As most of you know, every year we hold elections for open board seats. We have a 15 member board; 12 of the seats go to owners and three of the seats go to trainers. Each member is elected to a three year term; thus every year, five seats are up to be filled. Many board members choose to run for re-election when their term is up, but some want to move on to other endeavors. Regardless, TOC is always looking for new board members who want to be part of the future for California racing. Now is the time to step forward and get involved. These are exciting times; TOC is working on a lot of good issues like the ones mentioned above. We are also continuing our work on finding ways to raise purse money and improve racing conditions. We’ve got a great board, but there are still some board seats we need to fill. March 1 is the deadline to get on the ballot for this year’s election, which will be mailed out on May 15 (see article on page 11). Just call Mary at our TOC office in Santa Anita, and she will tell you what you need to do to get on the ballot.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the TOC, I want to wish all California owners a happy and successful year in 2008. And thank you for continuing to be a part of Thoroughbred racing in California. Here’s to the future…
The new TOC Board took their seats at July’s board meeting (the start of our fiscal year), and in August that board elected its officers for the coming year. With those elections, your horsemen’s organization has set itself up to become one of the best boards TOC has ever seen. An organization is only as good as its people, and I am here to tell you today that your current board is composed of the best and brightest of our owners in California. We are a solid team that has been in development over the last two years with new people and fresh ideas. Officers for the current year include Madeline Auerbach, in her new role as Vice Chair of Southern California, and Billy Koch, serving his first time on the Executive Committee as Secretary. This is probably one of the youngest boards that TOC has had, but we still have a solid mix of veterans among us, like Mace Siegel,who brings tremendous knowledge and history to the board.We have three trainers on the board, one veterinarian, and several breeders, all who own and race thoroughbreds in California. While TOC still needs to improve on the percentage of women and minorities represented on the board, as the saying goes, we’ve come a long way baby. Only four of the current board members have been on the board over two and a half years, and that’s the way it should be: change is good. While we still need our veterans on the board, the future of the TOC lies in getting new people involved who are enthusiastic and committed to the future of racing.
As the Chairwoman, it is my job to set the agenda and to work with the President, Executive Director and other staff to make sure TOC remains a strong and effective organization. It is also my goal, working with the entire board, to make sure that TOC has a clear vision for California racing. As owners, we are California racing, and it is up to us to make sure that thoroughbred racing in this state remains a viable and stable industry, and that it becomes as profitable as possible not only for horse owners but for everyone involved. The future of racing depends on every owner being able to stay in business, whether that owner owns two horses or 20 horses. How we accomplish that goal is critical. As an organization, we must be a leader in this industry on a local, as well as a national level, but we must lead by example. Integrity in all our business affairs is crucial. Only by partnering with other industry stakeholders can we achieve anything, but our partners must recognize that the owners are the most critical component of the equation in California racing.
As we look towards the coming year, we have some big issues to tackle and some long range goals that need to come to fruition sooner, rather than later:
I got involved with the TOC because I love horse racing: the sport, the horses and the people. I love going to the track and placing a bet; maybe I’ll get lucky. The track is its own world. The backstretch at 7 a.m. is bustling with trainers and workers and riders. And later when the track opens for business, no where on earth is there a greater melting pot of people. But this sport that we love is in trouble. It’s too late now to point fingers and quibble over the details or wax nostalgic about the past.We have just got to do a better job if we want this industry of ours to not only survive, but to flourish.
No question about it, the TOC has an outstanding board and staff. I’ve seen the staff close up for the last two years, and they are a hard working, dedicated group. Our board is passionate and devoted; together both have made TOC one of the most respected organizations in the nation. But we can do better.We must do better, if we want to insure the future of horse racing.
The Thoroughbred Owners of California has an all volunteer board; it is not an easy job for those who are willing to serve. It takes dedication and commitment. Everyone who owns a horse in California, by virtue of their CHRB license, is an automatic member of the TOC, and it is our job on the board to see that every California horse owner’s interests are preserved. The future of horse racing in California and across the nation is literally in our hands. We can’t pass the buck on this one, but we can’t do it alone either.
We need to come together, as an industry, for the sake of horse racing. Whether you’re an owner, a trainer or a horse breeder, we share the same dream. Every horse racing association, organization and business has got to work together for the good of the whole.
All of us can do better.We have to, or this industry won’t be around in a few years. And if we don’t start working in concert with each other, there won’t be any profits for any of us to divide. If we don’t overcome the differences that have kept us apart, we will surely fail.
Trying to bring this industry together has been anything but easy in the past.We have let egos and special interests destroy our common goals.We have forgotten that we are not only in business, but that we are the stewards for our business. This is not just an industry; it’s a way of life. It’s history and tradition, and if we don’t preserve what we have, it will be gone. The jobs will be gone, the money will be gone, the tracks will be gone and the horses will slowly go the way of our disappearing landscape.
Fourteen years.
Not a very long time in the mind of someone who has lived seven plus decades. Frankly, it seems like the day before yesterday. Fourteen years have passed since I sat at a table on Hollywood's Turf Club terrace listening to an impassioned speech about the inequities of the CHBPA.
"The trainers are destroying us,"my friend said."Us," in that case, were Thoroughbred owners. We were lumped together with trainers in a holy alliance called the California Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association. The organization was neither benevolent nor protective, at least as far as owners were concerned.
Within the executive councils of the CHBPA, trainers outnumbered owners because of the providential ruling allowing the spouses of trainers to be elected as "owners." To be sure, horses ran in the names of trainers' spouses, but their presence gave the trainers a 2-1 vote edge. Outvoted, owners decided to stage an uprising.
The heart of the revolution emerged when trainers decided to protest Marge Everett's decision to have Friday night racing. The trainers demanded a boycott of the entry box.My friend bellowed, "They are holding our horses hostage to their wishes. They are our employees, and we never gave them our permission to boycott racing."
The ironic footnote to the boycott threat was the concurrence of the uprising known as the "Watts Riots." Danger intervened, and racing was cancelled for the night, and weekend. No boycott occurred, and saner heads determined that night racing was good for racing.
It was out of that tempest and argument that a few owners chipped in a hat full of start up funds, and put the case for a separate owners' organization before one of racing's very good friends, Senator Ken Maddy. Finally, in strife, anger, and deep resolve, I started my 14-year journey with the TOC.
TOC has grown stronger, while earning the respect of most racing organizations, becoming a model for defending the rights of owners in this most exciting game. Fourteen adventure-packed years. Fourteen years of building racing friendships and the respect for individuals who are dedicated to racing. They were as hard as they were satisfying. The 14 years end for me the day after this year's Kentucky Derby. I made far more friends whom I hold dear, than enemies whom I condemn for inflicting wounds on the sport that I love.
Looking forward to the status of racing in California as 2007 begins, I found myself awed at the manner in which this sport niche continues to survive.As a representative of the nearly 9,000 individuals who hold licenses for ownership of thoroughbred racehorses, I share both their thrills and fears. No other sport is propelled solely on individual guts, hopes, dreams, and purses. Progress of our horses occurs with all the alacrity of grass growing. Good things are happening that provoke visions of better times ahead. 2007 may well become a watershed year for California racing.Here are some of the events we can expect to help boost the status and profitability.
One very basic change is well underway.We have already seen the installation of a new and much kinder racing surface. It was one of the first advancements that has not been met by doomsayers claiming calamity. Throughout the ranks of owners, trainers, veterinarians, and all those people concerned for the safety and well being of our horses, there is universal praise for the new surfaces. My hope is that the logjam of acquiring the materials doesn’t slow the process of all tracks constructing the new surfaces. The only complaint I heard was from a dedicated handicapper who seemed to claim that all his work and the resulting systems have become meaningless. He claimed that he was quitting. He’ll be back. Entrenched bettors can’t resist the pull of the windows.All we’ve done is create a more level playing field.
TOC has recognized the need for far more intense pressure to be applied to the questions and practices of horse medication. More and better testing procedures, stiffer and more quickly applied penalties are on the horizon. The work goes to the heart of racing’s integrity. Insuring racing’s integrity is a top priority. 2007 will show important forward steps.
One of TOC’s most important business interests is redesigning the ADW systems. My hopes for the possible changes are fired by ongoing negotiations between owners of the ADW outlets. TOC has worked hard to bring all the parties together and provide a way for all racing fans to see and wager on all available tracks, through the ADW provider of their choice, not the choice of isolated racetrack executives alone. If it isn’t fully corrected, the empowering laws and regulations will be totally rewritten before the close of 2007.
Finally, if horsemen and tracks unify in a reasonable manner, then 2007 could see a reassignment of monies that can be applied to nourish all purses. A mitigating proposition is in very early stages of discussion. The process by which this can happen must be carefully and cooperatively nurtured. If our hopes are realized, racing could see a doubling of purses – which would continue to place California on a par with states that have tracks combined with casinos.
By Alan Landsburg
The TOC Southern California Annual Meeting held on August 12 at Del Mar had the largest attendance to date. More than 250 members participated, while approximately 35 owners attended TOC’s first Northern California Annual Meeting held on September 30 at Golden Gate Fields.
One of the highlights of the Q and A – following the legally required elements of disclosing business affairs – at the Southern California annual meeting dealt with equine medication. The subject narrowed to an area troubling to many of those present: “Vet Bills.” Unlike transportation or farrier charges, the vet bill leads most of us into a puzzle-filled language barrier akin to talking to the Red Queen in Alice in
Wonderland. Perhaps one exception is the cost of Lasix.
I’m very familiar with the charges for Lasix, the ever-present “L” on the program. Introduced as a means of combating the problem of bleeding during a race, Lasix was found to also enhance performance. In order to create a more level playing field, veterinarians and trainers were allowed to inject it even if a horse had never shown a tendency to bleed. Lasix use is virtually universal in U.S. racing. I wonder if we should simply take it for granted that every horse has it unless it is noted as NOT having Lasix.
Beside the “L” is the “B” for Phenylbutazone or “Bute” as it’s commonly called, which helps relieve the soreness that may accompany the daily training routine. Those of us who have suffered the pangs of tennis elbow, shin splints, or cranky backs, know the benefit of a steroid compound. “Bute” does much the same for horses, and is almost as common in use as Lasix.
The cornucopia of medication held in the drawers of veterinarians’ trucks includes drugs as unfamiliar to most of us as the prescriptions scrawled by our own trusted physicians. We learn about therapeutics that have been given to our treasured thoroughbreds days or even weeks after administration. Annotations on our bills generally tell us the name of the drug that has been administered.Why they were ordered
is the general province of conversations and directions determined by trainers and vets. The bill tells us what was used, but it doesn’t say why it was used.
A number of suggestions were made by owners who had found comfort in their discussions with their trainers, and in some cases with the vets themselves. For the most part we take on trust the information, however long after the fact, that the drugs administered by the vet were requested by the trainer in an effort to make the horse feel better.
We spent some time discussing the fact that a private and confidential file exists of all medications that have been given to each and every horse. Some of the questions relating to these files included suggestions that, at some point in the horse’s history, they should be made public.Would it be proper for an owner who claimed a horse to see those records? In the interest of transparency, should these records be made public in any form?
We want to know what you think.
Please email your answer to TOC@toconline.com.
When the mode of operation is underhanded, I have to believe that the result of the effort will be tainted.
The statement above summarizes my feeling for the manner in which a plot was undertaken to discredit the accomplishments and goals of The Thoroughbred Owners of California. The attack paraded a poisoned dose of half-truths and promises brewed by a handful of back-room plotters. We’ve since learned that a somewhat blurry campaign by a former employee became the tool of a lobbyist for Hollywood Park to foster a split between TOC members in the north and south. The legislation that was cooked up continues at a slow simmer, being pushed to a boil by an enlarged team of Bay Meadows lobbyists, progenitors with very deep pockets and a will to make political mischief. Their aim remains to break down the wall of protection TOC provides to all owners. If TOC is erased in the North, this secretive alliance will surely leave Northern owners twisting in the wind
TOC stands for owners; the beleaguered corps of individuals who make all racing possible. I say again: TOC is not a for-profit organization. Our motivation is clear and simple:What is bad for owners is terrible for racing. In this ongoing battle, TOC has earned the expressed support of important elements of racing, including the CTBA, CARF, DEL MAR, OAK TREE, FAIRPLEX, and XPRESSBET.
Protecting owner interests is the fundamental reason for TOC’s existence.We do not violate that trust in any part of California’s racing community. After all, we are mindful and thankful to perhaps the most influential political figure for California racing ever, the late Senator Ken Maddy, who helped to make TOC a reality. Like ours, his goal was to protect owners without whom racing cannot exist.
TOC is the watchdog that does more than growl at the gate.When necessary, we step forcefully forward to prevent attempts to instigate abusive racing rules, dates allocations, or "industry objectives" that only serve self-interests and short-term profiteers.
One key facet of TOC’s ongoing efforts to protect owners’ investment in racing is the insistence on the offering of equitable purse schedules by racing associations, North and South. While not all our members will agree completely with some of the decisions we must make, those decisions are always made with the long-term good of all owners in mind, not based upon the types of horses currently in our own stables or those trained by our trainers.
Making decisions based on principles other than a need to maximize the short-term ROI of shareholders or cash flow while awaiting final development entitlements has not endeared TOC to certain track and ADW interests who see the organization currently as "too strong." But purse money, and other industry resources, only go so far, so we must see that they are properly protected, apportioned, and utilized. That’s why increasing and stretching these resources occupies much of our efforts. But the quest to do so has led us into a life-and-death struggle.
In the second half of the year, TOC hopes to help initiate a fundamental change in the split of simulcast wagering revenues. This includes altering the inequities of ADW distributions and exclusivities. It’s ambitious, but so too was our effort to reshape workers’ comp costs in
California racing. It’s also why TOC has been at the forefront of the discussion to consider the reallocation of future racing dates before it becomes an urgent, but overlooked concern of all owners.
All of this is why – as Chair of TOC – I have urged owners and owner-trainers in the North to register their disapproval of the subversive attempt to drive a wedge between owners’ interests North and South. Don’t let anyone mislead you: TOC works as hard for the North as we do for the South, and vice versa.We respect and include on our Board three knowledgeable representatives of 450 or so licensed owner/trainers, but also keep in mind the need to protect the interest of the other 8,700-plus licensed owners that keep racing going in the State. So far it has been a productive partnership and dialogue, with not one concern or complaint being stifled or ignored. We have never taken lightly the problems of any owner group in California – and may I add – WE NEVER WILL.
If I told you that polypropylene, recycled rubber and silica sand could save you and your stable a great deal of money, you would be free to wonder if I had finally lost it. Of course if I used the word Polytrack you’d have an inkling of what I was talking about. The three items noted above are part of a complex mixture that creates a surface apparently friendly to Thoroughbreds. Polytrack installation as a racetrack surfacing mix has won rave reviews at Turfway Park, Keeneland’s training track, and as of mid February appears to be on its way to becoming a required change to all Thoroughbred tracks in California running for more than four consecutive weeks.
Polytrack first appeared in England in 1987, but it wasn’t until 2001 that it debuted on a racecourse... Lingfield Park, in northern England, turned itself into an "all-weather arena," giving British Thoroughbreds a year round opportunity to race during the rainy winter months. After 14 years of using Polytrack on their training tracks, both private and public, the resulting drop in training injuries convinced trainers that it was good for racing as well as training; and as a result Britain now has three all weather tracks.
In 2004, Keeneland thought that it might be worth a shot. It’s been there, on the 5/8 training track, for more than a year and a half. Nearby Turfway, basically a winter night running track, has a Polytrack surface. The result, according Del Mar executive, Craig Fravel, is "only three catastrophic breakdowns occurred among 4,479 starters" during a four-month season. Fravel has suggested that Del Mar might be the first California track to install Polytrack. The more emphatic statement came from CHRB Chair, Richard Shapiro, who set in motion a regulation requiring Polytrack on all California tracks by 2007, noting that there were over 320 on-track fatalities in 2004 as partial motivation.
There are some interesting quotes on the Polytrack website from horsemen and women.
On the other hand, Jack Liebau, President of Bay Meadows and Hollywood Park, contends that the Board should "go slower," apparently unhappy at not knowing the cost, which has been estimated at 6-8 million dollars. Perhaps Mr. Liebau feels that it might be the equivalent of carpeting your house just before tearing it down.
Polytrack’s kindness to our horses may keep them free from debilitating injuries, and add to our profitability. That’s the plus. The question of where the money to lay the track will come from, can become a minus.
California, we have problems. But in the dim, graying sunset there MAY exist the seeds of rejuvenation for racing. I am far from ready to claim that it’s a dead issue. Your 15-member TOC Board is at work finding ways to reinvigorate Thoroughbred Racing.Hopeless? No, not at all. Difficult? On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a 15.
We are, however, at the center of action and negotiations that will help fulfill TOC’s stated mission of protecting owner interests. We have long believed that racing is a partnership affair, in which horsemen are joined by racing associations, breeder representatives, trainers, guilds, unions, pari-mutuel operators, and owners who by their choice pay the bills, which keep racing alive. It appears that in times of stress and even crisis, instead of coming together, we find each entity fostering its own objectives, stranding California on its endangered island.
We need only take note of the wearying process of using two racetracks as cash cows being milked to support the process of tearing them down. They will disappear when rebuilding plans are approved. In the end, the steps will erase racing’s heritage and replace it with real estate ventures. The events of this past fall – losing turf racing at Hollywood Park – left the track serving races of 4 and 5 horses as a staple. Hollywood’s promise of replacing the hardsurfaced main track with Polytrack teeters on the winds of increasing expense.
There are other important challenges to be met – both big and small – that will reverberate through any efforts TOC might undertake. Below are examples of a new "gloves-off" attitude toward adjusting:
1. The ADW "mess" that restricts bettor access must be refocused. Discussions and negotiations are being replaced by hard-nosed demands that must be met. If they are not, TOC is prepared to use its powers to enact economic sanctions that can bring increased purse revenues by lowering fees now paid to ADW providers.
2.We view the Del Mar corporate structure as a key factor in the track’s successes in the face of other tracks’ failures. It operates as a not-for-profit organization, managed by a solid unit of horsemen and executives dedicated to racing’s success. Clearly it works. TOC is completing its legislative "want" list. Among the items near the top is the promotion of the concept of not-for-profit operation of old and perhaps even new racing venues.
3. TOC is seeking a path to invigorate the marketing of racing, so that it concentrates the efforts on luring a new and vital audience to racetracks as entertainment venues. Hand in hand with the state-fostered CMC, we believe there is a way to begin this process.
4. TOC continues efforts at creating a more coherent and profitable statewide racing calendar, presenting a more balanced and coordinated offering of each track’s major and minor stakes.
5. Race dates requests will no longer be treated as if they were "business as usual." In light of existing changes, we are prepared to go to the mat over where, when, and how races may be carded.
By the 15th of January the Board will be reviewing a multi-faceted, gloves-off strategic plan stretching out more than five years. Highlights will appear in my next Chairman’s letter.
We are 9,000 owners of the most beautiful, intriguing, infuriating creatures ever raised on earth. They can form the core of a business, or the center of an extravagant avocation. They make us love them, worry about them, wager indiscriminately on them. We know a great deal about their ancestry and can often divine the broad distinction between a :21.1 quarter and a :22.2 mark for the same distance. We have learned an arcane language of the backstretch that includes a lexicon of descriptive terminology such as "bleeders," "roarers," "quarter cracks," "queen’s plates," and when fillies become mares, and colts turn into horses.
For all that, I wonder sometimes how much you know about the commitment, the work, the vision and the energy that goes into the operation of Thoroughbred Owners of California. A 15-person board meets 11 or 12 times a year.When emergencies occur, the Board gathers by telephone to render their judgments and recommend actions that are needed. We have been long been known by the acronym TOC. One older member of the original Board cited the acronym as "toke," until warned that it might be misconstrued as a term used by drug users. "Tock" is better.
We take pride in the decade of accomplishments racked up on behalf of our constituency. We have initiated important advances in security at the tracks, reshaping medication rules up to and including the recent focus on "milkshaking."We are the watchdogs of dollars applied to purses, and police of legislation that might affect racing. Board members serve on TOC committees and on industry-wide boards and committees. TOC is universally recognized as one of the most formidable organizations of its kind in the United States. All Board members are unpaid volunteers.
We serve gladly. Each Board Member also joins at least one of our seven committees, which often meet one or more times a month. If we have any complaint, it’s that the vast majority of owners do not take the opportunity to warn us of problems they foresee, complain to us about mistreatments related to their racing interests, or comment on the work that we are doing, or even should be doing. The TOC Political Action Committee receives so little funding from our membership as to be embarrassing. We’re here to serve.We try to attack problems before they fester into crises.