|
FROM THE PRESIDENT
VERY IMPORTANT
Dear Fellow Horsemen:
Over the past few weeks, there have been several
communications sent to New Mexico Horsemen regarding the new
“Owner’s Coalition” As the
President of the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association, I feel compelled
to write you, and ask you read my important message to all New
Mexico Horsemen.
I began my racing career
many years ago, as a result of the love for racing shared with my
father. As a result, I chose
horse racing as a career, and have never regretted it.
My love for horses and the industry is endless, and my desire
to assist in making horse racing in
New Mexico
the best in the country is why I obligated my time to the position
of President of the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association.
During my term as President, I believe we have
accomplished many great things for New Mexico Horsemen.
We have succeeded in:
1. Amending
the stakes schedule at ZIA
Park
to use additional money from the Horsemen’s purse fund to enhance
the New Mexico bred stakes.
Prior to this being done, the breed stakes at ZIA were
disproportionately funded by money added from the New Mexico Horse
Breeders’ Enhancement Fund.
2.
Negotiated an automatic berth for the winner of the ZIA Futurity run
at Ruidoso Downs into the Southwest Juvenile Championship run at
ZIA Park.
This automatic berth in the Southwest Juvenile Championship
provides a New Mexico Bred horse with another opportunity to run in
a graded stakes race.
3. Successfully negotiated to change the Eddy
County Stakes from an open stakes for 2 years olds run at Zia
Park
to a New Mexico Bred stakes for 2 year olds.
The race which will be run at
ZIA
Park in early December
will have a total purse of $120,000 with $60,000 coming from the
Breeders and $60,000 coming from the Horsemen’s purse fund.
Previously the race carried a $60,000 purse.
4.
Negotiated with Ruidoso Downs to have the Desert Rose a stakes race
for 3 and up open fillies and mares changed to a New Mexico Bred
stakes race for 3 and up NM bred fillies and mares.
This will provide an additional New Mexico Bred stakes race
for Horsemen to participate in a race meet schedule that is short on
breed thoroughbred races.
5.
Negotiated with Sunland Park
to add a new New Mexico Bred handicap to its roster of stakes and
handicaps for the upcoming year (2008-2009).
6.
Negotiated with the Downs
at Albuquerque
to add more money from the Horsemen’s purse fund into 4 breed
handicaps/stakes races including the E.T. Springer,
University of New Mexico Handicap,
New Mexico
State Fair Thoroughbred Breeders’
Derby
and New Mexico Breeders’ Quarter Horse Championship.
Each of the races will carry a $60,000 purse an increase of
$10,000 over 2007. The money
was added so that the races for New Mexico Bred Horses are more
truly enhanced.
7. Developed
consistent policies and practices to apply to the backside at each
race track to ensure that issues including track safety are dealt
with in a timely and comprehensive manner.
This also involves developing an increased dialogue and level
of openness with our track partners.
8. Successfully
negotiated a 10 race per day card with Sunray Park for 2008 race
meet that will give Horsemen more opportunities to run in what had
been rationally a short (44 day) meet.
The extra race day is the equivalent of almost 5 extra days
of racing over the meet.
In addition to these accomplishments we have also
begun a successful affiliation with the National Horsemen’s
Benevolent Protective Association.
This collaboration with the National HBPA has been a boon to
the NMHA mainly because of the information and the contacts that
have been made available to us.
The National HBPA has for many years operated at the cutting
edge of racing in North America.
Over the past several months that we have been affiliated
with the National HBPA we have received the latest information on
such important topics as drug testing trends in our sport as well as
the latest information regarding tax laws and proposed legislation
that may be of interest and benefit to our owner members.
At our last Board meeting on May 13, 2008 the Board
unanimously agreed to hire an additional staff member whose job it
will be to gather the valuable information that is now available to
us and to disseminate it to our members in a timely and
comprehensive manner. In the
very near future a member of the Association can expect to receive
cutting edge information about our sport either electronically or
through the mail in the form of a current news letter.
There have been numerous allegations made by Tom
McKenna which are unfounded and untrue regarding the New Mexico
Horsemen’s Association.
Tom was invited to attend our meeting, and asked to bring forth his
suggestions to the Board. Tom
attended the meeting and presented himself to our Board as a New
Mexico Horseman and an interested owner who wanted to work towards
making horse racing in New Mexico the best it could possibly be.
We discussed matters with him and in his presence.
However, his version of what was said and meant at our
meeting was construed in the most negative way possible and now
leads me to believe his intentions were not honorable.
Mr. McKenna would like you to believe that the Board is
against Owners, and especially owners from outside of New Mexico.
That is just blatantly untrue.
The discussion in front of the Board was regarding Owners as
members of the Board. Various
Board members stated their concern regarding whether an owner who
lives far away from a track, would have enough first hand
information to be a benefit to New Mexico Horsemen on any given
track. It was discussed and
agreed that Board Members can best serve the Board if they are
active, and present at the track which they are elected to
represent. It goes without
reason that any member of the Board who cannot be at the track on a
frequent basis, would probably not be in a position to best serve
New Mexico Horsemen.
Mr. McKenna also alleges that the Board has a
negative position about allowing ALL horsemen to participate in the
vote. THAT STATEMENT IS
BLATANTLY UNTRUE. As with any
organization, we simply cannot get people to participate.
There are a handful of people who show up at every meeting,
vote on every issue, and help push the organization along.
Our Board Members must go out among the Horsemen and discuss
issues with them. It was
in the context of this discussion that Mr. McKenna alleged that “the
board said the organization has worked well for 20 years, there’s no
change needed” and “There is no need to expand the vote because no
one votes now.” If these
statements were made as he said, they were individual statements
made by individual members voicing their opinion and frustrations
during a lengthy meeting, and probably heard only by those sitting
closest to them.
There is no animosity toward the New Mexico
Breeders Association. This
year alone, working in conjunction with the New Mexico Horse
Breeders Association, we have been able to:
A.
Increase the share of Horsemen’s purse account money to New
Mexico Bred Stakes and Handicaps
to make these races stand out to promote the New Mexico Bred and the
New Mexico Breeder to the
marketplace.
B.
Engage in a dialogue
that is currently ongoing between the Breeders, Track Management and
Horsemen to address ways in which racing in New Mexico can further
prosper and improve. This
collaboration is presently looking at ways to increase the racing
fan base in New Mexico and nationally as well as ways to further
increase wagering participation among those who would like to wager
on a race but are unable to due to distance from a race track or
other reasons that limit access.
In the future the parties will be looking at ways to enable
our sport to become more competitive with regard to the continuous
onslaught in the market place of Indian Casinos in our State.
In sum, our relationship with the horse Breeders is improving
through dialogue, collaboration and the exchange of ideas.
We believe that to improve racing in New Mexico that all
stakes holders have to become involved.
Having a New Mexico “Owner’s Coalition” could be a
tremendous asset to racing in New Mexico.
However, to date, the proposed coalition has not provided
their mission statement, what they stand for, or what they are
looking to accomplish. If the
proposed coalition formulates valid goals and ideals which will
support and enhance better racing in New Mexico, and if they can
communicate those specific goals and work WITH the New Mexico
Horsemen’s Association and New Mexico Horse Breeders Association,
their validity and importance in the State of New Mexico racing
industry could be significant.
However, to date, the only indication horsemen in New Mexico
have received is that the group wants to bad mouth the New Mexico
Horsemen’s Association, which does nothing to promote legitimate
horse racing in New Mexico.
If you have any concerns, questions, or
comments, you may reach me personally at 915-474-3580
I have enjoyed serving as your President, and
will continue my mission to make racing in New Mexico fair to ALL
who race in this great state.
Terry Walker
|
