With the Florida Derby on the horizon, Damon Thayer of the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative, says he is “not optimistic’ as controversial decoupling bill makes progress amid joyless championship meet
A slow start in the bid to defeat potentially devastating legislation may lead to an awful result for Florida’s racing and breeding programs.
The industry has rallied since 1/ST Racing and Gaming, parent company of Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, announced it was seeking approval to continue to operate a casino there without being required to conduct live racing.
But as a joyless championship meet winds down with the $1m Florida Derby on March 29, it may be a case of too little too late.
Damon Thayer, hired as a senior adviser to newly-formed Thoroughbred Racing Initiative, characterized attempts to defeat the decoupling provided in House Bill 105 and Senate Bill 408 as an “uphill battle”.
He explained: “Gulfstream Park caught the industry on its back foot. I am not optimistic because of the tactics employed by Gulfstream Park and Belinda Stronach and her henchmen. They are playing dirty. We are pulling out all the stops to try to kill this bill, but it’s a big battle.”
The difficulty of the fight became readily apparent Feb. 5 when the Industry and Professional Activities Subcommittee approved House Bill 105 by a 12-4 vote and sent it to the Commerce Committee. The vote went according to party lines, with Republicans holding the majority.
The bill was amended to require a three-year notice before decoupling could occur and did not permit such notice to be given until July 1, 2027. License holders would be allowed to move their permit to another track. This passed the Commerce Committee 13-8 on March 17.
‘A ride on the Titanic’
Tom Ventura, president of Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company, called the five years of protection for live racing “a ride on the Titanic”.
Thayer (right) is no stranger to the lobbying that precedes lawmakers’ critical decisions – and, asa consequence, how difficult it can be to change minds already made up.
He served 22 years in the Kentucky State Senate, the last 12 as Senate Majority Floor Leader, where his relentless support of racing contributed to a resurgence in the Bluegrass State.
Odds appear to be stacked against Thayer and the industry this time. Keith Brackpool, hired as an adviser to 1/ST, blindsided horsemen when he informed them at a closed-door Jan. 15 meeting of the proposed legislation to decouple. He assured them the track would continue for three more years if they supported the measure.
Gulfstream Park, built in 1939, was purchased by avid breeder and owner Frank Stronach for $95m in 1999. His daughter Belinda took over racing and gaming operations in 2020 following a bitter and prolonged legal dispute with her father.
There is every indication that Belinda Stronach has no interest in continuing in a business that meant so much to her father. The last vestige of racing in northern California was lost when 1/ST closed Golden Gate Fields last June; Laurel Park will eventually be redeveloped as part of an arrangement with Maryland officials that will turn over Pimlico, the dilapidated home of the Preakness Stakes now ticketed for renovation, to a non-profit entity operated by the state.
According to Thayer, Brackpool is actively shopping Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita on behalf of Stronach.
Immense value
In each case, the land already has immense value. Gulfstream might have greater appeal to a potential buyer if decoupling occurs, perhaps paving the way for a larger casino and a hotel in a region that already is a popular destination for vacationers.
“The issue is not going away,” Thayer warned. “It was dropped on us at the last minute like this purposely to catch the industry flat-footed. Our message to legislators is to not pass the bill this session to give us an opportunity and time to figure out the future of Florida horse racing. We can’t negotiate the future of Florida horse racing with a gun to our head.”
Harness racing lost a key venue when Pompano Park closed in April 2022. Caesars Entertainment closed the doors after its successful push to decouple the year before. Standardbreds had raced there for almost six decades.
The establishment of the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative (TRI) was spearheaded by Ocala Stud general manager David O’Farrell, owner-breeder Jon Green of DJ Stable and trainer Mark Casse, who has been enshrined in the Hall of Fame in both Canada and North America.
With breeders also having so much to lose as part of an industry that accounts for 33,500 jobs and $3.24bn in annual economic impact, O’Farrell – whoe family has operated Ocala for three generations – is serving as president.
The TRI describes itself as “an industry collaboration created to fight for live racing in Florida and elsewhere in the United States”.
In a sport that is often fragmented, the TRI has brought together the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company, Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association, Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen, the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and its Tampa Bay affiliate. The TRI motto: “Protecting Racing. Preserving Tradition. Securing the Future.”
National precedent
Eric Hamelback, chief executive officer of the National HBPA, warns of a possible ripple effect that would deal even greater blows to the sport if decoupling passes in Florida. “It is definitely something that is a national precedent,” he said.
Hamelback, once employed by Frank Stronach at Adena Springs in Paris, Kentucky, worries that legislators may not be mindful of the background that led racing to be tied to Gulfstream’s casino operation.
“1/ST Racing wouldn’t even have the luxury of asking for this decoupling if it wasn’t for the fact that they came in on the backs of horsemen to begin with,” he said. “The gaming companies will try to spin this as a subsidy they are giving horse racing but management has forgotten that they didn’t exist until horse racing allowed them to come in.
“I see it as a tax,” he went on. “You paid us for the luxury of coming into the state because we knew at the time there would be cannibalization. We’re all in the entertainment industry and this is a business partnership that was created.
“They are attempting to break the business partnership and yet still keep the luxury of why the partnership was developed. That’s unacceptable.”
Whatever happens to the legislation, Gulfstream’s fate is uncertain at best and it behooves trainers and breeders to begin exploring alternatives. “If she gets decoupling or doesn’t get decoupling, there are still serious ramifications for horsemen in the future in South Florida,” Hamelback said.
“We need to figure that out,” he went on. “There are going to be minds that get together and hopefully come up with a good solution. Obviously, the solution is going to take a lot of funding, one way or another. That’s yet to be seen, but I’m certain something will occur.”
Part of Thayer’s appeal to lawmakers is at least to delay decoupling if that action is inevitable to provide time for a solution to be found. The state’s importance to racing – and perhaps racing’s importance to the state – cannot be overemphasized,” he suggests.
For his part, Casse has warned that decoupling “would be an economic disaster”.
Opinion piece
In an opinion piece published in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Casse said: “If Gulfstream Park is allowed to operate its casino without live racing, it will trigger the collapse of the South Florida racing circuit. The demand for Florida-bred horses will plummet, forcing many horse farms in Ocala to shut down. Thousands of workers will be displaced and our horses will be relocated to other racing circuits in Kentucky, New York, Louisiana or Arkansas.”
The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company sold 4,147 horses for $180m last year and up to 75% of each year’s foal crop receives its earliest training in Ocala. Florida houses 87,600 Thoroughbreds that use half-a-million acres of green space; the Florida Derby has yielded 25 Kentucky Derby winners, more than any other prep race.
Casse also wrote: “Florida already has 34 different types of casinos and over 4,600 hotels. But there is only one Ocala. Marion County is home to 75,000 horses, 34,000 of them Thoroughbreds, making it the largest equine population of any US county.”
Casse concluded: “It is unthinkable that lawmakers would pass a bill benefitting a single corporate entity at the expense of an entire region, an entire industry and the livelihoods of thousands of Florida taxpayers and small business owners.
“If this bill becomes law, Florida gains almost nothing while losing an industry that has thrived for generations. We must protect the future of horse racing in Florida.”
Where to go if decoupling becomes a reality? What to do? Can anything be done?
“Everything is on the table,” Thayer said. “Maybe it’s a stronger role for Tampa Bay Downs. Maybe Gulfstream Park survives with a new owner. Maybe we go back to Hialeah for a marquee meet. Maybe a new track is built in Broward County or Ocala.”
Although a return of racing to Hialeah would seem to be an obvious solution, Thayer warned that there are many obstacles to prevent that from happening. “I would discourage people from getting their hopes up,” he said.
• Visit the Gulfstream Park website and the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative website
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