December 2, 2009

The first meeting of the Turfway Park Horsemen’s Committee for the 2009 Holiday race meeting was held on Wednesday, December 2, 2009.

Chip Bach, Director of Operations; Cliff Reed, Chief Financial Officer; Jeff Chapman, Track Superintendent; and Cliff Brown, Plant Engineer attended representing Turfway Park.

Bill Connelly, Dave England, Wayne Mogge, and Marty attended representing the KHBPA horsemen’s committee.

PURSE STATUS-The committee discussed the state of the purse account comparing last year to this year. In 2008, starting with the Holiday race meeting, the underpayment of horsemen’s purses was $902.000. This year the purse account starting with the Holiday race meeting is $22,500. The question to Cliff Reed, will the purses be maintained at the present level running five days per week and twelve races on Friday? Cliff felt confident that the purse level can be maintained at this level, but he cautioned that there are no guarantees.

OUTRIDERS-Horsemen have asked that one of the outriders be positioned near the gap on the backside of the racetrack. Chip said he would address the situation with the outriders.

RUTS AT THE END OF THE ROAD-The committee requested that the ruts in the vicinity of the horse path at the entrance of the racetrack near the newer barns be smoothed out. Bill Connelly also reminded Jeff that the entire horse path needs to be attended to on a regular basis now that the weather is changing and the possibility of frozen ruts becomes an issue.

LOADING CHUTE-The committee requested that Turfway consider constructing another loading chute in the vicinity of barn 14 which allows plenty of room for vans to maneuver. Chip said he will see if this is a project that can be addressed with Backstretch Improvement Commission funds.

RACING SURFACE-A discussion ensued regarding tilling the surface and the problems it causes. Committee members explained that the degree of change and lack of consistency are the major issues. Jeff explained that he receives several calls about it, but it is absolutely necessary and recommended by the developer of the racing surface. Chip explained that they are attempting to communicate with horsemen to give them advanced notice of when the surface will be tilled. Jeff also mentioned that they have recently purchased a new piece of equipment that the track superintendent at Keeneland highly recommends. It may enable Jeff to till it less and use this equipment more which will not cause the drastic changes in the depth of the track surface.

TRASH CONTAINERS-Chip agreed to make more trash containers available, they just need to know who needs them. One committee member suggested since trash pickup is three days a week the present number should be adequate.

EXTRA HALF HOUR OF TRAINING-Committee members felt that the current 6:00 to 10:00 schedule is appropriate. As far as safety issues, the lights are creating shadows in the morning. Cliff Brown suggested that he will make sure that the lights are working properly.

ESPN CHANNELS ON THE BACKSTRETCH-The committee asked Chip to address the fact that someone in the video room on the front side is constantly switching channels so that people living on the backside are being deprived of seeing ESPN on a regular basis. He said he would look into the situation.

CHRISTMAS PARTY-The annual Christmas party for horsemen and their families will be held on Tuesday, December 8, from six o’clock until eight o’clock on the third floor of the terrace in the grandstand. Dinner will be served at 6:00 and presents will be handed out to children from ages 12 and under starting at 7:30 until 8:00.

SALT BARRELS-The salt barrels will be out and filled with salt by tomorrow.

PROJECTS-Cliff Brown explained that the waterline in the vicinity of barn 19 will be fixed. The walls of the manure bins will be reinforced and the issue of the pothole in the vicinity will be addressed.

Respectfully submitted,

Martin A. Maline
Executive Director KHBPA