Damon Thayer Named Keynote Speaker at HBPA Conference Feb. 25-26

[Wandering Eyes]

Damon Thayer, who served 22 years in the Kentucky General Assembly–will be the keynote speaker at the National HBPA Conference Feb. 25-27 in Safety Harbor, Florida.

Thayer will address the conference on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa on Tampa Bay.

For a Q&A with Thayer, click here.

The HBPA Conference features a full-day of panel discussions and presentations on Tuesday, Feb. 25 and a half-day on Wednesday, Feb. 26, after which an afternoon at Tampa Bay Downs is scheduled, courtesy of the racetrack. The full National HBPA board will meet Thursday morning, overseen by National HBPA President Chief Stipe Daniels.

In addition to Thayer's keynote address, the Feb. 25 awards luncheon includes honoring Spikezone, off an 11-for-14 season, as the National HBPA's Claiming Horse of the Year.

Among other panels:

• The conference kicks off with a discussion entitled “HISA, HIWU and RHSA–Now and the Future”–a fluid topic with the National HBPA and others' challenges to the constitutionality the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act and the HISA corporation it created quite possibly being heard by the Supreme Court this year. Panelists include Jay Ingle and Chris Hoskins, members of the Lexington-based Jackson Kelly law firm that specializes in equine law and which worked with the National HBPA on a horsemen's toolkit to aid racing participants in complying with HISA and the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU), as well as tips for trainers faced with a notice of violation. They will be joined by Amanda Kelsey, a member of the Ingram Group, the National HBPA's political consultant and advocate in Washington D.C. The Ingram Group has been instrumental in the creation and rollout of the Racehorse Health & Safety Act (RHSA) of 2023, introduced in Congress as a better, more transparent, inclusive and cost-effective alternative to HISA.
• Tina Bond, president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, will discuss her “The Heart of Horse Racing” project, launched this fall to use video testimonials of horsemen, jockeys, backstretch workers and other racing participants (including fans) to share the positive aspects about the sport and why they love it. Theheartofhorseracing.com was created as part of a larger campaign to attract people to the races. The campaign, coordinated by the New York-based marketing company FINN Partners, started collecting market data last June.
• The “Today's Workforce Issues” panel is particularly timely given today's immigration climate. Speakers will be Oscar Gonzales, the California Horse Racing Board's vice chair and who worked in the Biden administration in the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as serving as a senior advisor on immigration; prominent immigration lawyer Will Velie; and Remi Bellocq, a former CEO of the National HBPA who left in 2011 to become executive director of Bluegrass Community and Technical College's (BCTC) Equine Program.
• The annual Kent Stirling Memorial Medication Panel will provide an update on the scientific investigation of testing thresholds for dietary and environmental substances, a research collaboration between the HBPA and the U.S. Trotting Association. The presenting researchers: Drs. Clara Fenger, Rob Holland, Kim Brewer and Thomas Tobin.
• “Providing Answers and Help for Mental Health Awareness” led by professional counselor and exercise rider Sally Jane Mixon.
• “Helping Horsemen through Today's Technology” with Jay Inglis of Horcery Cameras and Mike Novak of Backstretch Software.
• Gunner LaCour, president of the non-profit CHRIMS-PGSI, will highlight the technology-services company's offerings to horsemen to ensure they are getting their fair share of wagering/gaming distributions. New this year: A daily historical horse racing (HHR) auditing.
• Also during the Feb. 25 awards luncheon: Marty Maline, who served as the Kentucky HBPA's first executive director from 1976-2022, will be recognized as a National HBPA Living Legend. He'll be interviewed on stage by longtime Kentucky HBPA board member and past president Rick Hiles.
• A special session will be held for those providing benefits and services to horsemen and backstretch workers, with another one for the state affiliates' executive directors.

 

For more information, click here.

 

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