DeSantis Expresses Support for Horsemen in Decoupling Fight in Surprise OBS Visit

[Wandering Eyes]

OCALA, FL– Just before the start of the Thursday session of the OBS April 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stood up at the OBS rostrum to tell the assembled crowd that “you can count on me as one that is not going to look favorably on legislation that is going to decimate any of our signature industries.”

The statement was in reference to the decoupling legislation pushed by The Stronach Group that is currently winding its way through the Florida House of Representative and Senate. DeSantis stopped short of saying that he would absolutely veto any bill that comes to his desk that would decouple casino gaming from live racing in Florida, but the appearance certainly appeared to deal a blow to The Stonach Group's efforts to get a decoupling bill passed in Florida.

DeSantis arrived on the sales grounds at 10 a.m. with his wife, Casey, and three children. They were met by Mike Repole, one of the chief organizers of the appearance, which had been kept under wraps until Wednesday night. The pair spent 25 minutes looking at horses and talking to horsemen like David O'Farrell, Barry Eisaman and Nick Zito. In conversations with different people on the sales grounds, and at the podium before the assembled crowd, DeSantis said that he couldn't understand the support for a bill that would have so many negative downstream effects to one of Florida's signature industries.

“There are certain things that some groups push for; we have a big, diverse state,” he said. “Different populations can be for different things. That's just the way it goes. I just try to not put my finger in the wind; just do what's right. But on this issue with the horses, it seems to me that we have proposals that will have the effect of harming the industry here in Florida to basically benefit one special interest. That's not how you do good policy. And so we're watching all this very carefully and I'm having to play the role now of having to protect the people of Florida from any sabotage that's going on in the House of Representatives. The people that you sent there, they're not doing what they said they would.”

DeSantis's appearance was met on several occasions by standing ovations from the assembled crowd.

“On this issue, you can argue it different ways, but are you standing up for Floridians, or are you not?” he asked. “Are you for the folks who don't even live here, or other interests or are you standing for the people? I understand the importance of the industry to the state, to the economy, which is important, but to culture, and way of life and things that people have known for many generations. We'll be looking at what ends up being produced in the Florida legislature, but you can count me as one that is not going to look favorably on legislation that is going to decimate any of our signature industries.”

“I feel pretty confident saying decoupling ended today”

If DeSantis didn't come right out and say the decoupling issue was dead, Repole did not hesitate to do so.

“I know the governor very well,” said Repole. “He's not only honest; he's bluntly honest. I feel pretty confident saying decoupling ended today. I think if I were the House or the Senate, I'd move on to another bill and not even waste my time with it.”

“The governor of Florida worries about the people of Florida and the industries that are not just the best economic industries, but part of the culture of Florida,” he continued. “And horse racing is part of the tradition of Florida, for a lot longer than he and I have been here. In many ways, Florida is more important to the breed than even Kentucky. Almost every horse from Kentucky or New York or other tracks, they come and train here. The training centers are here and if you want to buy a yearling, most people go to Kentucky. If you want to buy a 2-year-old, you come to Florida. It's such an important part of the fabric of the sate of Florida.”

Repole said that he and DeSantis have a long-time relationship, and that their wives and children were friendly. “I'm excited that today went as well as it did.”

The effort to get DeSantis to OBS was a multi-faceted one, said Barry Eisaman, who is on the board of the newly formed Thoroughbred Racing Initiative, launched to fight decoupling. Asked if he thought DeSantis would veto the bill if it arrived on his desk, even though he stopped short of promising that, Eisaman said, “I think so.”

“All of this began when Gulfstream introduced a decoupling bill,” said Eisaman. “It suprised many horsemen and it really has rallied the horsemen together like nothing I've seen in my lifetime. We all as horsemen have different interests, but this has brought everybody all together. We have gone to Tallahassee to several of the committee meetings in the House and the Senate.”

Dr. Eisaman said the effort to meet with DeSantis started as an initiative by Robert Zarnegin, a promiment California Republican and supporter of DeSantis for whom Eisaman breaks horses. “We met with Governor DeSantis three or four weeks ago,” he said.

After his speech, DeSantis sat with his wife and children and Repole, and even bid on a horse–lot 613, a Practical Joke filly who sold to Repole for $140,000. Repole said that DeSantis's children have asked him to name the filly “Epic.” At 11:15, DeSantis went to meet with several industry representatives. His jet left Ocala at noon.

“Mike Repole has been the quarterback of the team, and he has managed the team very well to get this done,” said Eisaman. “He's been very very helpful. You can see the man sitting down there with his wife and kids. He's going to meet with about 15 of us now for more personal interactions with people so they can ask him some questions. I think it's a good day for horse racing. ”

Others involved in the initiative include O'Farrell, Mandy Pope and Bill Farish, Eisaman said.

The decoupling saga began Jan. 7, when 1/ST Racing's Gulfstream Park and the Florida horsemen's group announced that they had reached an agreement to support changes to Chapter 550 of the existing state legislation's decoupling regulations that would “enable Gulfstream Park's live racing schedule to become independent of the venue's parimutuel license,” they said in a joint statement at the time. House Bill 105 was filed Monday, Jan. 6, and would allow tracks to operate slot machines and card games when they are not running live racing.

The outcry from racing entities was swift. The Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, the National HBPA and others issued statement opposing decoupling, and the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative-an industry collaborative–was launched to fight the measure.

Still, the bill continued to advance, first in the Florida House, and in a Senate committee Apr. 1, albeit with a seven-year timetable.

As recently as Monday, the decoupling legislation was taking more twists and turns. A standalone bill that had already passed out of one legislative committee was temporarily postponed in the state Senate. But similar language was inserted as an amendment into a separate and much larger gambling bill (HB 1467) heard that same afternoon during a House Commerce Committee hearing. This large gambling bill was successfully voted out of that committee, 17 to 9.

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