March 9... Another meeting in Springfield this afternoon. We're still not there

yet but we will keep going until we reach a deal between the tracks and horsemen's

groups. We are basically down to the percent to purses and two or three other items.

The training hours will change to 7 until 11:30 STARTING MONDAY THE 22nd.

********************************************************************

March 4...President John Wainwright and I met with management and another

important group today. The negotiotion went great and a great deal for the

horsemen was reached.

Sorry to tease you but I must wait until the 24th which is the Racing Board meeting

to announce the news.

Today reminded me of what a great meet we are going to have. As you know we

were serious danger of not racing at all this year and then we got three days which

made us eligible for A.D.W. which led to landing TVG. Then after a lot of hard work

by your board, myself and John our legislators and management, we got 52 days.

Although 52 is a long way from where we want to be, it is consistant with of a lot of

tracks these days. The biggest reason for us of course is the impact fee money being

held up.

But let's look at the positive side. We will begin on April 27th with TVG showing our races

for the first time ever all over the country. This will be followed by the first Friday night

at the park which always guarantees a huge crowd plus TVG involved and then Saturday

is DERBY DAY. What an opening week! Our opening week handle should be tremendous.

This will be followed by the thing I can't announce yet and a constance presence of TVG

during the entire meet.

Our goal is more racing days and higher purses next year. I think this year really sets the

table to accomplish that goal.

We have a very important meeting on slots tomorrow. We will attempt to come to a

final agreement and get the bill going. Stay tuned.

****************************************************************

March 2...Just thought I'd give an update on some things that are happening now

as we get closer to spring and our 2010 meeting. We must thank everyone for  the

 letters of support recently. They have truly overwhelmed us. The number of letters

and e-mails and the kind words have meant a lot. Thanks again and rest assured

we will continue to work hard to preserve racing at Fairmount Park.

As you know we are in the process of having an election for H.B.P.A. officers.

The first major step was completed last Saturday when we had our nominating meeting.

The meeting was attended by some 60 members and everyone handled themselves in

a very orderly and respectfull way. We have two candidates for President and several

that are running for the board. The next step is for the nominees to return their affidavits

stating their intentions of running or not. They may also include a bio if they wish. After

that the material will go to the printer and soon after, ballots will sent out.

Had a great board meeting today and the board did a great job of taking on some tough

issues. In addition, the track committee met with trackman Kevin Seymore. That meeting

also went very well. It was a good day watching the process happen the way it was meant to.

************************************************************************** 

ATTENTION HORSEMEN! The horses listed below must find a new home as soon as possible.

This is an emergency. Call any rescue group you know or take one yourself please.

 February 24... Good meeting in Springfied with Legislators today. Got two bills introduced

that will help insure that we have a future.

 Have early gaming meeting tomorrow. I'll report on progress as soon as

I can.

***************************************************************

February 23... The Federal Court of Appeals 7th circuit heard oral arguments

on the impact fee today. The three judge panel will issue their decision in 4 to 6

weeks.

***************************************************************

There have been some unfounded accusations made recently by a small group

of horsemen. So in the attempt to be as transparent as possible we will

be posting the following information on the web-site for all to see. Our

federal form 990, our investments and minutes of board meetings.

As far as anything else that is on anyone's mind,  I'll be in the office from 8:30

until 1 with the exception of Wednesday the 24th. I have meetings in Springfield

on a slots bill and some other issues.

Congratulations to our good friend and the association's accountant

Rick Rudolph in winning the Grade 111 "Mineshaft" at the Fairgrounds with his

great horse STONEHOUSE! The win put his earnings over $600,000.00

Stonehouse by Chester house was bred by Rick. What a great win for

a really really nice guy.

*************************************************************

If would like to help with the passing of Marie, you can send donations to

Eddie Weimer c/o Edwardsville nursing and Rehab Center Room B-8 401

St. Mary's Drive Edwardsville Il. 62025. This will help with Eddie's continuing

care which I'm sure Marie would appreciate.

(Thanks to Steffanie Rakers for the idea and address).

*****************************************************

I'm happy to report that slot bills from all the various horse groups have been introduced or the language is out. I'm

even happier to report that all have shared their language with us. I have read all of the bills and am preparing to

respond to all groups with our input. For the horsemen to be included in this process is something I'm very proud of.

It's taken several years to make this happen. This allows the horsemen at Fairmount to avoid the pitfalls that can occur

when you don't have a seat at the table. This is an exciting time and rest assured that any gaming legislation that is passed

will include language that will be fair and benefit all of the horsemen groups including ours. Through several years of

gaining the trust of many legislators we now can get a fair shake which has not always been the case. What can we all do

to help? the answer is simple...STICK TOGETHER! We have a chance to turn the corner and make Fairmount a better

place to race than ever before. I hope we don't blow that chance, it might never come again.

*************************************************************************************************

January 29,2010....Attention all owners and trainers!

As we have reported previously, we were unable to hold an election last year

for H.B.P.A. President and board of directors due to the unscheduled ending of the meet.

According to Article IV Section 2 of the by-laws, "elections shall be held not less than

thirty (30) days before the close of racing conducted in the jurisdictiion of the association."

Since we have just confirmed that we will run 52 days this year, we will be able to have an

election according to the by-laws.

Therefore there will be a general nominating meeting to nominate candidates for the position

of President and board of directors on Saturday February 27 at 1 pm in the Black Stallion Room.

According to the by-laws we will be mailing this information to the membership within the next week.

We will mail the notice to the names and addresses that we currently have on our mailing list.

Please make sure that we have your current address.

*********************************************************************************

Tuesday January 26...  

Attended the Racing Board meeting in Chicago today.  Among the things that were

on the agenda was the certification of recapture for 2010 ($1,666,598.00) for Fairmount.

The Board also initiated rule making to cap the commision fee on A.D.W.at 5 %. If this becomes

final it will be a tremendous thing for us and TVG.  And last but not least the Board announced

that they had come to an agreement with the state union workers and thus Fairmount can

proceed with its 52 day meet. The new dates order will be out by Monday.

*****************************************************************************                                               

  52 DAYS !!!!!! 

Click on link below to watch press conference.         
http://www.ksdk.com/sports/story.aspx?storyid=194542&catid=6&provider=emailI

I would like to begin by thanking all of the people who have called and sent e-mails showing

their appreciation for getting 52 racing days. I must say however that a lot of people had a

hand in our success. Our President John Wainwright and the Board of directors have been

there at a moments notice to offer advice and help move things forward.

We also must recognize our legislators Representative Jay Hoffman, Tom Holbrook,

Dan Beiser, Eddie Jackson, Ron Stevens, Senator James Clayborne and last but certainly

not least Senator Bill Haine. Our relationship with them has paid great dividends. They have

proven time and again that they sincerely care about the horsemen at Fairmount.

We also received much needed help from our friends in the labor unions. They have proven

that working together we can be a powerfull force.

I and the board will now meet and talk about how to make 2010 a great racing season.

It will begin on April 27 with TVG showing our races, followed by the first Friday night at the

park and finishing the first week with Derby Day. What a way to start the meet!

We have some other ideas to make this the best meet possible, including a great finish on

August 24 with TVG showing our Illinois Stakes races.

So let's make the best of this and hope to increase our days in 2011.

By the way stall apps. will be available next Monday February 1. 

January 23, 2010

 The Illinois Quarter Horse Association is extremely excited about our racing opportunities in 2010.   We are entitled to $250,000 annually from Advanced Deposit Wagering for our purse account.  

In order  for the Illinois Racing Board to release the purse money our association must contract with a thoroughbred track.   Our organization needs to establish a ‘home track’.   Brian Zander, President Fairmount Park, and Lanny Brooks, ILHBPA Executive Director, have always been accommodating to Quarter Horsemen and have been receptive to our past minimal racing endeavors. 

It is my hope that our 2010 spring and summer racing needs would be handled by Fairmount Park.

Unfortunately politics and the lack of funding for the Illinois Racing Board threatens to reduce the approved 52 day race meet scheduled for Fairmount to only 3 days.  This issue is beyond the control of Brian and Lanny.  Both have been ardently working with the legislators, the staff of the Illinois Racing Board, and may even resort to legal action to resolve this issue. 

During this demanding time, our membership should be actively supporting Fairmount Park.   We need to demonstrate support for Brian Zander and Lanny Brooks in their efforts to resolve the issues of the racing schedule; we need to

 contact our legislators and call the staff and members of the Illinois Racing Board.

The board President of IQHRA is signing this letter as an endorsement to the management of Fairmount Park.  

Now is not the time for a blame game, but a time to stand together.

Sincerely,

Illinois Quarter Horse Race Association

 Randy Smith, President

_________________________________

Gene Allen, Director of Racing and Public Affairs

*********************************************************************************************

THIS JUST IN!

Longtime owner disbanding stable

Louis O'Brien, the leading owner in North America with 221 wins in 2007, is in the process of disbanding his sizable stable and is leaving the sport after more than a half-century as a racehorse owner.

O'Brien said Friday from his food distributorship business in St. Louis that he has wearied of the "aggravation that has become too much a part of the game," particularly with what has become of his hometown track, Fairmount Park in Collinsville, Ill.

O'Brien, 73, had been the dominant owner for years at Fairmount, which traditionally had conducted racing virtually year-round before financial troubles led to the Illinois Racing Board assigning the track just three live dates for 2010.

Campaigning mostly low-level claimers while employing Ralph Martinez as his only trainer, O'Brien remained prominent at other Midwestern tracks as Fairmount declined in recent years, including Hoosier Park in Indiana, where he was the leading owner each of the last seven years. O'Brien also ran horses regularly at tracks such as Hawthorne, Ellis Park, Turfway Park, Beulah Park, Prairie Meadows, and Indiana Downs.

O'Brien said "a combination of a whole lot of things" has persuaded him to sell off all his Thoroughbred holdings, which at peak capacity consisted of about 75 active runners.

"When the fun goes out of it . . . racing is not a money-maker, but I loved the game and I loved my horses," he said. "The last couple of years for me have been a financial disaster, and there are just too many problems in the game."

O'Brien said he owned his first racehorse at age 18. Since 1976, the first year comprehensive statistics are available, he has won 1,520 races from 6,160 starts for earnings of $9,458,108. For three straight years leading up to his North American title in 2007, he was second in North America in wins, most notably 2006, when Maggi Moss ran a flurry of starters at year's end to take the title by a 211-206 count.

Meanwhile, Martinez said Friday from Fairmount that he is rebuilding his stable from scratch and that he is willing to consider a number of tracks for his base of operations. Martinez, 32, has been training since 2000.

 Me and the Gov.