A longtime harness racing participant has offered a plan for a professional certification program designed to encourage and retain racehorse owners.
Bill Wright, chairman of the Illinois Horse Racing Strategic Planning Council and former trainer and driver, discussed his proposal during a racehorse ownership panel on Tuesday (December 6) at the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing and Gaming in Tucson. Wright spent 33 years in senior management positions with Caterpillar Inc. and got back into horse ownership upon his retirement.
“I believe we have a major image problem, whether it’s described as an integrity problem or a lack of professionalism,” said Wright, who at one time owned up to 17 horses but now keeps three to five at a time. “We need to continue to identify and penalize (offenders) but should also vigorously and publicly reward the good guys.”
Wright, who in partnership owned Classic Photo, who finished second to Vivid Photo in the 2005 Hambletonian, said various professions offer or require certification. He said a horseman who is designated as a “Certified Professional Horseman,” or CPH, would be known as an “honest, knowledgeable, and qualified professional. It would be a mark of distinction.”
There would be a general certification process not linked to regulatory licensing. The process would be voluntary. Wright said the certification process could be used for any racing breed but would require oversight by an organization or organizations.
“Integrity is more than just race penalties,” Wright said. “We need to appeal to people’s sense of decency and fair play. This is really out-of-the-box, and it’s hard to buy into at first, but think about it.”
Wright and Karl Broberg, a Thoroughbred owner and trainer, acknowledged the challenges faced by owners who love the racing business but struggle to break even. They discussed high veterinarian bills, the competitive purse disadvantages of racing in non-gaming states, and a need for uniform regulations.
Wright used the Illinois horse racing alliance as an example of what can be accomplished. Though the governor has vetoed legislation authorizing racetrack slots in the state, the fact the measure made it through both houses is evidence of what can be accomplished.
“We had a chance because we all worked together,” Wright said. “We saw each other as partners, not competitors. We’re in a beautiful business; there’s nothing more beautiful than a horse. I think (progress) is achievable, but horse owners need to pitch in.”
(Story: USTA; Photo: Vicki Wright)
To Stan. Canada : Thank you
To Stan. Canada : Thank you for letting my letter in re Professional Designation.
Sorry to steam you, but a lot of these trainers and drivers have no idea how it works. It is a made up phony scenarios in which the actions of some of the Pro Board Members always lead to profits for the top Members.
I'll give you a good example: two brothers were working for the same high-profile company.
One of the brothers made a strong mistake and was drummed out of the town for a period of ? years. (# of years not known.)He had to sign a document that he would not start up a new company within 100- 150 KM of the town he had worked in.
When he got out of "purgatory" he opened up a new business, supposedly in competition to his brother.His older brother who was on the Board managed to get the younger brother on the Board.So, now they are in the same town running two companies (one each). You can see the danger here. A member of the public in the market for their product could go there and would no doubt be buying from one of them. Since the companies have different names, he would think that he could shop the two companies for an honest price.After all, they did have different names.
They could have an agreement (for Canada Revenue) that they are partners in both of the companies.Nobody knows -- they go to work at a different address every day and their price of their products would never be the same at each store.
Anyway, that's one way it could work.There are no doubt other angles.Someone going to buy is not about to check with Canada Revenue as to the honesty of the two stores.
You have all levels of
You have all levels of people involved in horse racing today. Most started as grooms and worked their way up to trainers, drivers, judges etc.
Along the way they have passed written tests, been mentored, studied books and know the rules of horse racing.
Does this not make the people involved in horse racing now CPH's? Usually if a person goes through all these stages they are considered professionals, are they not? If you are given a license for something does not make you certified?
Is the problem with racing now due to the fact we have unprofessional people involved, at all levels?
Once again we are looking under the wrong stone. On the bright side, when we do get CPH's involved it will make all the difference.
Greg Parke
I have had first hand
I have had first hand knowledge of making all members of an industry get Professional status. I was able to see that the ones wanting this were larger owners of businesses.
This status provided a smoke screen in which questionable things were done. The top people in this so-called group of pros used it to their advantage to be on the founding Board of Directors. Once they were on the Board, they could bring in relatives who then were on the Board.
Believe me, I did some checking, and criminal code violations were the norm. I am not making this up, as it was all around me. The lower people in this pro status had no idea what was going on. They thought it "was a good idea to weed out the baddies."
I have always had the insight to check into things and see how they were. I can't say much more, but there were phony made up grievances made against two members who pretended to be at odds with each other. In reality, they were bosom buddies and would use the so- called adversary scenario to make even more money. The underlings would not be any wiser and would think that the two players in question were really at odds with each other.
So, this is only my opinion. I speak the truth, and before I make a final decision, I look into every nook and cranny.
The first thing in racing that would happen is that the top pros would want to take over the penalty phase of racing that the Ontario Racing Commission now controls. So, you would now have a Board of pro horse owners meting out suspensions to trainers who were not guilty. Also, take a top driver. He would be suspended over the time frame of say, the Breeders Crown. That would give the top Board members a better chance to win large stake races.
I hope the O R C puts up a united front and does not fall prey to crooked "suits" who will desire to get all drivers, trainers and owners into their organization of Professional Status. The ORC at times now is said to be making unfair decisions. What they call is in the rule book for all to see. They are all above board.
If Professional Status is required, the horses belonging to the backers of this group will pay $2.10 $2.10 $2.10. Naturally, all Stewards and Judges would have to fall into line, and the Board members would control everything at all tracks.
I don't own horses and probably never will. If this Board becomes law, all track people involved in racing are in for a very nasty surprise when it is apparent that all trainers and drivers and owners are not all on a level playing field.
They will have two choices--join the Professional Status people or stay as they are now, and shun the new Professional organization. Either way, they lose, and their bank accounts will get smaller every week.
And of course people with no
And of course people with no integrity wouldn't lie and say they were on the waiting list for sainthood to get the certification would they.
Something needs to be
Something needs to be done.This could be a good start.
All these wonderful ideas
All these wonderful ideas put out by these so called experts on how to prop up or save this dying industry but there is one fatal flaw in all of there plans and that is they fail to recognize that they are trying to come up with ideas to save an industry that is 100% uncompetitive with its competition. So until they address that issue of being non competitive none of these band aid solutions have any chance of making any real difference.