DIRECT BENEFITS TO HORSEMEN AS A RESULT OF ITHA NEGOTIATIONS 

 RECENT CHANGES AFFECTING HORSEMEN AT HAWTHORNE & ARLINGTON 

There have been several benefits to horsemen that have occurred in recent weeks through negotiations between the ITHA and Track managements. 

DIRECT BENEFITS TO HORSEMEN 

Pay Down To Last Place at Hawthorne 

Beginning Friday April 1, 2011 and for the rest of the Spring Hawthorne Meeting, at the request of Hawthorne, the ITHA Board approved payment of 1% of the purse to each horse lower than 5th place. Hawthorne believes it will help field size and the ITHA felt it was worth a try for the remainder of this Meeting. There is no current plan to continue this at Arlington this summer or at Hawthorne in the fall. We will see how it works. 

Allow Winners Of Illinois Conditioned Allowance Races To Remain Eligible For Open Conditioned Allowance Races 

Illinois breds at Arlington in 2011 can win Illinois a-other than races and still be eligible for open a-other than races. This will allow Illinois horses extra opportunities at conditioned allowance races and bolster field sizes. Although this has been asked for in the past it was never before achieved. 

Scratches Allowed Down To 8 Without a Vet Excuse 

Another rule negotiated by the ITHA was to allow scratches down to 8 without having to provide an excuse from a veterinarian. Below 8 will still require a vet excuse. This will eliminate the 7 day waiting period for scratches down to 8 and will help field sizes. This was requested by the ITHA, agreed to by both Arlington and Hawthorne and approved by the Illinois Racing Board by Emergency Rule on March 29, 2011.  Horsemen lost this privilege in 2008.  

Free Transportation to Churchill 

The ITHA has had the free transportation service to and from Churchill to race

 re-instated for 2011. 

Six horse fields will be used 

Verification by electronic count to insure transparency of entries so that mandated races in the Condition Book that have 6 or more betting interests will be used, pursuant to IRB Rule 1413.130

Pay 15% Less Than The Full Purse For Fields of 6 Or Less At Arlington 

Based upon a request by Arlington to address the negative effect that smaller field sizes have on handle, (a $800,000 hit on the purse account in 2010) prominent horsemen of the ITHA met for several days and many hours with Arlington going over facts and figures. A sliding scale for all field sizes was originally proposed but ultimately rejected because of its complexity.  An agreement was made to reduce the purses of races when 6 or less betting interests reach the paddock by 15% and redistribute those purse monies to the purse account to sustain those races with 7 or more betting interests which statistically have greater handles and thus generate more purse monies for horsemen. This effort was driven by Arlington’s desire to offer $175,000 in daily purses excluding stakes instead of its projected $155,000 to $160,000 without the purse redistribution. This plan will be analyzed after 45 days of the Arlington Meeting and may be abandoned if it is not having the desired outcome. There is no plan to continue this purse redistribution past the 2011 Arlington Meeting.  The new economic reality which resulted in declining handle triggered this compromise relative to purse redistribution agreements so as to prevent 2011 purse reduction.   This proposal was approved by the horsemen that met with Arlington and was ratified by the ITHA Board with concessions given to horsemen. 

Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Inc.

Michael B. Campbell, President

Glen E. Berman, Executive Director