Columbus, OH — On Thursday (Dec. 10), Chairperson Donald “Skip” Hoovler and Directors Dan Ater, Dave Bianconi, Jason Bluhm, Kevin Greenfield, Steven McCoy and Jason Roth hosted the annual USTA District 1 Meeting.  Both USTA President Russell Williams and USTA Executive Vice President and CEO Mike Tanner also participated.  For the first time ever, all USTA District Meetings were held virtually online this year.

The meeting included opening messages from USTA Executive Vice President and CEO Mike Tanner and USTA President Russell Williams. The agenda included a discussion of and voting on 17 rule change proposals.

Following are the results on the 2021 rule change proposals from District 1:

Rule Change Proposal-Result
Proposal #1 (Yearling price in program) — Approved
Proposal #2 (Prohibit seeding of any divisions) — Rejected
Proposal #3 (Showing the number of claims on a horse) — Rejected
Proposal #4 (List of claimants; reason claim lost) — Rejected
Proposal #5 (Electronic draw details) — Rejected
Proposal #6 (Publish entry sheets online) — Rejected
Proposal #7 (Electronic draw guidelines) — Rejected
Proposal #8 (Driver choices prior to draw) — Rejected
Proposal #9 (Position of handholds) — Rejected
Proposal #10 (Hobbles – accurate program information) — Rejected
Proposal #11 (Nerved horses reporting) — Approved – with amendment to add “or sold privately.”
Proposal #12 (Gelding/spaying of horse reporting) — Approved – with amendment to add “or sold privately.”
Proposal #13 (Increase horse name – 18 to 20 spaces) — Rejected
Proposal #14 (Outside source approval of horse names) — Rejected
Proposal #15 (Ownership percentages recording) — Rejected
Proposal #16 (Syndicate member requirements) — Approved
Proposal #17 (Sulky change submission requirement) — Approved

Following the vote on the rule change proposals, Chairperson Hoovler complimented the USTA process as being very democratic.  He then introduced the other District 1 Directors and opened the meeting up for further discussion.  Hoovler discussed the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act and the USTA’s opposition to it and encouraged others to contact their legislators to express their opposition.

Tanner gave an update on the HISA explaining that sponsor U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell had promised to introduce the bill as a stand-alone bill, however, new information indicates that McConnell now plans to attach it to a larger, more important bill.

USTA President Williams discussed efforts to convince other Senators to urge McConnell to introduce it on its own. He discussed a second, alternative regulatory bill utilizing the state racing commissions that could be introduced as soon as January.  He also explained that the McConnell bill has the possibility to lead to decoupling of racetracks from casinos.  In addition, he discussed a watchlist of tracks that would be in danger of closing if the HISA passes.

Director Steve McCoy emphasized that in Ohio District 1 this legislation is not necessary.

The meeting then took up the election of chairman for District 1.  Chairman Skip Hoovler was unanimously reelected.

The meeting commenced at 2 p.m. (EST) and was adjourned by Chairperson Hoovler at 3:23 p.m.

This District 1 Meeting was the final USTA District Meeting of 2020.