Excerpts from TRI senior advisor Damon Thayer’s conversation with Steve Byk on At The Races with Steve Byk satellite radio show Monday, May 5:
“I finally got a call before the Oaks was run that the decoupling bill was indeed dead for the session. Gulfstream Park, Stronach Group etc. were
trying up until the last minute to insert decoupling into every potential budget bill moving during the last week of the session in Tallahassee. But our Senate allies held strong and really put up a nice blockade.
“…. But we always knew it would come down to the last minute. We knew they would not give up. You have to remember that this thing started out on the fast track. This was like a Quarter Horse sprint at Los Alamitos. Luckily we were able to slow it down to a bit of a marathon, because we were behind out of the gate. We definitely were closing the gap late in the session. We’ve won the battle. I still feel like there’s a war going on in Florida about decoupling, but we certainly one this important battle.
“It was a great coalition. First of all, our TRI initiative led by David O’Farrell, Jon Green, Mark Casse, Aron Wellman and Barry Eisaman … they had the real vision to see that we needed some stronger leadership in Florida to try to kill this bill. I can’t say enough about Eric Hamelback, the CEO of the National HBPA. They were right there as part of our coalition. They were right there as part of our coalition. They were out of the gate first on this, really. Eric’s been a great ally. Our coalition included the Tampa horsemen, led by Mike Dini. The new group at Gulfstream Park, they were right there with us. OBS, Tom Ventura, Tod Wojciechowski. The FTBOA. Jena Antonucci, what a star she has been. I know I’m leaving people out. What I want to emphasize is that this was a coalition. It wasn’t just one person or one alphabet soup group.
“Though we are new in that category, the TRI put together a coalition. Mike Repole was a late addition to the group, and he helped us greatly with our efforts with Gov. Ron DeSantis. There’s no doubt Gov. DeSantis and his statement about six weeks ago at a press conference and his appearance about three weeks ago at OBS at the sale made a huge difference. It was great to see him in the winner’s circle with Mike Repole and the Mindframe team after their big win at Churchill Downs.
“I think it’s a good omen to see so many groups and individuals come together to try to battle decoupling.
What happens now?
“Belinda Stronach still owns Gulfstream Park. She has a contract with the horsemen through, I believe, the end of this year. People have asked me what will she do? I don’t know. We can’t predict that. We hope she’ll live up to that. We do know we have a willing buyer in Mike Repole, who will buy it under the current coupled law that has been in place for 19 years. I don’t know if she’s a willing seller.
“The Florida Legislature was supposed to end Friday, but they did not pass a budget. So they are going to extend their session another couple of weeks. We’ve been told that decoupling will not be a part of that budget session. However, our lobby team will remain wary and watchful to make sure nothing happens…. However, there is talk of a potential special session this spring or summer. Who knows? Decoupling could come up again.
“But what we said all along to the legislature is please kill this bill and give us the time – meaning the rest of this year – and we will work on a solution for Florida racing. And TRI will lead the way as a collaborative convening authority with this coalition we’ve built… We know we don’t have all the answers. We know there are questions: What is the future of Gulfstream Park? What is the future of racing in South Florida? In the absence of Gulfstream Park, could we go to Hialeah? Could we go to Palm Meadows? Could there be a new track built in the South Florida area maybe south of Miami and Broward-Dade. All the things are on the table.
What’s the future of Tampa Bay Downs? We think Tampa Bay Downs is a jewel; we want to protect it…. We’ve already lost racing in cities like Detroit, Portland, San Francisco. Chicago is in jeopardy. We know that in two years there’s going to be no racing at Laurel, so we’re going to lose a thoroughbred track right outside our nation’s capital. I don’t think it’s a good thing to walk away from South Florida racing.
“Then there’s talk of potentially having a parimutuel track in Ocala. Like Lexington, Ocala loves horse racing. There are several places that currently act as training centers where we could perhaps build a live racing facility and run some dates there. All of these things are on the table.
“We’ve got to figure out what’s the future of racing? What can we get in terms of a purse supplement from expanded gambling? What about the breeders incentive awards that seem to be under attack in Tallahassee? All of these things we intend to work on in the next couple of months and work in a collaborative fashion in a good faith effort as we promised the legislators in Tallahassee.
Steve Byk: “The best part of this is that the suggestion of decoupling, and, really, the underhanded manner in which it was attempted, the way it galvanized support and an industry coalition that came together really rapidly, really a disparate set of stakeholders all coming together. To me, it’s instructive and heartening. We could use this essentially as a model for how to change things or how to insulate industry going forward. I thought there were so many encouraging elements to this, the way it came together and the successful result.”
Damon Thayer: “I am encouraged by that as well. If you look at the three times we had to show up as a coalition in Tallahassee to testify against the bill – and multiple versions of the bill; it was a moving target – and we really had to educate some senators. Some senators who were trying to help and we had to say, ‘No, this is not helping. This is actually damaging, and here’s why.’ It’s very difficult to do that during the heat of a legislative session and legislators are focusing on 100 different things and have a limited time to do it.
“Of course the Stronach Group was very aggressive in their strategy. They’ve been working on this, making contributions to legislators and legislative campaigns since the third or fourth quarter of 2023. Then they kind of spring it on us in January. They had a huge head start, and they had a very powerful ally in the House budget committee chair in Lawrence McClure. He’s a tenacious guy who was convinced by the Stronach Group that he was doing the right thing…. But we’ve got a great coalition, and we hope nobody tries to pull anything sneaky this spring or summer, and really give us an opportunity to try to form a consensus of opinion about what is best going forward. And of course we don’t know what Belinda Stronach’s next move is going to be.
“Gulfstream Park is a gem. Look at the winner of the Kentucky Derby. He won the Fountain of Youth. He was second in the Florida Derby…. Its year-round circuit is critical. Its Florida-bred program is critical. The fact that something like 80% of North America’s racehorses, no matter where they are bred, go to Ocala to get their pre-training and preparation for going to the races. We have to protect that… Florida is intrinsically linked to every racing state. This is critical for not just Florida and its 33K jobs and $3 billion in economic impact. It’s critical really for the entire North American continent, Canada and the United States. So we’re going to continue to work hard. We’ve got a great coalition of guys. We’re ready to pivot into the collaborative process of figuring out the long-term future for Florida racing and what do we want to ask for in terms of legislative policy going forward.”
Byk: “The best part is we’ve got the right people in place making the considerations and trying to bring us together and go forward. So, well done.”
Thayer: “Victory has a thousand fathers; failure is an orphan. That’s a quote from — Steve, you’ll appreciate this — my favorite Democratic president, John F. Kennedy. It’s true. There are so many people who deserve credit for this. We’ve got a great coalition.”
Byk: “Really something to celebrate. Not too long, but everybody deserves a hearty congrats for what was done here. More than anything, I think it shows people who aren’t necessarily hands-on stakeholders in the game, I hope it gives them some confidence that the industry knows how to answer urgency, and we can work together. That’s the best message.”
Thayer: “I absolutely agree. You know the old T.E.A.M. acronym: ‘Together everybody achieves more’ is explicit and obvious in our success here. We definitely scored a touchdown here. We still have more work to do to win the game. We’re going to work on our game plan and try to win the game for Florida racing and breeding.”
