Wyoming, Kansas Join National HBPA

Wyoming and Kansas thoroughbred horsemen are now part of the National HBPA, giving America's largest racehorse owners' and trainers' organization its 30th and 31st affiliates.

The Wyoming HBPA and Kansas HBPA were unanimously approved for full membership at Saturday's board meeting of the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, which concluded the annual conference at Oaklawn Park. Of the 31 HBPA affiliates, 26 are in the United States along with five in the Canadian provinces.

The Wyoming HBPA, which represents horsemen at Wyoming Downs in Evanston, is a new member. Kansas returned to the HBPA following a 17-year hiatus after live racing ceased in 2008 with the closure of The Woodlands. Made possible by legislation permitting historical horse racing (HHR) parimutuel gaming machines, live racing is scheduled to resume in the Sunflower State this fall at Eureka Downs, about 45 miles from Wichita. Expectations down the road are for a new track near Kansas City.

"We are very happy to bring on two new affiliates; Kansas of course re-affiliated after being a longtime member of the HBPA until live racing ceased there," Hamelback said. "Credit to a lot of people who are trying to bring back Kansas racing, and they've done so with a commitment to HHR machines with the state. Ralph Lilja, who was the HBPA president years ago, attended the conference here and was very excited to be able to become re-affiliated with National HBPA.

"Wyoming has been a great success story with the ownership group of Kentucky Downs now owning Wyoming Downs. We are looking to have a good presence in the state of Wyoming. Special thanks to (Wyoming HBPA) president Chris Mitchell and his work, along with Corey Johnsen, for getting the affiliate established. Wyoming and Kansas both were actively trying to become affiliated because they felt that had meaning and meant something for the industry."

Lilja said he's a longtime supporter of the HBPA, attending his first HBPA conference more than 30 years ago, when it coincidentally was in Hot Springs. He said he and his wife got married at the HBPA convention 28 years ago.

"I'm a huge supporter of the HBPA," said Lilja, who has gotten back into the game as an owner-breeder after dispersing his stock when The Woodlands closed. "They're such an important group. We all have the same needs, basically. They offer a lot of help on a lot of different places."

Lilja said the National HBPA under Hamelback has just gotten stronger. "Under Eric's leadership has been a huge advantage," he said. "He's so well-versed, so experienced. Having somebody in there like him has been just fantastic. He's an outstanding resource for help." 

Johnsen -- who was president and a partner in Kentucky Downs until its 2019 sale to the group headed by Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone -- is a Wyoming HBPA founding board member. Johnsen's CJ Thoroughbreds operation races all over the country. Several years ago, he saw opportunities to race in Wyoming and was instrumental in bringing the stallion Dennis' Moment to stand in stud in the state.

Wyoming has two other tracks: Sweetwater Downs and Energy Downs, which the Winchell and Falcone group recently bought into.

"We see tremendous growth and potential for horse racing in Wyoming," Johnsen said. "We have really good ownership of the tracks in Wyoming, who have invested not only hundreds of millions in the industry via their historical horse racing facilities, they also truly want horse racing to do better. They want there to be a strong economic impact for the state of Wyoming through horse racing. It seemed a natural to enlist the National HBPA as an advisor to our horsemen representation at Wyoming Downs. We all are better when we work together. There are a lot of national and regional issues that being an HBPA member allows us to tap into a lot of knowledge and resources."

The National HBPA Conference, hosted by the Arkansas HBPA and Oaklawn Park, included three days of educational panels and presentations.

"We had an excellent venue," Hamelback said. "The staff here at Oaklawn has been amazing to work with. Everything went off without a hitch. The panels were received very well. It's never easy when you're trying to plan a conference, simply because you're planning it well in advance, and you never know how timely the topics will be when the conference actually occurs. The two panels I think really knocked it out of the park -- the AI (artificial intelligence) panel and the prediction markets panel -- really were timely and important for the industry to hear.

"When you look at the recognition of Jinks Fires as the Living Legend, it doesn't get much more emotional than that," continued Hamelback, referencing the 85-year-old trainer from Arkansas. "His family, it seemed like everybody was in the room. It was very special. He is such a well-deserving person for that award. He's a great man, a great horseman. He will certainly be a part of a lot of lives for a long time." 

Next year's conference is scheduled for a yet-to-be-determined date in  Phoenix, Ariz., where Turf Paradise is having its own resurgence under new ownership.