April 22, 2016
Board members present: William P. Brewer, Tim Floyd, Mary Lou Griffin, Dana Halvorson, Dr. Duane Hopp, Debra Pabst, Keith Swagerty, Jennifer Webber and Steve Zerda. Absent: Nina Hagen, John Parker and Candice Tollett. Staff present: M. Anne Sweet.
The meeting was called to order at 12:20 p.m. at the WTBOA offices by President Halvorson.
Previous Board Minutes: Minutes from the February 5, 2016, and March 17, 2016, meetings were presented and reviewed. It was noted that a quorum was not reached at the March 17 meeting, therefore no business was conducted. Webber moved to approve the minutes as presented. Pabst seconded the motion and the minutes were approved.
Finance Committee Report: Treasurer Pabst reported that the Budget vs. Actual report looks good and that there is not a lot owing on the Accounts Receivable Aging Summary. Zerda has received a proposal from Bank of America. We are now waiting on information from our current financial institution, US Bank, for side-by-side comparison information. The liability insurance policy with Duane Weber Insurance is due for renewal on June 1 and is being reviewed. The situation with the B&O tax refund is on hold until the person with the Washington Department of Revenue who is reviewing our account returns to the office around the first of May. The assessed IRS penalty (ongoing since 2012, regarding Form 990 filed by former CPA Stanley Gillman), to which we have again recently responded, has been sent to the IRS office in Ogden, Utah, for review. They will respond in 30 to 60 days.
Zerda elaborated on a meeting which he, Halvorson and Sweet held with a US Bank representative. US Bank had reviewed our merchant fees and reported that they are as low as possible at this time. Checking account fees were also reviewed and a fee that was being charged for some unused software was removed. We have asked for a list of all fees for comparison with Bank of America’s fees. The US Bank representative stated that they could match or beat any fees that Bank of America might offer. We have also asked for an unsecured line of credit. It is not needed at this time, but it might be good to have it set up now so it is available if it became needed. We will also be meeting with an investment person from US Bank.
Sales Committee Report: Sales Committee chairman Griffin confirmed that the date of the sale has been set as August 23. Entries to date are ahead of last year at the same time with many good sires represented. There is a Sales Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 12.
Northwest Race Series (NWRS): Pabst reported that one late nomination for a two-year-old of 2016 was received from Heidi Nelson in the amount of $3,500. The is $121,000 available for the 2016 series, with $125,000 having been allocated. Twenty stallion nominations, totaling $16,250, were received (mares bred in 2016) for the 2019 series.
Publications: Sweet reported that the Spring issue of the magazine came out as scheduled in early April. It has been uploaded to issuu.com, with a link also provided on washingtonthoroughbred.com. The uploaded version was created with click-able links, meaning that readers/viewers would be able to actively click e-mail and website addresses. Halvorson remarked that it is a good magazine and stated that he has heard good response to the stallion profile articles. He thanked Webber and Zerda for writing the articles on War Power and Smiling Tiger. The Gold Aly profile had been written previously by Brewer. A Publications Committee meeting is scheduled to follow today’s Board meeting.
Washington Horse Racing Commission (WHRC)/Emerald Downs: The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) has scheduled their summer meeting to take place in Seattle, July 13-15, 2016. They will be holding a Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, July 13, and have requested use of the WTBOA Sales Pavilion for that meeting.
Annual Membership Meeting: The Annual Membership meeting will be held on Saturday, July 16. Racing begins at 6:30 p.m., so the Emerald Room is not available. It had been previously decided that the membership meeting will be held at the WTBOA pavilion, with dinner catered in the pavilion by Emerald Downs. The meeting is currently scheduled for 4:30 p.m., although it was noted that the meeting may need to begin earlier than that. It was suggested that the keynote speaker might be someone who is available from ARCI. Griffin suggested that perhaps someone from The Jockey Club might be able to speak about microchipping. Griffin will contact The Jockey Club to see if that might be possible.
Summer Internship Opportunity: Zerda had written up a description outlining the details of this opportunity (included in the Board packet). He was recently in Tucson, Arisona, and met with Liz Bracken at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program. They currently have 35 students in the program, of which 15 are at the senior level and are looking for internships. They are all already placed for this year, including one student who will be at Emerald Downs. The internship description has been provided to the staff at UA-RTIP, and they have informed us to contact them earlier this coming year. It was suggested that perhaps there might be an opportunity to get someone for two to three weeks after another internship had wrapped up but before the start of school. It was also suggested that we could reach out to the Agriculture and/or Animal Sciences departments of Washington State University and Oregon State University and/or perhaps set up an internship in combination with the Emerald Downs veterinary clinic. [Sweet contacted Lynne Haley of WSU and sent her the internship description. Haley responded that she had forwarded it on to their 4th-year Program Coordinator.]
Washington TOBA Award for 2015: TOBA had contacted the staff regarding Washington’s 2015 recipient. Staff member Sue van Dyke had compiled a list of prospective recipients, which included Coal Creek Farm (Barbara Ratcliff), Howard E. Maggard, Marvin Pietila (Pietila Farm) and Warlock Stables (Tim Floyd). Halvorson reported that Dr. Rodney Orr had been the 2014 recipient for Oregon and had attended the banquet and awards presentation. He reported that it is a very nice, fun event to attend, and it is hoped that the award recipient will attend, although transportation to the event is not provided. The banquet is held prior to the Keeneland Summer Sale. The TOBA award is presented to a person or persons who breed in Washington primarily for racing, rather than to sell. By written vote, Coal Creek Farm (Barbara Ratcliff) was selected for the 2015 Washington TOBA Award.
Thank You to Brewer: Halvorson acknowledged and thanked Brewer for serving as WTBOA President last year. Brewer stated that he had decided not to run again this year due to professional and health reasons, but that he is open to future involvement as an officer and remains available to help as a Board member.
Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton and Ocala Breeders’ Sales (OBS) Amend Anabolic Steroid Policy for Auctions: Zerda noted the recent policy change as adopted by Keeneland, Fasig- Tipton and OBS.
Officials from Keeneland Association, Fasig-Tipton Company, Inc. and Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company (OBS) jointly announced that they have amended the anabolic androgenic steroid policy to delete the “45-day” rule regarding the use of steroids in weanlings, yearlings and two-year-olds at any time prior to sale. The revised Conditions of Sale become effective July 1, 2016. Under the previous language, consignors warranted that any weanling, yearling or two-year-old entered in a sale had not been administered any anabolic androgenic steroids within 45 days of the date of sale. At all three auction companies, buyers of young horses may request testing for steroids, which is performed at the time of purchase. If the sale horse tests positive, the buyers has the right, within 24 hours of notification, to rescind the sale.
Griffin noted that this was on the agenda to discuss at the next Sales Committee meeting. Zerda suggested that, as an added deterrent, verbiage could be added in the WTBOA catalog stating that the association can randomly ask for a steroid test, perhaps including the verbiage “The WTBOA reserves the right to …” Brewer expressed some concerns regarding how this would be implemented and/or enforced. Discussion followed.
Zerda moved that the Board recommend to the Sales Committee that the WTBOA implement a policy that would follow suit with the Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton and OBS steroid policy, dropping the 45-day rule, and that this policy would become effective with the 2016 WTBOA Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale and would be included in the catalog as such. Webber seconded the motion, which was passed unanimously.
Next Meeting Date: The next meeting was scheduled for Friday, May 20, 2016.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m.
May 20, 2016, Meeting Minutes
Pending approval at next meeting
Next Meeting
Friday, June 17, 2016
