Washington Horse Racing Commission
Meeting Minutes
January 12, 2006

Present were: Hartly Kruger, Chairman; A.L. Hallowell, Commissioner; Judi Roland, Commissioner; Carol Smith-Merkulov, Commissioner; Susan Carlson, Assistant Attorney General; Robert M. Leichner, Executive Secretary; Patty Sorby, Secretary.

Chairman Kruger introduced Paul George of Yakima and announced his appointment to the commission. Mr. Kruger gave a brief overview of Mr. George’s background and experience.

Item #1. Approval of the meeting minutes of December 14, 2005.

Commissioner Smith-Merkulov moved for approval of the minutes as submitted. Commissioner Roland seconded the motion. Unanimously approved.

Item #2. Chairman’s report.

Chairman Kruger advised the audience that if they wanted to comment, they should raise their hand and the Chair would recognize them. For the record, they need to state their name when before they speak.

The agency bill to support small race tracks was introduced on January 11th. It was well received and we should know whether it will go to appropriations or the rules committee within the next couple of days.

Item #3. Emerald Downs’ report.

Mr. Jack Hodge, Vice-president, Emerald Downs, reported to the members that there had been a surprising turnaround in the simulcast handle since the first of the year, having increased 4 percent. Mr. Hodge said the racing secretary, Paul Ryneveld was accepting applications for stalls and it appears to be a 5 percent increase over last year. Nominations are up for stakes races with a $70,000 increase to the Northwest Series Stakes program. He said that he is looking forward to a dynamic season averaging eight horses per race.

Item #4. Emerald Downs’ request to relocate the Moses Lake satellite facility.

Mr. Leichner said that at the request of Emerald Downs this item would be tabled at this time. Emerald Downs is in the process of assessing their satellite sites.

Item #5. Presentation by Dr. Scot Waterman, Racing Medication Testing Consortium.

Dr. Scot Waterman, Executive Director of the Racing Medication Testing Consortium gave a presentation to the members including an overview of the consortium, a history on how the consortium was created and the members involved from the industry. He discussed the equine drugs on the listing by classification, how the consortium penalty schedule classifications were developed, the penalties associated with violations of medication rules and future activities of the consortium. The equine medication penalties were adopted by RCI as a model rule.

Item #6. Discussion of:

a) Model rule equine medication penalties.

Mr. Leichner provided a breakdown of equine medication penalties. He stated this was provided for information and there was no set adoption date. He said the staff would move forward with preliminary language and would be working with stakeholders on this.

b) Equine medication testing.

Mr. Leichner stated that the commission would be continuing with the same testing protocols. The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association graded stakes requirements would be presented at the February meeting. Mr. Leichner said the requirements were met last year and nothing was found in last year’s samples.

Commissioner Hallowell encouraged everyone to get involved with the medication rules review and stated that stakeholder participation in the process is vital.

Mr. Hodge said that he felt that members of the consortium, equine safety committee, breeders, riders and administration should also be involved.

Item #7. Executive Secretary report.

Mr. Leichner explained the legislation regarding the support to small race meets and copies of both the House version and the Senate version were available for the public.

a) Approval of Emerald Downs handicapping contest.

Susie Sourwine and Adrian Buchan of Emerald Downs explained the rules regarding the handicapping contest. This would be the first contest allowing Emerald Downs to charge an entry fee and award prizes. This contest would be in March and would allow thirty-two participants to handicap races. The top four handicappers with the best results would win prizes.

Commissioner Smith-Merkulov moved to approve the request to hold the “Horseplayers Madness” handicapping contest. Commissioner Hallowell seconded the motion. Unanimously approved.

b) 2005 distribution of owner’s bonus to Emerald Downs.

Mr. Leichner advised the members that the Washington bred owner’s bonus in the amount of $737,025.12 had been sent to Emerald Downs for distribution to owners.

c) Accountant’s December 2004/2005 recap.

Mr. Leichner reviewed the recap and pointed out that the handle is up 5.74 percent over December 2004.

d) 05-07 budget review.

Mr. Leichner explained the revenue and expenditures for the month of December 2005.

e) Live Scan Fingerprint Equipment update.

Mr. Leichner said the process to acquire the live scan fingerprinting equipment was being followed and hoped to have it by early February.

f) Update on adoption hearings.

Mr. Leichner said the following rules will be heard for final adoption on February 9, 2006: Chapter 260-36 WAC licensing and WAC 260-48-800 Parimutuel wagering pools.

Mr. Leichner said several rules will be brought before the members for adoption on March 9, 2006: WAC 260-12-180; WAC 260-28-230; Chapter WAC 260-20; Chapter WAC 260-32; Chapter WAC 260-34; Chapter WAC 260-40; Chapter WAC 260-44; WAC 260-48-925; WAC 260-60-430; Chapter WAC 260-70; Chapter WAC 260-80; Chapter WAC 260-84. He said at the April 13, 2006 meeting an adoption hearing would be held on WAC 260-75-030 Satellite location.

g) Executive Secretary authority.

In response to the Chairman’s request, Mr. Leichner said staff was proposing a change to give the Executive Secretary the authority to make the initial agency determination in certain situations. If the person disagreed with the Executive Secretary’s decision, then a hearing before the Commission could be requested.

Commissioner Smith-Merkulov had looked at the rules and felt that this could not be accomplished by just adding language to the rule that establishes the Executive Secretary’s authority.

h) ARCI conference.

Mr. Leichner recommended approval for attendance and travel to the 2006 Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 28, 29, 30, 31 and April 1, 2006 for three staff members: Thelma Lynn, Robert Lopez, and himself. He also encouraged as many commission members as possible to attend.

Mr. Leichner included for the members a breakdown of the expected costs.

Chairman Kruger also encouraged all of the members to consider attending.

Commissioner Smith-Merkulov moved to approve the recommendation to attend the ARCI convention. Commissioner Roland seconded the motion. Unanimously approved.

Item #8. Any other business that may be properly brought before the Commission.

Sue Coleman asked why there was a processing charge attached to her distribution of both the Breeder’s award and the Washington Bred Owner’s Bonus award.

Chairman Kruger suggested she contact the WTBA and Emerald Downs why a charge was assessed.

Ms. Coleman also asked why there was a location change in the Moses Lake satellite.

Mr. Leichner said that Emerald Downs had requested this be on the agenda for today’s meeting, but then had withdrawn the request. He assumed that Emerald Downs was reassessing their OTB sites.

Meeting adjourned at 11:30 A.M.

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Robert M. Leichner, Executive Secretary