Clear Creek Stud Offers Scholarship for Students from Within the Louisiana Horse Industry 

With an eye toward the future of our industry, Clear Creek Stud will once again be making a $5000 Scholarship Donation in the name of their clients to a college student with Louisiana based connections to the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse Breeding and Racing Industry.  

Clear Creek Stud recognizes that for many of the people who perform the hard work of this industry day in and day out, the rewards are often not financial. “We want to help the children who come from these families who put in the long hours and hard work that are essential to keep our industry in operation,” says Val Murrell, general manager of Clear Creek Stud.  

The scholarship recipient will be chosen by the Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (LaHBPA) and based on their opinion and evaluation of need and merit.  

Interested students should send a letter and resume to Eddie Fenasci at the La.H.B.P.A. office by end of business day, Friday, May 12, 2023. Letters can be mailed to La.H.B.P.A. attention to Eddie Fenasci 1535 Gentilly Blvd. New Orleans, La. 70119 or email to efenasci@lahbpa.org.  

The recipient will be named on Saturday, June 3, 2023 at the LTBA Awards Banquet at Evangeline Downs.

US 5th Circuit Court issued the following rulings on Tuesday January 31, 2023: 

1.      HISA’s motion to vacate the previous unconstitutional decision was denied;

2.      HISA’s motion for rehearing of the 5th Circuit’s unconstitutional decision, based upon Senator McConnell’s Omnibus amendment to HISA was denied;

3.      HISA’s motion for a rehearing enbanc was denied;

4.      The Louisiana Federal case is mandated to return back to Federal court in Louisiana with the complete stay of HISA in place for Louisiana, West Virginia, and the named plaintiffs;

5.      Any additional action involving of the two suits brought back to the US 5th Circuit will be handled by the same panel of three judges, which made the rulings above. 

As a result of this opinion, we will proceed in court to have the other HBPAs, racetracks, and States included in our Louisiana Federal case to have the Stay of HISA, issued by the court to apply to all additional parties.  Further information will follow after the LAHBPA attorney, John Duvieilh, has discussed further action with the Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, Louisiana Solicitor Liz Murrill, and other Attorneys General that will now be included.  

Senator Chuck Grassley has filed an amendment to remove the HISA language from the Omnibus.  Click on this link to send a message of support to your Senators:  https://mstr.app/a8e78907-383c-41ae-b9c9-8d2d0d435afd

The Fair Grounds updated the LAHBPA, at a meeting held on Thursday December 15, 2022, regarding the status of their turf course.   

Update from Gary Palmisano, Jr., CDI Director of Racing:

Myself and CDI Equine Medical Director Dr. Will Farmer met at FG today with the local team to look at the turf course.

We have made the determination to begin offering turf racing starting with 4 stakes races slated for next week. We will have 2 on Dec. 26 and 2 on Dec. 31. These races will be run with the rail at 34 feet, which will allow for a max of 8 starters. We met the the LAHBPA team this afternoon and discussed this plan and all are in agreement with this plan.

We’re diligently continuing to work on the inner portion of the turf course but progress has been slow. We will be bringing our out of town consultants back in the near future to see what next steps we can take for that portion of the course.

Please help protect Louisiana Horse Racing

If you have not called your US Senators and Representatives, DO SO NOW!

There is continued reports that Senator Mitch McConnell is promoting a “legislative correction” to the HISA laws now that a federal appeals court has concluded it is Unconstitutional.  Once again, McConnell plans to bypass the normal process that would allow hearing and debate on his legislation by attaching his “fix” to a “Must Pass” bill such as a year ending spending bill.  This path is like the way McConnell slipped the current law into Covid Relief legislation in 2020.     

The Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) has regulated horse racing in Louisiana for over a century.  The LSRC is in the unique position to know what is best for Louisiana racing and Louisiana racing participants.  The Commission and our Louisiana legislators work with industry participants to formulate laws and rules which protect our horses and jockeys and create a fair playing field for all participants.

The Louisiana HBPA urges all industry participants to contact your U.S. House Representative and your U.S. Senators (contact information provided below), IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO.  Voice your opposition to these “back room” deals that circumvent your right to be heard.  A phone call can be completed in about 3 MINUTES and will help fight this potentially devastating “fix”.  Specifically, ask your congressmen to block any effort by HISA for another quick fix that got us in this mess in the first place.  Our horsemen’s representative wants to work with ALL parties for new, sensible legislation that allows our jobs-heavy industry and related agribusiness to thrive and improve, rather than to choke from ill-advised legislation snuck through by a well-financed minority.

You can use this link to identify and contact your Representative:

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Contact information for the U.S. Senators from Louisiana is:

Senator John Kennedy
https://www.kennedy.senate.gov/public/
416 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Office number 202-224-4623

Senator Bill Cassidy
https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/
520 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Office number 202-224-5824