Dick Hertz

[Wingtips]

Dick Hertz (trainer Neil Parker) is a role model.

http://businessasusualdickhertz.blogspot.com/

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/57850/missing-horses-where-lies-responsibility

[Dave Schwartz]

Funniest thing here is the name.

[MNslappy]

thought for sure this would be another link to The Onion

[PurplePower]

Funniest thing here is the name.Second funniest is that all of those vitamins in bottles that must be accessed by injection are considered "contraband" in many jurisdictions. I looked in Pa rules and it is written vaguely enough that a trainer can probably possess the bottles (just the possession of such a bottle is a violation in Texas, etc.) but accessing the vitamins in the bottle is a violation as it requires the possession of a hypodermic needle and syringe.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Funniest thing here is the name.

That was my first thought as well.And it was a literal laugh out loud moment!!

[eastie]

famous guy from Holden Mass. Works at Dick's Tool in Sharon. Friend of Pat Magroin, Jack Meehoff, and Haywood Yablowme.

[WinterTriangle]

Apparently, being an owner who offers to give their horses a good home after they are done racing is equated with being a "rabble rouser" at Penn. :rolleyes:




"Neil Parker, a central Pennsylvania Thoroughbred owner whose wife, Kathleen, trained Contrary as of July 2009, said he told the owners last summer he would take the gelding when his racing career was over. Contrary was claimed by David Wells last year and subsequently trained by Stephanie Beattie.
Parker said it turned out the horse wasn’t sent to a riding school or to a farm in north central Pennsylvania, as he was told. As of early July, Contrary still hadn’t been found, leading to speculation he ended up in a kill pen.

Beattie, one of the leading trainers at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course and president of the Pennsylvania Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said she has been unable to determine where the horse was shipped. She offered a $1,000 reward for information on Contrary...."

I agree with Russek: "This stuff isn't rocket science. The information all could be easily entered in a database."

[joanied]

Apparently, Winter T...some are simply using this thread as a joke forum...when this serious problem goes on & on...I commend anyone that has the courage to step up and do the right thing...and this Beattie person has got to go...my take is that she offered that reward because she knows no one will come up with any information on Contrary.
Makes me sick.

[duncan04]

Apparently, Winter T...some are simply using this thread as a joke forum...when this serious problem goes on & on...I commend anyone that has the courage to step up and do the right thing...and this Beattie person has got to go...my take is that she offered that reward because she knows no one will come up with any information on Contrary.
Makes me sick.

:ThmbUp: Yeah I agree with ya. How Beattie gets away with stuff is amazing!

[Track Phantom]

Apparently, Winter T...some are simply using this thread as a joke forum...when this serious problem goes on & on...I commend anyone that has the courage to step up and do the right thing...and this Beattie person has got to go...my take is that she offered that reward because she knows no one will come up with any information on Contrary.
Makes me sick.

Agreed. To be honest, it's people like her that have basically pushed me away from this game. Cannot stand to be associated in any form, even wagering remotely, with scum like her and people like her. Makes me sick to my stomach.

[WinterTriangle]

How Beattie gets away with stuff is amazing!

Well, at the bottom of my post, it appears that she is stepping up to do some good.

(I stop short at accusations when I have no proof. But as president of the Pennsylvania HBPA, one would think she'd have been more savvy, is all).

I imagine there are a number of ways horses can slip thru the cracks.
I just don't understand why there can't be a database on OTTB's....and paperwork, etc. I mean, there seems to be no problem keeping a database on the ones who are racing? Surely, when they leave the track, there should be some way of knowing WHERE they go? We can't just be disappearing horses, right?

HOWEVER, it looks like sometimes bad stuff has to happen to have something good happen. It looks like she, and Penn, are trying to get a proper program together, I dunno if anyone saw this:
July 13, 2010

http://www.pennsylvaniaequestrian.com/news2010/0410_Retirement.php

Looks good.:ThmbUp:


This is why I am not completely against watchdog or oversight efforts. It does appear to me that people often have to either be shamed into doing stuff right, or end up in an embarassing situation before they DO SOMETHING.


As for "dick hertz", it appears that he thought a lot of the horse, Contrary. That he was a professional kind horse who ran his eyeballs out, and they would have been happy to take him back and give him a retirement or 2nd career. It kinda makes you sad realizing it just didn't happen.:(

" This is what is wrong with the thoroughbred industry. We would have picked him up no questions asked and found a lifetime home for him. Why can't trainers at least ask previous connections or breeders about the possibility of retirement...."

Seems like a reasonable request doesn't it? Gotta admire the Mr. Parker for standing up, I'm sure he did so at great political and perhaps even legal risks!!

[PurplePower]

Agreed. To be honest, it's people like her that have basically pushed me away from this game. Cannot stand to be associated in any form, even wagering remotely, with scum like her and people like her. Makes me sick to my stomach. Valento, Joanied and Duncan

Have any of the three of you ever met Stephanie Beattie? Ever gone and looked at her stable at Penn National or stood by the paddock rail and watched as her horses walked into the paddock?

Joanied, when I said what I did ("second funniest") I should have put the "sarcastic" icon next to those words as what I said was not intended to be funny. The owner that was being considered a "hero" for speaking out was showing on youtube vitamins and supplements that were in "injection" bottles and that is a violation of the contraband rule in most states. Trainers are not allowed to POSSESS ANY substances that are are in containers that must be accessed by needle and syringe or that are labled to be given by injection only (even if they do not have the needles and syringes necessary to access them). Perhaps that was at his farm, in that case it would be legal. But I interpreted his implication to be that was what his horses at the racetrack were getting. I consider that a credibility issue.

Regarding Stephanie, she is the ONLY leading trainer in this country that not only supports groom education, but takes time from her busy schedule to coordinate the Groom Elite classes at Penn National. She sets up the classroom, arranges for lunches (at no cost to the grooms), signs in grooms and sits through classes. She took the class herself the first time it was taught at Penn National (including the assessment exams and got her "Certified Groom Elite" certificate). Stephanie allows me to use her personal pony and racehorses in her barn for demonstrations, provides "remedial" help for hotwalkers practicing between classes so they can move up to groom level and makes her barn and horses available 3 to 4 hours of assessment day activities. Most trainers (ESPECIALLY some of the leading trainers) do not want me in or near their barn because it will disturb their horses. (I respect those wishes, because as I teach the grooms, us being there IS putting pressure on those horses.) Stephanie makes sure all of the grooms that work for her that want to take the class get off work at 11:30 AM so they can come to class, and those that get certified get pay raises.

Duncan, we scheduled a class at Turfway starting in January, pushed it back to March & finally deciding to wait until this fall. I'm scheduling for fall now and Turfway will be scheduled in the October through December 15 window. Can I count on you to help?

I don't know the story with Contrary, but I do know that Stephanie was a major player in Penn National Gaming developing an agreement with New Vocations to help find homes for horses retiring from PEN. I agree that something is not "jibbing" and I hope we are able to get some better answers.

One of the benefits of the recent Welfare and Safety Summit meeting will be the cooperation of the myriad of "retirement" or "rescue" organizations. Formation of a national data base may reduce the number of "Contrary" disappearances. These groups all depend on donations, so, while they
profess to be working toward the same goal, they are also "competing" for limited donation dollars. Providing "post racing" homes for horses is not as easy as it might seem when we are looking at a situation involving one horse.

When I trained, I "retired" two good sprinters several years apart after training each of them for 3 years. (One was 5 the other 6 and both suffered front leg tendon injuries I rehabbed.) With their owners' help they were sent to "second careers". BOTH of them showed back up in races 3 years after they were "retired". (I didn't recognize one, but my son saw him training one morning & I was stunned when I saw the other in a race program at SHRP one night.) They were racing in bottom claiming on old bowed tendons with neither looking happy or doing any good. I was upset (much too mild a word) and could do nothing to stop their racing. Neither owner knew what had happened after they had left for their "new homes" and there was nothing they could do either. They had transferred the papers to their "post-racing" owners who had sold them, etc. (This was 95 to 97 time period so internet access, etc. was not as available as now).

I appreciate y'all's concern regarding Contrary, I think you would have a more complete perspective if you could meet Stephanie in person, listen to her philosophy and take a walk down her shedrow.

[PurplePower]

..........

http://www.pennsylvaniaequestrian.com/news2010/0410_Retirement.php

Looks good.:ThmbUp:

Thanks for posting that WT. I was going to go get that link but had spent way more time than intended (and probably what anyone wants to read) on my previous post.

[WinterTriangle]

PP, OTTB retirement programs are a relatively new development in the HR industry. I'm sure it will take a while to get it right. ;)

Your story about your OTTBs showing up on the race track again isn't unusual. It's why I said some fall thru the cracks.

We may never get the FACTS on Contrary. There may be none available. Like you, Ms. Beattie may have gotten taken. This is why all of the people who claim they want to rescue horses have to be fully vetted. (Otherwise, we don't know if they are just middlemen for the slaughterhouse. )

I'm glad to know you and people like you are around and can provide input on what constitutes a workable retirement/2nd career program, and I hope Penn is successful in their endeavor.

But I certainly have no problem with people's conscience's being stirred, and certainly a more open policy that if somebody thinks they *see* something not right, they will be able to voice it. I remember the jockeys doing that when they refused to ride the Gill horses. And I couldn't help but be moved by Mr. Parker's statement on his blog: "When Michael Gill's horses started snapping legs off .......I got angry...." I can't speak to his motivations, as I'm sure there is all kinds of political stuff going on backside......but in this case, stuff WAS brought out into the open.

More transparency is always a good thing.

I won't say I am totally convinced of anything, ('cause I'm cynical that way), but it was fair of you to represent both sides to the story.

Hope you will let us know when they are ready to receive donations for thier new program.

[PurplePower]

PP, OTTB retirement programs are a relatively new development in the HR industry. I'm sure it will take a while to get it right. ;)
............
More transparency is always a good thing. ....I won't say I am totally convinced of anything, ('cause I'm cynical that way), but it was fair of you to represent both sides to the story. ....Hope you will let us know when they are ready to receive donations for their new program. Another more complete article about their efforts is at this link: Penn Equestrian Article (http://www.pennsylvaniaequestrian.com/news2010/0410_Retirement.php)

[5k-claim]

....When I trained, I "retired" two good sprinters several years apart after training each of them for 3 years. (One was 5 the other 6 and both suffered front leg tendon injuries I rehabbed.) With their owners' help they were sent to "second careers". BOTH of them showed back up in races 3 years after they were "retired". (I didn't recognize one, but my son saw him training one morning & I was stunned when I saw the other in a race program at SHRP one night.) They were racing in bottom claiming on old bowed tendons with neither looking happy or doing any good. I was upset (much too mild a word) and could do nothing to stop their racing. Neither owner knew what had happened after they had left for their "new homes" and there was nothing they could do either. They had transferred the papers to their "post-racing" owners who had sold them, etc. (This was 95 to 97 time period so internet access, etc. was not as available as now).

I also messed up one time and let a gelding that was young and sound enough for a second career get away with his foal papers. It does make you nervous thinking about him changing hands a few times and then showing back up in a race somewhere down the road. That was a lesson that I only had to learn once.

I know that you are familiar with it, but for anyone who may not be: the Jockey Club has a simple, one-page "Sold Without Pedigree" form that an owner can fill out and then return to the Jockey Club along with the original foal papers. Once done, the horse's registration is cancelled permanently- as in can never be re-instated for racing (or breeding) purposes again. It works great for vulnerable geldings (young enough to tempt someone to try racing again), but be careful about mares. The cancelled registration covers breeding as well as racing, and you aren't necessarily trying to keep the new owners (or subsequent changes of hands) from breeding babies- you are just trying to keep the horse off the track.

Sounds like you guys have a great program going!


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