Horsemen S Benevolent And Protective Association

Members of the California Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Assn. overwhelmingly approved Hollywood Park's proposal for four consecutive Friday night programs later in the current meeting. According to Don Robbins, Hollywood Park's general manager, the vote was 2,482 in favor and 563 against. This signifies a 28% turnout from the CHBPA members who received ballots, which had to be signed in order to be counted.

Listening recently to horse racing people talking about their sport brings back the line that Strother Martin, the prison foreman, used as he throttled Paul Newman in "Cool Hand Luke": "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." The only point that the various segments of the racing industry--track operators, horse owners, trainers and breeding groups--seem to agree on is that the sport is in distress.

The directors of the California Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Assn. were licking their wounds this week in the wake of a Hollywood Park-sponsored poll that revealed an overwhelming majority of the organization's membership is in favor of semi-regular night racing at the Inglewood track.

A meeting of the California Horse Racing Board's committee on night racing at Hollywood Park, held Thursday in El Segundo, emphasized a broader potential problem for the sport: A split between owners and trainers who share membership in the California Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Assn. "The HBPA has failed to represent owners," said Mace Siegel, who races a large stable based in California. "The HBPA is no longer benevolent, and it is not protective of my interests as an owner."

A meeting of the California Horse Racing Board's committee on night racing at Hollywood Park, held Thursday in El Segundo, emphasized a broader potential problem for the sport: A split between owners and trainers who share membership in the California Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Assn. "The HBPA has failed to represent owners," said Mace Siegel, who races a large stable based in California. "The HBPA is no longer benevolent, and it is not protective of my interests as an owner."

Listening recently to horse racing people talking about their sport brings back the line that Strother Martin, the prison foreman, used as he throttled Paul Newman in "Cool Hand Luke": "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." The only point that the various segments of the racing industry--track operators, horse owners, trainers and breeding groups--seem to agree on is that the sport is in distress.

A report by an independent New Mexico laboratory indicates that as many as 60 horses that ran at Santa Anita last year had suspicious postrace urine samples. International Diagnostics Systems of Las Cruces, N.M., which analyzed almost 500 urine samples from the 27-day Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita last fall, found that the horses had possibly run with a variety of illegal drugs, including cocaine. The laboratory identified 16 chemical products that are banned by state racing officials.

The directors of the California Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Assn. were licking their wounds this week in the wake of a Hollywood Park-sponsored poll that revealed an overwhelming majority of the organization's membership is in favor of semi-regular night racing at the Inglewood track.

Members of the California Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Assn. overwhelmingly approved Hollywood Park's proposal for four consecutive Friday night programs later in the current meeting. According to Don Robbins, Hollywood Park's general manager, the vote was 2,482 in favor and 563 against. This signifies a 28% turnout from the CHBPA members who received ballots, which had to be signed in order to be counted.

A report by an independent New Mexico laboratory indicates that as many as 60 horses that ran at Santa Anita last year had suspicious postrace urine samples. International Diagnostics Systems of Las Cruces, N.M., which analyzed almost 500 urine samples from the 27-day Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita last fall, found that the horses had possibly run with a variety of illegal drugs, including cocaine. The laboratory identified 16 chemical products that are banned by state racing officials.