Chuck Simon is still in the horse business but is no longer a horse trainer. In 20 years with a public stable, Simon had 2,679 starters and 359 winners, starting horses at 38 different tracks. Based exclusively in South Florida in recent years, Simon has turned to overseeing the newly created Gulfstream Horsemen’s Purchasing Association, a for-profit subsidiary of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. “I just feel like I can generate more benefit in the business and for the business than by training a small string of horses,” said Simon. “The FHBPA has more than 5,000 members, and it’s time we start to leverage the strength we have as a group.” :: Get PPs, Clocker Reports, picks, and more from DRF's Saratoga/Del Mar One-Stop Shop Simon, 52, had 11 horses in training at Palm Meadows when he officially opted for a career shift in mid-July. His longtime assistant Susan Ditter assumed their care and already has four starts at the Gulfstream Park summer meet. For Simon, a Saratoga Springs, N.Y., native who worked with both Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds before serving as an assistant for more than five years in the 1990s to the late Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens, the move is a bittersweet one. “I still own a piece of some of the horses, and I’m still on the backside at Palm Meadows or Gulfstream all the time,” he said. “Sure, you’d love to be training a barnful of great horses, but this game has changed so much over the years. This is a better reality for me.” Long known for a collegial demeanor and sharp intellect, Simon has been an active member of the FHBPA for years and sees opportunity for growth in the new venture, which is modeled loosely on cooperatives that operate on other year-round circuits such as at Parx and Finger Lakes. “Obviously there are a lot of issues at hand in our business, a lot of change still to come,” he said. “The FHBPA is well funded and needs to find more creative ways of keeping the money in house and from flowing out of the backside. We can do various things at a lower cost to owners and trainers, with profits coming back to the FHBPA that can benefit horsemen and backside workers beyond what we do now, both directly and indirectly. I’m pretty excited about it.” ◗ A $47,000 allowance (race 7) serves as the highlight of a nine-race Friday card that carries a first post of 2:15 p.m. Eastern. It’s part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 4-9), which had a jackpot carryover of $472,902 when the four-day race week began Thursday. Showers and a high of 90 are in the Friday forecast.