Harness: Ohio still in a holding pattern

Harness racing remains shut down across the continent but surprisingly not in Europe. Horsemen are adjusting in many ways.

For the barns with lots of babies, it’s not business as usual, but it's business. The 2-year-olds are training down and are still at least a month away from their first qualifiers. Several training centers, particularly those that do not fall under state racing commission jurisdictions, are holding qualifiers. We have seen the so-called (but far more important now) dummy derbies at Pinehurst and Southern Oaks Training Center, among others. However, there’s not much going on at the raceways.

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. We reached out to Amy Hollar, who serves as the Ohio Harness Horseman’s Association representative at Northfield Park, to see if she was sitting around eating Bon Bons and day drinking. She’s not!

"We’ve actually been pretty busy," said Hollar. "Everyone wants to know what's going on. My phone is ringing constantly. People needing help, people wanting to help. And of course we have stabling at the track, so there is action every day. We have regular video conferences with the OHHA office. There’s really a lot going on.

"The biggest issue is the uncertainty. And it’s going to get worse with no definite start date in sight. Established barns are doing what they can and everyone seems to be pitching in and helping out. Owner\trainers have nothing coming in," she continued. "Barns with lots of babies would just be getting close to qualifying, but it will begin hitting them soon, too. We have pay horses (horses owned by outside owners who pay a day rate to the trainer) and our owners have been great, plus I have my OHHA job, so we are doing okay. But not everyone is."

The financial aspect is a big part of the picture for horsemen. Some barns have applied for and been approved for Payroll Protection program loans, or other emergency financial loans. Trainers are generally considered Independent Contractors, making eligibility for unemployment questionable, depending on their state. Even the largest operations, who have financial cushions from previous successful seasons, cannot continue bleeding cash indefinitely.

Chris Short trains at the Delaware Ohio fairgrounds. He said, "We have open shed rows and can stay pretty much to ourselves. We have 11 horses, myself, my girlfriend Stef, and one rider who also feeds morning and night. We stick just to us. I haven’t backed off training much. My owners have said keep them right for when they turn the lights on. We only had to lay off our stall cleaner so far. But I’m used to racing five or six nights-a-week, so I am going a bit stir crazy."

It’s a two-part logistical nightmare. What do you do with your horses and when will racing resume?

The Hollar stable took a similar tact. After turning their horses out for a week, they now jog daily and train once a week for the most part. Amy Hollar also runs the track swimming pool, which gives her another outlet for the horses to get some work in. But Hollar stays busy preparing for the return, whenever it is.

"It would be easier if we had a date, whatever it is," said Hollar. "But we are having discussions to put protocols in place in the paddock. Other tracks will have other problems with social distancing. Horsemen are making suggestions, we are talking to management and making plans. It is as proactive as I have ever seen, and I think it is a positive sign for the industry. I think we could be up and running in two weeks or so. But Ohio has a 60-day rule (Horses that have not raced for 60 days are required to qualify). How do we accommodate shippers? How do we get all those horses qualified in a short time and how do horsemen pay for it? By the time you ship, pay paddock help, get Lasix, it can easily be a couple hundred dollars. How does a 10-horse barn that hasn’t raced for two months pay for that?"

The OHHA has always had a benevolent fund and it is currently funded with a percentage of slot money. It is something that the horsemen campaigned hard to get in their agreement with the racinos, and in this time of the pandemic, it is more in the forefront, with grants made on a case-by-case basis. We reached out to OHHA Executive Director Renee Mancino for details on the program, but she was unavailable by deadline time. We hope to provide an update in the near future.

But the biggest change out of this pandemic will be personal. "I'm a hugger," said Hollar (and this writer can vouch for that). "Things happen for a reason. We are all going to reassess—not just racing, but life in general. I think there is a silver lining. This epidemic is bringing us all together as we stay apart and in the long run; that is a good thing."

That's it for now. Hopefully by next month’s column we will have a chance to cash a ticket somewhere in North America and not just in Sweden.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Further announcement on the situation in Ohio is expected to come as soon as this weekend.]