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Florida’s ‘Decoupling’ Debate May Reach Your Local Racetrack – Belinda Stronach

In their View From the Eighth Pole column, Ray Paulick examines how Florida’s contentious “decoupling” fight could set precedents affecting racetracks beyond the Sunshine State. The article opens by detailing the origins of decoupling in horse racing legislation: it refers to separating state-sponsored subsidies (or incentives) from mandatory participation in breeding or racing programs.

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About Us

Thoroughbred racing in Florida is struggling. TRI supports the jobs, agribusiness and greenspace it creates, which benefit everyone in a community.  the amazing versatile thoroughbred — which wouldn’t exist without live horse racing — has proven effective in retirement to help those with physical and psychological challenges, including first responders and military members suffering from PTSD. They also are used in search and rescue and as mounted police. We are working to contest HB 105/SB408 which would allow Gulfstream Park to sever its racing obligations while keeping its casino license—threatening the future of live racing, breeding, and thousands of jobs. This isn’t just a Florida issue; the ripple effects will impact racing nationwide. Join us in the support of horses—learn more about how you can help.

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About Us

Thoroughbred racing in Florida is struggling. TRI supports the jobs, agribusiness and greenspace it creates, which benefit everyone in a community.  the amazing versatile thoroughbred — which wouldn’t exist without live horse racing — has proven effective in retirement to help those with physical and psychological challenges, including first responders and military members suffering from PTSD. They also are used in search and rescue and as mounted police. We are working to contest HB 105/SB408 which would allow Gulfstream Park to sever its racing obligations while keeping its casino license—threatening the future of live racing, breeding, and thousands of jobs. This isn’t just a Florida issue; the ripple effects will impact racing nationwide. Join us in the support of horses—learn more about how you can help.

READ MORE

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Founding Members

David O’Farrell, President

David O’Farrell serves as General Manager of his family’s Ocala Stud, the oldest active Thoroughbred farm in Florida and one of the leading stallion, breeding, and training operations in the country. He is a Steward of The Jockey Club, Member of Breeders’ Cup Limited, and a Director of Ocala Breeders Sales Company. O’Farrell also is Chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), where he is a member of the American Graded Stakes Committee and currently TOBA’s representative to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
OcalaStud.com

Jon Green, Vice President

Jonathan Green manages one of the largest racing and breeding operations in the country – D.J. Stable, LLC. Under his guidance, D.J. Stable has enjoyed international racing success including two Sovereign Awards, a pair of Eclipse Awards, 14 Leading Owner Titles, over 160 Stakes Race victories and 2,600 overall career wins. In addition, D.J. Stable has bred 29 Grade I performers and sold over $100 million of horses at public auction.
For the past four years Jonathan has been a regular guest and co-host of numerous racing-related podcasts. In 2022 Jonathan was elected as a Breeders’ Cup Member and is currently serving a four-year term with that prestigious group. Jonathan currently serves on HISA’s Horseman’s Advisory Board and recently completed terms on both the Florida Horsemen’s Board and NYTHA. He was recently elected to the Executive Board of one of the largest equine public auction houses, OBS.
Jonathan co-founded and recently sold a Registered Investment Advisory firm that grew to over $500 million under management.  He has been an outspoken advocate of improving safety measures for both human and equine athletes.
RailTalkMedia.com

Dr. Barry Eisaman 

Dr. Eisaman and his wife, Shari, have been operating their 420-acre farm in Williston, Florida, for more than 30 years. Graduates of their breaking and early training program have gone on to win many of the most prestigious races in North America, including all three Triple Crown races as well as two winners of the Kentucky Oaks.
Dr. Eisaman received his veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania and practiced at the racetrack in South Florida before launching the farm just north of Ocala.
EisamanEquine.com

Mark Casse

Mark Casse is a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame as well as a US Racing Hall of Fame trainer and the winner of the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Trainer (2006-2008, 2011-2020). Casse’s notable horses — too many to mention all — include 2015 American champion turf mare Tepin and Canadian Horses of the Year Sealy Hill (2007), Uncaptured (2012), Lexie Lou (2014), Catch A Glimpse (2015) and Wonder Gadot. He has won thirteen Sovereign Awards for outstanding trainer in Canada and has been the leading trainer at Woodbine Racetrack 14 times. Casse won his first American Classic with War of Will in the Preakness Stakes in 2019, and followed up with a Belmont Stakes win a few weeks later with Sir Winston. In 2022, Casse trained Wonder Wheel to a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly Championship and a subsequent Eclipse Award.
MarkCasse.com

Aron Wellman

Since founding Eclipse in late 2011, Wellman has acquired and developed 155 Stakes winners for the stable and its partners, 73 of the Graded variety, including 27 Grade 1 wins. The bevy of successes are highlighted by Tapwrit‘s Classic win in the 2017 Belmont Stakes, 2 Breeders’ Cup wins from Sharing and Aloha West, a Classic in the Southern Hemisphere by Pinot in the Australian Oaks and a triumph in the coveted Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot with Quick Suzy.
Additionally, Eclipse had a 3rd-place finish with Danza in the 2013 Kentucky Derby and a 2nd-place result with Destin in the 2016 Belmont Stakes as well as a 3rd in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks with Speech and a 2nd in 2022 with Nest, who would later be crowned Eclipse Award Champion 3 Year-Old Filly.
Perhaps Wellman’s most humbling industry related achievement came in 2013, when the legendary “Pioneer of Racing Partnerships,” Cot Campbell, hung up his tack and tapped Wellman on the shoulder to preserve the legacy of Campbell’s famed Dogwood Stable.
Wellman serves on the board of Belmont Child Care Association, National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in addition to the Breeders’ Cup. No stranger to the backside, Wellman worked mucking stalls, hot walking horses, and grooming horses from the age of 8 to the time he graduated law school at the age of 24. He was VP of Team Valor, during which time the stable won a Breeders’ Cup race in 2010, and the 2011 Kentucky Derby before launching Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.
aron@eclipsetbpartners.com

Damon Thayer, Senior Advisor

Damon Thayer advocated for the horse racing, breeding and overall equine industries throughout his time as a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate representing the 17th District. He was elected Senate Majority Floor Leader in 2013 and served in that role for 12 years. Thayer did not run for reelection in 2024. In addition to his eight-plus years of work with Breeders’ Cup Limited, he worked at tracks in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and KentuckyHe devotes himself to the preservation of Thoroughbred racing, and is the owner of Thayer Communications and Consulting LLC, a marketing communications firm
Thayer was raised in Grayling, Michigan. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1989 with a B.A. in communications. Thayer was vice chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky from 1999 to 2004.
In 2003, Thayer was elected to the Kentucky Senate in a special election to represent the 17th District. In 2013, he was selected Senate Majority Floor Leader. As a member of Senate leadership, he served on the Committee on Committees, the Rules Committee, and the Legislative Research Commission. He resides in Georgetown, Kentucky.
Damonthayer.com/

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