Kenneth Terpenning's letter
Senator Buford and Representative Lee,
I am a resident that recently returned to your district and
have several concerns, but I am focusing on one
particular that concerns my profession.
I am a standardbred horse owner that races my horses in
Lexington, Prestonsburg and Paducah. Unfortunately, due
to shrinking purses and limited race dates I have been
forced to move my horses to neighboring states where
expanded gaming revenue has increased purse structures
and helps horsemen and women alike in having a fighting
chance to making a living. We have gone down from year
round racing in the not too distant past to racing less
than five months per year.
It is imperative for the thousands of horsefolk and those
we employ to have expanded gaming on the ballot for
November to have a fighting chance to survive and to
help our sport revive itself within the state. We all want to
return home to the bluegrass and contribute to the
state's economy, not to mention be able to see our
families more than just six or seven months a year.
We have lost breeding farms, race tracks, and farms. We
will lose people next, eventually losing the industry
completely if something is not done. Kentucky is no
longer the horse capital of the world and is suffering
because of it. I do not speak of the thoroughbred
industry or the sire stakes programs that most of us
average horsefolk do not race in. It is the average horse,
the cheaper condition horses and claimers that race year
round and are the back bone of the sport.
I have called for every horseman and woman to email their
senator or representative to explain their side of the
story so perhaps you and your constituents will have a
better understanding of our plight that is being grossly
overlooked in Frankfort.
I ask you on behalf of all horsemen and women of
Kentucky to please support the expanded gaming
amendment for us all, the people of the commonwealth,
education, and for the budget woes of the state...give the
people a chance to vote on it. I would also invite you to
any of our KHHA meetings to listen to the horsemen and
women speak their concerns firsthand and to see how we
live and what this amendment can do for us.
Thanks for your time.
Sincerely,
Kenneth W. Terpenning
Member of the Kentucky Harness Horsemen's Association
Standardbred Owner
Registered Voter
Senior Internet Correspondent and Member of the United
States Trotting Association
Candidate for the Director's Board of the KHHA
Senator Buford and Representative Lee,
I am a resident that recently returned to your district and
have several concerns, but I am focusing on one
particular that concerns my profession.
I am a standardbred horse owner that races my horses in
Lexington, Prestonsburg and Paducah. Unfortunately, due
to shrinking purses and limited race dates I have been
forced to move my horses to neighboring states where
expanded gaming revenue has increased purse structures
and helps horsemen and women alike in having a fighting
chance to making a living. We have gone down from year
round racing in the not too distant past to racing less
than five months per year.
It is imperative for the thousands of horsefolk and those
we employ to have expanded gaming on the ballot for
November to have a fighting chance to survive and to
help our sport revive itself within the state. We all want to
return home to the bluegrass and contribute to the
state's economy, not to mention be able to see our
families more than just six or seven months a year.
We have lost breeding farms, race tracks, and farms. We
will lose people next, eventually losing the industry
completely if something is not done. Kentucky is no
longer the horse capital of the world and is suffering
because of it. I do not speak of the thoroughbred
industry or the sire stakes programs that most of us
average horsefolk do not race in. It is the average horse,
the cheaper condition horses and claimers that race year
round and are the back bone of the sport.
I have called for every horseman and woman to email their
senator or representative to explain their side of the
story so perhaps you and your constituents will have a
better understanding of our plight that is being grossly
overlooked in Frankfort.
I ask you on behalf of all horsemen and women of
Kentucky to please support the expanded gaming
amendment for us all, the people of the commonwealth,
education, and for the budget woes of the state...give the
people a chance to vote on it. I would also invite you to
any of our KHHA meetings to listen to the horsemen and
women speak their concerns firsthand and to see how we
live and what this amendment can do for us.
Thanks for your time.
Sincerely,
Kenneth W. Terpenning
Member of the Kentucky Harness Horsemen's Association
Standardbred Owner
Registered Voter
Senior Internet Correspondent and Member of the United
States Trotting Association
Candidate for the Director's Board of the KHHA
