"Always Open"
KHHA mis-leads its members?
11/19/07 KyHarnessRacing.com

    How can so many be mis-lead? Like it or not, this
    happens everyday in America. People get mis-lead by
    ones they elect in trust, and ones they look up to.
    How does this happen?

    There is the Barry Bonds approach; Deny, deny,
    deny, you'll eventually walk through the other side
    unscathed. Barry Bonds? Never did he think a day
    like Thursday would ever arrive. Not for him.
    Not ***** to ***** him. His strategy from the start
    was to play us all for fools, in hopes the feds would
    tire of the game. Only the feds never did get weary.

    Those are some of the words that the New York Post
    had in their Barry Bonds story. You should get a
    copy and read the entire story for yourself.

    Our story, about what the KHHA wrote in the last
    newsletter to their members, on the Bluegrass
    Downs 2007 purse account being underpaid, will
    speak for itself. As with the Barry Bonds story, you
    will be able to determine for yourself....Did Bill Napier
    and Bob Stewart of the KHHA mis-lead their
    members?

    You are probably thinking....mis-lead...why use such
    a strong word? Because...IT FITS. We are talking
    about what the KHHA printed and sent out to
    members in their last newsletter about the Bluegrass
    Downs 2007 purse account. And the word "mis-
    leads", fits that newsletter like a glove.

    Real quick let's take a look at the definition of these
    three words:

    Underpaid - To pay insufficiently.
    Overpaid - To pay too much.
    Mislead - To lead in a wrong direction or into a
        mistaken action or belief often by deliberate
        deceit.

    In the KHHA newsletter, it says the 2007 purse
    account was underpaid by $43,000. Is this the
    truth? Is this the truth with no misconception? Is
    this misleading? We'll let you decide for yourself.

    For those of you that have read the newsletter, that
    statement leads you to believe that Bluegrass Downs
    and their race secretary left $43,000 in the 2007
    purse account, that could have been added to the
    purses for 2007 meet. As you would expect, this
    created some questions. Especially, since there was
    such a huge discrepancy between the KHHA's figure,
    and the figure that Bluegrass Downs gave us at the
    end of their 2007 meet.

    We went to Jerry Bradley General Manager of
    Bluegrass Downs to get answers about the purse
    account. "There wasn't very much left in the purse
    account. We didn't leave $43,000 in that purse
    account. We spent all the money we could spend. If
    they're are saying $43,000, they're talking about the
    Thoroughbred simulcast money that we didn't receive
    until late July or early August." says Jerry Bradley.
    Jerry went on to say that he was very please with the
    job that Billy Perkins did and looks forward to seeing
    him return for the 2008 meet.

    We also gave the Bluegrass Downs 2007 Race
    Secretary a call to ask him about the 2007 purse
    account. Billy Perkins said, "I don't know what money
    they are talking about." he continues, "Any money
    that comes in after the meet is over, goes into the
    next years purse account, that's how you come to a
    figure for the purse account. I can't spend what isn't
    in there. At the end of the meet there was around
    $2000 left in the purse account." Billy Perkins also
    added, "At the beginning of the 2007 meet, Bill
    Napier wanted me to make the bottom purse $800
    for the first week. I started the bottom at $900."

    We sent some questions, by email, to the KHHA
    president. Now would be a good time to read your
    KHHA newsletter again. Here are three of the
    questions: Keep in mind, the KHHA newsletter
    says the Bluegrass Downs 2007 purse account
    was underpaid $43,000.

    Question - To: Bob Stewart, KHHA president
    How much money did the Bluegrass Downs
    2007 purse account have in it as of June 4,
    2007?
    Answer - From: Bill Napier, KHHA Exec. Secretary
    $2150.00 of funds made available to Billy
              Perkins.

    Question - To: Bob Stewart, KHHA president
    If it ($43,000) was available before the meet
    was done, who made the decision to hold it till
    2008?
    Answer - From: Bill Napier, KHHA Exec. Secretary
    The funds were not available.

    Question - To: Bob Stewart, KHHA president
    How much was the BGD 2007 purse account
    underpaid?
    Answer - From: Bob Stewart, KHHA president
    The carryover from last years purse account to
    next springs meet is $43,000. This was stated
    in the last questions and in the newsletter.
    This figure is not exact to the dollar but the
    figure in the newsletter is.

    In case you haven't read the newsletter, the figure
    $43,000, is the exact dollar amount that is printed in
    the newsletter. Which makes you wonder; Did Bob
    Stewart even read the newsletter?

    In short, the Bluegrass Downs meet wasn't
    underpaid $43,000. They spent all that could be
    spent, leaving just over $2000 to carryover. Any
    money that came in after the meet ended, will go into
    the 2008 purse account.

    Why a newsletter of this type would be sent to
    members is unknown. But you can draw your own
    conclusion with it. Some questions that may need to
    be asked. Who wrote this newsletter? Who proofs
    these newsletters? Why did the KHHA board approve
    this type of newsletter? If they did. Do other board
    members have any say in what happens, and how
    business is conducted? Do other board members
    agree and support this conduct? Who really knows?
    Do any of the other board members care?

    Remember, these are your leaders. The era of slots
    and expanded gaming are upon us. You need to ask
    yourself, is this the kind of leadership you want
    speaking for you? Bill Napier has stated that he
    doesn't think the tracks will race more dates if we get
    slots. Is this the kind of mentality you want
    negotiating for your future? Now is the time for you
    to decide. Slots may be the answer, but do you want
    to be caught with your pants down around your
    ankles.  It's time for you to decide. It's your choice.
    Your future is in your hands.
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