🏇📢@JonGreen2022 passionately speaks about small industry groups' triumphs vs. the inertia of the larger organizations with greater resources. It is time for everyone to step up! Full episode https://t.co/34IuMLMFNX
My first two letters to the @theTDN were written from the outside looking in. Now I’ve met with @jockeyclub reps firsthand, inspiring me to write “Strike 3,” which can be accessed at this link: https://t.co/N5iafmcZzx #BelieveBig
🌴🌸 PARADISE runs down INSTERSTATELOVESONG to win the Busher S. at Aqueduct and picks up 37.5 points towards the Kentucky Oaks!
Owned by @lnjfoxwoods, the 3YO filly is trained by @bradcoxracing and was piloted by @jockeyfranco.
Dear Racing Community,
This Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs is a huge one for us:
Powershift in the Tampa Bay Derby,
Time to Dream in the Florida Oaks,
Disruptor in the Challenger.
But last Saturday at Gulfstream was different.
No stakes horses. Just a maiden and an allowance runner. Our races were early. My ADHD was kicking in 😂, so instead of rolling in 50-deep with the usual chaos and preparation, I went to the track with my childhood friend of 40 years and my 10-year-old daughter, Gioia.
No entourage. No spotlight. Just us.
And it hit me.
I was 13 again. Going to the track with my friends. Falling in love with this sport.
Now I get to share that same feeling with Gioia.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d have a bond this strong with my daughter, built in large part around the racetrack and these horses.
Over the last 10 years she’s learned lessons you can’t teach in high school, college, or an MBA program:
Joy.
Anxiousness.
Winning.
Losing.
Grit.
Failure.
Partnership.
Family.
Passion.
The racetrack has been a classroom. The Thoroughbred has been the teacher.
That’s why my fight has never been about power.
It’s never been about control.
It’s about protecting this sport for the next generation, for daughters like mine.
I left that modest race day emotionally spent.
People from 10 to 90 years old came up to me. Handshakes. Encouragement. “Keep going.” “Don’t stop.” “We’re with you.”
It meant more than you know.
Two days earlier, @PatCummingsNTA, @AronWellman7 and @AnitaMotion hosted an @EclipseTBP Town Hall on the state of this movement and the issues with the @JockeyClub.
The 23-minute opening was clear, powerful, and courageous.
Aron’s explanation of why he chose to add his voice after patiently watching this unfold for three years was compelling.
I understand not everyone likes my tone or my style.
But this isn’t figure skating and I’m not here for style points.
Horse racing is at a fork in the road.
One path is comfortable and leads to a dead end.
The other is harder. Longer. Uncomfortable.
But it leads to a bigger, brighter, sustainable future.
I’ve always chosen the harder road.
If you love this sport, if you care about the people in it, and most importantly, if you care about the Thoroughbred, please listen to that 23-minute opening.
This mission has always been about three things:
The sport.
The people.
And above all, the horse.
Thank you.
ATTN: HORSE RACING STAKEHOLDERS...What Happened to the $2.3M Breeders’ Cup Loan to HISA?
Now let’s talk about the reported $2.3M obligation to @BreedersCup.
The proposed 2026 HISA budget filed with the FTC shows:
• $0 allocated to loan repayment
Zero.
There is no schedule of liabilities.
No disclosure of outstanding principal balances.
No amortization schedule.
No note explaining whether the Breeders’ Cup obligation was:
• Repaid
• Refinanced
• Extended
• Subordinated
• Forgiven
• Or still outstanding
For an entity operating under federal oversight, requesting $77M in new industry assessments, the absence of liability reconciliation is glaring.
Basic nonprofit financial governance requires:
• Clear disclosure of related-party obligations
• Transparency on lender terms
• Explanation of any loan forgiveness or modification
• Disclosure of repayment assumptions embedded in forward budgets
If $2.3M was repaid - say so.
If it was extended - disclose the terms.
If it was forgiven - disclose who approved it and when.
If it remains outstanding - explain why the 2026 budget assumes zero repayment.
Silence on liabilities while increasing assessments is not sound financial stewardship.
It’s not complicated:
You cannot request nearly $80M annually from the industry while providing no clarity on how prior multi-million-dollar debts are being handled.
That’s not reform.
That’s incomplete accounting.
REPOST AND SPEAK OUT!
@hisa_us@LisaLazarusCEO
“I have resigned from my position as a member of The Jockey Club.
I no longer have confidence in TJC’s current leadership or its vision for the future. I, and @LNJFoxwoods, stand with those calling for meaningful change,” writes Jaime Roth. @Fijithegreat
https://t.co/I6YSzXlfKU
A trainer built equal parts brilliant and idiosyncratic, John Shirreffs passed away quietly in his sleep overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning. He was 80 years old.
@1danross pays tribute to the remarkable horseman.
https://t.co/5JLg6Qbvud
IT'S ONLY JUST BEGUN-INDUSTRY STRENGTH STARTS SPEAKING UP AND YOU'VE ONLY SEEN THE BEGINNING
I respect Aron Wellman for supporting Mike Repole’s call for change (see @paulickreport link below). But let’s be honest about why this letter was even necessary.
The backlash against Repole isn’t about tone or respect it’s about power being challenged.
His criticism cuts too close to the truth: Thoroughbred racing is dominated by consolidated control, most notably within The Jockey Club, which functions as gatekeeper, data owner, narrative shaper, and institutional shield...all at once.
Titles, tenure, and tradition are being used as armor. That’s not stewardship. That’s self-preservation.
When criticism is dismissed as “disrespect" and "rhetoric", it’s usually because the structure being criticized can’t defend itself on the merits. Healthy industries welcome scrutiny. Monopolized ones suppress it.
This sport isn’t struggling because people are too outspoken.
It’s struggling because too much power is concentrated in too few hands, innovation is permission based, and accountability is optional.
Calling that out isn’t divisive.
It’s necessary.
If Thoroughbred racing wants to survive, not just persist, the gatekeepers have to be challenged.
Structural reform isn’t radical.
It’s overdue and it's time for change.
REFORM IS COMING!
Louis Masry-Westlake Racing Stable 💛💙🤍❤️
@AronWellman7@RepoleStable@jockeyclub
https://t.co/hEih7L9sKH
🚨MUST READ LETTER BELOW!!!!!
Thanks so much @AronWellman7 and @EclipseTBP.
In this industry, it takes REAL courage to speak up and challenge the pheasant hunting, old boys club mentality that’s been holding racing back for decades.
I’m grateful for everyone who’s standing with me. This isn’t about ego or headlines, it’s about FIXING racing and SAVING it for future generations.
Let me be crystal clear: we need EVERY voice. Silence is how the status quo survives.
Right now there are two sides:
- The people who actually care about the future of this sport
- The self-serving power structure led by the @jockeyclub
Comment. Like. Repost. Make your voice HEARD and show the world where you stand.
Whose side are you on???
Shoot first, ask questions later???
Mr. Negative???
🤔
Ray, for 20 years, whether it was you or that other dinosaur, Joe Drape (who, thanks to me, is now extinct from this sport), you, @jockeyclub, @BreedersCup, @TOBAhorses, @NTRA and now even @hisa_us have done the same exact thing.
Shoot first. Ask questions never.
Intimidate. Bully. Blackball anyone who steps out of line from your pheasant-hunting club…and then have your two media henchmen, Drape and you, clean it up in print.
Ray, you live in the 10% minority of everything I post…the tiny, offended group that can’t handle the brutal truth about the state of this sport. And you’re failing miserably at your job as the Jockey Club’s henchman. I’ve exposed the farce, and it’s clearly eating you alive.
You guys are the root of 90% of the issues!!!!!
What you label as “Mr. Negativity” is really the industry finally having a disruptor who actually cares about the ENTIRE game, not just protecting the blue-blood aristocracy.
I speak up for:
- Horseplayers who get screwed daily
- Owners treated like garbage
- Trainers treated like criminals
- Jockeys treated like cheaters
We’ve had enough.
Meanwhile, the same entitled people hide behind the fake storyline that they “care about the horses” while aftercare is embarrassingly underfunded and a ban on exporting horses for slaughter sadly still doesn’t exist.
Spare us the f$&king hypocrisy!!!!!
Here’s the truth:
I’m a disruptor, a purposeful asshole, and a force of nature and I’m proud of it because someone needs to force REAL change from the old guard who’ve run this sport straight into the ground. And yes…I’ll continue to treat you and the Jockey Club exactly how you treat pheasants.
I’ve got 75% of the vocal majority and 95% of the silent majority behind me.
🚨 If you’re fed up with this broken industry and agree it’s time for REAL change and REAL accountability retweet or like this post. Show these dishonest and incompetent leaders we’ve had enough and show them the unity they F$&King Fear!!!!!
Retweet or Like!!!!!
LFG!!!!! ♥️ 🙏 💪
Gallivant dominates in the Bowman Mill and gets his first career win! 💪
@luanmachado85 was aboard for trainer Ben Colebrook and owner/breeder @LNJFoxwoods!
🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay
🏆 Gallivant (Into Mischief @spendthriftfarm) responded well to the jump up in class in Saturday’s Bowman Mill Stakes as he handled this scratched-down field with ease to pick up his first stakes win.
O/B: @LNJFoxwoods
T: @colebrookstable
J: Luan Machado
https://t.co/wo7jYgh8yZ
BAEZA ($4.80) GETS HIS MOMENT!
The McKinzie (@Gainesway) colt scored in the $1,000,000 Pennsylvania Derby (G1) at @parxracing! Trainer John Shirreffs trains the 3YO for owner @StablesCrk & Grandview Equine. @HIBerrios was up!
Play the finale: https://t.co/i5HKsriVg1
#5 SERENDIPITY ($7.90) goes wire-to-wire in the $150,000 Selene Stakes (G3) at @WoodbineTB. This is the first graded win for the three-year-old Street Sense (@DarleyAmerica) filly, who is now 2-for-3 in her career. Rafael Hernandez was aboard for trainer @jcarrollracing.