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State
Representative, Jim Buchy was the guest speaker Saturday night at the
annual Darke County Harness
Horseman's banquet held at Turtle Cheek Golf Course. CNO photo by
George Starks
Local harness
horseman honored
Buchy guest speaker
By George Starks
(Writers Note: This is the first of two parts that will feature State
Rep. Jim Buchy and a speech he presented to the DCHHA Saturday night.)
GREENVILLE- The annual Darke County Harness Horseman’s Association
(DCHHA) honored the best of the best Saturday night at the Turtle Creek
Golf Course.
Also on hand was State Representative, Jim Buchy, who talked about the
changes in the state that will directly affect the horseman in Ohio.
Ten classes of Standard Bred horses were recognized with the Lifetime
Achievement Award going to Alan Riegle and Roger Walls.
Brittany Farms and this writer were also recognized as Honorary
Achievement Award winners and were given honorary memberships to the
DCHHA.
The 10 classes of horses as well as owners and trainers are as follows:
2 yr. old colt pace- Cherokee Hunter- owned by Indian Creek Farms and
trained by Kent Wilcox.
2 yr. old colt trot- Hometown- owned and trained by Ron Wulber.
2 yr. old filly trot- Coverlet- Owned and trained by Ron Wulber.
3 yr. old colt pace- Ravenswood Yankee- owned and trained by Wayne
Bowman.
3 yr. old filly pace- Shakinmymoneymaker- owned by Mandy Jones, trained
by Brian Jones.
3 yr. old filly trot- Tesla- owned by Myron Brown and Beth Simons and
trained by Dave Brumbaugh.
Aged Horse pace- Cherokee Ryder- owned by Indian Creek Farms and Kent
Wilcox, trained by Wilcox.
Aged Mare pace- Lil Miss Alibi- owned by Cindy Austin and Steve
Livingston trained by Livingston.
Aged Horse trot- Online Auction- owned by Don Bolyard and trained by
Jeff Bolyard.
Aged Mare trot- Hollys Secret- owned and trained by R.C. Bowling.
Buchy talked about the future of harness horse racing, starting with
the impact of the casinos that are in operation in the state.
“Currently, there are three casino’s operating in Ohio with the fourth
one to be opened up soon in Cincinnati,” said Buchy. “That will mean
that all casinos will be open and we have some parlors working right
now with the big one being at Scioto Downs.”
He also talked about new tracks being built.
“We know that Lebanon is being moved to Monroe with a new track being
built in Dayton and one in Youngstown,” Buchy pointed out. “Some of
these tracks are for thoroughbreds. River Downs will do its racing at
Beulah Park in Columbus because they are rebuilding River Downs all
together so it won’t be in physical shape to race. Six years from now,
we will have all the tracks, casinos and parlors opened and we will
have a history on what kind of purse structure we’re going to have and
we already know it’s going to be good. Last year, for example, purses
went up three times at Scioto during the meet and a lot of it had a lot
to do with the handle for the entire meet was up 46 percent. A lot of
that was due to the people that went to the slot parlor, took a break
and went over and started betting on horses. We have created a lot of
new harness fans in that endeavor. This action will take place at other
tracks as well when all the racinos are together and running and we
never want to forget we have the best race in the business in the
Little Brown Jug. We are looking to get that purse to one million
dollars and build from there.”
Many years ago, Ohio was number one in the production of Standard Bred
foals. That was then and things have changed.
“When the rest of the states began to have better purses than we did,
those numbers went down,” Buchy stated. “As everything develops, these
numbers will be on the rise once again. Three years ago, we were
looking at about 650 mares being bred in Ohio. Last year that number
increased to 1,600. No one knows what it will be this year. We have new
stallions that have been brought into the state and we’re going to
upgrade not only the stallions and the mares.”
According to Buchy, Ohio still leads the country in harness horse
racing in the county fair circuit.
“Currently, we have 65 counties, of the 88, racing harness horses,”
Buchy pointed out. “There were six or seven counties that stopped it
and my guess is that before it’s all over, they will want to get back
in. So, I’m excited about this.”
(Part two of the speech will run Wednesday as Buchy touches on the ag.
end of horse racing and the impact it has in Ohio.)
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