Portland Meadows recently announced a pair of new events on the racing schedule for the 2011-2012 meet>p>

In what promises to be a unique and exciting pair of events, Portland Meadows will offer a three race sprint series starting in November and finishing with the championship event being conducted on December 7 for an estimated purse of $28,000. The sprint series will be named the Mcfadden Memorial in honor of Oregon's premier racing family.

The first event is a $2,500 claiming test to be run at 5 furlongs. Followed two weeks later with a $4,000 claiming sprint test will be conducted at 5 ½ furlongs. The championship event, which will be run on December 7 at six furlongs, will not have a claiming price.

All horses must compete in the first two legs of the series in order to be eligible for the championship.

A point system will determine which 12 horses will advance to the final event after the first two legs.

The distance series will be conducted along the same lines as the sprint series.

The distance events will begin on February 1 with a $2,500 claiming test at one mile 70 yards. The second leg will be a $4,000 claimer at one mile and one eighth, to be followed by the championship event on March 14 at one mile and one quarter for an estimated purse of $28,000.

The same conditions apply to the distance series with a point system deciding the field for the championship event which will not have a claiming price.

For further information regarding the sprint and/or distance series contact Racing Secretary Jerry Kohls at (503)285-9144.

The new 2011-2012 Stakes Schedule and Purse Structure are now available.

The Board of Directors for the Oregon H.B.P.A. are:

Owner/Director’s
Susan Calvert
Debbie Funk
Ivan Standley
Gleason Eakin
Ron Sutton
There are no Alternates

Owner-Trainer Director’s
Vanessa Hunt
Nick Lowe
Jonathan Nance
Linda Northam
David Runyon

Alternates
Jim Gordon – 1st Alternate
James Young – 2nd Alternate

We would like to congratulate those of you that were elected to our Board of Directors and thank all of you that ran for a position on the Board. Being a Director is not easy; it requires a dedication to help our industry through some very hard times. Often we all forget that the people who serve on these Boards go beyond just attending an occasional Board Meeting or General Membership Meeting, they give their time, energy, patience and knowledge, all without pay and most of the time without even a thank you. They do what they are elected to do, make the hard choices, sit through hours of negotiations and endless meetings to make the most rational decisions for horsemen racing in each jurisdiction. Unfortunately all Horsemen don’t agree on what the right answers are. But, they try to make the best decisions based on all the information they have at their disposal. So the next time you don’t agree, don’t rant and yell, just get more involved yourself. Run for a position on the Board, be part of the answer, not part of the problem. So again, thank all of you who ran, and for those of you who were elected, we wish you an easy task in the days ahead.

The barn area is now open for training, stalls must be approved by Portland Meadows Racing Secretary.

The President, Board of Directors and staff of the Oregon HBPA are listed below with their postions. Please feel free to ask any of them any questions you might have concerning the Oregon HBPA.

JIM FERGASON, Owner/Trainer, PRESIDENT

SUSAN CALVERT, Owner, DIRECTOR

DEBBIE FUNK, Owner, DIRECTOR

IVAN STANDLEY, Owner, DIRECTOR

VANESSA HUNT, Owner/Trainer, DIRECTOR

GLEASON EAKIN, Owner, DIRECTOR

NICK LOWE, Owner/Trainer, DIRECTOR

JONATHAN NANCE, Owner/Trainer, DIRECTOR

LINDA NORTHAM, Owner/Trainer, DIRECTOR

DAVID RUNYON, Owner/Trainer, DIRECTOR

RON SUTTON, Owner, DIRECTOR

DICK CARTNEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

After a long and difficult period of negotiations, the board of directors of the Oregon HBPA along with president Jim Fergason is pleased to announce that a new contract with Portland Meadows has be approved and signed by the two parties.

The new agreement covers the 2011/2012 and the 2012/2013 racing seasons. It was signed at 9:30 am on Wednesday, June 29 just prior to a special telephone conference call meeting with the Oregon Racing Commission meeting. With the signed contract in hand, the Oregon Racing Commission approved the 2011/1012 race meet application.

The 2011/2012 race meet will begin on October 17, 2011 and run through March 14, 2012 with a total of 517 races scheduled over 55 scheduled days of racing.

Following the 2011/2012 racing season Portland Meadows will make a dramatic shift in their racing schedule.

Subject to the approval of the Oregon Racing Commission, the 2011/2012 race meet will start on July 15, 2012 and will run through December 15, 2012. The meet will consist of 540 scheduled races over 60 scheduled days of live racing.

As most of you already know, these are difficult times for horse racing and everyone that participates in our sport.

Horsemen, including owners, trainers, breeders and everyone associated with the horse racing industry are in a desperate struggle for survival.

Track operators are also facing difficulties in the current economic climate requiring some bold new moves in an attempt to reverse the downward trend.

The next few years may well determine the future of racing in Oregon. It is extremely important that all of the various participants in the horse racing industry work together if we are to be successful.

As always, we appreciate the support of our membership and appreciate your patience and understanding in what has been an extremely difficult process of reaching an agreement.

The Oregon HBPA has a collection of nine signed and numbered Fred Stone Prints in excellent condition available for purchase. Many have the certificate of authenticity included. All are framed, however the frames may need updating.

These prints were donated to the Oregon HBPA to help raise funds by our non-profit organization for the benefit of our Oregon Horsemen. These prints will be on display on the third floor Turf Club at Portland Meadows during the Oregon Championship Races on Sunday, December 12, 2010. The rest of the time the prints may be seen in the Oregon HBPA Office on the back stretch of Portland Meadows.

These prints will be sold to the highest bidder by December 31, 2010. Anyone interested in bidding on these prints may contact the Oregon HBPA by phone (503) 285-4941; by fax (503) 285-4942 or by mail.

RUNS	STAKE OR HANDICAP	CONDITIONS	VALUE
Dec. 4	Janet Wineberg Stakes	2 yo OB fillies; 6 Furlongs	$6,000
Dec. 4	Bill Wineberg Stakes	2 yo OB c&g; 6 Furlongs	$6,000
Dec. 4	The Oregon Hers	3 yo OB fillies; 1 Mile	$5,000
Dec. 4	The Oregon His	3 yo OB c&g; 1 1/16 Miles	$5,000
Dec. 4	Lethal Grande Oregon Sprint	3 yo & up OB; 6 Furlongs	$6,000
Jan. 16	OTOBA Stallion Stakes	3 yo OB; 6 Furlongs	$6,000
Feb. 20	Oregon Ms. Stakes	3 yo OB fillies; 1 Mile	$6,000
Feb. 20	Oregon Thoroughbred Breeders Derby	3 yo OB; 1 Mile	$6,000
PORTLAND MEADOWS PURSE STRUCTURE 2011-2012 CLAIMING OPEN NW3 NW2 MAIDEN $2,000 $3,500 $3,400 $3,500 $3,000 $2,500 $3,700  $3,500  $3,500  $3,400 $3,200 $4,000  $3,800  $3,500  $3,400 $4,000 $4,400 $4,100 $3,900 $3,700 $5,000 $5,400 $4,500 $4,300 $4,100 $6,250 $6,400 $4,800 $4,800 $4,300 $8,000 $6,900 $5,400 $5,200 $4,700 $10,000 $7,400 $5,700 $5,400 $4,900 $12,500+ $7,600 $5,900 $5,700 $5,100 Allowance $7,900 $6,400 $5,900 $5,400 All overnight purses include $400 from ORC Hub Funds. Invitational Handicaps - $10,000 Purses Includes $2,000 ORC Hub Funds Oregon Bred Daily Race will add $500
WE NEED YOUR CURRENT ADDRESSES... If you ran thoroughbred horses at Portland and did not receive a ballot for the last election means you need to get your current mailing address to us. The race track, the Oregon Racing Commission and the Oregon HBPA cannot share your personal information with each other so you need to notify us of any changes. You can let us know by mail, phone, fax, e-mail or in person. Call us at (503) 285-4941, fax us at (503) 285-4942, e-mail us at OHBPA@aol.com or OHBPA2@aol.com and be sure to write address change in the subject line. Our mailing address is: 10350 N. Vancouver Way # 351, Portland, Oregon 97217. The Horsemen's Journal is working with the National H.B.P.A. and all of the Affilates to build a National Data Base. This will make it easier to make sure that our members are always notified in a timely manner as well as making it easier for the National H.B.P.A. to get sponsors and work out discount deals for our membership. This is not an easy task as you might imagine, with members moving around as they do from state to state, wrong addresses and being on multiple Affilates Membership rosters make it hard to to keep it all straight. The information from this data base will be kept private, names and addresses will not be sold or abused. But it will save money for the magazine, who now pays hundreds of dollars on returned magazines each time they are sent out because of bad addresses. It will also insure that all of our members will get their magazines and other mailings from the National H.B.P.A. as well as their own Affilate. You could help us by simply stopping by your H.B.P.A. Office or giving them a call and making sure they have your correct address. We are also asking everyone to provide an e-mail address if they have one. You can come in the office or contact us at (503) 285-4941 or by e-mail at OHBPA@aol.com. or OHBPA2@aol.com. If you move, or travel to another state for a meet, just call us and let us know where you would like your information sent. Once we are all on the same page, address changes or corrections, will be very simple. Please help us to help you!