Jessica Hallett: Letter to Florida Gov. DeSantis

Governor DeSantis,

My name is Jessica Hallett. I am a 21-year-old freshly graduated college student out of Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. I am writing to you on behalf of thousands of those like me: Standardbred Harness Horsemen.

I have been a resident of South Florida for my entire life. I chose a university close to home for that very reason – it is home to me. I would like to continue onto medical school or to a physician assistant program (I am currently undecided) in our great state of Florida; however, today, May 19th of 2021, the decoupling bill was passed.

This bill is the deciding factor of my graduate school endeavors, but is, at the same time, so much more than that. It means the end of harness racing in this sunshine state. It is the crippling of a business with a great history and the demise of a long-standing landmark in the middle of Pompano Beach Florida, the Isle Casino of Racing Pompano Park. It is the displacement of thousands of people.

Harness racing is a tricky thing to explain. I would like to invite you to come to our barn or to the racetrack to observe it sometime as you have to be there to understand it. It is and it isn’t like thoroughbred racing all at the same time. It is horse racing, but the behind-the-scenes is an entire different vibe, for lack of a better term. We don’t have fancy cars or mansions.

We don’t wear suits and sit in the owner’s and trainer’s lounges during the races. And we don’t have the ability to fight this bill on our own. Hence the reason a 21-year-old student is writing this very letter to you. Harness racing is only about the horses, not the money. Our cars and houses may not be worth a million dollars – well, our horses might not even be WORTH a million dollars, but they are to us and they sure do look like they are.

For a little insight, I can share with you stories and the background of horsemen that I know and am close to. My parents, for one, get to the barn early in the morning and don’t leave until all of the work is done. That can be afternoon or even as late as midnight or later on some days. The “work” as I have just mentioned is starting with taking out all of the water buckets and feed tubs. The horses have already had their first meal of the day at around 4 AM and so, they are ready to go.

The buckets are scrubbed and cleaned and then, filled with fresh water every morning. These get filled again at lunch time and then, once more at dinner time. The horses are brought out of their stalls one-by-one. Their stall bandages, or wraps, are removed and they are harnessed for their daily workout. Once they get back, they are stripped and bathed. Once dry, they get fresh and clean bandages on and any liniments that they may need as well as various medications.

Their lunches are a warm bran mash with vitamins. Think of it like oatmeal. At night, they get their dinner along with a third flake of hay for the day. This doesn’t even begin to mention the treats. Our horses get nicker makers – their favorite, they will only eat this specific treat type – and cattle corn, coconuts, peppermints, pudding, apples, bananas, carrots, oranges, and the list goes on. Each horse has and gets their preference.

Therefore, as you can see, harness racing is different than thoroughbred racing. We live in our homes in Florida in the winter and then, find some place to live in the summer when Pompano Park closes. Some live in small apartments, others in RVs, and a few in dorms or even in their own horse trailers. During the races, we are all in the paddock with our horses, not the grandstand. This is all because it is all about the horses, not the money. We would rather make sure our horses are healthy and happy than ourselves. I cannot express how many times someone that I know has been sick or injured and their first questions were, “how are my horses? Who is going to take care of them?”

I can go on. I would love to tell you all of the stories of my experience in the horse racing world. There are so many more from each and every horseman. Stories of triumph and victory. Stories of nursing a horse back to health. Stories of a happy retirement of a horse. So many stories.

But, for now, I will leave you with this. Harness racing is this massive industry. I will not even include the other states and will focus on our own great state of Florida.

• We have the trainers. They call the shots in the barn.
• The grooms work for the trainers and take care of the horses along with them. There can be anywhere from zero to about six grooms in a stable, depending on how many horses there are.
• The owners own the horses either as a whole or as a percentage. Again, the owners are either the trainer themselves or up to who knows how many for one horse. We have 10 different owners at this very moment, but my parents have had hundreds over the years.
• There are people who feed the horses in the morning or evening as necessary.
• There are people who take the horses to Lasix on race days as these times can vary, making it difficult for the trainers or grooms to be able to do so.
• There are veterinarians. Several. They all have a different approach. These veterinarians each have assistants. There are also two separate state veterinarians. One sits at the edge of the racetrack to watch the horses to make sure every horse is safe and healthy to race. The other is at the back of the paddock to take blood on the horses to check for irregularities.
• There are blacksmiths. Also, several of these.
• There are chiropractors, dentists, and other people who are there for the health of our horses. We have someone who comes to our barn routinely for a treatment known as MagnaWave in which is a therapeutic treatment for the horses. Like I said, the horses are in better care than ourselves.
• There is the marshal or outrider. She leads the horses out in post parade during the races. She is also there to catch loose horses and has prevented so many tragedies in her role.
• There is an association of horsemen who oversee the track and the horsemen. For us here, it is the Floria Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association (FSBOA).
• The EMTs are hired to observe the races and are prepared in case of an emergency.
• There are judges. A paddock judge to observe the paddock during the races and make sure everyone gets to the track on time. Judges up at the top of the grandstand to oversee all races and make calls when necessary.
• There is a race secretary who puts the races together along with the director of racing and assistant race secretary.
• State employees monitor the postrace of each horse that wins, watching the trainers or grooms strip the horses, bathe them, and walk them to cool them out. Then, they collect a urine sample as another form to check for irregularities.
• The starting car is made up of a driver and a starter. The driver drives the car around the turns, of course, and the starter is also a judge who oversees the race.
• There is a person who washes the race bikes. Another person who washes the saddle pads also known as race numbers. Another person who washes the driver’s colors at the end of the night.
• There are the people who provide licenses to horsemen.
• There are security guards at the gate and security guards who roam the track in a truck.
• There are maintenance workers who work around the track and on the actual race track. These can include technicians, electricians, track maintenance with tractors and water trucks, sanitation workers, manure removal services, and more.
• There are owners of mom and pop tack shops on the track. Not to mention the major tack shop companies.
• There are people who run a track kitchen and provide food to the horsemen.
• There are announcers that announce the races.
• There is a charter that charts the races for time, speed, and place finished.
• There is a person who creates the program.
• There are handicappers.
• There are breeders, people at the horse sales, people behind the workings of horse sales, and people who control online horse sales.
• There are shippers who drive trucks and trailers of horses from place to place.

Now, these are all of the people, if I haven’t missed anyone, that keep racing going in the barns and on race nights. But wait, that’s not all. There are so many more way behind the scenes.

• I, for one, am an artist. I paint statues and more for horsemen. There are other artists who make harness bags, signs, helmets, buckets, and more. Not to mention the suppliers of these – the statues, bags, signs, helmets, buckets, and more all come from various manufacturers.
• Speaking of suppliers, the veterinarians and blacksmiths need somewhere to purchase their supplies from. Medicine, syringes, stethoscopes, vet trucks, blacksmith trucks, nails, horseshoes, and more come from various manufacturers, too.
• I am also a writer. I write stories and articles on all of us “little people” in the harness racing world that are then, published to magazines and websites. I’m certainly not the only writer in Florida. There is a group called the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) that has a Florida Chapter made up of numerous writers. This includes the writer, editor, publisher, and more that work to produce a website or magazine publication.
• There are photographers that take pictures of the races. They sell these photographs to make money.
• There are people who film the races. There are five different points on the Pompano Park Racetrack where five separate cameramen set up to catch different viewpoints of every race. There are then people who connect this camera feed so the world can watch these races from anywhere. There are people who monitor the audio feed, too. There are people who control the names across the screen during the races.
• Our barns are all decorated. This includes the artists that make the signs and bags and whatnot, but it also includes carpets, trunks, stall mats, gates, paint, and more. So, manufacturers and sellers of those.

That is certainly not all. This doesn’t count our own houses or the rentals made by the snow birds of harness racing. This doesn’t count the rentals of our owners who fly in to watch their horses race. Nor does it count our trucks, trailers, other vehicles like golf carts or separate cars, gas, and more that it takes to live in this state for the winter meet. This doesn’t include the workers in the grandstand itself.

This doesn’t count the real importance behind all of this: the people. Like I said, these people are all for the horses and so, if harness racing is destroyed in Florida, there is no career change. These people will up-end their lives, despite owning properties here in Florida, to continue racing for the love of the sport and for the love of their horses.

This is a list of titles. These are not the people behind the sport. For every one title you read, there is ten, one hundred, one thousand, or ten thousand people that represent that title in the state of Florida. We are not numbers, but it is important to emphasize how much of an impact harness racing actually has in our state. We are people. I can tell you about my parents, John and Michelle Hallett that run a stable of ten while having two kids. I can tell you about Rosie Huff who is the backbone of the FSBOA and will bend over backwards to help anyone and everyone. I can tell you about Joe Pennacchio who along with Dein Spriggs and other drivers have formed an amateur trot club to donate all of their earnings in races to various charities, including to me for my donation to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

I can tell you about Bason Bambushew who is the nicest person you would ever meet and who puts in hours of work at the barn, a groom who goes above and beyond for his horses. And I can tell you about Pete Malone, an equine dentist that travels all over the country for his clients and the love of the animal. These are only a few of the names worth mentioning. There are hundreds of horses on the track, hundreds of horsemen, and hundreds of stories. I can write you a story about each and every one.

I can even tell you about the next generation. There are many my age, many a little older, and many much younger than me. These are the up and coming horsemen – the up and coming grooms, owners, trainers, and drivers. It is up to us now to decide the fate of harness racing in Florida so that we can continue this great history. Decoupling affects all of us. It affects tens of thousands. It affects Pompano Park, Sunshine Meadows Training Center, and Olympia Training Center (formerlly the South Florida Trotting Center). It affects our present and our future.

Governor DeSantis, I hope that you do consider vetoing this decoupling bill for all of our Florida community.

Thank you,

Jessica Hallett, Margate, FL