NEWS &VIEWScontinued from page 9
On March 21, 2013, a judge in Pennsylvania granted a permanent injunction against the 2008 H-2B wage rule that is currently used to issue “prevailing wage determinations” and gave DOL 30 days to come into compliance with the Court order. H-2B employers must receive a “prevailing wage determination” as part of the process to bring an H-2B worker into the county. T e DOL will continue to process some prevailing wage requests not subject to the court order, such as those based on Collective Bargaining Agreements,
acceptable private
wage surveys, the Service Contract Act or the Davis Bacon act. DOL has said they plan to issue a new
emergency wage rule within 30 days. T e AHC and other H-2B user groups are looking at all options to ensure that the H-2B program resumes processing new applications as soon as possible.
Tracey Morgan Qualifi es for World Championships
April 14, Tracey Morgan (Gaylen Farm,
Montgomery County) and Fuego 88 won the U.S. Equestrian Federation National Combined Driving Single Pony Championship in Southern Pines, and is now eligible to represent the U.S. in the World Championships in France in October. T e State of Maryland will recognize Tracey’s unique achievement with a Touch of Class award, to be presented by the Maryland Horse Industry Board at the grand opening of the Woodstock Equestrian Center. T e Woodstock Equestrian Center is a 900-acre park devoted to horses and located on farmland donated by the late Bill Rickman Sr. and Hermen Greenberg. Tracey and Fuego 88 train on the Woodstock trails. T e grand opening is scheduled for April 27 (after this issue goes to press), so visit
equiery.com and our facebook page for photos of the event! MHIB established the Touch of Class
Awards in 2011 to honor Maryland horses, individuals, teams, organizations or events that demonstrate the highest standards of excellence in Maryland’s horse industry.
Maryland’s Horse Will Have Its Own Hall of Fame
T e T oroughbred horse is the offi cial
Maryland state breed of horse, and now the breed will have an offi cial Hall of Fame. On April 2, 2013, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA) and Maryland Racing Media Association (MRMA) announced the 12-horse inaugural class and operational details of their newly established joint venture, the Maryland-bred T oroughbred Hall of Fame (MTHOF). Flat runners Broad Brush, Challedon, Cigar, Gallorette,
Find, Jameela, Politely, 10 | THE EQUIERY | MAY 2013 Safely
Kept, Twixt and Vertex and steeplechasers Elkridge and Jay Trump earned induction into the MTHOF. T e honorees,
with
biographies, photos, videos and complete race records, will be showcased on-line at www. mdthoroughbredhalloff
ame.com while plans to establish a physical facility continue. “It is virtual for now, but as we move forward with a horse industry museum here, we will make sure that the great Maryland-bred horses will have a place of honor,” said MHBA executive director Cricket Goodall. “It is important that their achievements be marked for all time.” T e MTHOF endeavors to celebrate the racing and stud-book achievements of Maryland-bred T oroughbreds nationally and internationally, and to showcase their enduring legacies. T e planning committee representing varied state racing interests determined MTHOF eligibility for fl at runners and steeplechasers retired from racing at least fi ve years. T ey used the following criteria to determine its fi rst dozen inductees: Challedon,
Cigar, Elkridge, Gallorette, Jay
Trump and Safely Kept are the only Maryland- breds in the National Racing Hall of Fame; Find and Vertex were included in a comprehensive 1963 vote of state sportswriters who determined the greatest-ever racing Maryland-breds; and Broad Brush, Jameela, Politely and Twixt are the only remaining two-time Maryland-bred Horses of the Year, an honor fi rst awarded in 1962. T e MTHOF committee considered only racehorses for the initial class but left open the possibility of inducting notable persons in subsequent years. It also determined that future classes would be limited to no more than two equine inductees.
In addition to Goodall and MRMA president
Ted Black, the selection committee includes Frank Vespe, MRMA vice president and prominent racing blogger; Cindy Deubler and Anne Pennington of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association; Joe Clancy, the magazine’s editor and MRMA member; Josh Pons, Country Life Farm principal and Eclipse Award-winning writer; Katy Voss, trainer/breeder and a director of the Maryland T oroughbred Horsemen’s Association;
Georganne Hale, Maryland
Jockey Club racing secretary; Jim McCue, MJC photographer; and Vinnie Perrone, Eclipse Award-winning writer. A celebration to recognize the inaugural
class of inductees will take place at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 11, adorning its program with ceremonies, remembrances and races named for inductees. For more information, contact the Maryland Horse Breeders Association at 410-252-2100 or visit
www.mdthoroughbredhalloff
ame.com.
Animal Kingdom Goes Global T e 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal
Kingdom, trained by Graham Motion out of the Fair Hill Training Center and owned by Team Valor International, traveled to Dubai to win the 2013 Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest race, on March 30. T e fi ve-year-old became the fi rst U.S.-bred horse to win the race as he fi nished two-lengths ahead of British- trained Red Cadeaux. Animal Kingdom is currently in England with plans to run in the Royal Ascot.
More $ for Ag Cost-Share Grants On April 3, 2013, the Maryland Board of
Public Works approved $304,547 in agricultural cost-share grants in eight counties for 36 projects that will prevent soil erosion, manage nutrients and safeguard water quality in streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Together, these projects will prevent 2152.58 pounds of nitrogen, 1058.62 pounds of phosphorus, and 1309.88 tons of soil from entering the Bay and its tributaries. T ese projects are funded by state general obligation bonds and are not part of MDA’s general fund budget allocation. T e Board is comprised of Governor Martin O’Malley who was represented today by the Lt. Governor, Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp, and Comptroller Peter Franchot. “Our farmers are true partners in protecting our natural resources and Maryland continues to support their eff orts by providing conservation grants to install proven conservation measures and innovative, state-of-the-art practices,” said Lt. Governor Brown. “Working together, we can ensure a smart, green and growing future for future generations, preserve open space, and maintain the rich agricultural heritage of our state.” For the past 28 years, the Maryland
Agricultural Water Quality Cost-Share (MACS) Program has been providing farmers with grants to cover up to 87.5 percent of the cost to install conservation measures known as best management practices (BMPs) on their farms to prevent soil erosion, manage nutrients and safeguard water quality in streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Since the program started in 1984, farmers
have installed 21,900 water quality projects or about two BMPs per day, every day for 28 years. T e average lifespan of a BMP is 10 to 15 years. Over the last 15 years, farmers spent $15.8 million of their own money to match $72.8 million in state cost share to install more than 10,800 water quality projects (not including annual practices like planting cover crops). Installation of agricultural BMPs on farmland is a key feature of Maryland’s recent plan submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce nutrients. Grassed waterways constructed to prevent gully erosion in farm fi elds, streamside buff ers
continued on page 76 800-244-9580 |
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