Damon Thayer, who recently completed a 22-year tenure in the Kentucky Senate, knows a thing or two about making a pitch from the pulpit. His theme when he delivered the keynote address Tuesday at the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association convention? “Cooperation is always better than extinction.”

Thayer spoke Tuesday at the National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association two-day conference at the Safety Harbor Resort near Tampa, Fla.

Thayer delivered humorous and sobering thoughts during his 35-minute address. While acknowledging both the storm clouds and the many positives facing the industry, Thayer’s biggest takeaway was the importance of horsemen in every racing jurisdiction building relationships with their state legislators, and he said most of that should be when the lawmakers are not in session.

“It’s mind-boggling what a legislator has to absorb every day, and if an industry isn’t aligned, the easiest thing for a legislator to do is to wash their hands of it and say, ‘I’m a no,’ ” he said. “But our industry (in Kentucky) got together quickly, because of this one truism. Cooperation is always better than extinction.

“Now, don’t wait for a crisis,” he said. “Because there will be a crisis. A need. A break-the-glass, pull-the-fire-alarm moment. Build those relationships now, not just when you need something. … When they’re not in session, invite them to the racetrack, your farm, your training center, your vet clinic. They need to see the jobs. Tell them how many checks a month you write to vendors, to blacksmiths.

“And do not get complacent. … Because we have it now doesn’t mean somebody isn’t going to want to take it away. There are enemies of horse racing in Kentucky. You have to be vigilant. But you’ve got to build these relationships.”

National HBPA CEO Eric Hamelback originally chose Thayer as the keynote speaker to share the story of Kentucky’s overwhelming success with historical horse racing and how that might translate to other states. Shortly after Thayer was lined up, the story blew up about Gulfstream Park’s ownership pushing a bill that would allow the South Florida track to keep its gaming licenses without the current legislative obligation to have live Thoroughbred racing.

As it turned out, Thayer, after writing an op-ed for the National HBPA about how the Florida legislature should take a page from Kentucky, was enlisted as senior advisor to the new Thoroughbred Racing Initiative. That industry collaboration, of which the National HBPA is part, is working to defeat Florida’s decoupling legislation.

“It looks like the skids are pretty greased in Tallahassee for (the decoupling bill) to pass the House,” Thayer said. “So our goal is to kill the decoupling bit in the Senate. It’s going to be a tough uphill climb. But we’re all working together.”

Canadian industrialist and horseman Frank Stronach bought Gulfstream Park in 1999, well before the Florida constitutional amendment passed in 2005 that allowed Broward County to have casino-type gaming at pari-mutuel facilities. A former member of Canada’s parliament, Belinda Stronach took over control of her family’s racing and gaming interests, including Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita, in 2020 after a bitter dispute with her father.

“Here in Florida, big storm clouds are forming,” Thayer said. “A Canadian-owned company, formed by somebody who used to be a Canadian member of parliament, up there in the 51st state — Wait! Sorry, we haven’t done that yet — striking a $3 billion industry. That Canadian company, who got the privilege of having a casino at its racetrack in Hallandale Beach, Fla., … that makes it $50 (million to) $60 million a year, now wants to back out of that commitment and leave high and dry an industry with a $3 billion impact and 33,000 jobs.”

Thayer said he believes the racing circuits that will survive and thrive in the next five to 10 years will be “states where the industry has great relationships with their legislators and legislature.” He cited Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Virginia, Indiana and Arkansas “just to name a few.”

He said horsemen must ensure lawmakers hear their story, adding, “Racing has a great story to tell about the jobs, the tourism and preservation of land and green space, the taxes paid, reinvestment in the economy.”

Thayer laid out underappreciated positives in horse racing today, citing tremendous coverage on social media, racing podcasts and satellite radio such as the weekday At The Races with Steve Byk.

“On a daily basis you can watch horse racing on two different FanDuel networks and on Fox,” he continued. “On Sunday, I was watching the Rebel Stakes, Lonnie Briley wins the Rebel, great story, reminiscent of Smarty Jones and California Chrome. Andie Biancone gets the first interview on (FanDuel), and you can see Maggie Wolfendale right behind her, waiting to interview him on Fox. That’s something we could never have imagined 30 years ago. That’s a positive.”

Thayer mentioned as positive developments Tina Bond’s  high-tech marketing venture called Heart of Horse Racing and Equibase pursuing a system of race ratings in America, which would allow horses not good enough for higher allowance or stakes races to be competitive without risk of losing a horse via the claim box. Thayer said he’s not advocating eliminating claiming races.

Also, he noted that Maryland is rebuilding Pimlico and building a training center. Maryland and Virginia are working together to create the beginnings of a mid-Atlantic circuit. New York put up $500 million to rebuild Belmont Park.

“And then what I’m particularly fond of, the Kentucky story,” where every track figures to offer maiden races for Kentucky-breds at $80,000 or more, Thayer said. “We’re seeing billions of dollars being spent on facilities in Kentucky because of a couple of laws we passed that allow the industry to invest in itself.”

Thayer called the 2021 passage of the legislation to codify the legality of HHR “the biggest fight of my political life.”

“The threat was real,” he said, and if the legislation had not passed, “I think there’d only be Keeneland in the spring and the fall and a short Derby-centric meet at Churchill Downs in Kentucky. Because if we didn’t pass the law, the (HHR) machines would have had to be shut down, turned off, removed, put on the scrap heap of history. … But because of the amazing advocacy efforts of everybody getting together and rowing in the same direction, we were able to get it passed. … You see the results now.”

Thayer also had rather pithy remarks for the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act of 2020 and the authority it created, whose constitutionality is being challenged by the National HBPA and many of its affiliates, along with other entities.

“HISA is a polarizing event in our industry,” he said. “The bill snuck through in the dark of night in the budget reconciliation process by people I like and respect. I just disagree with them on this issue. I’m a states’ rights guy, 10th amendment. The federal government should only do what the states can’t do for themselves. … I also don’t think the federal government should foist on us an $85 million law and not pay for it. Why is it the states have to pay for a federal law?

“There are going to be states who decide they won’t participate in HISA. They’re going to forgo simulcasting rights under the Interstate Horse Racing Act (of 1978), and we’re going to have less uniformity under that scenario than we had before the formation of HISA. There are a lot of people in my area code who are for it. I’d like to help be a voice to try to make it better or get it replaced with something better.”

In addition to his various roles, Thayer also is a horse owner, owning a small piece of several horses through the CJ Thoroughbreds partnership. One is the stakes-winning 3-year-old Keep It Easy, trained by Kentucky HBPA president Dale Romans. Keep It Easy is running in Saturday’s Fountain of Youth, one of Gulfstream Park’s preps for the Kentucky Derby.

“I own one share of the 25 percent that C.J. Thoroughbreds owns in Keep It Easy,” he said. “But to me he’s still my horse. I’m really excited to be on the Derby trail with Dale. I met Dale in the early 1990s at Turfway Park.” Speaking of himself, he said, “I never thought a kid from northern Michigan could end up with a Kentucky Derby prospect.”

Damon Thayer recently stepped down after 22 years in the Kentucky General Assembly, the last 12 as Senate majority floor leader. He has served in numerous capacities in track management, marketing and publicity, work that continues with his Thayer Communications and Consulting marketing company. Thayer is a partner in racehorses through C.J. Thoroughbreds. He recently was named senior advisor to the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative to fight decoupling legislation in Florida.