This Saturday marks the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby, an iconic American event.
No Pennsylvania Thoroughbreds are running for the roses this year; however, the favorite, Renegade, has Pennsylvania roots on his dam’s side going back five generations, said Deanna Manfredi, president of the Pennsylvania Horsebreeders Association. “All the way back to the 1970s, at Dairy Meeting Farm in Concordville.”
And the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby was Aristides, whose sire, Leamington, was a stallion at Erdenheim Farm in Lafayette Hill.
But the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred industry depends on funding from slot machines at Category 1 casinos. But gamblers are now betting on online slots, video gaming terminals, category 4 casinos, and skill games, so revenue to the Race Horse Development Fund has dropped from $280 million in 2012 to $185 million last year.
Manfredi noted that Thoroughbreds aren’t just racehorses. They become polo ponies, police horses, steeplechase racers, show jumpers or pleasure mounts when they retire. And about half of the horses never go to the racetracks for various reasons and instead are used in those other equestrian sports.
The horsebreeding industry also supports other agricultural activities that provide straw and hay, for example. And it’s preserved some 1.3 million acres of open space in Pennsylvania that might otherwise be lost.
This budget season, Manfredi, a Philadelphia resident whose horse farm is in Kennett Square, has been lobbying legislators for three percent of online slot revenue.
“Our argument is, a slot is a slot,” she said.
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Aaron Bashir is running a write-in campaign for the 2nd Senatorial District.
Recently endorsed by the Philadelphia Young Republicans and the Philadelphia GOP, Bashir needs 500 signatures in the May 19 primary to get on the November ballot.
“Our district is struggling with very significant issues,” said Bashir. Despite claims by Mayor Cherelle Parker, Kensington “remains a tri-state open drug market.”
“They’re someone’s daughters, someone’s sons, someone’s brothers, suffering there,” he said.
Also, “our public schools are not delivering. We pay $33,000 per student.” Charters and private schools perform better for a third of the money. He would like to see the 10 Commandments put back into the schools, “because kids need a moral direction. They need to know there is a God. There’s right and wrong.”
“Kids need moral direction,” said Bashir.
Bashir, who worked for Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33) until recently, supports Mastriano’s bill to end property taxes for senior citizens age 75 and over.
“They have paid enough into the system,” said Bashir. “It’s their time to get a break.”
Bashir fled Pakistan 25 years ago when he was 21 because of the persecution of Christians.
“I love America, because I was on the dark side of the world,” said Bashir, who owns an accounting firm and a landscaping company.
Bashir would face Sen. Tina Tartaglione (D) in the fall.
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On Tuesday, Common Pleas Court Judge Jessica R. Brown ordered that “the candidate who wins a plurality of the votes in their election for member of Ward Executive Committee in their division should be certified as the winner regardless of whether the votes were obtained by a candidate who was on the ballot or by a write-in candidate.”
“This is a victory for the Republican Party of Philadelphia,” said J. Matthew Wolfe, who brought the case. “We need to encourage new people and more people to get involved with our party on the grassroots level. While we expect the City to appeal, we feel that our arguments are strong and are hopeful that the Commonwealth Court will interpret the language of the Election Code the same way that the judge in this matter did.
“It is disheartening that the Republican City Committee opposed this suit rather than supported it,” Wolfe said. “The current leadership seems to be more concerned with staying in office than winning elections.”
