From the NRHA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING March 29, 2008

2008 BOARD APPROVED FUTURITY & DERBY NOMINATION PLAN  VIEW THE POLL

 

Revised Futurity & Derby Nomination Plan (see printable version)
 

APPROVED by the Board of Directors on March 29, 2008
 

1. The plan will start with 2008 foals. The current conditions will apply for 2006 and
2007 foals.
 

2. Mandatory nomination structure
 

3. There will be no substitutions.
Reason: Three years ago the Board of Directors changed the conditions to allow for substitutions to be made by anybody. i.e. The ownership of both horses no longer had to be exactly the same. Allowing the “selling of slots” greatly affected the number of entries into the Futurity and affected the purse and payouts in a
negative way.
 

4. $300 one time nomination fee for weanlings to be eligible for the Futurity & three years of Derby in addition to applicable entry fees, judges fees, etc. If foal is not nominated as a weanling, the nomination fees are as follows:

a. $2000 nomination for yearlings in addition to applicable entry fees, judges fees, etc.
 

b. $5,000 nomination for 2 year olds in addition to applicable entry fees, judges fees, etc.
 

c. $7,500 nomination for 3/4/5/6 year olds in addition to applicable entry fees, judges fees, etc.  All nomination fees paid are non-refundable.

5. Nominations must be postmarked by December 31, 2008 and every year after. The plan will start with 2008 foals. The yearling, 2 year old, and 3/4/5/6 year old nominations may be split up into payments. The first payment may be made any time during the year, however, the entire amount must be paid by December 31 of that year.
 

6. Prize money designation:

a. 5% of nomination fees will go to the NRHA for administrative costs.
 

b. 60% of the remaining money will go to the Futurity and 40% will go to the Derby.
Reason: The reason that this percentage is weighted more heavily toward the Futurity is because it takes more money to make an impact on the Futurity than it does the Derby.
 

c. Net nomination fees for horses nominated as 4, 5, and 6 years of age will go into the Derby purse the year of nomination.
 

d. Nomination fees paid will be allocated to the Futurity and Derby according to the Futurity and Derby nomination fee purse allocation per the approved Futurity and Derby show conditions and the related nomination plan. Collected nomination fees will be paid out of the Futurity and Derby purse in the first year of eligibility of the nominated horse for the applicable Futurity and Derby, even if such nominated horses choose not to enter the applicable Futurity or Derby.
Example: $300 is paid in 2008 for a weanling nomination. After NRHA takes 5%, $285 is left over. 60% of $285 (or $171) will be allocated to the Futurity when the horse turns 3 and 40% (or $114) will be allocated to the Derby when the horse turns 4, whether or not the horse enters
either event.

i. For both events, 70% will go to the Open Futurity/Derby and 30% will go to the Non Pro Futurity/Derby.
 

ii. This percentage split will be reviewed annually and will be based on the percentage of nominations that show in the
Open vs. the Non Pro over a three-year period. Currently, 70% show in the Open and 30% show in the Non Pro.

e. Division allocations (Open, Intermediate Open, Limited Open, and Non Pro, Intermediate Non Pro, and Limited Non Pro) are still being discussed and are pending based on proposed rule changes.

d. Nominator Incentive

i. 5% of all earnings from each division of the Futurity will be paid to the nominator of that entry.

 

ii. 5% of all earnings from each division of the Derby will be paid to the nominator of that entry.
 

iii. All earning records in the NRHA Office for horses & riders will be maintained on the total amount of money earned (prize money + Nominator Incentive).

7. The NRHA Board of Directors may approve additional programs to allow reciprocal eligibility. There will not be any sharing of nomination funds or
other incentives. Once a program is approved, the horses eligible for one or both programs would be eligible for both. The approval of such programs will be at the continuing discretion of the NRHA Board of Directors.

 
8. The National Reining Horse association reserves the right to cancel this program without notice at any time, without liability. But in such an event, all the nomination program’s funds are the property of NRHA and will be used for programs promoting the reining horse.

2008 BOARD APPROVED FUTURITY & DERBY NOMINATION PLAN POLL CLOSED

POLL QUESTIONS:  1) Do you approve of the newly approved Futurity and Derby Plan as a whole? Yes 12 (35.29%) No 22 (64.71%)   2) Do you approve of the foal nomination concept? Yes 20 (58.82%) No 14 (41.18%)   3) Do you approve of the fee amounts and schedule? Yes 10 (29.41%) No 24 (70.59%)   4) Do you approve of the split of prize money - 70% Open, 30% Non Pro? Yes 10 (29.41%) No 24 (70.59%)   5) Do you approve of the nominator payback concept? Yes 19 (55.88%) No 15 (44.12%)   6) Do you approve of the no substitution rule? Yes 4 (11.76%) No 30 (88.24%)   Total Replies : 34 COMMENTS: Again, the board did not listen to the members and made their vote based on the elite few who play the futurity game. I really hope that this will eventually end the futurity and derby and bring to an end the high payers game of controling the NRHA. I urge all members to support their local affiliates futurities/derbies, and compete at your local shows and forget the big spenders events.   Future winners will not be best three year old . just the winner of another closedbreeders futurity'' Rome wasnt built in a day but was destroyed in one.   I just read in the Quarter Horse News where someone quoted "An Amateur built the ARK - Professionals built the TITANIC". Perfect. SUPPORT YOUR REGIONAL AFFILIATES AND SCR_W THE NRHA FUTURITY AND DERBY! (and for those of you who think you may HAVE to support this nomination structure - note that if it fails for any reason and they change to something else, they KEEP your money!!!)   Substitution is a show entry issue, not a nomination issue. The 70/30 split is OK, it is based on actual entry numbers. Late fees are too high.   I support this program because the only way to make some people realize they are not going to grow the participation, only money to be won by a few with this plan is to let them try. This plan will increase the participation in the local aged events and will point out the need to split the business fo reining from the hobby of reining. This plan will also eventually be good for people outside the program. The few that participate will create a very narrow pedigree base and they will realize their mistake someday and come looking for outside blood to fix their greedy ways! This program is built on an idea that people will play if they can win more no matter what the amount spent to play is. That Idea is totally ass backwards to any type of normal thinking. The people who developed this plan do not live in the real world they live in a world where they will gamble $10k on the roll of the dice just to get a thrill. It is a nice to be able to do that but most people cant, most people still play the quarter slots until they get lucky and win enough to play the $1 slots. Give people an affordable way in and a gamblers chance and they will play and if they win they will play even more.   This is a slippery slope NRHA is headed down. You have a voluntary membership based association, which consists of more than 85% regional weekend exhibitors (if NRHA''s numbers are accurate), and you now have 2 CLOSED events as your premier NRHA sponsored events. (Cleverly presented however. By suddenly introducing that atrocious Hamilton Plan, then backing up to Simon''s Plan, the REVISING Simon''s Plan to where it is a cross between the two, you actually convinced members that its not all bad! My hat is off to you for that) But the ramifications of this sport''s biggest and most prestigeous events being essentially closed off from everyone but baby owner''s will raise up to bite your face soon enough. When people like Carol Rose are pointing out that you''ve made a huge mistake, the fallout will be inevitable. It seems move after move by the current EB is alienating members. First Americans, then non pros, then breeders, now professionals. The recent political spin of More-Than-Ever numbers - more members (90% European) more shows (90% European) and more NRHA Futurity entries paid up (due to deadlines being moved forward) will find you out in the end. People are only so gullible for so long. There are other more welcoming associations and more lucrative horse sports to play and people will surely find them.   I think it is unfair to put the burdon of the $300 payment per foal on the breeders. If one breeds one or two foals a year it''s not a big deal. But 10 - 30 foals per year, that is a huge burdon. The no-substitution rule is just unfair.   NRHA is also requiring a competition license application at the time of foal nomination. Is this appropriate for a weanling to have a competition license??? Only to be charged another fee for transfer to a new owner when sold?   This is a great way to drive people away from the NRHA. Also a great incentive to create a new reining horse association. I would rather pay more to enter my horse into the futurity when I was SURE that my horse has a chance to complete.

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