Oaklawn report

— Clockers monitor workouts

Officially timed workouts for horses at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs will begin Monday, said David Longinotti, the track’s assistant general manager/ racing.

Longinotti said Oaklawn asks clockers to report when there are about 500 horses on the grounds.

There were 547 horses on the grounds early Saturday afternoon, he said.

Oaklawn’s barn area can accommodate approximately 1,500 horses.

Trainers Gary “Red Dog” Hartlage and Grant Forster have horses on the grounds, Longinotti said.

Longinotti said the track kitchen also opens Monday, with workouts from the gate beginning Wednesday.

Oaklawn’s live season begins Jan. 11.

New leader

Linda Gaston, a thoroughbred owner from Sparkman, has been elected the new president of the Arkansas division of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said David Longinotti, Oaklawn’s assistant general manager/ racing.

Gaston had previously been on the local HBPA board of directors.

The primary functions of the HPBA include benevolence and representing horsemen in contractual negotiations with tracks.

Gaston replaces Bill Walmsley, a Batesville attorney who was appointed last month to the Arkansas Court of Appeals by Gov. Mike Beebe.

Walmsley’s appointment required him to resign all positions with the HBPA because he would go before the Arkansas Racing Commission, a state agency that oversees racing at Oaklawn.

Walmsley is a former national HPBA president and was re-elected president of the Arkansas division earlier this year.

The local president and board of directors serve three-year terms.

Longinotti said Gaston was elected by a vote of the Arkansas HBPA board.

Walmsley, 71, said he hopes he can return to some sort of horsemen’s benevolence - if his health is still good - after his term on the court expires Dec. 31, 2014.

Walmsley said he will be able to continue to own horses.

Walmsley is in the PHWL partnership with Jim Pickering, a Little Rock CPA, Howard House of Batesville, and Mark Lamberth, a Batesville highway contractor and House’s son-in-law.

Need a lift?

Oaklawn is replacing its main elevator adjacent to the paddock, said David Longinotti, the track’s assistant general manager/ racing.

Longinotti said the new elevator will replace the original one installed roughly 40 years ago when Oaklawn added a five-floor grandstand.

“It’s way faster,” Longinotti said.

Longinotti said the project began about a month ago and is scheduled to be completed this week.

“It’s a pretty involved process,” he said.

Sports, Pages 32 on 12/09/2012

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