The board of directors of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association on Friday unanimously re-elected Joe Santanna to serve another three-year term as president and chairman.

The election was held the final day of the organization’s summer meeting, which began June 30 at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.  

“I’ve agreed to serve as president and chairman for another three years as a result of the promise our affiliates have made to continue breaking new ground,” said Santanna, whose term runs through July 2012. “We stand ready to challenge our industry’s framework where and when change is needed.  But, likewise, we will stand firmly in support of any progressive industry efforts—such as improved safety and welfare—which will help to improve the lives of our horsemen, their families and employees and, of course, their horses.”  

Four regional vice presidents were also elected to three-year terms: Robin Richards, president of the Virginia HBPA (Eastern Region); Leroy Gessmann, president of the Iowa HBPA (Central Region); Rick Hiles, president of the Kentucky HBPA (Southern Region), and Mike Napier, president of the Arizona HBPA (Western Region).

Richards also was selected to serve as first vice president.

The convention attracted nearly 140 state and local HBPA representatives and was highlighted by three speaker forums which addressed several key issues, including the impact of environmental contamination as related to increasingly precise testing methodology; a legal overview of horsemen’s rights in regards to exclusionary practices applied by racetracks; and a ground-level perspective from various backstretch support and benevolence groups. 

Kent Stirling, executive director of the Florida HBPA, and Thomas Tobin, M.V.D., Ph.D, a professor at the University of Kentucky's Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center in Lexington and drug-testing expert, were honored as co-recipients of the National HBPA Industry Service Award for their longtime guidance on medication and testing issues. 

The National HBPA’s 2008 Claimer of the Year award went to Antrim County, owned by Carl R. Moore Management and trained by Bret Calhoun. The six-year-old Giant’s Causeway gelding, a half brother to Grade 1 winner and sire Albert the Great, won ten of 15 starts last year, including the Claiming Crown Iron Horse Stakes at Canterbury Park, while earning $160,607. He was bred in Kentucky by Overbrook Farm.