Monthly news & updates
January, 2022
Spotlight On: FHBPA Board Member Kathy Davey
“It was fun!”

That’s Kathy Davey’s explanation for the diverging paths she has traveled in her life. But she found her true north when she followed the road that, ironically, led south, to the life she loves now as an owner and trainer at Gulfstream Park.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” Davey said. “I’ve certainly done a lot of interesting things, but racing, the horses – that’s it for me. I can’t believe it took me so long to get here.”

The native New Englander arrived on the South Florida racing scene in 2007, and was first elected to the FHBPA Board in 2010. Before that? She spent more than 30 years in Vermont, raising daughter Marnie and son Griffin, and working in education, politics, and even community theater.

Davey was born in Connecticut, moving to Pennsylvania with her family when she was in the fourth grade. She attended Penn State University and earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, then set a course for Vermont with her future husband, poised for a career in academia. Over the years, she worked as a guidance counsellor and as Director of Student Services at New Hampshire Community Technical Colleges.

“My plan out of college was to be a counsellor,” she explained. “And I liked counselling, but it was tough. I thought I’d be helping people, but it involved a lot of other things – a lot of politics.”

That observation sent Davey in a new direction. She became the Town Clerk for tiny Strafford, Vermont, southeast of the state’s capital, and was elected to the Board of the League of Cities and Towns, eventually becoming president of that organization. She nearly went to work for Bernie Sanders, who was Mayor of Burlington at the time, but instead returned to education to serve as Director of Career Services for the Engineering School at Dartmouth College.

“That was a really good job – finding jobs for students, helping them with interview skills, having recruiters come in,” Davey said. “I really enjoyed it. I was at Dartmouth for about eight years, then I quit because I decided to run a theater company.” 

Ballots for 2022 FHBPA Election Go Out In February
Contact the FHBPA Office to Update Your Address
The ballots for the 2022 Election of the FHBPA Board of Directors will be sent out next month. The FHBPA has hired Election Services Co. as our independent third-party election provider. Ballots will be sent by email to all FHBPA members who have a valid email address on file. If we do not have a valid email address on file, we will send a paper ballot to the mailing address on file.

To update your contact information, please contact the FHBPA Office at (954) 457-3516, or abelfiore@floridahbpa.com.

Click here for more information about the 2022 Election of the FHBPA Board of Directors.

Thank you to all of the legislators who joined FHBPA and 1/ST Racing for a visit to Gulfstream Park on Jan. 5. The group, which included (from left) Representative Sam Garrison, Speaker-Designate Paul Renner, Representatives Tom Leek and Bob Rommel, FHBPA lobbyist Amanda Stewart, Representative Lawrence McClure, FHBPA Lobbyist Jeff Johnston, and Representatives Josie Tomkow and Daniel Perez, enjoyed a tour of the barn area and a bird-eye view of racing. We love talking about our industry and our people to our legislators. It is an opportunity to highlight the vital importance of Thoroughbred racing to the state, and to discuss the issues that effect the frontside and the backstretch at the track. Credit: Andy Belfiore Photo