Arkansas HBPA Installs Free Internet in Oaklawn’s Barns

When horsemen ship into Oaklawn Park for the 2024-25 race meet, they’ll find every barn equipped with wifi.

The Arkansas HBPA, which represents horse owners and trainers at the state’s only racetrack, paid to install internet in all 38 barns and is picking up the monthly bill. Each barn will have its own router with the wifi password protected.

“Even our older trainers are using the internet now,” said Arkansas HBPA President Bill Walmsley, a horse owner. “We felt this was a type of investment that will help virtually every trainer and, as a result, help virtually every owner. At Oaklawn, there are about 1,400 owners and trainers who will be there during that five-month race meet. Just to have it available, we think is a fantastic thing. And this won’t cost them a penny.”

While the free wifi will provide other popular uses such as watching the races on a smart TV in the barn or streaming movies on a phone, in Arkansas HBPA board member Ron Moquett’s mind, the No. 1 reason for the service is security.

“We’re very excited to provide this much-needed tool to help add another lay of protection to the horsemen doing the right thing,” Moquett said. “I’ve used it for years and paid for it myself. The HBPA is ‘horsemen helping horsemen,’ and we think this is the best way we can help them right now, to help them monitor what is going on in their barn and to protect themselves. That’s especially true at a time when the rules are changing. We want to be able to prove we’re doing the right thing.”

Moquett knows first hand how critical that video can be. When one of his horses at another track had an adverse finding in a post-race drug test for a local anesthetic, Moquett knew it had to trace to the castration of a different horse in that stall several weeks before. His barn video — which documented that his staff thoroughly sanitized the stall multiple times after the castration — led to the trainer being absolved of any responsibility.

“The video in the barn was able to prove not only did we not do anything illegal, but we did everything in our power to keep that stuff from happening,” he said, “and sometimes it still does.”

Moquett said Oaklawn has installed its own security cameras in about 40 percent of the barns and “they’re working toward 100 percent.” The value of wifi in every barn is that trainers can install their own cameras, to which they can have immediate access on their phones, he said.

He said wifi also is important to help horsemen fulfill today’s online reporting requirements in a timely manner.

“Look, if they want to use it to stream or watch races, great,” Moquett said. “But the primary reason we’re offering it is strictly for communication value, to be able to do all your stuff on your computer, and to offer the bandwidth available to make sure that if you choose not to put your own cameras on there, not having wifi is not the reason.”

Walmsley said providing wifi may be more doable for the Arkansas HBPA than some other affiliates, given there’s only one racetrack and no year-round racing.

“There are some things you can do for your members that they don’t really see,” he said. “This is one of those direct benefits — kind of like when the government builds a road — where people see the end result of the investment. Here’s a direct benefit to them, that came to them through their HBPA, and I think they will appreciate their organization that much more as a result of it.”

About 600 horses are already on the grounds at Oaklawn Park. The lucrative meet runs Dec. 6 through May 3, offering the highest winter purses in the country.

Jeanette Milligan, executive director of the Arkansas HBPA, said she’s been getting texts about the wifi from appreciative horsemen.

“Trainers told me they’re going to go get cameras,” she said. “I tell them, ‘Just wait. It’s going to be Black Friday soon. They’ll be on sale then.’”

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