Top horse trainer applied for 50 seasonal worker visas. He got zero. What it means for the upcoming racing season
Thoroughbred trainer Todd Pletcher has compiled $372 million in career earnings, more than any other trainer in the history of U.S. horse racing.
He trained two Kentucky Derby winners, three Belmont Stakes winners and won more races at Saratoga Race Course than any other trainer 13 times over the past 20 years.
None of those achievements mattered last month when Pletcher was shutout in his bid to bring in 50 seasonal workers from South America to feed, groom and exercise horses.
The federal government rejected Pletcher's request for 50 H-2B visas, a critical part of the workforce he employs to care for the 100 thoroughbreds he brings to Saratoga Springs every year.
The rejection came after the number of applications for H-2B visas far exceeded the federal cap, leaving hundreds of employers without staff to perform jobs that few Americans want. It is a problem that is impacting hotel operators, landscapers and the horse racing industry.
For the handful of horse trainers who missed out, it could be a blow to thoroughbred racing.
"We are deeply concerned about our ability to participate in the upcoming Belmont and Saratoga race meets without the presence of these 50 seasonal workers," Pletcher wrote in a letter to Congressman Paul Tonko and U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
"I don't know what we are going to do," said Maggie Sweet, chief operating officer at Todd A. Pletcher Racing Stables Inc. "There is no way we are going to find 50 experienced people."
This year was the first time Pletcher was rejected in the 20 years Sweet has worked for him.
She spent the past month contacting New York politicians asking them to convince the federal government to increase the cap on H-2B visas.
"None of this makes sense," said immigration attorney L.J. D'Arrigo, a partner with Harris Beach in Albany. "All this will do is encourage employers to hire illegal workers just to get the job done."
The demand for H-2B visas is at an all-time high, he said, and a record number of employers are unable to bring in seasonal workers. Rejections are occurring because the annual cap on H-2B visas is set at 66,000.
D'Arrigo estimates that the number of applications is more than triple that number.
One of his clients — thoroughbred trainer George Weaver — applies for 25 to 30 H-2B visas each year. This year, none of them were approved.
"I might end up turning away business," Weaver said.
He typically brings about 60 horses to Saratoga Race Course each summer. Unless the federal government raises the cap, Weaver figures he is unlikely to find enough American workers to make up for the 30 seasonal workers he would have brought in from Mexico.
To get by, Weaver may be forced to ask his current American horse groomers and other stable hands to take care of more horses.
For Maggie Sweet of Pletcher racing, she plans to contact officials at SUNY Morrisville to see if the college has students in its equine program interested in summer jobs at the track. Other trainers have considered recruiting seasonal workers from Puerto Rico.
That still would be a dramatic shift from hiring workers from Mexico and other South American countries who have 10 to 20 years experience working with thoroughbred horses.
Trainer Gary Contessa has been hiring H-2B workers from Mexico for years. This year, all 17 of his applications were granted. Last year was a different story — his visas were approved three months later than normal, forcing him to scramble to get work done until workers arrived.
"The bulk of my best employees are here on H-2B visas," Contessa said. "We do manage to hire some American workers, but they are not as knowledgeable and you have to teach them and watch them."
There are not as many American men and women willing to work on the backstretch as there were in 1975 when Contessa was starting out as an assistant trainer.
"You have to work all day, in the rain, in ice, in intense heat," Contessa said. "You have to work with animals that spend the better part of the day trying to put you in the hospital."
The H-2B program exists because there is a need, he said. And the problem could be resolved if the visa cap is increased.
Congress authorized the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to increase the H-2B visa cap from 66,000 to 135,320.
No decision has been made about increasing the cap, according to The USCIS
A spokeswoman said the agency and the Trump administration are focused on protecting the jobs, wages, and working conditions of U.S. workers as much as possible. It is part of their strategy to fulfill the president's Buy American and Hire American executive order.
The spokeswoman also said there have been no decisions on whether to reinstate an exemption that expired two years ago. That exemption previously allowed companies to bring back returning H-2B workers without being subject to the visa cap.
The use of seasonal workers and H-2B visas has been caught up in the U.S. debate over immigration and visa policy.
"It is political," said D'Arrigo, the immigration attorney from Albany.
President Trump's businesses in New York and Florida have hired seasonal workers through the H-2B visa program in recent years, according to U.S. Department of Labor records.
"The president knows the value of the program," D'Arrigo said. "I think he is afraid [to increase the visa cap and] make a decision that would upset his base."
If things continue the way they are, Pletcher worries about the impact it will have on the racing industry.
"We are not the only training operation that is going to be affected," he wrote in his letter to New York congressional members.
If there are not enough employees to take care of horses, Pletcher fears it will reduce the number of horses competing at Saratoga and Belmont this year.
"This shortage will have devastating consequences on our business and on the racing season as a whole," Pletcher wrote.
Source:
https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/n..._news_headline
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