Day 2

One of the biggest hassles in a trainers life is licensing. Many states have differing dates when licenses are valid which is a real pain in the ass especially when making sure that owners are properly accounted for. For instance in KY a one year license is valid from January 1st to December 31st of the same year. However in FL and LA the licenses run from July to June. The real kicker is NY which starts on the day after your birthday and goes to your next years birthday. Though it seems like a simple enough process the timing of needing a new license on January 1st right in the middle of the holiday season when many owners are on vacation and not thinking of mundane things like getting licensed is tricky. The worst issue by far is the sham cast upon us by the states that require fingerprints every 5 years. Try getting an overseas owner properly fingerprinted! And the every 5 years because the FBI clears its database excuse is ridiclous. It is a moneygrab plain and simple. I believed that the industry actually had come up with a good idea when they came up with a single registry body where an owner (not us trainers because of that tricky workmans comp. deal) could be licensed in multiple states at the same time. However more owners have issues with the National Racing Compact than they do with getting licensed in individual states. Not that this is a big surprise or anything. Anyway KY now takes credit cards for its licenses which is nice but naturally they have raised the cost of the licenses and added a $7 surcharge for using the card.