Parx stall dispute deepens as horsemen deny trainer support claims

The fight over nine denied stalls at Parx Racing turned into a direct credibility test for the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, after Bob Hutt said the group’s claim of “immediate and extensive work” for the affected trainers was a misrepresentation of the truth.

The PTHA said its board was not one-sided in handling the matter and that it had pushed hard to help the horsemen after track management told the nine trainers in April 2026 that they would not receive stalls, without giving a reason. Hutt, a former PTHA president and current board member, said the statement went out without board approval, sharpening the split inside the organization at the center of Pennsylvania racing’s daily business.

For the trainers, the stall denials were more than an administrative dispute. Mary Pattershall said her letter ordered her horses and property off Parx grounds by Thursday, April 23, 2026, before the deadline was pushed back to Saturday, May 16, 2026. She said she had been stabled at Parx for decades and kept a barn of about seven horses. Herold Whylie said he had been stabled at Parx since 1988. The publicly identified trainers also included Brenda Wilson, Michael Catalano Jr., Josue Arce, Patrick Ashton and Daniel Velazquez.

Parx later accepted entries for upcoming cards while some of the affected trainers were told to move horses to other barns, leaving them in limbo. Catalano and Velazquez had already shifted their stables to Delaware by the time of the later reporting, while Pattershall and at least three other trainers remained at the track. The practical problem was immediate: trainers could still get on the grounds, but some could not enter horses under their own names, an arrangement that made it harder to plan staffing, keep horses in training and decide whether to stay or leave.

The PTHA said president Kate DeMasi and one affected trainer met with Parx management to try to resolve the matter, but the effort failed. The association also said its new legal counsel, Jan Budman, advised affected horsemen to first seek an immediate hearing under the Parx stall application and then, if necessary, move to arbitration through the American Arbitration Association in Philadelphia. The PTHA said none of the trainers or their counsel had pursued that route.

The dispute landed against a tense backdrop for Pennsylvania racing. On May 27, 2026, the state Department of Agriculture said Tom Chuckas, Tony Salerno and Jason Klouser were no longer employed by the Commonwealth in racing-related positions. That same day, charges against Parx trainer Felissa Dunn were dropped after an internal investigation found material misstatements of fact by one or more investigators. For horsemen trying to make business decisions at Parx, the message was clear: the governance around them was shifting as fast as the stalls.