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“The more things don’t change….”

Posted by noonante on August 24, 2020
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Saratoga thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

You know the expression: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” That doesn’t actually apply in the world of American horse racing because things don’t change all that much.

This past week the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium issued a “Thyroxine Advisory” in concert with the American Association of Equine Practitioners. It was a necessary step according to the groups because of evidence of “wholesale use of thyroxine in entire populations of racehorses as a ‘wellness’ supplement rather than as the prescription medication that it is.”

When I showed their news release to my spouse, she responded, “Is that from five years ago?” While her memory on pedigrees is close to infallible, she was off this time by two years. Thyroxine hit the spotlight in the world of racing seven years ago in connection with an investigation of a cluster of cardiac fatalities in the barn of trainer Bob Baffert.

Although the California Horse Racing Board did not pinpoint the use of thyroxine as the cause of the “extremely abnormal” cluster, Baffert acknowledged giving the drug to all the horses in his barn. He did so even though it is a prescription medication intended for treatment of specific medical conditions.

The CHRB issued its own guidance in May, 2014, to address what it called “apparently indiscriminate use” of the medication. It required that thyroxine only be administered for a “specific horse and condition” and prescribed by a CHRB-licensed veterinarian.

That month was also the time of reports by NBC and HBO on the controversies regarding the treatment of horses, partially sparked by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals putting an undercover agent in the barns of Steve Asmussen at Churchill Downs and Saratoga.

HBO reporter Bernard Goldberg questioned Asmussen about a filly suffering a fatal heart attack after crossing the finish line. Asmussen acknowledged the horse had received both Lasix and Clenbuterol (both legal medications at the time). Then he said that he “feeds” thyroxine to his horses. Again, treating it as a nutritional supplement as opposed to a prescription medication with potentially serious side effects.

The New York State Gaming Commission conducted an investigation of the many allegations by PETA of abuse in the Asmussen barn. They cleared him of many of the claims, but did find that 58 of the 66 horses that ran in Saratoga in 2013 were incorrectly administered thyroxine too close to a race. They fined him $10,000, although my calculations at the time concluded that the minimum fine should have been $29,000. For one of the game’s most successful trainers, $29K probably amounts to a rounding error.

So there you have it. Two Hall-of-Fame trainers are found to have violated standard veterinary guidelines and administered a prescription medication as a matter of course regardless of whether it was being used to treat a medical condition. One was not penalized and the other got a slap on the wrist.

So I wonder why it became necessary five years later to issue an “advisory” restating that standard guideline because of concerns over “wholesale” use of a prescription medication as a nutritional supplement.

It may not have been deliberate, but the RMTC and AAEP did not issue the advisory until after The Jockey Club Round Table on August 16. It has become a forum for the necessity of a national body that oversees uniform regulations and a consistent enforcement mechanism.

In that interview on HBO with Bernard Goldberg, Asmussen explained his 28 drug violations (in 2014) as the result of inconsistent state regulations. With the New York findings that number is now at least 86. The cheaters are just laughing at the rest of us who want a clean sport.

New York’s Asmussen report is a bogus PR stunt

Posted by noonante on December 9, 2015
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics, Saratoga thoughts. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

The New York Gaming Commission finally released its report on allegations against trainer Steve Asmussen.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals requested an investigation on March 18 2014.  On November 23, 2015, the Commission released its report along with recommendations and also levied a $10,000 fine against the trainer.  The Commission’s report was as shoddy as it was tardy.

Both the report and the Commission’s behavior indicates that the real purpose was chest-thumping about how serious they are, while at the same time not actually taking meaningful action.

Asmussen had unwittingly hired an undercover PETA investigator who worked at his barns at Churchill Downs and Saratoga in 2013.  During her employment, she secretly recorded numerous conversations with Asmussen’s top assistant, Scott Blasi, veterinarians and several not associated with Asmussen who attended a dinner at a private home.  PETA converted eight hours of videotape into a nine-minute video.  In addition to the video going viral, The New York Times ran a major piece on it just before the 2014 Kentucky Derby.  It was also featured in an edition of HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

The essence of the video was that Asmussen and those who worked for him were engaged in cruelty to horses.  There were frequent scenes of injections, horses with seemingly serious medical conditions and even dead horses.  While lurid, there was little  –  if any  –  actual evidence of wrongdoing.  The lack of evidence, however, did not prevent the predictable outcry against Asmussen and racing in general.

New York’s Gaming Commission is the primary government agency regulating and overseeing all forms of legal gambling, including horse racing, in the state.  In the report, written by staff of the Commission and presented at a meeting of the full Commission on November 23, Asmussen was exonerated on all but three of PETA’s allegations.  Those had to do with the administration of thyroxine to horses in his Saratoga barn.

Thyroxine is a synthetic hormone that is a permissible drug under the Commission’s regulations provided it is not administered within 48 hours before a race.  The purpose of the medication is to treat hyperthyroidism.  It gained a measure of notoriety in 2012 following the sudden and unexplained deaths of seven horses in Bob Baffert’s California barn.  Baffert acknowledged that thyroxine was being added to feed tubs by stable employees even though he did not even understand the purpose of the medication.  He stopped using it and the fatalities ceased.

The Gaming Commission concluded that 58 of the 66 horses that ran at Saratoga in 2013 from the Asmussen barn had been prescribed thyroxine.  The Commission’s press release announced that it had imposed a $10,000 fine on Asmussen for violating its regulation by administering the drug within 48 hours of a race.  The Commission further proposed new regulations, including one that would prohibit thyroxine from being administered within 30 days of a race.

While these steps could be viewed as significant, the reality leads to a different conclusion.  Both the report and the Commission’s actions  –  or lack thereof  –  have significant deficiencies.

In its 23-minute meeting on November 23, the Gaming Commission did not actually take any action on the staff report.  The $10,000 fine was not even mentioned, although the Commission did discuss a $300 fine to a jockey who used his goggles to urge a horse after losing his crop.  Indeed, the longest discussion at the meeting was on scheduling the next one.

I asked the Commission’s spokesperson why a $10,000 fine did not warrant a mention, let alone a discussion or a vote.  His curt response was “Staff report. Fines for racing violations are issued by staff.”  What is curious about this is that the Commission’s regulations do not give Commission staff the authority to issue fines.  The regulations do give that authority to the stewards.

More surprising, however, is that the “Staff report” did not assess a fine.  It merely recommended that Asmussen show cause why a fine should not be imposed.  One can only surmise why the staff recommendation was overruled on this point  –  again without any discussion by the Commissioners at their meeting.  The suspicion here is that “higher ups” intervened because the Commission had to appear as if were doing something, notwithstanding the reality.

The amount of the fine is an additional curiosity.  The staff report stated the “Commission has imposed previously a minimum fine of $500 for similar administrations within time limitations of a non-prohibited hormone.”  (My emphasis.)  My math indicates that the minimum fine would then be $29,000.  The staff credits Asmussen with openly admitting the violations, further observing that he thought he was in compliance with the Commission’s rules.  That explanation is akin to what he said on the Real Sports segment where he explained his 28 drug violations  –  at that time  –  on inconsistent state regulations.

While $10,000 might seem like a lot of money to you and me, my hunch is that Asmussen views it as a mere slap on the wrist, and that he is thankful for the volume discount and being able to get out of Dodge without a serious penalty.  The Commission’s regulations provide a penalty for drug violations of the loss of purse money.  In 2013, Asmussen earned $1,042,668 in purses at the Spa.  So far this year, his total purse earnings stand at more than $10 million.

The other aspect of the Gaming Commission’s investigation were proposed regulations  –  or, as the press release touted, “sweeping new regulations.”  I suspect that it is a violation of the code on press releases to announce proposed regulations without characterizing them as “sweeping,” but, as with the Asmussen fine, it is an overstatement.

Several of the proposed regulations are welcome even if they simply repeat the ethical rules of the American Veterinary Medical Association.  Thus, drugs should be administered only when needed to address a diagnosed medical need, and only when consistent with the professional judgment of the prescribing veterinarian.  Of course, no regulation is going to be meaningful unless compliance with it is monitored and violations enforced.

The proposed regulations would also increase the permissible time between administering of thyroxine (and other drugs regulating metabolism) from 2 days to 30.  Now, I do not know if this extension is either good or warranted.  One reason I do not know (aside from not being a veterinarian) is that there is nothing in the staff report justifying this regulation.

Not only that, but the staff report appears to excuse Asmussen’s administration of thyroxine just one day from the race, concluding that it “was very unlikely to have affected the health or racing ability of the horses.”  So, why is it necessary to increase the permitted administration to 30 days?

Also, if thyroxine constitutes such a significant risk, why did the Commission wait 17 months to issue this recommendation when it could have done so back in early 2014?  It did not need to adjudicate any culpability by Asmussen to take a step that would benefit all horses.

The Commission also had an opportunity to investigate whether thyroxine played a role in the sudden deaths of three horses at Saratoga in 2014.  In the report released by the Commission on November 9, 2015, there was no mention of whether thyroxine was a factor, or, for that matter, whether the Commission even considered the possibility.  Coming soon after the national exposure given the sudden deaths in the Baffert barn, this is a baffling failure.  (Thyroxine was also administered by Asmussen to a horse that suffered a fatal heart attack and that was discussed in the Real Sports segment that aired in early 2014.)  The Gaming Commission did not respond to my question regarding an explanation for this shortcoming.

If the regulations being touted by the Gaming Commission are indeed as sweeping as they claim, and, according to the press release, “will uphold New York’s status as the leading equine drug regulator in the country,” there is simply no reason they had to wait 17 months to announce them.  Adopting regulations is rarely a quick process because of legal requirements  –  notice of proposed changes, consideration of comments, and then publication of final regulations  –  but the Gaming Commission is delaying even further.  Instead of putting the regulations  –  which are already drafted  –  in to the legal process, the Commission is circulating them within the industry for comments.    They could have done this 17 months ago, since disposition of the Asmussen complaints has little to do with the merits of the policy changes.

Steve Asmussen –  for whom I have no truck  –  is not the issue here.  Rather, it is the failure of a state regulatory authority to take seriously its responsibilities.  If federal oversight of racing is to be avoided, state agencies must step up to demonstrate they are capable of self-regulation.  The New York Gaming Commission did nothing here to warrant that confidence.

 

Kentucky clears Asmussen and Blasi in PETA investigation

Posted by noonante on January 19, 2015
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission concluded there was no evidence to substantiate claims by PETA that either Steve Asmussen or Scott Blasi “maintained horses in their care in poor physical condition” or subjected any horse to “cruel or injurious mistreatment,” abuse or neglect.  The investigation followed a video produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, reports by Joe Drape in The New York Times, and a complaint filed with the Commission by PETA.

The seven and one-half minute video was released last March.  It was a disturbing account depicting dead horses and multiple injections being administered to horses.  The “star” of the video was Asmussen’s assistant trainer Scott Blasi whose constant use of a common expletive in its various forms as a noun, verb, adjective and adverb added to the overall shock value of the clip.  PETA claimed it had seven hours of video and a 285-page “report” that were not released publicly.

The KHRC subpoenaed the additional evidence PETA claimed to have, but the advocacy group refused to cooperate.  Nonetheless, the KHRC examined the claims made by PETA and concluded not only that the claims lacked credibility, but that PETA “extensively edited” the video, overdubbed audio, and “presented conversations out of context and contrary to the substance of the conversation as a whole.”  PETA’s undercover investigator who worked for several months in Asmussen’s barns was also determined to lack credibility.

The Commission’s findings were not unexpected.  As disturbing as the video was, it became clear after several viewings that there was no actual evidence of mistreatment of horses.  Similarly, none of the numerous complaints PETA filed with a myriad of federal, state and local government agencies contained evidence that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that either Asmussen or Blasi were mistreating their horses.

Having said that, there are questionable aspects of the KHRC decision.  The most significant was the cavalier dismissal of claims that Asmussen was misusing the prescription drug commonly known as thyroxine.  Thyroxine is a medication with legitimate therapeutic purposes, but also one that has potentially serious side effects.  It was suspected of being a factor  –  if not the cause  –  of several sudden deaths experienced by Bob Baffert’s barn a couple of years ago.  When he stopped the routine administration of the drug, the unexplained deaths also stopped.  Asmussen himself admitted that he “fed” thyroxine in an interview following the PETA claims.

Rather than address the merits of use of the drug  –  which Asmussen acknowledged  –  the KHRC relied instead on questionable statements by a veterinarian who stated that he recommends it for every horse because it improves the quality of its coat, and has been doing it for 35 years.  It is my understanding that is not the purpose of the medication, yet the KHRC concluded that if it is “prescribed for a specific patient,” it is not a violation of the rules.

This conclusion, however, skirts one of the more substantial complaints about the industry’s use of drugs.  Rather than administering drugs to address a diagnosed condition, the perception is that far too many trainers use drugs for performance-enhancing reasons  –  or worse, masking injuries.  Both Baffert and Asmussen admitted using this particular medication for a reason having nothing to do with treating a diagnosed condition.  The Commission should have taken a more forceful stand on this issue.

The other surprising aspect of the Commission’s decision was the inclusion of instant messages exchanged between Blasi and the PETA undercover investigator  –  43 pages of such messages.  Both Blasi and the investigator acknowledged a sexual relationship, and the KHRC concluded this affected her credibility.  Even if that conclusion is warranted, there is something creepy about including the sort of personal material that has little, if any, probative value.

Scott Blasi is not the problem

Posted by noonante on July 31, 2014
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Scott Blasi, the unwitting star of PETA’s famous nine-minute video that roiled the horse racing world in the spring, is back to work at Saratoga Race Course.  Blasi had been “relieved of his duties” in the aftermath of the video and is now back working for trainer Steve Asmussen.

For those who may have forgotten, or wish they had, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals placed an undercover investigator in Asmussen’s barns at Churchill Downs and Saratoga.  The video recorded Blasi’s working on horses, as well as comments by veterinarians candidly assessing the administration of Lasix.  At one point, Blasi disparaged one of Asmussen’s top owners, Ahmed Zayat, who then removed his horses from the barn.  Other prominent owners, notably Ron Winchell, who owns the filly Untapable as well as the Derby horse Tapiture, stuck with Asmussen.  In addition to the video, PETA filed numerous complaints with varied federal, state  –  and even one municipal  – agencies.  To date, I am not aware of any of the agencies completing their review.

As dramatic and disturbing as the PETA video was, actual allegations  –  let alone evidence  –  of illegal behavior was thin.  One of the few allegations that may have some weight was that the Asmussen barn hired undocumented workers.  Another had to do with the use of a “buzzer,” a device to electrically shock a horse.  While showing dead horses and numerous injections administered to horses created precisely the response for which PETA hoped, there was very little substance when it came to actual wrongdoing.

A substantial portion of the punch provided by the video was Blasi’s use of the King’s English.  Someone else can go and count the number of times he used a common expletive as an adjective, adverb or verb, but it was plentiful.  But if using expletives was a reason to lose a job, many of us, me included, would be out on the street.  The common portrayal of Blasi as a horseman who did not care about the welfare of the horse is also an exaggeration.  There were actually instances in which his colorful language masked the fact that he was expressing frustration with a horse’s condition and the inability to treat it.  In one memorable sequence, a farrier recommended putting super glue in a horse’s hoof to deal with holes in the hoof.  Blasi’s response  –  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard”  –  seems just about right.

None of this is to say that Blasi or Asmussen are victims in their portrayal by PETA.  It’s that Blasi does not deserve to take the full weight of problems in racing regarding the treatment of horses.  I do not know either man, but I do not think their behavior is unique in the business.  Whether Blasi returns to Asmussen’s barn or someone else’s, or never again works in the field, the problems that must be addressed are not affected.

Here are a few:

  • Horses are routinely given drugs  –  legally  –  even though there is no documented need for the medication.  Lasix is the most prominent example because it is permitted on race day, with one vet in the PETA video acknowledging it is a performance-enhancing drug.  Just go through any race card at any track and count the number of entrants not being given the drug.  You will not need a second hand.  Thyroxine is another.  In one interview Asmussen said he “feeds” the drug as if it is a nutritional supplemental and not a drug with potentially significant side effects.  One of racing’s golden boys, Bob Baffert, only stopped giving it to all his horses on a daily basis when being investigated for a number of sudden deaths of horses in his care.  Baffert did not even use a vet to administer it.  Grooms routinely added it to feed tubs.
  • Horses with musculo-skeletal issues continue to train, often with drugs, with no effort to conduct a diagnostic assessment.  This isn’t PETA or The New York Times saying it.  It was a common refrain by nationally-prominent veterinarians at the recent Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit conducted by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.
  • There are significant questions regarding the care for horses once their racing careers are done.  While the annual foal crop is now down to the low 20’s from a recent time when it was closer to 35,000, that is a large number of horses to care for once they are no longer compering.  I recently attended a fund-raiser for a prominent after-care group in which they talked about the well-known horses on their farm.  I have often thought this is an unusual selling point.  Why is there an issue caring for a horse who earned hundreds-of-thousands of dollars for its owner?  Why do those who did not share in the good times now need to contribute to feeding the horse?  I candidly do not know the economics of such farms, but I do know there are not a sufficient number of such facilities nationally to care for each retired horse  –  let alone the number who do not make it through early training and have to be retired before making it to the winner’s circle.

So racing has notable issues that must be addressed in order to grow the sport.  Let’s not assume Scott Blasi is the problem rather than simply perhaps an example of the problem.

Racing hit with another body blow

Posted by noonante on May 22, 2014
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

This time it wasn’t People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) or its undercover investigator.  It was Bryant Gumbel on HBO”s Real Sports.  And it’s NBC News with a report by Anna Schecter.  Both reports indict the racing industry for the widespread use of drugs that make horses run faster or mask pain so they can run.

The HBO report by Bernard Goldberg is sickening.  It includes ample video of breakdowns during a race, dead horses on the track, and a particularly disturbing look at a horse being put down in a part of Penn National called “The Pit.”  While HBO used excerpts from the PETA video, Goldberg also interviewed Steve Asmussen and Scott Blasi, the targets of PETA, as well as veterinarians Dr. Mary Scollay and Dr. Kate Papp, the subject of the NBC report.

Although much of the HBO report has been reported previously, the adage of “a picture being worth a thousand words” is rarely this forceful.  And it comes at a time when racing is getting the most attention it ever does with a Triple Crown bid coming up.

The trainers featured in the piece just happen to be the top three by earnings this year, according to Equibase.  The Todd Pletcher trainee Coronado Heights, one of the 19 horses who suffered a fatal breakdown racing at Aqueduct in early 2012, is mentioned because he received 17 injections of drugs  –  each one legal  –  in the week before breaking down.  Bob Baffert’s indiscriminate use of Thyroxine, a medication used to treat a thyroid condition, was discussed in the context of seven sudden deaths of horses trained by him.  Again, the medication is legal, but there was no diagnosis by a vet that any of the horses needed it.

Then there is Steve Asmussen, second on the earnings list, the active leader in career wins  –  and 28 drug violations attributed, according to Asmussen, to differing state regulations.  It was Asmussen’s barns at Churchill Downs and Saratoga at which PETA’s undercover investigator worked, secretly recording the treatment of horses.

Goldberg questioned Scott Blasi and then Asmussen about a horse that suffered a fatal heart attack just after crossing the finish line.  Neither seemed to be aware the reporter had a copy of the horse’s vet records.  Blasi said she only received Lasix.  Asmusssen acknowledged Lasix and Clenbuterol.  It turns out that in addition to those two medications, she had also been given Thyroxine, a medication that has as a side effect increasing the heart rate.  Asmussen ended up admitting  –  as he phrased it  –  that he “feeds” Thyroxine.  It’s as though a drug with a significant side effect is a nutritional supplement.

In the NBC report  –  entitled “Every Day I Almost Quit”  –  veterinarian Kate Papp described once diagnosing a horse with a stress fracture in a hind leg, convincing the trainer to given the horse some time off.  The owner, however, switched trainers and got another vet to inject the horse.  The horse broke its leg during the race and was euthanized on the track.

It is not just the equine athletes that are in jeopardy, of course, because there is a human on its back when it trains or races.  HBO showed former exercise rider James Rivera, now a quadriplegic with permanent brain damage as the result of a training breakdown.  Dr. Papp examined the horse’s vet records and concluded that the administered drugs indicated “underlying painful or diseased conditions.”

Many in racing dismissed the PETA video because of the group’s explicit agenda and the fact that some seven hours of video were edited down to nine minutes.  I don’t know how much raw footage HBO took to come up with its narrative, but it doesn’t matter anymore than it does with PETA.  While there is a level of sensationalism with so many shots of breakdowns, those in the industry know it is a disturbing reality in the sport.

The more disturbing reality, however, is that horses are given too many drugs, even if they are “legal.”  They are often given, as HBO stated, to make a horse run faster or to mask a painful condition, and not because it is necessary to treat a diagnosed medical issue.  One segment of the PETA video that was replayed by HBO was of a vet describing Lasix as a performance-enhancing drug.  Almost every horse racing in this country is racing with Lasix.  Thyroxine is being “fed” to horses not because it is necessary, but because it is viewed as a performance-enhancer.

How does the racing fan respond when asked about the HBO report?  “Oh, all those drugs are legal.”  That isn’t the answer to the problem.  It is the problem.

When a respected journalist describes racing as having a “rampant drug culture  –  one governed by greed,” it is well past the time to take corrective steps.  Racing leaders will say the industry is taking steps to address abuse, and they are.  But as Dr. Mary Scollay, the Equine Medical Director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and an author of the landmark report analyzing the 2012 Aqueduct fatalities said, “There is no excuse for us not doing better than we’re doing.”

Previous posts on drugs in racing are here, here and here.

 

New York learned nothing from PETA video

Posted by noonante on April 8, 2014
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments

The New York Racing Association and the state’s Gaming Commission make a big deal of what they call “enhanced security protocols” for four stakes during the year, including Saturday’s Wood Memorial.  The protocols require horses entered in the race to be on the grounds three days before and subject to 24-hour surveillance cameras, as well as other provisions.

One of the requirements is a treatment log to be completed by the veterinarian, which the Gaming Commission then posts on its web site in advance of the race.  The protocols require a “full daily veterinarian’s record of all medications and treatments.”  Both the Commission and NYRA seem content to have an incomplete form submitted unless you consider “pre-race” or “routine” to be an adequate diagnosis warranting the administration of medications.

What is particularly troubling about their lax attitude is that the issue of administering drugs to race horses because you can, and not because it is necessary to treat a condition, is a major issue confronting the sport.  It came up in the now famous PETA video where one veterinarian was quoted as saying all horses in Steve Asmussen’s barn were treated with Lasix because it is a performance-enhancer, and not because it was necessary to treat pulmonary bleeding.  A California investigation into seven sudden deaths in Bob Baffert’s barn found that Baffert had thyroxine administered to all his horses, although he did not even know what the purpose of the medication was.

In a six-part series in Thoroughbred Daily News last summer, the final segment was entitled “Race Horse is Not a Diagnosis.”  Yet we have NYRA and the Gaming Commission not questioning “pre-race” or “routine” as an adequate explanation for their enhanced security protocols.  Even those phrases, however, are a mite more adequate than the vet who simply left the diagnosis part of the state-mandated form blank.  That vet, by the way, is the one featured in PETA’s video describing Lasix as a performance-enhancer.

In the press release announcing the protocols, New York’s top racing officials spouted the expected pablum about their concern for safety and integrity.  There was no explanation for why these steps were taken for only four of the 2,294 races NYRA ran last year.  NYRA CEO Chris Kay said the Wood would be “conducted in the safest and most transparent manner.”

That transparency, however, only serves to demonstrate that NYRA and the Gaming Commission are tone-deaf to the forces buffeting the industry.  If you are going to boast about publicizing vet records, you should think that people may actually look at them.  And if your haphazard acceptance of records that do not even meet your own standards becomes the next subject for PETA or Joe Drape, don’t blame the messenger.

This is an issue about more than how vets fill out a form.  For NYRA and the Gaming Commission, it is about what role they will play  –  if any  –  in bringing changes to racing.  One of those changes must be  adherence to a cardinal principle that drugs can only be administered to a horse to address a specific medical need, and that medical need is documented in the records of the veterinarian.

I realize that when you are trying to attract top horses to one of your signature races it is tempting to let some things slide.  But don’t go around boasting about your commitment to safety when you are willing to accept “pre-race” or “routine” as justification for administering drugs.

Racing authorities crack down on abuse

Posted by noonante on March 28, 2014
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 Comments

That could have been the headline for Joe Drape’s piece in today’s New York Times, but the Times chose to go with “Seamy Side of a Sport:  Prodding Horses With Shocks.”

In today’s article, Drape writes about the number of battery-related incidents throughout the country in which the authorities have taken disciplinary action:  “since 1974 there have been nearly 300 instances” and “[i]n the 2000s alone, there have been 53 buzzer cases.”  But the real attention-grabber is the allegation that Calvin Borel used a buzzer when working Super Saver before his win in the 2010 Kentucky Derby.  There is no allegation that he used one during the race itself.

For those who may have forgotten, last week brought us a disturbing nine-minute video produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Drape’s initial report, all based upon a PETA undercover investigator working in the barn of trainer Steve Asmussen.  Drape recounted a litany of alleged abuses, including that Asmussen and his long-time assistant Scott Blasi employed a jockey, Ricardo Santana Jr., who used a “machine” to shock horses.  A machine is a devise that emits electrical current and is also described as a “battery,” “buzzer,” or if you wish to be bilingual, a “máquina.”

I was aware of the allegations regarding Super Saver last week when I wrote this piece about the PETA claims.  PETA had provided me with a number of documents I requested, and the Super Saver part was in a complaint PETA filed with Louisville Metro Animal Services.  It was not included in the PETA video, unlike clips of Gary Stevens and Wayne Lukas laughing about battery use.  (Stevens has since acknowledged having used one 35 years ago when he was 16.)

But I was not willing to drag another name into this sordid mix based upon what PETA wrote in their complaint, particularly since I had serious reservations about the details.  The copies of the documents PETA provided to me had many names redacted, including that of the rider using the buzzer on Super Saver, although it would not have been much of a stretch to assume it was Borel.

The source of the evidence against Borel was provided by  –  according to Drape  –  two Asmussen employees.  Now I realize that track employees will move from one barn to another, but useful context by Drape would have been to point out that Asmussen did not train Super Saver  –  Todd Pletcher did.

One of the Asmussen employees was quoted in the PETA complaint as saying that Borel (presumably) used a buzzer “more than anybody.”  It may come as a surprise to someone who has never been to a track or the backstretch that hyperbole  –  not to mention inaccurate information  –  is not exactly in short supply.  Nonetheless, it was the evidence of their claim that caused my eyebrows to rise  –  and again, none of this is in the Drape piece but is from the PETA complaint.

Borel would supposedly use the buzzer coming off the final turn to get the horse to run closer to the rail  –  giving, of course, a whole new context to his nickname “Bo-rail.”  If he did this twice during workouts, according to PETA’s complaint, then the horse would be apprehensive when it came to a race and Borel was trying to get the horse to drop down against the rail.  I will leave for those considerably more knowledgeable whether having a scared horse heading for home is a good thing.

Then there is the detail that after the Derby, the witness saw Super Saver and that he had a “perfect strip of hide off his shoulder … [at perfect] rail height  –  straight line down the [expletive] horse.”  Borel’s agent was quoted in Drape’s article denying the allegation, saying, “Why would a guy who’s broken 43 bones in his body run a horse into a fence at 35 miles per hour?”  That certainly seems pretty compelling, but it does not really disprove the allegation.

But when you parse the words of the Asmussen employees, there is no actual allegation that Borel used a battery on Super Saver.  It is the two employees “knowledge” of the jockey’s reputation that passes for evidence Borel used a battery.  And one would think that a missing strip of the horse’s hide would have resulted in an inquiry from Pletcher, Kentucky officials or Pimlico officials.

Drape has apparently had more access to PETA’s materials than anyone else.  One would think that as a journalist he has an obligation to provide an accounting of what that access has been, as well as what he has not been allowed to see.  I am not one to reflexively blame the media for news I do not like, but Drape’s past performances of dropping negative horse racing articles during Derby week does call into question his objectivity.  Even in today’s article he mentions two allegations of battery use that did not bear out upon examination.  PETA, in the interest of full accountability, should be making all of their videos available.  They may, however, be hoping to make a big splash themselves during Derby week which would explain why the Super Saver conversations have yet to be released.

Yet another wake-up call for racing

Posted by noonante on March 25, 2014
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

Racing at Saratoga brings many of the nation’s best horses, trainers and jockeys to the Spa for a 40-day meet in a resort atmosphere.  It also brings industry leaders who participate in the several seminars that take place.  Last year the unifying theme may well have been drugs and the public’s perception of widespread abuse.

At one such session last year, trainer John Kimmel lambasted those who thought that mistreatment of horses was a problem, blaming it on  –  wait for it  –  the media.  He challenged them to go to the backstretch to observe how well the horses are cared for.  Little did he know that as he was speaking, someone was doing just that, armed with a video camera.  This week, the work of the undercover investigator for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) became public courtesy of Joe Drape of The New York Times and PETA’s web site.

According to Drape’s piece, the investigator worked in Steve Asmussen’s barn at Churchill Downs and Saratoga for four months.  It is clear no one was aware they were being recorded.  PETA has filed complaints with ten federal and state agencies based on the investigation, but it is a nine-minute video that has the racing world abuzz.  Among PETA’s allegations are the mistreatment of horses, the use of batteries to shock horses, administration of Lasix as a performance-enhancing drug, and numerous violations of employment laws.

Not surprisingly, given PETA’s orientation, the video is disturbing.  The horses featured are either dead, being injected with something, or subjected to a painful examination.  While any of those occurrences is a daily reality at a track somewhere, it is the words emanating from the humans that are most damning.

Scott Blasi, Asmussen’s long-time assistant trainer, is the star, if you will, of the production,  in large part because of his seeming inability to complete a sentence without using a common seven-letter expletive.  He is observed examining what appears to be the dreadful condition of 2011 Kentucky Derby runner-up Nehro’s feet, describing the pain caused by extracorporeal shock wave therapy, joking about the use of a “battery” by one of the barn’s jockeys, explaining the mechanics of hiring undocumented workers, and identifying one of the stable’s owners as a double expletive.  Interestingly, Asmussen’s lone speaking part in the film is a barely audible off-camera sentence about hiring undocumented workers.  Blasi has been “relieved of his duties pending a review” according to bloodhorse.com.

The reaction to the video has been predictable  –  ranging from outrage to condemnation of PETA as a biased source.  Indeed, the video was edited to less than 10 minutes from several hours of recordings, and there are portions that seem to have little purpose other than portraying horse racing in the most unflattering light possible.  For example, Wayne Lukas and Gary Stevens are depicted laughing about the use of batteries, including an admission by Stevens that he once used one.  It is not clear when he did, but the Lukas comment was obviously from a time over 30 years ago with no acknowledgement that he participated in it.

Similarly, Nehro’s death from colic is implicitly linked to what is portrayed as the continuous training of an injured horse, although there is no evidence that was the cause.  I unfortunately know from personal experience that colic is a common, and sometimes fatal, condition that has a number of possible causes.

My initial reaction to the video was one of disgust.  Then I watched it another half-dozen times and realized that while it is an artful piece of anti-racing propaganda, the actual evidence of wrongdoing is pretty thin.  The most serious allegations are those dealing with the employment law violations.  Then there is Blasi explaining how he will mask an injured horse by applying a covering gel the next time the state vet comes by before a race.  Stevens, who is one of the most public faces of racing from his acting and roles as a commentator on broadcasts, clearly doesn’t help.  Then there is the veterinarian describing Lasix as a performance-enhancing medication.

The video describes Lasix as a controversial medication and, of course, it is.  It is also the only race-day medication permitted in every state.  The frequent depiction of horses being injected is emotive, but there are a number of medications that can be administered legally to a race horse.  The video does not claim that any of the numerous injections are illegal, although that assertion is made in some of the written complaints.

But supporters of racing are deluding themselves if they think portraying PETA as biased makes the problem go away.  Let’s be honest.  We know horses are often given numerous medications and injections, and we also know that, at least in some instances, there is no medical justification for the drugs.  One of PETA’s allegations is that Asmussen’s staff gave Thyroxine to most, if not all, of the horses in the barn without need.  If that name sounds familiar, it’s because it is the same drug that Bob Baffert admitted giving to all his horses when California investigated the seven sudden and unexplained deaths of horses trained by him.  Baffert, who often had the medication given by barn staff and not a veterinarian, did not even understand the effect of the drug.

We also know that an investigation into a spike in fatalities at Aqueduct in 2012 led to a report by a Task Force that made numerous and significant recommendations on the practice of veterinary medicine at race tracks and the tightening of standards for administering drugs.  We know from a report in The New York Times that the nation’s leading trainer, Todd Pletcher, had one of his horses given 14 doses of drugs in the week before his fatal breakdown at Aqueduct.  Pletcher acknowledged to the Task Force that this “pre-race medication program … was standard practice for all of the horses in his stable.”

The video is lurid, even if lacking in specifics.  The ten complaints filed by PETA, however, provide more detail even if they do not create the same level of outrage.  Six complaints deal with the wage and hour violations.  The remaining complaints  –  with the possible exception of those relating to Nehro  –  may prove to be much more troubling for the industry as a whole.

PETA’s complaint to New York’s Gaming Commission makes two allegations.  One had to do with Blasi’s knowledge that a jockey used by Asmussen’s stable used an electric shock device or “machine,” although PETA explicitly states it had no knowledge of when such a device was used.

The second part of the complaint concerns the administration of Lasix.  PETA alleges that Lasix was given to all of Asmussen’s horses when they were scheduled to work or race, regardless of whether there was a need for the drug based on the horse having previously bled.  One veterinarian was quoted as saying the drug was given because it is a “performance enhancer.”  Additionally, there is an accusation that vets working for Asmussen would sign blank forms required by the state prior to administering Lasix.  The complaint alleges that barn staff would then fill in the horse’s name prior to a work or race.

In addition to the complaint filed with the Gaming Commission, PETA also filed with the New York board that licenses veterinarians, claiming that two vets used by Asmussen improperly administered drugs without medical justification, including Lasix, Sucralfate and Thyroxine.

Whether or not Asmussen’s staff or veterinarians violated the Lasix regulations is a much less consequential question than whether either of the New York regulatory agencies  –  or their counterpart in Kentucky  –  uses its authority to conduct a more sweeping probe.  It strains credulity to think that these practices are unique to Asmussen’s operation.   Saturday’s card at Aqueduct had 76 horses entered by 48 trainers.  How many of those 76 were to run with Lasix?  All but two  –  both first time starters.  Are we to assume that each of the 74 has a documented history by a veterinarian that it had bled during a race or workout  –  as required by New York’s regulations?  I doubt there are many knowledgeable race trackers who would take a short price on that proposition.

An investigation into whether drugs are being administered as part of a therapeutic regimen to treat a specific condition, rather than to enhance performance, could go a long way in dispelling the impressions left by the PETA video.  It would also bolster the arguments of some racing proponents that ours is an industry capable of self-regulation.

The racing industry is actually filled with numerous committed, knowledgeable and thoughtful people who truly care about the sport and the well-being of its equine and human participants.  I got a chance to meet a number of them at those seminars in Saratoga last summer and was quite impressed.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about those who actually control the racing at major tracks.  New York is run by inept political appointees, Churchill Downs seems preoccupied by how much money they can extract from the Kentucky Derby, and Santa Anita and Gulfstream are owned by Frank Stronach.  When a NYRA Board meeting is obsessed by the quality of the service at the Aqueduct restaurant instead of a serious issue, it is clearly a group that simply does not get it.

The NYRA Board members always nod in unison when someone observes that the public’s perception of racing is ruined by the one bad apple using drugs illegally.  Yet, we have Hall of Fame trainer Baffert acknowledging ignorance of the effects of a drug he gave to all his horses, and certain Hall of Fame trainer Pletcher administering a cornucopia of medications to a horse who then suffers a catastrophic breakdown.  And Asmussen was on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot until the PETA story broke and the Hall removed his name from nomination.

The question for the racing industry, of course, is where do we go from here?  Unfortunately, there seems to be two likely possibilities, although they are not mutually exclusive.  One is that the continuing cascade of negative media attention will further erode the sport’s popularity.  That one appears to be inevitable without some significant action.  When The Atlantic runs with the PETA story  –  in a compelling piece by Andrew Cohen  – you should know you are in trouble.

The other is that the PETA video, despite its obvious flaws, will become a powerful incentive for governmental action.  There’s a reason for the old saw, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  Already there is legislation in Congress to place the United States Anti-Doping Agency in an oversight role for racing.  Federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania have brought criminal wire fraud charges against three trainers for either illegally administering drugs or simply possessing syringes and impermissible drugs.  And now, ten government agencies will be investigating the actions of Asmussen, Blasi and their veterinarians.

Perhaps the most common proposal is for a national organization with a commissioner akin to what we have in other major sports.  Charles Hayward, former head of NYRA and now the President of the new on-line publication Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, seems prescient in addressing this issue just over a week ago.  For reasons that are distressingly compelling, he cites the major impediments to that happening here.  Yet he does provide a possible solution in the experience in Britain with their racing authority.

I think Hayward is correct in saying that an all-encompassing organization that controls everything from marketing to licensing rights to drug regulations is too much to hope for right now.  But a necessary and useful first step would be a consensus on medication policies with a national drug czar, even if his or her authority is limited initially to operating from a bully pulpit.  If it is not one selected by the racing industry, it could well be one picked by the federal government.