Tom Noonan

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Too early to get carried away by McConnell “bill”

Posted by noonante on September 1, 2020
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: Horse Racing Integrity Act of 2019, Mitch McConnell, Tonko-Barr. Leave a comment

Tuesday’s racing media was replete with praise for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s announcement that he had reached a breakthrough in advancing federal legislation to enact major reforms in horse racing. What is notably absent from the coverage, however, are the details that distinguish the McConnell proposal from the Horseracing Integrity Act that has been in both houses of Congress all year.

The Horseracing Integrity Act in its various incarnations has been in the House of Representatives for the last three sessions of Congress. The primary sponsors are Republican Andy Barr representing Lexington and Democrat Paul Tonko representing Saratoga Springs. They have attracted numerous co-sponsors in the House. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, and Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican, filed the current version of the House bill in the Senate this year.

The Barr-Tonko bill would authorize the United States Anti-Doping Agency, a private entity, to oversee a uniform system of medication rules and penalties for violations that would apply to the entire country. USADA is the agency that has cleaned up track and field, as well as cycling, and was instrumental in identifying Lance Armstrong as a world-class cheat and liar.

Because McConnell did not actually file a bill, we are left with media coverage as to what they think will be in the bill. Nothing I read, however, has indicated any significant differences between a McConnell bill and the Barr-Tonko version, other than a possible three-year delay in totally eliminating all race-day medications.

While that should be enough to give pause to the enthusiastic supporters of something that does not exist, there are other factors that may warrant a tempering of expectations.

The first is that McConnell has not exactly built a reputation as a person who keeps his word. For example, while he promised additional legislation to protect middle-income and low-wage workers from the consequences of the pandemic, he sent the Senate off on their usual summer vacation – or as he called it in his press release, a “state-work-period.”

He also described this as a bipartisan effort. But Paul Tonko, a long-time advocate, and a Democrat, was not at the press conference while his co-sponsor sat on the stage. McConnell said he would work with Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat motivated by last year’s fatalities at Santa Anita, but had not secured her endorsement. Given the Kentucky-centric aspect of his announcement, it was as if this was an issue only affecting McConnell’s state.

McConnell also said that the bipartisan support means the legislation could come up for a vote “as early as this year, perhaps after the November elections,” according to Frank Angst’s reporting in BloodHorse.com. Right. I am guessing that McConnell is not aware of legislative rules because even I know that if this doesn’t happen this year the whole process has to begin again after a new Senate and House are sworn in.

So rather than jumping on the effort to cry “Hosanna,” as a wagering person I would only accept odds-on wagers that we will be having this same conversation a year from now.

“The more things don’t change….”

Posted by noonante on August 24, 2020
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Saratoga thoughts. Tagged: AAEP. thyroxine, Bob Baffert, CHRB, HBO, NYS Gaming Commission, PETA, RMTC, Steve Asmussen. 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.

Travers and Whitney Festivals in Saratoga?

Posted by noonante on July 11, 2020
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics, Saratoga thoughts, Uncategorized. Tagged: Chamber of Commerce, Covid-19, Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs. Leave a comment

The Saratoga Chamber of Commerce is advocating that Broadway be closed on Travers Day and Whitney Day to allow for a street festival. In their new house organ, Saratoga Report, they boast of pressuring the City Council to close Henry Street, a small street two blocks away so the bars and restaurants there could have expanded outdoor seating.

I think there are good reasons why closing Broadway for weekend days in warm weather so there could be outdoor dining makes a lot of sense. What does not make sense, however, is promoting a “festival” where crowds will throng downtown for “dining,” and bars with takeout service, on track days that typically attract large crowds.

If you think the crowds will not come because the track is closed to spectators, consider the “Chowder Fest.” This annual event, on the first Saturday in February, features long lines outside restaurants and bars to get a two-ounce cup of their chowder made especially for this occasion. I am not making this up; it’s actually one of my favorite days. But temperatures can be below zero and/or it can be snowing. Still the crowds come. The last time I went, the crowds on the sidewalks of Broadway were so packed it was nearly impossible to walk down them.

So, bump the thermometer by 80 degrees, make it a sunny day, and add the hype that always accompanies these race days. Do you think Broadway will be jammed, despite the Chamber’s suggestion that “crowds are limited to ensure safe distancing?” Right.

Crowds will not be limited, but rather attracted by the prospect of a big outdoor party. The experience in the numerous hot spots around the country is that it is the fun events that attract the big crowds that inevitably have a lot of irresponsible conduct. Will Chamber members be taking temperatures at the many access points to Broadway and then monitoring compliance with social distancing and mask wearing? No, I did not think so.

Tracks that have “re-opened” have quickly experienced their own issues. Lone Star Park in Texas celebrated their resumption with a photograph of spectators standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the rail. They have now closed again because of an “abundance of caution.” While I have not seen a specific reason from the track, we can assume that positives showed up among either track workers or racing folks.

Monmouth Park on the Jersey shore obtained permission from the state government to admit spectators. The track thought that meant 15,000 people. The state responded with a “not so fast,” so the actual number was south of 3,000. While masks were required for spectators, Bill Finley reports in Thoroughbred Daily News that he saw few masks by the end of the day, and there was no apparent effort to enforce the requirement. For the Haskell, the track’s big day, there will only be 500 general admissions sold.

Saratoga Springs has been fortunate in not having a major problem with fatalities and Covid-19 positives. This is in large part attributable to the leadership of Governor Andrew Cuomo and his constant calls for responsible behavior. There is no national leadership apart from Dr. Fauci (whose name sake horse just won at Keeneland). Inexplicably, common sense safety measures have become a politicized matter.

But it is foolhardy to think that Saratoga Springs is immune from the terrifying spike in cases (and deaths) from around the country. This is not the time to relax our guard, particularly with events likely to attract people from around the country. The Chamber of Commerce should promote long-tern economic recovery and not leap at the first shiny object that presents itself.

The Saratoga meet should not be in Saratoga

Posted by noonante on June 28, 2020
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics, Saratoga thoughts. Tagged: Andrew Cuomo, Belmont Park, Belmont stakes, Covid-19, NYRA, Sackatoga Stable, Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, Tiz the Law. 4 Comments

Horse racing is gradually resuming in the Northeast with Belmont starting on June 3 and Saratoga Race Course scheduled for its original opening day of July 16.  The training tracks at both locations have been operating under safety protocols imposed by the New York Racing Association.

Spectators, including owners, were not permitted for either live racing or the morning workouts;  indeed, only those working directly with the horses and personnel necessary for running the track and televising the races were allowed in the facility.

I think a more pressing question, however, should be whether the Saratoga meet takes place in Saratoga Springs or moved downstate to Belmont and/or Aqueduct.  After watching the disgraceful scene  –  in Saratoga Springs  –  by the owners and friends of Tiz the Law watching the Belmont Stakes who were packed together with barely a mask in sight, I am staunchly opposed to making the risk in this community any higher.

Martin Panza, NYRA’s Senior Vice President of Racing, argued (in The Thoroughbred Daily News podcast of May 21) that the “town needs us.”  Local business interests understandably want to re-open the hotels, restaurants, bars and retail shops that have been shuttered. The race meet is not just an important part of their annual revenue, but an essential one.

By all accounts, NYRA has done an effective job of minimizing the virus risks on the Belmont Park backstretch while allowing training to continue. It is, of course, located near the New York City and Long Island “hot spots,” and has experienced multiple infections and, even worse, a death. But their extensive protocols appear to have the problem contained. Nonetheless, the backstretch experienced 85 positive (and recovered) cases from a population of 585. Keeneland reported 27 positives from a resident population of 200. (The numbers are from BloodHorse.com. I do not know what the dates are, which would inform on infection trends.)

That does not mean, however, that it would be smart to move a substantial piece of that operation up the Northway. In addition to hundreds of horses – and the humans needed to transport them – there are hundreds of workers necessary to care for them. The Saratoga area has been relatively quiet in terms of the virus over the past several weeks. Introducing a significant influx of people who, by necessity, work in close proximity to their colleagues  –  and may be coming from a virus hot spot  –  is inviting a spread.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that last year’s crowds are not coming back this year. And I will hazard a guess that for every track worker coming for the meet who goes to a bar or restaurant there will be a local resident who is going to stay away.  It’s not that the track worker is inherently a risk, but that there is an increased risk, particularly in the confined indoor spaces where the virus thrives.

The last thing those businesses need, however, is a resurgence in the virus that results in either further restrictions or – even worse – a lack of public confidence that will have prospective customers staying away in droves for a prolonged period of time.  And as much as I hate to say it, the safe practices that have been observed in New York may be starting to fade.

Governor Cuomo said a week ago that the state has received 25,000 complaints from residents about the multiple failures to maintain safe practices, including congested parks, restaurants and bars. The Onion “reported” that the Mayor of Dallas told residents “they would soon officially be entering Phase 4 of pretending the coronavirus was over.”

Lone Star Park just tweeted a welcome to fans attending the track’s reopening with a photograph of spectators standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the rail, even though Texas is one of the states experiencing a terrifying increase in infections.  Delaware Park recently resumed racing and permitted spectators.  Shortly after opening, however, it was forced to cut back to just 1,000 patrons for reasons not reported.  But I think we can surmise that it was irresponsible behavior on the part of fans that compelled the reduction.

But NYRA’s concern for the town (and I do not doubt their sincerity) is perhaps secondary to their own business interests.  Martin Panza said it was important for the races to actually be run at the Spa in an interview with Bill Finley quoted in Thoroughbred Daily News on April 26:

“Even if we cannot have fans at the track, the handle for a Saturday at Saratoga will be close to double what we would handle if the races were at Belmont and certainly a lot more than what we would handle at Aqueduct. Being up there will allow us to handle a lot more money on our races and that means much larger purses.”

Now I am far from an expert on racetrack economics, but what Panza says about the handle does not make a lot of sense. If he is saying that a typical Saratoga handle exceeds a typical Belmont handle and far exceeds a typical Aqueduct handle, I cannot imagine anyone would disagree. But I think the recent experience with wagering in the United States strongly suggests that his concern is overblown.  And it is the Spa’s racing product  –  top horses,lots of turf and two-year-olds  –  that is the attraction.

Oaklawn Park’s Arkansas Derby is a must for racing fans every spring, but not to the level this year’s split divisions revealed. Oaklawn attracted a seismic 252 per cent increase in handle for the full card over last year’s version. Churchill Downs’ card on May 23 had five interesting stakes – a Grade III being the only graded one – and saw a 208 per cent increase over the same day last year according to TDN.

The TDN has been publishing handle figures from major tracks compared to comparable days a year ago.  These are recent changes for Belmont Park with increases this year compared to last year:

  •   Friday, June 5          + 55%
  •   Saturday, June 6     + 81%
  •   Sunday, June 7        + 85%
  •   Thursday, June 11  + 85%
  •   Friday, June 12        + 21%
  •   Saturday, June 13   + 12%
  •   Sunday, June 14      + 59%
  •   Thursday, June 18  + 86%
  •   Friday, June 19       + 130%

The only decrease in handle from a comparable day in 2019 was  –  of all things  –  the Belmont Stakes which handled 34% less than it did for the same race card lasy year.  But as Martin Panza would be the first to tell you, field size is one of the most definitive factors in handle size.  So, here are the field sizes for the five graded stakes preceding this year’s Belmont Stakes:  5, 6, 5, 7, 8.  Sunday’s card bounced back with a 62% increase over last year’s Sunday of Belmont weekend..

Most wagering, even when there are spectators, does not take place at a mutual window in an historic grandstand. I looked at the handles on eight days in the middle of last year’s meet. On every day I looked at – whether it was a Wednesday or a Saturday – the amount wagered through off-track sites was between three and four times that bet on track. So Panza’s argument that NYRA will lose the on-track handle is true, but the impact is blunted by the above data.

The Saratoga meet is obviously an important event for both the racing scene and the Saratoga community.  Having some of the best racing in the world moved temporarily to either Belmont or Aqueduct should not have a significant effect on NYRA’s handle.  But it could have a devastating impact on Saratoga Springs that could take years for a recovery.  It should not be a difficult call.

As a Saratoga resident, I have witnessed a disturbing lack of compliance with health mandates.  Perhaps if the city or state park replaced its flashing sign of “Please use a face covering” with “Wear a Mask, Tiz the Law,” maybe the Sackatoga people could comply instead of being the poster child for a Covid-19 hotspot on national TV.

 

President Trump’s Coronavirus Guidelines – updated

Posted by noonante on March 29, 2020
Posted in: Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: coronavirus, Donald Trump. 2 Comments

I received President Trump’s Coronavirus guidelines on March 28, two days before they were to expire.  I have updated the guidelines to reflect his actual words and conduct since the crisis became a public concern:

dsc_9499[1].jpg

  •   Ignore the advice of public health professionals and doctors;
  •   Ignore the advice of the intelligence community on the threats posed by the coronavirus and the lack of preparedness by the government;
  •   Minimize the threat posed to Americans and assure them I have everything under control;
  •   Don’t utilize available tests, but instead botch a new one so that even today testing is inadequate;
  •   When finally recognizing the severity of the threat, don’t take effective steps to acquire necessary protective equipment for health care professionals and ventilators for patients;
  •   Deny such necessary equipment to states headed by Governors who are not sufficiently obsequious such as Andrew Cuomo and that “young woman” from Michigan;
  •   Just make stuff up, whether it be “alternative facts” (lies) or unproven medical treatments;
  •   Blame the media, Obama, and Democrats for any shortcomings;
  •   “I take no responsibility at all”;
  •   The ONLY PRIORITY is my re-election.

Trump has been making a lot of noise about relaxing his original guidelines to “get America back to work.”  This is something that will have to happen at some point, although not in time for there to be the “packed churches” on Easter that he somehow thinks is a good idea.  Any such effort should be dependent on adequate testing in concert with the advice of people who know what they are talking about.

The bottom line is: follow the advice of health care professionals and ignore Trump.

 

A look back inspired by social distancing

Posted by noonante on March 22, 2020
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary. Tagged: drugs in racing, Jockey Club Round Table, reforms in racing, Sheikh Mohammed, USADA. Leave a comment

This seems like a good opportunity to embark on any number of projects an inveterate procrastinator can acquire.  I have been in desperate need of cleaning out and reorganizing my files, so I grabbed a big one thinking I would be able to toss many of the clippings in it.

So I took the one labeled “Drugs I.”  This is from back in the day when I thought a single file could contain several years of reporting on that topic.  Nowadays, they are labeled “Drugs 2019, file 1,”  “Drugs 2019, file 2,” etc.  Since this file had articles from 2012 and 2013, I assumed I would be tossing most of them.

I did get rid of some, but here are some titles of ones that were unfortunately resonant:

  •   “A Derby Win, but a Troubled Record for a Trainer,”  New York Times, May 10, 2012;
  •   “Facing horse racing’s drug problem,”  ESPN.com, June 1, 2012;
  •   “Facing the leadership deficit,”  ESPN.com, August 14, 2012;
  •   “Medication Reform Takes Step Toward Reality,”  BloodHorse.com, December 14, 2012;
  •  “On Salix, Kentucky Feeling Alone on Ledge,”  BloodHorse.com, March 14, 2013;
  •  “Lasix ban:  Breeders’ Cup hand forced by waning support,”  DRF.com, March 21, 2013;
  •   “Handicapping Dopers at the Racetrack,”  New York Times, August 16, 2013;
  •  “Medication Reforms Carry Sense of Urgency,”   BloodHorse.com, August 13, 2013;
  •  “Law Panelists Note Progress in Drug Reform,”  BloodHorse.com, August 13, 2013;
  •  “Sheikh Mohammed launches inquiry after police seize drugs from Dubai jet,”  The Guardian, September 29, 2013;
  •   “Uniform medication reform again a major topic at Round Table,”  DRF, August 13, 2013;
  •   “Racing’s credibility on line over lack of doping transparency,”  independent,ie, December 9, 2013;
  •   And, my favorite:  “Time for racing leaders to get their heads out of the sand,”  TDN link to tenoonan.com, December 11, 2013.

I am guessing the only ones not disturbed by that listing are those who have successfully resisted or slow-walked any meaningful reform in a sport desperately in need of a significant overhaul.  I did not get a headline that reflected the remarks of Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, at the 2012 Jockey Club Round Table.  But it is a sad reminder of how long an alternative that could save racing as a sport has been out there.

There are some sidelights that make the above-list even more disturbing.  The first is that the 2012 Derby reference means that in three of the last eight Kentucky Derbies there have been questions about impermissible drugs by the trainers of horses who crossed the finish line in first place.

The other is the reference to Sheikh Mohammed, head of racing’s most powerful operation, and the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates.  The Guardian reports that “[t]housands of pounds worth of unlicensed products  –  including steroidal injections, anaesthetics and anti-inflammatories that have been described a ‘potentially toxic and dangerous to horses’  –  were seized and destroyed by the UK Border Agency….”  The investigator appointed by the Sheikh to conduct the investigation is his wife, Princess Haya.  While she is indeed a respected horse person in her own right, it’s his wife.

The sad part of this is that any of those headlines could have been written this year  –  except, of course, for ones suggesting progress on drug reform efforts.  Racing is living on borrowed time, and the time for changes was evident eight years ago.

 

Current crisis – will anything change?

Posted by noonante on March 16, 2020
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: ARCI, Ed Martin, equine deaths, Horse Racing Integrity Act, Jason Servis, Jorge Navarro, Maximum Security, PED's, The Washington Post, X Y Jet. 1 Comment

Horse racing needed another story in order to attract national attention.  In the past year we had the crisis on fatalities at Santa Anita.  Then there was the story about the 2018 winner of the Kentucky Derby failing a drug test that could have prevented him from even running at Churchill Downs.  So in the past week we read about the FBI arresting 29 racing figures for allegations of illegal drugging.  Oh, one of those arrested was the trainer of the horse that finished first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby.

The arrests are the result of indictments obtained by the Southern District of New York, justifiably feared by society’s miscreants.  The defendants include thoroughbred and harness trainers, veterinarians, and enterprising entrepreneurs aware of the market for illegal drugs in racing.  The most prominent trainers are Jason Servis, trainer of Maximum Security, and Jorge Navarro, trainer of X Y Jet who won the $2.5 million Golden Shaheen last March in Dubai.

The allegations are sickening.  You can read the main indictment here. In addition to  giving Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED’s) to top race horses, the defendants are accused of using and producing drugs that cannot be detected by traditional testing mechanisms.  One defendant accused Navarro of surreptiously killing six horses.  X Y Jet died in January, 2020, of a heart attack according to Navarro.  The indictment does not charge crimes regarding any of the seven fatalities.  (While the drugs are referred to as “performance enhancing,”  it often comes at the cost of making a horse more susceptible to injury, including ones that result in its death.)

The indictments represent the most significant threat to the viability of racing since the Santa Anita fatalities.  As can be expected, the responses from leading industry figures are predictable.

If one were a bettor, the odds-on favorite for making the most tone-deaf and inane comments would be Ed Martin, President and CEO of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, who took the time to pen an op-ed in The Paulick Report.  Martin proclaimed “this is not a negative for the racing industry, but testimony to the fact that the system can and does work….”

That’s right, the system works.  That is, it works if prominent trainers can administer thousands of illegal drug doses over a period of years to horses running in some of the world’s most prestigious races, but are not brought to justice by state racing commissions and regulatory bodies but by federal law enforcement agencies.  (The nonsensical “system works” pap was also pronounced by Joe Appelbaum who heads up the New York organization representing owners and trainers.)

Martin explains how well the system works:

“The severity of the allegations should come as no surprise.  Illegal drug manufacturing and distribution, falsified veterinary records and prescriptions, fraudulent labeling, and illegal doping of horses have all been openly discussed at ARCI meetings in recent years….”

“Openly discussed” in “recent years.”  This is the organization that represents the state agencies responsible for enforcing anti-doping policies who apparently were powerless to combat widespread abuse.  Over those same years that the “enforcers” were fretting about doping, there have been people willing to speak out about the doping abuse in racing.  Martin would disparage those folks as a disservice to the sport, even suggesting they were the real problem.

Martin is also a constant proponent of racing being “clean”  –  indeed, the most drug-free of major sports  –   because less than one per cent of post-race testing indicates a drug overage.  He never says that’s because the testing is limited and cannot identify those illegal drugs that are at the core of the federal indictments.

Martin’s real agenda is to say whatever he needs to in order to prevent what a sizeable chunk of people think is the only real answer to save racing  –  the Horse Racing Integrity Act, sponsored by a bipartisan majority (really!) in the House of Representatives.  As he said, “nobody needed a federal bill to make [the indictments] happen….”  That is, of course, true.  You may agree that two trainers administering thousands of illegal drug dosages over a period of years is an acceptable price to pay for not disturbing the incompetence, inertia and indifference of many of the 38 separate state regulatory bodies.

As with many trade organizations, the ARCI exists to protect the interests of its constituents, and not the broader interests of those affected by the decisions of those members.  And the Horse Racing Integrity Act would do just that.  It would replace the current patchwork of 38 separate state bodies that are responsible for setting drug policies, investigating abuses and meting out discipline to violators.  The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) would oversee an independent body that would assume the drug oversight from the state bodies.

One of the most significant problems confronting racing is that no one is in charge.  In addition to those 38 state agencies, we have the ARCI, RMTC, NTRA, NHBPA (and its state affiliates) and, of recent vintage, the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition.  I seriously think that if you asked a casual observer to name one figure associated with horse racing, the majority would pick Bob Baffert.

Graham Motion, who supports the federal legislation and is one of the sport’s more respected trainers, recently said in Thoroughbred Daily News, “We cannot police our own sport. … we can’t just keep on creating committees.”  Putting USADA in charge of drug policy and enforcement would not mean they were in charge of the whole sport.  But it would mean there would be a national, credible, and independent voice that could address the inevitable future scandals.

And let us make no mistake.  There will be future scandals.  The allegations of the indictments are, in part, based on wiretaps and informants, and now there are reams of documents that will prove to be incriminating.  How would you like to be one of the “customers” of the  ring run by defendants Scott Mangini and Scott Robinson who allegedly sold “millions of dollars worth of … PEDs” between 2011 and 2020?  I doubt that Servis and Navarro were their only customers and I suspect there will be some massive flipping about to occur.

Can the racing industry respond in a meaningful manner?  I seriously doubt it.  The rash of anodyne statements from leading organizational figures (“the health and safety of the horses is paramount, blah, blah”) is no longer going to be sufficient.  Years of inaction on meaningful reform means there is no sensible person  –  either inside or outside the sport  –  who thinks the industry is capable of self-regulating.

It is time to realize that the real decision makers are the general public and their representatives in elected bodies throughout the country.  When The Washington Post editorializes in support of abolishing racing  –  “Horse racing has outlived its time”  –  the bell is definitely tolling.

If those with knowledge, passion and more than rhetorical care for the safety of horses do not martial their forces, the end of racing may very well be near.

“But we love our horses….”

Posted by noonante on November 18, 2019
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics, Uncategorized. Tagged: Chad Brown, equine deaths, NYTHA, Santa Anita, Steve Asmussen. Leave a comment

We are approaching the completion of a full year of debate, concern and apprehension over the future of racing in the United States sparked by the fatalities at Santa Anita in the early part of 2019.  A common trope among industry insiders to deflect public skepticism is that “we love our horses.”  As with any generality, there are elements of truth in that sentiment but, as with any generality, it is not universally true.

Recent developments from New York will cause outside observers to question that commitment when top level figures in the sport do not even treat humans with respect and dignity  —  let alone meet legal obligations.  The state’s Department of Labor has announced that it recovered almost $1 million in “stolen wages, damages and penalties” from, among others,  trainers Chad Brown, Kiaran McLaughlin, Linda Rice and Jimmy Jerkens.

Among the allegations against Brown is that he violated federal and state laws by “knowingly” charging workers from other countries who need special visas $1,500 in cash per worker.  It is not Brown’s first brush with wage or immigration violations.  It was announced during the summer that the United States had reached a settlement in which he agreed to pay $1.6 million in lost wages, penalties and immigration violations.

Brown, of course, is one of the top trainers in the United States.  He has won almost $30 million in purses this year alone, and led the nation the past two years with purse winnings of $27.5 million and $26.2 million.  In the same summer he was assessed that $1.5 million by the United States, he was nonetheless able to scrape together enough coin to pay $1.5 million for a premier property in Saratoga that borders the track.  He could walk to work if he decides to live there.

Chad Brown house-9294

Below is where stable hands live while at Saratoga.  They can also walk to work since they live in the stable area.

Oklahoma dorm room-8617

In fairness to the New York Racing Association, they have done a great job in recent years to upgrade the dormitory facilities such as the one depicted above.

Just to be clear:  the almost $90 million in purses that Brown’s horses have earned in the past three years is not what is used to pay his employees.  That is the amount that his owners and Brown get over their expenses.  Brown’s owners pay a daily rate that goes to the employees, so they also are benefitting from Brown’s cheating or   —  to use New York’s language  —  stealing from the workers.

The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association has released a statement in which they assert that “no small business is perfectly run” and are subject to an array of “confusing” rules and a “challenging timekeeping environment.”  It is an organization that represents trainers and owners in New York.

Their argument is ludicrous.  Chad Brown is not a “small businessman” in any sense of the word.  On a sunny day in August, I stood at Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track and counted 16 of Brown’s horses coming out for a workout.  That’s 16 exercise riders on horses in what are typically multiple sets during morning training.  I would be willing to wager that the vast majority of New York’s trainers do not have 16 horses, let alone have the money to pay that number of exercise riders for a multiple sets.

If someone with hundreds of million dollars in revenue cannot keep track of his employees, he or she is not going to survive for long.  As much as his competitors may hope otherwise, Brown is not going anywhere soon  —  unless it is to the winner’s circle.  Brown may simply view law violations as a cost of business after you get caught.

And it is those competitors  –  many of whom are legitimately running small businesses, who are going out of business because they cannot compete with the behemoths such as Brown and the other “super-trainers.”  One of those super-trainers is Steve Asmussen.  He has been found liable for his third violation of cheating his workers, even though he has been running second to Brown in purse earnings in recent years, having won purses totaling over $70 million in the last three years.

If NYTHA is truly concerned about the small trainers, they should welcome the crackdown on the cheats and frauds in the business.

Just as important, however, is that it is yet another black eye for a sport that desperately needs positive attention.  Much has been made of NHL hockey star Erik Johnson’s paying the medical bills to save one of his horses who recently broke down at Del Mar.  His efforts are, of course, commendable, but the fact that the racing media views it as noteworthy means that it is not typical.

What would be even more newsworthy would be if Chad Brown’s or Steve Asmussen’s owners publicly denounced either for not treating their human employees in accordance with the law, and with respect and dignity.  We are speaking of businessmen who have made enough money that they can spend millions on horses that either Brown or Asmussen would agree to train.  Regrettably, they may not be interested in paying more on their daily rate to ensure fair treatment of those who care for the horses.

But, at least for now, can we stop pretending that powerful figures in racing love their horses when they do not have the same attitude for our fellow humans?

 

 

Will New York be next in the spotlight?

Posted by noonante on October 3, 2019
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary, Politics. Tagged: "purse-to-claim price ratio", Andrew Cuomo, ARCI, Belmont, CHRB, Del Mar, Dr. Scott Palmer, equine deaths, NHBPA, NYRA, NYS Gaming Commission, Out-of-competition testin, Santa Anita, Saratoga, The Jockey Club, The Stronach Group, Thoroughbred Daily News. Leave a comment

“As the racing world holds its collective breath, Santa Anita opened its fall meet  –  leading to the Breeders’ Cup  –  on Friday.  The one certainty is that any equine fatality will become a national media story.  If there is a second, the calls for outlawing the sport will increase.”  I wrote that Saturday morning.  Saturday afternoon, Santa Anita experienced its first racing fatality and the second since training resumed.

Santa Anita is in the national spotlight because there have now been 32 fatalities on its tracks this year, both in racing and training.  While there are several tracks in the state, Del Mar, the only other one that gets national attention, just concluded its recent meet with no deaths.

New York has four thoroughbred tracks, with Saratoga and Belmont being the most prominent.  New York has so far escaped the level of scrutiny that makes for the daily drama at Santa Anita. It is not, however, because the level of fatalities at New York’s tracks is not in the same ballpark.

If we only look at Saratoga and Belmont, there have been 36 total fatalities this year, including both racing and training.  Aqueduct, which races for the six months not covered by that pair, has had four.  Finger Lakes, a track not run by the New York Racing Association, has had 10.

I am not using these numbers to suggest that there is some sort of meaningful comparison that can be made between safety in California and New York.  There are numerous variables that must be considered in making any conclusions based strictly on numbers.  And California still has not stated publicly if it has determined the reason for the spike in fatalities earlier this year.

My point is that there is another high-profile racing jurisdiction that may have dodged the bullet of national scrutiny, but that it is living on borrowed time.   And that borrowed time may also be true for the racing industry as well.

The Stronach Group that runs California has undertaken a number of reforms to address the crisis.  Among the more controversial steps have been restrictions on the use of the whip and a gradual phase-out of the race-day medication Lasix.  It has also increased significantly pre-race veterinary examination protocols and is now requiring advance notice of morning works and pre-work veterinary reviews.  California’s regulatory body, the Horse Racing Board (CHRB), has been extensively involved in discussing and approving safety iniitatives.

While The Stronach Group and the CHRB are addressing both safety concerns and the increasingly negative perception of racing with imaginative and forward looking steps, the same cannot be said of its counterparts in New York.  NYRA is the parallel of The Stronach Group and the New York State Gaming Commission is the regulatory body akin to the CHRB overseeing horse racing.

New York experienced its own high-profile crisis with equine fatalities in the early part of 2012 at Aqueduct Racetrack.  Governor Andrew Cuomo directed an investigation by a panel of experts who came up with a 100-page Report looking at possible causes and recommendations for improvement.

One of the recommendations was that the regulatory agency “should expand its recently enacted out-of-competition testing rule” to include additional medications.  It is a recommendation Governor Cuomo specifically cited when he directed the regulatory agency to adopt it.  (Out-of-competition testing is not to be confused with the standard post-race drug testing that is commonplace.)

Out-of-Competition Testing (OCT) is universally accepted as a necessary component of any program to detect cheating in sports.  It is a tool used by the United States Anti-Doping Agency to catch cheats in cycling and track and field, and by the major team sport leagues in America.  Even the Ultimate Fighting Championship has an effective program.  Dr. Rick Arthur, the Equine Medical Director for the state of California, has said that without an out-of-competition testing program with teeth, you won’t have a real anti-doping program.

So how is New York doing?  I have been submitting public records requests for New York data going back to January 1, 2014.  More than five and one-half years later, New York has never identified a thoroughbred horse that tested positive in an out-of-competition test.  Never.

That may be because they do not conduct the unannounced surprise testing that is an essential component of an effective program.  New York’s Gaming Commission instead announces they will be conducting OCT on horses in the days before a Grade I stake worth a million dollars.  The lone exception to this was a low-profile trainer who had some negative media attention before the horses in his barn were tested.  (The treatment of low-profile trainers in contrast to the “super trainers” is a subject for another article.)

There is another matter that Governor Cuomo directed his regulatory agency to implement from the 2012 Task Force Report.  That would be a regulation governing the purse value in claiming races, or the “purse-to-price ratio” that I have written about several times.  Dr. Scott Palmer, DVM, who chaired the Task Force and is now New York’s Equine Medical Director, said:

 … there’s some very good research that’s shown that there is an increased amount of risk of catastrophic injury for horses in claiming races where the purse to price ratio is greater than 1.8 to one.  This is a very sound piece of scientific information …”

(The ratio compares the purse value to the claiming price.  A 1.8 ratio means that the purse cannot exceed $36,000 in a $20,000 claiming race,).

Palmer’s comment was made in a meeting of the Gaming Commission that caused me to wonder if I was hearing things correctly.  Because he was advocating for increasing the ratio over its then-level of 2.0.  So at a time when the nation’s public attention to racing was largely concerned with fatalities at Santa Anita, we had New York’s Equine Medical Director proposing a rule change contrary to that of his own Task Force (and the Governor’s explicit directive) that would lessen safety protections for horses and jockeys.

Over a five-week period beginning in August, three of the fatalities from racing at Saratoga and Belmont came where the purse-to-claim ratio exceeded Palmer’s standard of 1.8.

One can certainly argue that increasing the purse in a claiming race is not going to cause a catastrophic injury.  One can similarly argue that Lasix was not the cause of the fatalities at Santa Anita.  What would seem to be inarguable, however, is that horse racing has a serious public perception problem, and that the use of race-day medication and the Palmer-backed change is not going to convince a skeptical public that racing is doing everything it can to protect horses and jockeys.

While California has The Stronach Group and the CHRB acutely aware of the need for public support, it also has a Governor and a United States Senator who have already made public comments raising a possibility that horse racing could be abolished.  If New York’s racing leaders think Governor Cuomo will stand with them if the state begins to experience a similar level of controversy, it time for them to stop deluding themselves.

The Thoroughbred Daily News had a recent feature in which it asked prominent racing insiders to comment on a controversial proposal by The Jockey Club to regulate breeding.  A common thread of many responses was that the industry had more important issues, implicitly saying that the sport could only focus on one matter at a time.  Much to my delight, TDN is now asking “what would you do to improve the sport?”

The first respondent identified free past performance data as his top priority.  That’s right.  An industry is confronting a legitimate existential crisis and the most important matter is getting free PP’s into the hands of those who don’t want to spend $4 to get a racing card from The Daily Racing Form.

This is a level of obtuseness that may be the second biggest threat to racing’s survival.  The national racing organizations  –  with the notable exception of The Jockey Club  –  are bereft of ideas and are instead clinging desperately to maintain the status quo, even though that status quo has seen constantly declining metrics on the sport’s perception.

One such group, the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, recently put out a statement advocating the retention of Lasix on race day.  Then there is the Association of Racing Commissioners International  –  possibly in an effort to emphasize their cluelessness  – said that if the horse people who cared so much about their horses could not use Lasix, they would start injecting formaldehyde.  Seriously.

New York could join with California and start implementing safety-oriented steps  –  I would start with a vigorous program of Out-of-Competition Testing.  I candidly doubt that New York will take any meaningful actions.  It is yet another reason that those concerned about the future of the sport should push for adoption of the Horse Racing Integrity Act in the United States Congress.

 

 

 

 

California made right call on Justify’s drug positive

Posted by noonante on September 19, 2019
Posted in: Horse Racing, Political/Social commentary. Tagged: Bob Baffert, California Horse Racing Board, Dr. Mary Scollay, Dr. Rick Arthur, drug positive, Joe Drape, Justify, New York Times, NPR, Santa Anita Derby, scopolamine, Scott Simon, Triple Crown. Leave a comment

Horse racing faces yet another major crisis.  Joe Drape of The New York Times reported that 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify tested positive for a prohibited drug after the Santa Anita Derby.  He needed a first or second in that race just to be eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby.  Had he been disqualified in California, he would not have become the 13th horse to win the Triple Crown.

There has been considerable media coverage of this event since the only racing news that gets considerable coverage is when it is negative.  Coming on the heels of the 30 fatalities that occurred at Santa Anita early this year, it is  –  to state the obvious  –  not what racing needs.  It is also, however, an overblown event in which too many in the media are eager to portray it as a scandal.

Justify’s post-race test showed traces of scopolamine.  It is found in the drug Buscopan, but also in jimson weed, a plant that can appear in straw and hay and, thus, represents a possible source of environmental contamination that would appear in a horse’s blood or urine.  When trainer Bob Baffert was notified of the positive, he requested that a split sample be tested.  This is standard practice for drug positives and serves as a check on the original finding.  That sample also came back positive.

Positive findings are reviewed by the California Horse Racing Board, that state’s regulatory body overseeing horse racing.  In an executive session (i.e. private) in August, 2018, the Board decided that the positive was the result of environmental contamination and that no penalty should be assessed against the purse won by the owners or Baffert.  None of this became public until Drape wrote his article that appeared last week.

It was inevitable that a media frenzy would develop as a result of Drape’s piece.  Both National Public Radio and Drape have now said that Justify was ineligible to win the Derby and the Triple Crown.  I expect more from respected outlets such as NPR and the Times.  The most helpful report has been a September 12 piece by Frank Angst of BloodHorse.com, who is the source for much of which I write here.

Many racing fans and industry leaders thought the declining fortunes of racing as a significant feature of America’s sports landscape would be reversed by a Triple Crown winner.  It is perhaps the ultimate irony that it is just such a horse that may prove to be yet another nail in the coffin of a sport that has not recovered from the Santa Anita fatalities this year.

Here is what I am able to glean are the facts regarding the drug positive.  It is based on Angst’s reporting which relies on interviews with Dr. Rick Arthur, the Equine Medical Director of California, and Dr. Mary Scollay, formerly in the same position in Kentucky, and now with the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium.  In my experience writing about racing, and listening to both vets speak in various forums, I have found each individual to be knowledgeable, reliable and credible.

Justify’s urine sample showed a concentration of scopolamine of 300 nanograms per milliliter, in excess of the California threshold for the drug.  According to Arthur, the blood test showed a lower concentration, which was a factor in Arthur’s recommending no penalty to the CHRB.  (It is not clear from the reporting if the concentration in the sample of blood also exceeded California’s limit.)

In addition, Arthur said that the test showed the presence of the drug atropine, which also would be associated with jimson weed if that was the source of the overage.  Atropine would not be in the sample if the source of the scopolamine was Buscopan administered by a human.

As a general matter, the overage of any impermissible drug in excess of the regulatory limit is a violation, and under the industry-wide “absolute insurer” rule, the trainer is responsible for the overage without regard to personal fault.  The penalty for a violation is subject to several factors.

The Association of Racing Commissioners International has produced guidelines on penalties that assign impermissible medications into groups based on the nature of the drug and its effect on equine health and performance.  There is then a classification of penalties that is designed to match the severity of the violation with an appropriate penalty.  California has adopted many of the ARCI’s protocols, although the drug classifiations and penalty guidelines are not an exact match.  This bit of arcana is only worth mentioning because the ARCI moved scopolamine to a lower (i.e., less severe) classification and the CHRB did not immediately follow suit, so that California’s higher classification was in effect at the time of Justify’s positive.

Both Arthur and Dr. Scollay were involved in the decision by the ARCI to lower the classification of scopolamine as part of a comprehensive review of medications on the list.  Angst reports that Scollay and Arthur viewed the lowering of the classification as warranted because there was little potential for the medication being performance-enhancing and because of the high likelihood of environmental contamination.

The delay in changing the classification of scopolamine by the CHRB meant that a more severe penalty could be imposed.  Under the higher level, the horse could have been disqualified.  But California’s penalty schedule did not call for that penalty under the lower classification to which scopolamine was ultimately moved.

What has been missed in much of the commentary on this issue, including the three articles by Joe Drape, is that California’s regulations do not, and did not, require disqualification of Justify even under the higher penalty classification.  The CHRB rules call for deviation from the standards “where the facts of the particular case warrant such a deviation,”  including “mitigating circumstances.”  Among the mitigating circumstances cited is the “probability of environmental contamination.”  This approach is consistent with the model rules recommended by the ARCI.

Another important element overlooked in almost all the coverage is that the rules of the CHRB require that the results of the “official test sample and the split sample shall be, and shall remain confidential … unless and until the Board files an official complaint or accusation.”  I have written often about the self-defeating lack of transparency by government agencies and that was my initial reaction when this story broke.  But if Drape, NPR and many others complain about the CHRB not following its rules, we should expect they mean all rules.  It is not hard to understand why the CHRB has such a rule.  Absent some sort of finding that there has been a violation, owners and trainers should not be subject to the negative publicity attendant with claims determined to be not worth pursuing.

Drape’s article is shoddy, irresponsible and more of advocacy journalism than factual reporting.  Ironically, the third of his articles appeared on the same day as another Times piece pertaining to Brett Kavanaugh that is also being accused of similar defects by critics on both sides of the political spectrum.

Drape, who wrote three articles on this over five days, began with “Justify should not have run in the Derby if the sport’s rules were followed,” completely ignoring the rules mentioned above.  He claimed that the CHRB found environmental contamination even though there was “little evidence” to support it.  And then he said the Board could have acted more swiftly, citing a single case in which a trainer’s employee was “caught on surveillance” administering a prohibited substance leading to a complaint being filed 28 days later.

Because of the Times‘ reputation, other outlets picked up the story as written.  NPR not only did no investigation on its own, but was able to add additional incorrect information, such as Scott Simon saying Justify should have been disqualified until an investigation was complete, applying a standard that is rarely used in any situation not involving an imminent threat to safety.

The following is my assessment of where we are at  –  or should be at:

  •  Justify tested positive for the impermissible drug scopolamine in a post-race test following the Santa Anita Derby, in which he needed a first or second to qualify for the Kentucky Derby;
  •  Scopolamine is present in the veterinary medicine Buscopan, as well as in jimson weed, a plant-based contaminant that can appear in hay and straw;
  • A nationally-recognized expert, Dr. Rick Arthur, has stated that the drug atropine was also present in Justify’s sample, and that atropine would be present in jimson weed, but not Buscopan;
  • The Association of Racing Commissioners International, has determined that scopolamine is a drug with less significant effects than originally thought and lowered its ranking on a drug classification scale;
  • The CHRB delayed in amending its own rules and did not lower the classification of scopolamine until after Justify’s positive test;
  • Under the CHRB’s prior classification, Justify could have been disqualified from his placing in the Santa Anita Derby, but the regulations did not require it;  under the revised classification, Justify could not have been disqualified;
  • Environmental contamination such as jimson weed in straw and hay can be considered an environmental contamination warranting a reduced penalty (or none at all) under the CHRB rules;
  • The CHRB’s rules mandate that drug positives be confidential unless there a complaint filed.

So despite the hysteria in the media on this issue, I think a fair characterization of the matter would be:  “Justify tested positive for a drug that is not considered performance-enhancing, and the CHRB decided it was likely the result of environmental contamination, and the CHRB did not make this public because that is what its rules require.”

That is not to say, however, that this could not have been handled in a better way by the CHRB.  It is foolhardy to think that a story as explosive as this would not become public and subject racing to the widespread condemnation it is now again undergoing.  Baffert, not someone naïve in the ways of communication, would also had realized this and could have consented to waiving his right to confidentiality to get him and California out in front of the story and being able to control the narrative.

There is also the question of the conflicts-of-interest.  CHRB members may have current and direct interests in horses.  The Chairman at the time of the deliberations on Justify had Baffert train horses for him.  There is a retired jockey on the Board who I think may have been active while on the Board.  I have mixed feelings about this, although it is clear recusal is the remedy when a matter implicates a possible conflict  –  such as the Chairman hearing a case involving Baffert.

But it is good to have people on a board overseeing racing who have some knowledge of the sport.  A contrast is that of the New York Gaming Commission where I do not think a single commissioner has any racing background, leading them to accept staff recommendations often with no discussion, questions or comments.  A simple solution would be to have a mix of backgrounds with strict recusal rules.

But the Justify affair is yet another example  –  as if we needed more  – that horse racing suffers from the lack of a national body with credibility.  For starters, there is no national figure who can comment on this.  Football, basketball and baseball all have commissioners who can speak for the sport.  As much respect as Rick Arthur deserves, he is just one of many state veterinarians who are completely unknown to anyone but knowledgeable observers.

If there were a national body such as the United States Anti-Doping Agency that oversees sports such as cycling and track and field, there would be a recognized entity that could not be criticized for partiality or lack of expertise, and that could be immune from the criticism of a rigged outcome or an “insider’s game.”

If racing’s leaders think this is just another storm that will pass, they are deluding themselves about the cumulative effect these stories have on a public that will ultimately decide the fate of the sport.  And, by the way, another horse died at Santa Anita this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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