The Thoroughbred Daily News has started a six-part series on drugs and thoroughbred racing, appropriately titled A Painful Truth. This is not Joe Drape and The New York Times but a respected industry publication.
This is not a new issue. Part 1 (from the May 2 issue) looked at the history of drugs in racing, going back to the early 20th century – with an article from 1903 in, yes, The New York Times – and the sport’s first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton.
The next installment (May 10) brought us to the present, including a discussion of New York’s Task Force on Racehorse Health and Safety. Author Ryan Goldberg forcefully brings home a point that I think many race trackers would like to avoid – it’s not just illegal drugs that present a problem, but legal ones as well.
This is a series that I hope all in the industry, as well as fans of the sport, will read carefully, and not dismiss it as readily as many did with the Times‘ account. In intend to go into this deeper in a later post.
Tom Noonan 