Tom Noonan

Horse racing participants have seemingly perpetual discussions about the existential threats to the ongoing viability of the sport and what can be done to counter those threats and attract new fans. Equine safety is, rightfully, one of those challenges. Declines in handle, at least in part fueled by “computer-assisted wagering,” may be less troubling but are nonetheless significant.

I participate in a regular Zoom call with friends from our college days. It’s about ten regulars, two of whom who have an interest in horse racing in addition to me. I do not know if the others are simply not interested or repelled by the sport. In a recent session, one of the fans asked what was going on.

I responded that there were big races coming up: the Saudi Cup, the Dubai World Cup and the start of the major preps for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. I had not given any thought to how what I said could be significant to the non-racing fan until after I responded and gave it some thought.

The Saudi Cup with a purse of $20 million is the world’s richest race and conducted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The nation has been prominent in the news over the past several years because of its efforts to pour ridiculous amounts of money into popular sports such as golf and European football. It’s a technique often criticized as “greenwashing.” Why that term? It’s an effort to enhance their international reputation by buying their way out of behavior such as the murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi and then sawing up his body and hiding the remains. It is something that reputable news sources ascribe to the de facto leader of the nation, Mohammed bin Salman.

The Dubai World Cup, run on Saturday, had been the richest race with a purse of now $12 million. That country has seen astonishing development, in part the result of labor practices that border on slavery. But it is their leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who has engaged in behavior allegedly involving kidnapping an adult daughter, and one of his wives and the daughter fleeing Dubai in terror. His Godolphin operation is one of the most successful owners and breeders in the world.

When I talked to my friends about the Derby, I said a big issue this year was the continuing ban by Churchill Downs of trainer Bob Baffert. Baffert, of course, is the trainer of the sport’s last two Triple Crown winners, the first since 1978. He also trained Medina Spirit who was disqualified as the winner of the 2021 Derby for a drug positive. It was Baffert’s sixth positive over the preceding year, including the Kentucky Oaks winner from 2020 disqualified for the same drug.

That weekend’s top prep races for the Derby and the Oaks were run at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. The Rachel Alexandra for three-year old fillies was won by a horse bred and owned by Godolphin. The Risen Star for three-year old colts was won by an entrant trained by Chad Brown.

Brown is one of the sport’s preeminent trainers, annually being one of the top purse earners and winning numerous major stakes each year. He was also arrested in 2022 in Saratoga Springs and accused of strangling a former girlfriend and throwing her down the stairs of his residence. After spending a night in jail, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge than the original “obstruction of breathing.”

It was not Brown’s first encounter with legal difficulties. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor assessed Brown $1.6 million for multiple “willful” violations of the laws covering 150 of his employees. Among the violations were not paying required compensation and for immigration violations such as misrepresenting job conditions and not paying employer-required fees.

He is not alone in his disregard for legal requirements affecting his employees, most of whom are low-paying to begin with, and many are legal immigrants. Steve Asmussen regularly leads national standings for wins by a trainer and is in the top ranks of annual earnings, well in excess of $25 million per year. Yet he has several penalties for labor violations, being ordered to pay multi-million-dollar fines for his conduct.

Most recently, a federal district court in Kentucky doubled a prior fine because of a determination that Asmussen’s illegal behavior was “willful.” The determination that his behavior was “willful” is based on the multiple violations, his knowledge of the law and promises to conform his conduct, and the fact that he engaged in behavior “simulating compliance” with the law without taking steps to actually comply.

We have been talking about some of the most high-profile and influential figures in international and American racing. Stiffing low-paid immigrant workers is obviously not on a par with brutally murdering a political opponent, but there is precious little, if any, commentary from racing insiders on any of these matters. No one is hesitating to send horses to Saudi Arabia or Dubai despite their horrific record on basic human rights. And billionaire owners do not hesitate to use the like of Bob Baffert, Chad Brown and Steve Assmussen even with a demonstrated pattern of drugging horses and oppressing their work force.

While there are state regulatory bodies who could take action, all too often they look the other way, particularly when there are not the media-driven stories about drugging a horse, especially when such a horse wins the Kentucky Derby. There also seems to be a reluctance to go after the high-profile trainers who are so important to filling the fields for racing and have the top horses.

New York’s Gaming Commission (not to be confused with the New York Racing Association that controls racing at the state’s most significant tracks and is proving to be an innovative force committed to the sport) noted Asmussen’s most recent violation for stiffing his low-paid workers, issuing a press release by the Commission’s Chair, Bernard O’Dwyer, stating that he “does not take those types of violation lightly.” That was in October. Six months later, having done nothing and learning of a federal court doubling the penalties because it found Assmussen engaged in “willful” behavior, O’Dwyer assured New York’s residents that he takes this “very, very seriously.” But still did nothing other than asking for a legal review.

While a legal review is worthwhile, there have been two recent federal court decisions outlining the behavior I described above, both of which are available through a Google search. It’s not a secret. While the Commission’s lawyers are at it, perhaps they can explain how another high-profile trainer, Todd Pletcher, just had a court enjoin his suspension for drugs because they failed to introduce evidence of a lab’s analysis of the impermissible drug’s presence. The Commission at its last meeting upheld the suspension in a unanimous vote.

The responsible commentators on the “existential threats” to racing focus on the crucial issue of equine safety, as well as the negative impact of computer-assisted wagering in deterring long-time customers. Those, obviously, are matters of the highest priority, as is the need to attract new fans – and customers – to the sport.

There are nascent efforts to developing a different approach to marketing. A new group, Light Up Racing, recently conducted well-attended programs explaining an approach based upon the importance of social media. I cannot say I have any understanding of “influencers” and the potential impact of sites such as Instagram and Tik Tok, but the group’s approach is based upon a similar endeavor in Australia.

And then there is Mike Repole. It is difficult to make sense of him. He often appears as little more than a performative clown or huckster, or both. He announced the formation of the National Thoroughbred Alliance in October last year as a unifying force, and appointed himself “Commissioner.” But since then, he has yet to come up with an idea – significant or otherwise – and seems intent primarily on trashing The Jockey Club.

Then he claimed to be “Tinky.” For those not familiar, “Tinky” has been a long-time commentator on racing issues and is thoughtful, insightful, and reliant on facts. None of those are characteristics one would associate with Repole.

And there was his announcement that Dave Portnoy is the “future New Guard of horse racing” and that his ability “to attract the 15–40-year-old consumer would be massive…. and “could eliminate the snowflakes in the sport.” So we have the 55-year old Repole annointing the 47-year old Portnoy as racing’s future. That Portnoy, the founder of a financially successful enterprise known as “Barstool Sports,” is an obvious choice for the role could be belied by his whining that he is a “massive” influencer “who every demo knows” but is “completely ignored by the sport,” further calling into question Repole’s judgment.

Equine safety must be of paramount importance. It should be noted that there have been significant improvements in this area, both by individual tracks stepping up to improve conditions and institutional bodies also committed. There is, of course, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority overseeing both track safety and medication controls. They just released data showing that tracks under HISA’s jurisdiction have a significantly lower fatality rate that those refusing to take part. And The Jockey Club, bad-mouthed by those committed to maintaining the status quo, but is a long-time advocate for improvement.

A term I first learned of was the concept of “social license.” It is the view that racing can exist only under a social license because the majority of people are willing to grant it such a permission if the sport meets certain societal conditions. The most notable of these, of course, is that the safety and welfare of horses is a top priority and is being safeguarded. We should not lose sight, however, of the public perception created by ignoring some of the world’s most despicable actors, and the failure to address those for whom human safety and well-being take a back seat to the greed of its enablers. It is not clear to me that any attention is being paid to this necessity.