As always, due to work my blog is slow if not non-existent during the summer months. However, Steve Christ recently made a presentation at the Jockey Club Round Table that I thought was worth posting. It was on how thoroughbred racing’s medication issues are perceived by the fans. Here it is:

“Thank you for inviting me to speak today, and for recognizing the often unheard voices of racing’s customers. My assignment for today was to report to you on how Thoroughbred racing’s medication issues are perceived by our fans. When I received this assignment back in June, I decided to make this an exercise in participatory journalism. It seemed that the best way to find out how our customers perceive medication issues might simply be to ask them. So I posed the same question put to me by the Jockey Club to the readers of my blog on drf.com. I did not ask them any specific questions or attempt to frame the debate. I simply told them I needed their help to write this speech and asked them how they perceived medication issues in Thoroughbred racing.

The response was astounding — in its volume, in its tone and in its content. I’ll share a few thoughts on each. The sheer size of the response was unexpected and overwhelming. On a busy week, we might receive a dozen letters to the editor at the racing form. A typical blog entry might attract 25 responses. But on this topic, I knew we were seeing something profoundly different when I received 200 responses in the first three days. Our blogging software only accepts 100 comments per topic, so I actually had to repost my initial inquiry six times to accommodate what turned into 550 responses in less than a month.

As for tone, I can’t emphasize strongly enough that these were not the complaints of horseplayers who had just lost a photo. They were, for the most part, lengthy and thoughtful responses. There was more sadness than anger, more frustration than complaint. Dozens if not hundreds of responses began along the lines of, “I love racing, but….” And where they went from there surprised even me.

Comment after comment repeated the same themes:

*Drugs in racing are out of control; the inmates are running the asylum;

*There must be swifter, harsher justice, and more punitive penalties — zero tolerance, three strikes and you’re out of the game.

*Punish the owners.

*Suspend the horses.

These are our fans’ perception of what racing needs to do about the abuse of medication in racing. And please keep in mind that while these may sound like the demands of an angry vigilante lynch mob, these are in fact the sentiments of some of your most loyal and most thoughtful customers.

I felt their pain at what they think has happened to their game, but I also felt that it was time for a reality check. And after the first 400 comments, one presented itself. On July 16, the Texas Racing Commission ordered a six-month suspension of the nation’s leading trainer because of a positive finding for a topical anesthetic in the winner of a maiden race a year earlier. Without belaboring the details of the case, this penalty was ordered despite the absence of any plausible veterinary scenario in which this drug had been administered, and of a finding so infinitesimally small that no one credibly could argue it had had any pharmacological effect on the horse’s performance.

I asked the respondents who had already posted comments, without agreeing or disagreeing with them, if what they really wanted was what they had been suggesting. Assuming the suspension – which is under appeal – were sustained: Did they really want the trainer to be thrown out of the game? Did they really want all of his horses removed from their stalls and turned over to outside trainers rather his assistants? Should all of the owners he trains for also to be sanctioned? Should the hundreds of horses who have run under his name this year barred from competition? Should Rachel Alexandra not be permitted to race again this year? As it turned out, no one really wanted to answer those ques tions. Only a few even tried. And after another week, the discussion simply petered out. Since then, I have been trying to digest and interpret the strange turn that this exercise took as it neared its end. And here is what I think.

Our fans are convinced, with good reason, that there is something rotten in the state of racing, but more than anything else they are completely confused about what is really going on – and so are almost all of us who work in the industry or represent it.

We make virtually no distinction between therapeutic medications that have a proper and even humane role in the treatment of these animals, and the abusive use of serious drugs. We make no distinction between marginal overages of medicine and the deliberate use of nefarious chemicals. And thus we have a seemingly constant barrage of news about failed drug tests and repeat offenders — yet absolutely no one seems able to distinguish between minor administrative matters and serious crimes, between overzealous regulation and evidence of truly criminal activity.

Of course we have a problem with drugs in racing. We probably always have, and perhaps we always will. But we’re not going about rooting it out the right way. And in failing to do so, we’re both worsening the perception, and failing to address the reality, of the problem. It has been tempting in the past for racing to throw up its hands over this issue and act like a helpless victim. We’re good at saying that we don’t have the money, or the authority of a league office, to effect real change. Sometimes we get so disheartened that we start going down the cowardly and dangerous road of throwing up our hands and saying, “Let’s invite the Federal Government to take this whole thing over,” which strikes me as a prescription for disaster.

I personally don’t believe we need to go down that road. I think we can do a lot better on our own. And occasionally we do. The industrywide ban on anabolic steroids may have happened for all the wrong reasons – a coincidence of language involving a serious problem in baseball that may not have been that serious a problem in horse racing. But it was something that had to be done because there was simply no way, in a frenzied atmosphere about steroids and sports, that we could defend injecting horses with steroids if we ever wanted to create another new fan. But whatever the reasons, it worked. The industry decided it had to happen, and it did.It was done quickly and accepted quickly. Not one of my respondents even mentioned steroids as a problem. The steroid ban may have been cosmetic, but it can and should be a model for our getting equally serious about other abuses and other drugs.

I will leave you with a final thought: Despite doping scandals in baseball and cycling that may well be even more pervasive than our own, baseball stadiums are doing brisk business and Europeans still line the streets for the Tour de France. After spending years in denial, officials of both of those sports eventually came clean and said something simple and straightforward that racing’s leaders need to say:

We have a problem with medication, and we’re going to do something about it.

While it may be a tough road from there to reality, it’s past time for racing to make that simple statement – and I guarantee you that it would be a giant first step in changing the perceptions of our fans and bettors, without whom we will have no sport at all. Thank you for your time and your attention.”

Steve Christ, DRF.com

Today marked the retirement of Artistic Fella. As fans we should be excited we got to see him race as an older horse and what a nice horse he was. I was lucky enough to attend his world record performance at Chester this year as well as his epic duel with Mister Big at the Meadowlands in the Haughton Memorial. He made over 2 million dollars, won the Meadowlands Pace and also won the 2007 Breeders Crown for older pacers.  He rarely ran a bad one.

Ben Franklin Pace in world record time of 1.48.0

A great Haughton Memorial

What a weekend for these guys! Old Fashioned closed as the favorite in the first Kentucky Derby Future pool and justified that on Monday by winning the G3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park in what I felt was impressive and professional fashion.  Brian Sears put on a driving display at M1 over the weekend, winning 11 races, including 7 on Monday. Oliver Cleo continued his impressive display of talent.

Sears is the first driver to win 7 races on a 10 race card since John Campbell did it in 1983. He fell one win shy of Mike Lachance’s record of 8 wins on a single Meadowlands card. His victories weren’t all with favorites either, he paid some of his steers paid double digit prices.

Old Fashioned won like I like seeing top Derby prospects win this time of the year. He rated comfortably off a quick pace and when asked he put his foes away professionally. I can’t help but noticed the similarities between Smarty Jones’ Southwest effort and Old Fashioned’s. Rated professionally off a quick pace ( SJ – 22.4 – 45.4 – 111.1 – 137.2 — OF – 22.2 – 45.4 – 111.0 – 137.2 ) and professionally drew clear. Old Fashion’s Beyer fig isn’t overly exciting, but Smarty’s wasn’t either. The fact that they are/were quick out of the gate, have a high cruising speed, and are rateable are more important right now.

Oliver Cleo, for those who don’t know who he is, is a 4 year old pacer who could be anything. Monday, in his 7th lifetime start, he mowed the Art Unger stakes field down like he was supposed to. He also set a new lifetime mark in 150.3 . On Jan. 9th, he paced a last half in 53.3 to win a division of the Clyde Hirt. The sky is the limit for this guy. He has won on the engine and he has also won from off the pace. I’m not sure what he is staked to, but it will be interesting to see how good he is.

Is a good one! The Invitational trot goes as the 5th. The Cape and Cutter series for Free For All filly and mare pacers begins with two divisions, races #8 & #10. The Exit 16W series goes as races #9 & #11.

Personally, I’ve been waiting for the return of Martha Maxine. She was awesome last year at the Meadowlands and continued to run well throughou the season. She returns tomorrow night in the 1st division of the Cape and Cutter.

Jayne Vaders lost her appeal Jan. 9th in Pennsylvania Commonwealth court. I originally touched on the subject back last winter and spring on two seperate post: Shaking Head & Catching Up On Recent News … Trainer Vaders actually seems to have stopped by to comment in the Catching Up post. I still find it amazing that this ordeal took almost two years to come to a conclusion and all throughout those two years Vaders continued to win races.

Bloodhorse.com has an article about the Vaders appeal.

I think this situation and Jayne Vaders training career could be summed up in three paragraphs from Bloodhorse:

“”Vaders first had her training license revoked in May 2007 by Philadelphia Park stewards after one of her horses tested positive for acepromazine, a Class III drug that is used as a tranquilizer. Stewards testified that she had five or six positives prior to the acepromazine discovery, and had been warned that another violation would result in revocation of her racing license.

Vaders was granted a stay, after which her case advanced to the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission. The commission denied Vaders’ appeal April 16, 2008, and the case moved on to Commonwealth Court.

Though there is a code in place at the racetrack that contends any trainer with two or more positives must be banned from the track, stewards said they hadn’t previously enforced that rule because they had never before had a trainer with as many violations as Vaders.”"

A small victory ….

Perhaps the hottest topic in harness racing right now is the proposed whipping rule change. Apparently a few folks feel that the majority of the drivers in a majority of the races use the whip excessively. I don’t agree. I do think at some of the smaller tracks with some lesser drivers the whip is overused. That being said, I think the problem should be handled specific to each track or driver as opposed to an industry wide change that isn’t supported by the majority of the fans or the majority of the trainers and drivers.

I spoke with a friend of mine whose father owned and trained standardbreds for about 10 years or so. He told me that some horses don’t need the whip, they know what they are supposed to do with a shake of the lines or the rocking of the bike. He also said, they had one horse who would refuse to pace a step forward if he wasn’t under whipping of some sort. It may have looked excessive, but it was the only way the horse would race well.

The current rules on whipping from the USTA currently state the following:

“Drivers will be allowed whips not to exceed 4 feet, plus a snapper not longer than 6 inches. Provided further that the following actions shall be considered as excessive or indiscriminate use of the whip:

A.) Causing visible injury.
B.) Whipping a horse after a race.
C.) Whipping under the arch or shafts of the sulky.

The use of the whip shall be confined to an area above and between the sulky shafts, to include the sulky shafts and the outside wheel discs. Drivers shall keep a line in each hand from the start of the race until the head of the stretch finishing the race. At extended pari-mutuel meetings, under the supervision of the Judges, there shall be mandatory visual inspection of each horse following each race for evidence of excessive or brutal use of the whip. At all other meetings, the Judges shall have the authority to order/and or conduct such visual inspection at their discretion. The use of any goading device, chain, or mechanical devices or appliances, other than the ordinary whip or crop upon any horse in any race shall constitute a violation of this rule. The brutal use of a whip or crop or excessive or indiscriminate use of the whip or crop shall be considered a violation and shall be punished by a fine and/or suspension. The mandatory minimum penalty for a whipping violation shall be a fine in the amount of $100 and a 3 day suspension from driving for the first offense and for each subsequent violation the mandatory minimum penalty shall increase in the amount of $100 and 3 days (e.g. $200 and 6 days for the 2nd offense, $300 and 9 days for the 3rd offense, etc.)”

The proposed change will read like this:

“Drivers will be allowed whips not to exceed 4 feet. The use of snappers is not permitted. Drivers must keep a line in each handhold at all times during the race and have control of their horse at all times during the race.”

The biggest change and perhaps the hottest topic within the topic is that the drivers will have to keep both hands in the hand holds eliminating one handed whipping.

I’m not sure why the current rules need to be changed? Is it to appease PETA and animal right type groups? Are we hoping they will all of the sudden become horse racing fans and the handle will grow? My fiance, who isn’t a PETA member accompanied me to the Meadowlands for the Pace Elims this summer and on the way to the track she made a comment about the horses being whipped. Once we were at the track, I was able to show her and she could hear for herself that the drivers hit the sulky shaft and wheel disc more often than they hit the horse. For the last 8 or 9 years of pretty serious handicapping at a lot of different tracks and OTB venues, the one complaint I can assure you I’ve never heard from a horse player is the jockey, or in this instance the driver, used the whip too much. If anything, most everyone with a losing ticket questions whether the jockey/driver tried and/or whether or not the driver/trainer intended to win the race. The new whipping rule will do nothing but help give those people ammunition and possibly scare more people away from a game that is already struggling.

As we speak, www.ustrotting.com has a pole up asking whether or not the rules should be amended. The results are 60% No and 40% Yes. Will the powers to be listen? I doubt it. Why listen to the fans who support the game?

Trainer and driver Buzzy Sholty, driver Yannick Gingras, driver George Brennan have all written letters asking for the rule to left the way it is. The claim the current rules are fine, they just need to be enforced. Alan Leavitt, USTA director and owner, breeder has supported the rule change. You can read all four of the letters at www.ustrotting.com.

Don’t change the rule. The poll on the front page us www.ustrotting.com should be sufficient reason to leave it the way it is.

#2 … Kentucky Futurity Heat #1 – Deweycheatumnhowe

Dewey does it from no mans land! I gave this effort a lot more credit than most did it seems. Looking back on it a few months later it may not have been as good as I thought at the time. The form of Clerk Magistrate and Crazed had probably started sliding. That being said, to win this race from the spot Dewey is in at the top of the stretch is impressive.

#1 … Meadowlands Pace – Art Official/Somebeachsomewhere

What more needs to be said? A great race between two great horses. Perhaps The Beach’s best effort comes in defeat.

#4 … Messenger Stakes – Somebeachsomewhere

The Beach takes on the 2nd best three year old pacer of 2008. He does it 1st over on a muddy track against a foe who had a pretty advantageous trip. Awesome.

#3 … Bluegrass Stakes – Somebeachsomewhere

The Beach is finally allowed to pace! Ties Holborn Hanover for the fastest race mile ever … 146.4. Makes you wonder what may have been if he would have come back for an ‘09 season. What records would he have set?

#6 … Breeders Crown for 2 year old trotters – Muscle Hill

The obvious winter book Hambletonian choice was dominate all season long. It could be argued that he was as impressive and as dominate, if not more so, than Dewey and Donato.

#5 … Haughton Final – Mister Big

Talk about a dog fight? We were lucky enough to see Artistic Fella and Mister Big ding dong it out a number of times this year. From the banks of the Delaware River in Chester, PA to the Canadian north at Mohawk. This race, was probably the best of them all.

#8 … Patriot Trot – Enough Talk

It wasn’t a head to head duel or a meeting of this years great champions but it was a trot race that went to the half in 53.4 and a final time of 1.49.3. I realize it was a one turn race on a mile and a quarter track but I enjoyed it anyway.

#7 … Hambletonian – Deweycheatumnhowe

Dewey does it and stays undefeated! What a great animal and he had a worthy foe in this race in Crazed. Ray seemed like a stand up guy and to do it as the trainer and the driver is quite an feat.