After recently reading the NYT’s opinion article “Handicapping Dopers at the Racetrack,” I wanted to share my thoughts with all of you. From the previous comments I made about the article “Twilight at the Track,” many of you may already know where I stand in regards to the doping of racehorses. This recent article shares encouraging news that doping’s negative effect on bettors, the life blood of the thoroughbred racing industry, may help bring much needed reforms to horse racing. In the article, NYT’s editorial board states that bettors, large and small, are being discouraged from large wagers because of the rampant illegal drug use in the industry. Since the bettors are threatened by the practice and the horses themselves are dying from it, the Jockey Club is willing to spend as much as $500,000 to employ the use of “out-of-competition” drug-testing. At this time, this type of testing is used only by 1/3rd of the industry.
I want to see thoroughbred racing thrive, not be abused. I support any reforms that eliminate the doping of racehorses, but I am suspicious of the success of self-policing. I am not a veterinarian and therefore do not know the pros and cons of different drugs and their use for legitimate or illegitimate health reasons. Those more knowledgeable in animal science and medicine can determine that. However, I feel there needs to be more transparency in the medications a horse is receiving and which of those are needed, if any. There needs to be an elimination of any and all performance enhancing drugs or medications. I approve of the Jockey Club’s intent to build a national database that will offer this kind of transparency. Stiffer fines and punishment of offenders, as well as a national or federally instituted policy of policing or monitoring, may also achieve the same end.
I support the Jockey Club’s efforts to control the abuses in the industry, but I’m not convinced it is a sufficient amount or that it will happen soon enough. The inefficient and uneven enforcement of regulations from state to state and track to track may not substantially remove the suspicions held by many bettors. I hope I am wrong, but if not, then some sort of federally instituted monitoring program with stiffer penalties for abusers should be applied sooner rather than later.
See also this article for more information: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/sports/as-concerns-over-drugs-mount-the-jockey-club-says-it-will-pay-for-testing.html