March 2022 Issue

Page 50 March 2022 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN By Suzanne Bush The horseracing indus- try—once called the “sport of kings”—has seen better days. For both Thoroughbred and harness racing, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Not long ago, throngs of people gathered at racetracks across the country to watch magnificent Thorough- breds do what they seemed to have been born to do—run fast and fearlessly. Likewise, fans of harness racing have flocked to marquee races like the Hamble- tonian (for trotters) and the Little Brown Jug (for pacers)—iconic annual races featuring the top three-year-olds. These days, though, race- tracks are often lonely places, where horses run before sparse crowds, and the hottest action is in the casino—often the raison d’etre for the racetrack. Factors contributing to the decline in the popularity of horseracing are numerous and complex, from the rise in Horseracing Reform Stalls as Authorities Fail to Agree catastrophic race-related injuries to horses and concurrent prolif- eration of animal rights activists protesting at racetracks, to the scandals surrounding the use of performance enhancing drugs and increased competition for atten- tion from online gambling with its explosive growth. For horseracing to survive, many experts believe, it must be reformed. While virtually every- one involved in racing will agree that the safety of horses and jock- eys is paramount, the agreement usually ends there. Horseracing historically has been governed by individual states, and the rules from one state to another often varied—especially rules regarding drugs. Since at least 2013 there have been efforts, led by The Jockey Club, to create standards for racing that would be nationwide and consistent from state to state. These efforts have languished without any robust political support. As horseracing suffered more bad press from doping scandals The captains of the racing industry rejoiced when Pennsylvania’s legislature passed Act 71, the Racehorse Development and Gaming Act in 2004. Started as a plan to support the state’s horse breeders and provide property tax relief, among other goals, Act 71 opened the door to a huge gambling industry that overshadows horseracing. Photo by Suzanne Bush and horse deaths in 2019 and 2020, momentum behind nation- wide standards grew. Finally, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) was passed in 2020 and signed into law by President Donald Trump. HISA addresses several of the most contentious aspects of regulating horserac- ing. It will ultimately develop nationwide standards to increase safety in horseracing and restore integrity to the sport. Additional- ly, it will create anti-doping and medical control protocols and safety programs for racetracks. These would require approval by the Federal Trade Commis- sion (FTC). The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which oversees drug testing for American Olympic, Paralympic and Pan American athletes was selected to work with the industry on developing anti-doping and medication control rules. The Clock is Ticking As passed, the law—along with its full scope of drug testing and regulating protocols—will become effective on July 1, 2022. And here is where the first monkey wrench has landed. In a carefully worded press release on December 23, 2021 USADA CEO Travis Tygart announced that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA, the law and the governing agency share the same acronym) and USADA had failed to reach an agreement. “After months of negotiations, we have been unable to enter an agreement in line with the requirements of the Act, and one which would have given us a reasonable chance to put in place a credible and effective pro- gram. While we are obviously saddened by the outcome at this stage, we tried our absolute best to find a way forward but without success.” Tygart didn’t go into further details, but in essence his statement implied a yawning gap between the law’s requirements and the industry’s representatives. “While we desperately tried to reach an agreement to im- plement the program, without compromising our values, we have always said the passing of the legislation and the finalization of uniform, robust rules are huge victories for the horses and the equine industry,” Tygart said. Tucker Pettigrew, a spokes- person for USADA explains that there’s nothing more to say. “We’re really not going to go beyond our press release.” While USADA is treating the dissolu- tion of the relationship with the horseracing industry as if it were an amicable divorce, some horse- men are less diplomatic. Alan Foreman, Chief Executive Officer of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, says his group—along with other simi- lar groups in the Mid-Atlantic region--are already using many of the safety rules outlined in HISA. Drugs, on the other hand, are a different story. Foreman says that the USADA’s proposed regulations “met with substantial resistance from just about every stakeholder in the industry.” (Continued on page 65)