October 2020 Issue

Page 24 October 2020 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Horseracing Reformers Are Hot to Trot of harness racing from the development of the legislation, and the focus on Lasix as the all-purpose villain in horseracing. USTA released a statement in support of Schrader’s position. “Certain Thoroughbred interests have made race-day Lasix a red herring to distract the public from the fact that Thoroughbred racing itself causes many of the deplor- able, catastrophic breakdowns in the Thoroughbred breed,” they said. “Race-day Lasix is not performance-enhancing, it is not doping, and it does not mask illegal substances.” They say that both the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the North American Association of Racetrack Veterinarians support the use of Lasix and oppose this legislation. Since the legislation has not been passed, it’s unclear exactly how the drug testing and safety standards will be developed and enforced. But USTA says that the bill would create a drug-testing authority that has no experience in animal testing. Is It Unconstitutional? In mid-September USTA released a white paper that questions whether the proposed legislation is even Constitution- al. Russell Williams, the USTA President, says that an analysis of the legislation completed by the association’s law firm, Gibson Dunn, has concluded that HISA is unconstitutional. “The most important of several troubling themes is the (drug testing) Authority’s lack of accountabil- ity. We could debate how to get better performance out of our state racing commissions. But there is no question that the state commissions are answerable to the executive and, ultimately, legislative branches of their state governments. They are account- able, and if we don’t like the job they are doing, we can do something about it. The Authority is not accountable.” The USTA says that if the law passes, it will most definite- ly be challenged. The Gibson Dunn white paper says that the “constitutional concerns raised by HISA are substantial and pervasive.” Widespread Support Among Thoroughbred Groups The Coalition for Horserac- ing Integrity, representing numerous humane organizations and Thoroughbred organiza- tions, is marshaling support for HISA. Their mission is to get this legislation passed, with an assist from the critical mass of high-profile groups in their coalition. Organizations ranging from the Animal Welfare Insti- tute and ASPCA to the Water Hay Oats Alliance (WHOA) and even the United States Harness Racing Alumni Association are supporting HISA. The National Thoroughbred Racing Associa- tion (NTRA) applauds the bill because of its potential to im- prove the integrity and safety of racing. Alex Waldrop, President and Chief Executive Officer of NTRA saluted McConnell while endorsing HISA. “We thank Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his willingness and unique ability to bring the industry to the table to craft this comprehensive legislation.” Why has the logjam sud- denly been removed from the path of this legislation? Perhaps the time was right, for many reasons—some not as altruistic as one might hope. The bill was first introduced in 2015, which was not an election year. The Senate Majority Leader was not facing a credible threat to his re-election, and the economic impact of the pandemic had not forced Washington to look more closely at the industries and the people whose lives were being permanently altered by shutdowns and millions of cases of Covid-19. And the headlines chronicling equine deaths and catastrophic injuries was an unwelcome yet unavoidable leit- motif for horseracing throughout 2019 and into 2020. Regardless of what happens on November 3, McConnell has promised to push the bill forward. If it survives antici- pated challenges, questions will linger about why representatives of USTA did not have a seat at the table when these bills were considered. (Continued from page 6)