from the USTA Communications Department
Editor’s Note: The following is a statement from Phil Langley, president of the United States Trotting Association, regarding the proposed Interstate Horseracing Improvement Act.
Recently the American Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) proposed that all race day medication be eliminated in the next five years. The United States Trotting Association (USTA) is seeking the input of its members to determine whether such action is realistic and necessary.
In the past few days, a bill has been introduced in Congress that would amend the Interstate Horse Racing Act to include similar action, with penalties for violations that would effectively put the offending trainer and the treated horse out of racing for a long time. Under the proper circumstances, that idea may be well received by a lot of people.
It appears that this amendment also drastically changes present procedures and moves the responsibility of testing from the states to the race tracks. This probably won’t play well with horsemen who believe the process should be in the hands of an agency that is impartial. One thought that comes to mind would be that a federal agency create a super lab capable of testing and research with the same medication rules applying to all. That, of course, reopens the age old argument of States versus Feds.
The definition of illegal medications is ambiguous and needs clarifying. One question would be whether there will be zero tolerance or realistic threshold levels.
While USTA shares the concern about proper medication, it seems this federal proposal needs a lot of work. The wording of the bill as it now stands is, to say the least, entirely too broad, and risks throwing out the baby with the bath water.
The USTA disputes the contention that other sports are more concerned with integrity than horse racing. Racing spends many millions of dollars on testing and enforcement every year, and while there may be disagreements on what medications should be permissible, the application of the rules as they are currently written is more stringent than any sport.
What we are talking about here is stopping the use of medicines like Butazoldin (an aspirin type for horses) and Lasix among other therapeutic medications. While we argue about such things, other sports proudly talk about injured players gutting it out by playing on sprained ankles, knees, shoulders, etc. that are injected with deadening pain killers. Horse racing doesn’t permit or condone that under any circumstance.
In the meantime, the USTA will continue to study both proposals and offer meaningful and thoughtful suggestions.
- RCI leaders call for phase out of drugs (Monday, March 28, 2011)
Both the outgoing and incoming chairmen of Racing Commissioners International challenged the racing industry and member regulators to embrace a strategy to phase out drugs and medication in horse racing.
- HTA to recommend support of RCI drug initiative (Thursday, April 21, 2011)
The Executive Committee of Harness Tracks of America has voted to recommend to its Board of Directors that it support the recently announced call by the outgoing and incoming chairmen of the Association of Racing Commissioners International for a “five-year phase-out” of equine medication in horse racing.
- USTA to examine race-day medication issue (Friday, April 22, 2011)
The United States Trotting Association has announced that its Board of Directors will be consulted to ascertain membership support of the recent call by the Association of Racing Commissioners International to ban all race day medications.