Archive for the ‘Regulatory Issues’ Category
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Under questioning by an attorney representing Rodney Stewart, the veterinarian appealing a five-year suspension for his possession of cobra venom and other banned substances at Keeneland in June 2007, John Veitch, chief steward for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and a retired Hall of Fame trainer, admitted that his racing star Alydar was treated with cobra venom after suffering an injury in September of his 3-year-old season.
Attorney Mike Meuser asked Veitch about the use of the now-banned substance during an appeal of Stewart’s suspension before racing commission hearing officer Bob Layton on Wednesday in Lexington, Ky. “Did Dr. Charles Allen give cobra venom to Alydar during the time you trained him?” Meuser asked.
“On one occasion,” Veitch confirmed, saying it came after Alydar had fractured the coffin bone in a foot while training up to the 1978 Marlboro Cup Handicap. “It wasn’t effective,” Veitch said. “We would not have run him again if it had worked. We treated him at the time. He was not in training. We experimented with Dr. Chuck Allen, who was an expert on venom. At the time, cobra venom was legal for use in the United States for treating Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). We tried it and it didn’t work. We didn’t use it as therapy so he could race, but only to see if we could relieve some pain.”
Technically, cobra venom, a powerful blocking agent, is not an illegal substance. It is not approved for use in humans or animals by the FDA and is prohibited in most racing jurisdictions, including Kentucky, which classifies it as a "Class A" drug, one that can be abused as an illegal performance enhancing substance.
Three vials of venom and other prohibited substances were found during a search of three barns on Keeneland property used by trainer Patrick Biancone and in a vehicle registered to Stewart. Most of the substances were found in a soft-sided cooler kept in a refrigerator in Barn 74, located in the barn area known as the Keeneland training center off Keeneland’s main property across Rice Road. Stewart admitted to officials the substances were his and that he was only using a refrigerator in Biancone’s barn because he and his wife were in the process of moving from Kentucky to New York. Stewart said his wife had packed the bag with medications usually kept in a refrigerator at their rented home, but that he had been living in temporary quarters. He said he wasn’t aware of everything that was in the bag.
Biancone was suspended for six months and agreed not to seek reinstatement for another six months. Stewart received a five-year ban. As chief steward of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Veitch was in charge of the investigation involving the banned substances and the hearing that led to the suspensions.
Bob Watt, an attorney representing the racing commission, called several witnesses in addition to Veitch, including one of the investigators who conducted the search, commission veterinarian Mary Scollay and Keeneland executive Harvey Wilkinson.
Scollay called cobra venom an "exceedingly dangerous" substance that could cause a loss of sensation in a horse’s foot and block pain. She said there is no known test to detect cobra venom in urine or blood.
During cross-examination of Wilkinson, who among other things oversees security at Keeneland, Meuser asked whether Keeneland officials ever sought approval from the racing commission to have the Rice Road training facility recognized as part of Keeneland’s racetrack grounds. Wilkinson said he was not aware that they had sought approval.
The purpose of that question came to light later in the day when Stewart himself was testifying and Meuser asked if he believed Barn 74 was part of the racetrack property.
"I thought it was a private barn," Stewart replied. "I thought it was Patrick’s private barn. He’d always referred to it that way."
Records showed that Stewart had purchased four vials of the cobra venom in July 2006 from BioToxins, a Saint Cloud, Fla., company. The veterinarian testified that he had used one of the vials on a former racehorse that had been rescued from a farm and was being used as a stable pony. The other vials remained in their shrinkwrap packaging. The vials contain a powder which is then mixed in a salilne solution before injection.
Among the other substances seized was a container of Carbidopa-Levodopa, a human medication used to treat Parkinson’s disease. Scollay testified that the drug could act as a stimulant and reduce fatigue in humans. In later testimony, Stewart said he did not use the drug on any horses but did not recall why he had it.
Another bottle with an unknown honey-like substance inside was labeled "For Mythical Elmo," according to the testimony, but it was more likely meant for the Biancone-trained filly Mythical Echo. Its contents remain unknown. Another bottle found was labeled with the lettering "R.T.H.." When asked about the "R.T.H." substance, Stewart said "a fellow from South Africa had given it to me. It was used there to treat bleeding." When pressed he said he had no idea what pharmacological agents were contained in the liquid. .
Stewart said he has had his license to practice on "competition animals" (including horses, greyhounds and camels) suspended in Australia, where he earned his veterinary degree in 1997. He is banned from racetracks but is allowed to continue his veterinary practice in the United States.
The hearing will continue Dec. 9. Among the issues to be covered area the contents of Stewart’s personal computer, which has been sent to a business that conducts forensic searches on computer hard drives to extract any information related to his veterinary practice for a period of time prior to his suspension.
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Tags: alydar, bob watt, cobra venom, dr. charles allen, dr. churck allen, john veitch, kentucky horse racing commission, mike meuser, mythical echo, mythical elmo, patrick biancone, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, rodney stewart
Posted in Medication, Regulatory Issues | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Attorneys for Rodney Stewart, the veterinarian suspended for five years by Kentucky racing authorities in the 2007 “cobra venom” case that also implicated trainer Patrick Biancone, said in opening statements in an appellate hearing on Wednesday morning the suspension against their client was excessive and should be lifted.
Mike Meuser and Karen Murphy are representing Stewart, who received a four-year ban for possession of prohibited substances and a one-year suspension for failure to cooperate in the investigation. The appeal is being heard by Bob Layton, a hearing officer for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which is represented by attorney Bob Watt.
Click here to see the original ruling.
In his opening statements, Meuser said Stewart had no intention of using the prohibited substances found in a refrigerator and packed in a soft-sided cooler in one of three barns Biancone occupied and that they had been packed by Stewart’s wife in preparation for the couple’s move to New York. In fact, Meuser contended, Stewart wasn’t even aware of the cooler’s contents, which the attorney said were placed in the refrigerator because it was a “hot June day.”
Meuser said, the three vials of prohibited cobra toxin found in the bag were still shrink-wrapped. Another prohibited substance found, Carbidopa-Levodopa (a human drug to treat Parkinson’s disease), was still in its original container, Meuser said, and its usage date had expired. “There is no evidence there was any attempted use of any of these substances,” said Meuser, who added that the cooler also contained rabies vaccines for dogs and cats.
Watt, in his statement, said the cobra venom, a powerful painkiller, had been purchased from BioToxins, a Florida-based company that specialized in snake venom. Watt referred to other substances discovered in the June 22, 2007, barn searches conducted by investigators with the racing commission (then known as the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority) and Keeneland security, including Ketoconazole, “something called Throat RX, and one injectable honey colored solution marked ‘For Mythical Elmo.’”
Meuser did not address the latter substances in his opening statement.
Watt said Stewart and his attorneys failed to properly respond to requests that were made to Stewart for billing and computer records, which resulted in the one-year suspension for failure to cooperate. Murphy countered that the ban should be lifted because the commission failed to give Stewart a hearing within 48 hours of a request for a stay of the suspension. She also complained that the request for a home computer was unreasonable and that the commission “was fishing for further violations,” even going so far, she said, as conducting tests in Hong Kong.
Biancone, who recently returned to training in California, was out of racing about one year, accepting a six-month suspension and agreeing not to apply for his trainer’s license for another six months.
A number of witnesses are being called in the case. Layton is expected to make a ruling within 60 days of the completion of the hearing.
To read about some of the testimony in the hearing, click here.
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Tags: biotoxins, bob layton, bob watt, carbidopa-Levodopa, cobra venom, karen murphy, Keeneland, kentucky horse racing authority, kentucky horse racing commission, ketokonazole, michael meuser, mike meuser, mythial elmo, mythical elmo, parkinson's, patrick biancone, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, rodney stewart, snake venom, throat rx
Posted in Horse Welfare, Medication, Regulatory Issues | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
The Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission has upheld a stewards ruling against trainer Larry Jones involving a test for a higher than permitted level of the bronchodilator Clenbuterol in Two Bucks Stable’s Stones River, who won a June 8 allowance race at Delaware Park.
The stewards have suspended Jones seven days, fined him $500 and ordered the purse money won by Stones River to be redistributed. The ruling was the first of any kind against Jones, who has trained horses for 25 years.
The hearing was conducted on Monday, and both Jones and Two Bucks owner Jim Squires appeared. Jones was represented by attorney Brent Caldwell, according to John Wayne, executive director of the commission. “The commissioners were very impressed and complimentary of Caldwell’s defense,” Wayne said. Nevertheless, the five commissioners voted unanimously in public deliberations to uphold the ruling, which was more lenient than the guidelines established by the Association of Racing Commissioners International. Those guidelines call for a suspension of 60 days to six months and up to a $1,500 fine. Clenbuterol is classified as a Class 3 drug by RCI.
"The commissioners felt that the stewards’ ruling fit the criteria as a first-time offense ever for Mr. Jones," Wayne said.
Wayne said the final decision and order prepared by the commission’s deputy attorney general will be forthcoming. “At that point,” he said, “Mr. Jones has the option to appeal the commission’s decision to Superior Court if he so desires.”
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Tags: association of racing commissioners international, brent caldwell, clenbuterol, delaware thoroughbred racing commission, jim squires, john wayne, larry jones, RCI, stones river, two bucks stable
Posted in Medication, Regulatory Issues | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Ray Paulick will be live blogging the meeting of Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s Task Force on the Future of Horse Racing at 1 p.m. Eastern today. The Task Force meeting takes place at Keeneland. Following is the agenda:
Opening remarks from Task Force chairman Tracy Famer
Discussion regarding Proper Staffing and
Funding Levels of the KHRC Ellen Hesen
Discussion regarding Industry Financial Matters Nick Nicholson
Discussion regarding Integrity of Racing
and Pari-mutuel activities Edward Bonnie
Discussion regarding Laboratory Facilities
in Kentucky Robert Beck Jr.
1:15 p.m. … Late starting, but Task Force chairman Tracy Farmer calls the meeting to order and announces that there is a quorum, Steve Sexton of Churchill Downs being the only apparent no show. That’s better than the last Task Force meeting I covered, when a subcommittee on integrity failed to attract a quorum.
1:20 p.m. … Quarter Horse racing now has a representative on the Task Force, Ed Ashcraft, who talked briefly about a Quarter Horse meeting held on the Polytrack at Turfway Park this year. He called it a success and said something about people like Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert, who used to train Quarter Horses. Relevance?
1:25 p.m. … Sexton arrives. Must have got a speeding ticket on I-64 coming over from Louisville.
1:28 p.m. … Ellen Hesen reported on the proper staffing and funding levels for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and source of funding. She’s not talking loud enough for anyone to hear her, but we know what she’s saying: the commission needs more staff and more money.
1:29 p.m. … Someone in the audience asks the speakers to talk louder so that people can hear what they are saying. Amen!
1:29 p.m. … Correction on Sexton. No speeding ticket. He went to Fasig-Tipton instead. Keeneland president Nick Nicholson hopes that’s not an omen.
1:30 p.m. … Speaking of Nicholson, he takes the floor to offer his report on the subcommitte on industry financial matters. It’s a huge industry, he says, with $4 billion in economic impact and between 80,000-100,000 jobs. He’s done this PowerPoint thing before. Very professional. (Click here to read his entire report.)… "It should not surprise us that other states are coming after what we have," says Nicholson. "The competition for horses in other jurisdictions is probably at an all-time high. … Racing secretaries (in other states) are pressuring trainers not to ship their horses to Kentucky. … Alternative gaming has fueled dramatic increases in purses in other states. .. Breeders are moving broodmares and stallions to others states." In short, we are headed straight to hell.
1:35 p.m. … In big bold type: "PURSES ARE KEY MEASURE OF COMPETITIVENESS," say Nicholson. They lead to better horses, higher quality racing, which attract more fans and betting handle and a better simulcast product that people bet more money on. Total purses in Kentucky have not grown in recent years, Nicholson says. All states where purses are growing have alternative gaming, he adds."Slot machines at New York tracks will dramatically alter Kentucky racing. … Illinois racetrack will soon begin receiving riverboat subsidies…of $75 million. … The Illinois condition books will be stronger than they have been in years. … Purses in Indiana will double from slots from 2006 to 2008."
1:40 p.m. .. Nicholson puts up a map like one of those red states/blue states maps showing the electoral count, in the presidential except its slots states and hobo states. The slots states are taking over racing.
1:43 p.m. … If you like bar graphs and electoral maps, Nicholson’s presentation is a dandy. But it’s also downright depressing. It’s clear that our wagons have to be removed from horses and hitched to slot machines.
1:45 p.m. … More depressing news. Pennsylvania will be the center of the Thoroughbred world by 2009. Purses will be $166 million, a 400% increase from 2006. Pennsylvania’s purses will even be better than New York’s. Looks like Kentucky polilticians better legalize moonshine or medicinal marijuana to replace the lost Thoroughbred business that’s a comin’ round the corner.
1:48 p.m. … Still, Nicholson says Kentucky is the only "exporter" of Thoroughbreds in the U.S., that other states focus on having their horses competing against each other in restricted state-bred races, and that Kentucky-bred horses are competitive on a world stage. Check mark to Kentucky.
1:49 p.m. … The Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund is shrinking like a horse coming off steroids, one chart shows. The amount of awards have dropped by 25% from over $8 million in 2002 to less than $6 million this year. Erase that check mark.
1:51 p.m. … Pennsylvania again. Their breeders funds have jumped from $8 million to $15 million. Nicholson runs through other states with breeders fund programs. Louisiana and New Mexico up. New York heading up soon. There is a saying here in Kentucky about the national ranking of our state’s education system: "Thank God for Mississippi." Nicholson doesn’t say it, but when he shows how pitiful the California bred breeding fund is, you can almost hear the people in the room say, ‘Thank God for California."
1:55 p.m. … "This subcommittee’s been a wakeup call for us," Nicholson concludes. He talks about a deluge of competition from other states and says, "We cannot afford the status quo." Ellis Park owner Ron Geary talked about all the new slot machines at Indiana tracks he saw on a visit there. Then he said he went to Philadelphia Park to see the slots. "I came back completely stunned about what kind of competition we have," Geary said. "We’d better get on-track or we’re going to get left behind."
2:00 p.m. … Ned Bonnie, the attorney who chairs the subcommittee on integrity, gave a lawyerly report on his panel’s meeting that focused on how to make sure wagering is stopped when it’s supposed to (i.e., once a race begins). He reviewed the presentations from the meeting and then moved on to talking about backstretch "shakedowns" of trainers and veterinarians. He seems to intimate that harness tracks are doing a better job of surveillance and searches, citing a recent search at the Red Mile of two veterinary trucks during which some prohibited substasnces were found. "The responsibilities on the integrity issues vis a vis medication issues have been delegated to the Equine Drug Council," Bonnie said, "and they have assumed the responsibility of talking about integrity related to the medication issue."
2:05 p.m. … Another attorney, Bob Beck Jr., is head of the laboratory facilities subcommittee. "There is a great deal of support for establishing a (drug testing) laboratory in Kentucky," he says. "If we’re not going to do a lab that isn’t world class, it isn’t worth pursuing," he added. Beck said it will be important to hire a lab director, he added.
2:10 p.m. Chairman Farmer thanks all of the committee chairs for their reports and says, "The task force is moving forward very forcefully. We intend to meet Nov. 25 in Frankfort, hopefully with a conclusion of all these committees and combine them into one report, which we will give to the governor."
Meeting adjourned.
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Tags: bob beck, churchill downs, edward bonnie, ellen hesen, Keeneland, kentucky horse racing task force, ned bonnie, nick nicholson, racinos, robert beck jr., ron geary, Slot machines, steve beshear task force on the future of horse racing, steve sexton, tracy farmer
Posted in Kentucky, Regulatory Issues | 10 Comments »
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced a series of sweeping safety and integrity reforms and the hiring of a former governor and Bush administration official during a press conference in New York this morning.
The reforms, organized under the banner of the newly created NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance, touch on a wide range of issues that have been bubbling under the surface for years but came to a head this spring in the wake of the death of the filly Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby, the revelation that Derby winner Big Brown won while racing legally on anabolic steroids, and a damning Congressional hearing that left industry leaders red-faced and fearful of federal action. The reforms and the creation of the Safety and Integrity Alliance evolved over the last several months from a series of closed-door meetings and a confidential discussion document circulated throughout the industry and published in the Paulick Report in July.
The Alliance, to be funded by the financially challenged NTRA, consists of racetracks, owners, breeders, horsemen, jockeys, auction companies, veterinarians, fans, regulators and breed registries. The NTRA has retained the services of former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who also served as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for President George W. Bush and made a brief run for the 2008 presidential nomination of the Republican Party. Thompson will be charged with independently monitoring the program and annually providing public reports on the progress the Alliance has made in meeting its goals.
Thompson, incidentally, attended the 2005 Kentucky Derby and later joined a West Point Thoroughbred partnership that owned Flashy Bull, who was unplaced in the 2006 Derby but subsequently won the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. According to West Point president Terry Finley, Thompson "loves the racing game" and is in a partnership that currently owns a West Point 2-year-old named Tapit’s Brew.
Click here to read the complete text of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance and Pledge.
For a list of tracks and racing organizations that have agreed to the pledge, click here.
Following is the NTRA’s press release on the formation of the Safety and Integrity Alliance and the hiring of Thompson as an independent monitor.
NTRA FORMS SAFETY AND INTEGRITY ALLIANCE AND ANNOUNCES SWEEPING REFORMS; TABS FORMER WISCONSIN GOVERNOR TOMMY THOMPSON TO PROVIDE OVERSIGHT
National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) President and CEO Alex Waldrop and Thoroughbred racing industry leaders outlined a series of industry-wide safety and integrity reforms at a press conference in New York today. The NTRA also announced the creation of a new Safety and Integrity Alliance, comprised of the largest tracks and horsemen’s groups in the U.S. and Canada, which will be responsible for implementing the reforms. The Honorable Tommy G. Thompson, former four-term Governor of Wisconsin and Secretary of Health and Human Services, will serve as independent counsel for the new NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance. Governor Thompson will conduct an ongoing review and provide an annual independent and public assessment to the Alliance.
The reform initiatives are the broadest and most comprehensive in the sport’s history, including:
- uniform medication rules for each racing state
- ban of steroids from racing competition
- out-of-competition testing for blood and gene doping agents and pre-race testing
- uniform penalties for all medication infractions
- mandatory on-track and non-racing injury reporting
- mandatory installation of protective inner safety rail
- mandatory pre- and post-race security
- adoption of a placement program for Thoroughbreds no longer competing
The reforms were approved by the NTRA Board of Directors, representing North America’s leading racetracks, owners, breeders and horsemen, at a special Board Meeting in September and communicated via e-mail to fans just prior to the press conference. Waldrop, joined by NTRA Executive Chairman Robert Elliston, Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association Chairman Alan Foreman and Governor Thompson, unveiled an ambitious timetable for implementing reforms, calling on NTRA Alliance member organizations to adopt house rules to enforce the measures until individual states and regulatory agencies can catch up via statute and regulations.
“Our industry is taking strong, positive steps to ensure the safety and integrity of our sport,” said Waldrop. “Despite challenges and significant short-term and long-term costs, there is an unprecedented level of commitment among Thoroughbred racing’s leadership to see these measures through.”
Governor Thompson—currently a partner in the Washington, D.C., offices of the law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld—will lead a team that will independently review, monitor and assess the program and provide annual public reports of the industry’s progress toward achieving its goals in the area of human and equine health and safety.
"Our first priority is to insure the health and safety of the athletes and horses in the racing industry,” said Thompson. “On its own initiative, the NTRA has taken a great step forward in committing to reforms and the creation of an important new body to oversee implementation of the reforms. I will take my independent oversight role seriously and work to assure transparency in this process.”
The NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance will be a standing organization whose purpose is to implement safety and integrity reforms. The Alliance also will function as a certification/accreditation body for the purpose of recognizing and incentivizing compliance by all stakeholders. Reforms will be undertaken using a phased approach that begins immediately—in some cases, under a House Rules format—and transitions to a broader strategy that relies on licensure requirements, continuing education programs and the state regulatory process.
“The health and safety of all participants in Thoroughbred racing – both human and equine – have always been top priorities at Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, and all of our company’s racetracks,” said Robert Evans, President and CEO of Churchill Downs, Inc. “We know that the job is never done where safety is concerned. We fully support the NTRA’s development of safety and integrity standards and the annual certification of tracks that meet those standards. On the issues of safety and integrity, we believe we must hold ourselves to only the highest standards. Our customers do.”
Virtually every leading racetrack and horsemen’s association in North America, representing some one million industry participants, has pledged its support to the Alliance and the reforms. Waldrop indicated that, in the coming weeks, the Alliance will be broadened to include other racing organizations, individuals and fans; and that additional reforms, including wagering integrity issues, will be addressed by the Alliance.
"The horsemen are the people who are ultimately responsible for the day-to-day care and safety of the Thoroughbred,” said Alan Foreman, Chairman of the national Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “As such, the health and safety of our horses and the integrity of our sport are our highest priorities. We are committed to seeing that these reforms and standards are implemented across the nation."
The reforms include improvements to medication and testing policies, guidelines for injury reporting and prevention, safety research, providing a safer racing environment, and post-racing care for retired race horses. They are drawn from the recommendations that have emerged over the past several months from The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Safety Committee and Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, Breeders’ Cup Limited, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s Graded Stakes Committee and the long-standing work of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium and the Association of Racing Commissioners International, among others.
“Fortunately, we have the excellent work of many industry organizations to build on, allowing us to focus on implementation, oversight, measurement and transparency,” said Waldrop. “The reforms and the plan for implementation have been conceived by those who have pledged to operate at a higher level of integrity.”
The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of horse racing interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity of horse racing and improving economic conditions for industry participants. The NTRA has offices in Lexington, Ky., and New York. NTRA press releases appear on the NTRA web site, NTRA.com.
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Tags: akin gump strauss hauer and feld, alan foreman, alex waldrop, american graded stakes committee, anabolic steroids, association of racing commissioners international, backstretch security, Barbaro, bob elliston, bob evans, Breeders' Cup, churchill downs, eight belles, former wisconsin governor, injury reporting, Jockey Club, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, NTRA, ntra safety and integrity alliance, out of competition testing, post-, post-race security, pre-race security, racing injuries, racing medication and testing consortium, RCI, rmtc, robert elliston, robert evans, safety rail, steroids ban, thoroughbred horsemen's association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, thoroughbred safety committee, tommy g. thompson, tommy thompson, uniform medication, welfare and safety of the racehorse summit
Posted in Horse Racing, Horse Welfare, Industry, Industry Organizations, Industry Reform, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Regulatory Issues | 9 Comments »
Friday, October 10th, 2008
The 15-day suspension against Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Rick Dutrow for an alleged Clenbuterol positive in Salute the Count, a horse that ran at Churchill Downs on May 2, should be overturned by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, hearing officer James Robke has ruled.
Clenbuterol has a permissible threshold level of 25 picograms per ml of serum, according to state guidelines. Iowa State Laboratory reported a finding of 41 picograms; the documentation packet was labeled: “Confirmation for Clenbuterol in Plasma.” But the hearing officer ruling said there was no evidence presented by Iowa State or a secondary, confirmatory lab at Louisiana State University that confirmed the presence of Clenbuterol in serum. “Neither was there any evidence to explain the difference between serum and plasma,” the hearing officer recommendation states. Because of this, the administrative officer said the commission had "not met its burden" to prove the allegations against Dutrow were true.
The recommendation (click here to read the complete ruling) said the commission “failed to prove that the amount of Clenbuterol was above the threshold of ‘25 picograms per ml of serum.’ The commission proved that the amount of Clenbuterol in Salute the Count was indeed 41 picograms per ml of plasma. No evidence was presented to explain the difference (between plasma and serum). When dealing with two amounts … it is imperative that there is specificity as to the amounts.”
Lisa Underwood, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, issued the following statement: “The staff of the KHRC has reviewed the hearing officer’s recommendations to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission regarding the steward’s ruling against trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. We have concluded that we have a strong basis for filing exceptions to the recommended order, and we intend to do so promptly.”
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Tags: Big Brown, clenbuterol, Horse Racing, horse racing regulations, iowa state lab, james robke, kentucky horse racing commission, lisa underwood, louisiana state university lab, Medication, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, richard dutrow jr., rick dutrow, salute the count, withdrawal guidelines
Posted in Big Brown, Horse Racing, Kentucky, Medication, Regulatory Issues | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
People are making and cancelling bets on horses after races have begun. Let me repeat that: PEOPLE ARE MAKING AND CANCELLING BETS ON HORSES AFTER RACES HAVE BEGUN. Does anyone have a problem with that?
Apparently, several members appointed to a subcommittee on integrity that is part of a Task Force on the Future of Horse Racing in Kentucky aren’t all that concerned about the issue. The integrity subcommittee couldn’t even muster a quorum when three of its six voting members failed to show up for the panel’s first meeting at the offices of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Monday afternoon.
At the outset of the meeting, subcommittee chairman Ned Bonnie (a member of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission) said the panel was poised to take action on integrity issues until he was reminded by the commission’s executive director, Lisa Underwood, that a quorum wasn’t present.
Bonnie was joined by subcommittee members Robert Beck Jr. (an attorney and chairman of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission) and Robert Vance, the secretary of Kentucky’s Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. But missing were racing commission vice-chairman Tracy Farmer (chairman of the Task Force on the Future of Horse Racing and a Thoroughbred owner and breeder), Louisville real estate developer Brian Lavin and Paducah, Ky., attorney Duncan Pitchford.
It’s no wonder that some are referring to this entire exercise proposed by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear as a “task farce.”
Bonnie was disappointed at the no-shows, to be sure, but how do you think horseplayers feel? They are the ones, after all, whose confidence has been eroded by an archaic totalizator system with flaws that are being exploited by techno-savvy thieves; off-shore rebate shops that are virtually unregulated; a patchwork network of simulcast sites that answer to 38 different regulatory bodies; and ineffective rules, many of which were written for the good old days when the only bets made took place on track with a live teller.
For anyone not paying attention, the volume of pari-mutuel handle on horse racing is down this year by roughly 5%. It’s not just a Kentucky problem. By year’s end, total pari-mutuel handle in the United States may very well dip below $14 billion for the first time since 1999. That’s 10 years of stagnation.
We can blame the economy or competition from other forms of entertainment and gambling. Or we can ask our customers, which the National Thoroughbred Racing Association recently did, as to why they are not pushing as many dollars into the pari-mutuel pools as they used to. According to Keith Chamblin, the NTRA executive who outlined the consumer research at an industry conference, the attitudes of racing’s best customers can be summed up in five words: “Our core fans are pissed.”
Consumers are pissed because they feel cheaters continue to win races at an alarming rate by using performance enhancing drugs. They are convinced people are making or cancelling bets after races begin. And they see racing commissions and task forces and blue ribbon panels as pointless exercises conducted by mindless political appointees who are too out of tune to understand the problems or too apathetic to fix them.
That may or may not be the case with Kentucky’s Task Force and its various subcommittees. It should be noted that a majority of the ex officio non-voting members of the integrity subcommittee were on hand, including owner-breeder Gary Biszantz, professional horseplayer Mike Maloney and businessman Frank Kling, who spent a great deal of time and effort working on wagering integrity issues as a member of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, a panel dissolved by Beshear earlier this year and replaced with the current racing commission. All three spoke up in ways that indicate they understand the problems and sense the urgency in addressing them.
But the ex officio members can’t vote on any action items addressed by the integrity subcommittee. That’s up to the six voting members to do – if and when they show up for a meeting.
In the meantime, the entire Task Force should remember those five chilling words repeated by Chamblin: “Our core fans are pissed.”
The ball is in the court of the Kentucky Task Force and regulators, track operators, account wagering companies and others throughout this country.
What are they going to do address the concerns of racing’s best customers?
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Tags: brian lavin, duncan pitchford, frank kling, gary biszantz, Horse Racing, integrity subcommittee, keith chamblin, kentucky horse racing, kentucky horse racing commission, kentucky racing, lisa underwood, mike maloney, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, ned bonnie, NTRA, pari-mutuel betting, pari-mutuel handle, pari-mutuel wagering, pari-mutuels, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, robert beck jr., robert vance, steve beshear, task force on the future of horse racing, totalizator, Tote System, tracy farmer
Posted in Horse Racing, Industry Organizations, Industry Reform, Kentucky, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Regulatory Issues, Simulcasting, Wagering | 16 Comments »
Monday, October 6th, 2008
Ray Paulick is live blogging the Task Force on the Future of Horse Racing’s subcommittee on integrity of racing and pari-mutuel activities from the offices of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Monday afternoon, beginning at 1 p.m.
Edward (Ned) Bonnie, a member of the racing commission, is chairing the meeting, which is called to order at 1 p.m. "Hopefully we are going to be able to move this peanut down the sidewalk and take some action, however modest, by the end of this meeting."
1:05 p.m. … Hold your horses, Ned! There are six members of the subcommittee and four are needed for a quorum to take any action, acccording to racing commission executive director LIsa Underwood. Unfortunately, there are only three "voting members" of the task force on hand at the beginning of the meeting. Does that say anything about the task force’s commitment to integrity? Hmmmmmmm.
1:10 p.m. …Sounds like Ned Bonnie may be filibustering till someone else shows up to give this group a quorum. Bonnie is talking about various white papers he has written on integrity issues in Kentucky. Earth to Ned: No one with authority has acted on those white papers. Try a different color.
Bonnie states that Keeneland employs the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (TRPB), the so-called “security arm” of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America (not to be confused with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association). However, it is revealed Turfway Park, which is owned in part by Keeneland, does not use the TRPB. Is no one on this task force subcommittee curious why Keeneland doesn’t use TRPB at Turfway?
Bonnie says Kentucky’s racing regulators have been understaffed for many years in the area of security. “Feet on the ground is the most effective way to produce security on the backside,” he says. Bonnie says New York has 12 investigators. When vets show up at the back gate at a New York track, Bonnie says, the security chief for the New York State Racing and Wagering Board assigns an investigator to ride with them. New York’s security arm recommends that each state have a good security staff, well paid, but that the industry also needs a group, not unlike the Big Event Team that provides stable area security at major events. “If we are going to have the integrity the industry accepts the need for, then we are going to have to have the tools to get that done," Bonnie says.
1:20 p.m. … First up is Isidore Sobkowski, an entrepreneur who said he has developed a system for wagering security in conjunction with the Association of Racing Commissioners International Integrity Services. Sobkowski said he used to nail insider traders on Wall Street and was an interim consultant to the NTRA on wagering integrity back when the organization hoped to have an Office of Wagering Security. Sobkowski told Bonnie he spent two years trying to sell his pari-mutuel security system to the NTRA, but it “became clear” they weren’t going to buy it. As of Jan. 1, 2009, Sobkowski said, totes will be subject to a rule in New York State for “independent monitoring.” He said California, Oregon and other states will follow suit. Totes may be able to pass on costs TO THE CUSTOMER (see 2:15 p.m. update), Sobkowski added.
Izzy (easier to type than his full name) has some proprietary software called MonitorPlus that he said detects “potentially inappropriate activity in the transactional stream and security database.”
1:25 p.m. … Bad guys who want to break into the tote systems are getting smarter, Izzy says. Reminds me of "when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns." He is offering a "turn-key solution. " Izzy says, "Plug it in, it works, take the plug out, it stops working."
1:30 p.m. … Still no quorum for this meeting.
1:35 p.m. … Sobkowski and RCI president Ed Martin came up with the idea of RCI Integrity Services at a diner outside of Saratoga. Now he is filibustering, talking about "artificial intelligence" and all the people who were too stupid to buy his services until now.
1:40 p.m. ,,, Denny Oelschluger (an associate of Izzy’s … can’t they hire someone with an easy name to type?) talks about some of the actual results the MonitorPlus system has detected. Examples: an advance deposit wagering account with computer assisted wagearing that has a rate of return of 1.5 on all bets (the normal is less than 0.80); in looking at 862 races (5,800 wagering pools, over six days), Monitor Plus detected multiple instances of cancel delays (bets canceled after the close of wagering). The canceled bets are losers, suggesting a similar pattern to past post wagering on winning bets; win pool odds are being manipulated by canceled transactions. The system also picks up suspicious wagering on "fixed" or "boat" races, Denny says.
1:50 p.m. … "How do we stop this?" Bonnie asks. I believe that’s why we are here, sir. I assume he is talking about the illegal wagering, but maybe he is talking about the presentation of MonitorPlus (see below).
2:00 p.m. … "We are not going to serve dinner here tonight," Bonnie says. In other words, isn’t 45 minutes enough time to deal with this issue of integrity? Please sir, just a little more time, Izzy begs after that remark. To her credit, Lisa Underwood steps in to say that it would be a good idea if the system could be explained further for the members of the task force subcommittee.
2:05 p.m. … It just occurred to me that this MonitorPlus system does not have the stamp of approval of the Jockey Club (no Jockey Club officials are at the meeting), which in my opinion is going to severely impact its chances of approval. Those Jockey Club tentacles have a long reach.
2:08 p.m. … Izzy does a quick "how the system works" presentation. It includes a national database that analyzes wagers everywhere. Bonnie questions whether a national data base has jurisdiction on account wagering systems based off-shore in places like St. Kitts (where many of the rebate shops are located). Izzy says on Oct. 18 those off-shores are going to be "read the riot act" in a meeting in Oregon. Not sure why. Again, it looks like this could meander down the path of "lack of national authority." Izzy says national legislation would help but then adds that the industry doesn’t seem to want that.
2:10 p.m. … "Clustering" is explained by Izzy as unusual things that happen in a betting stream. Once clusters are found, they are analyzed with such things as a SNA or social network analysis that looks at who is involved (jockeys, trainers, owners), what is their record, who are their associates …a who, what, when, and maybe a why the unusual cluster of betting activity occurred.
2:15 p.m. … Customers will be paid by the month; fees will be assessed by how much the MonitorPlus system is used, and its price is based on the handle. Mike Maloney, the horseplayer on the task force, asks how costs are passed on to customers. Industrywide it would cost $6 million, Izzy says, with the increase to be added to takeout (approximately .0004% of handle, based on $15 billion in national handle). Maloney says takeout is too high already, but that the small additional amount doesn’t bother him. A lot cheaper than the $50 million IBM wanted to charge a few years ago, Izzy says.
2:25 p.m. … Frank Kling, a member of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority talks about the work his committee had done regarding problems related to the tote system before Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear disbanded the authority and replaced it with the racing commission and mostly filled it with people who helped get him elected. Sounds like any good work that committee may have done will soon be forgotten.
2:35 p.m. … Horseplayer Mike ($10 million in bets a year) Maloney takes the floor. "I’ll rely on my 30 years of hard knocks at the racetrack to help expalin this." Maloney refers to a white paper he wrote for the commission and says a year ago no one was talking about wagering integrity. "We’re at the very beginning of this process," Maloney says. "This is an opportunity for Kentucky to take the lead. No one has really stepped forward." Maloney believes that increased wagering security will lead to greater confidence among bettors, who may bet more in the future. "Our wagering system is flawed," he says. "I hope everyone on this task force agrees with that. … Any reasonable person would have to agree with that." Maloney sees problems with past posting (accidental, part of a sophisticated plan, larceny, incompetence, human error). There are delayed cancellations. "When they are used to take advantage at the racetrack, it’s basically stealing," he says. "Since we don’t have a national authority, every bettor, every participant depends on the state racing commission to protect their interests. Today we fall far short of that mark, and it’s in the hands of the racing commission. The racing commission is the protector of the bettor’s rights."
"Tracks don’t record (in minutes and seconds) when their races begin," Maloney says. "Betting sites are allowed to participate in our wagering pools without proper oversight. In order to protect all bettors’ rights, no one should be allowed to participate in any Kentucky racing pool unless they agree to a certain level of oversight."
2:45 p.m. … Maloney is stunned that no American track (until recently) records the actual start time of a race, in order to compare it to when the betting is cut off, then says an average group of eighth graders would make that as a requirement if they were to set basic rules for racing. Tote companies do record when the betting stops, Maloney said. Kling said that Nick Nicholson of Keeneland added the start time to television monitors for Keeneland’s races. The times between tote companies and racetracks are not currently synchronized. "Lacking a national body of oversight I don’t know where we start on this," Maloney says. "How hard is it to do that?" Maloney asks. "You’d think we could do that with a conference call in an hour. We’re not asking to reinvent the wheel or split the atom."
2:50 (at least according to my clock) p.m. … Maloney is still stuck on time. He relates how Sunday at Keeneland a clock on Keeneland’s monitor showing the time in hours/minutes/seconds and a monitor with a Belmont Park race showing hours/minutes/seconds each had a different time of day. He relates to how the Nevada Gaming Control Board closely monitors the game of Keno and how that regulatory agency would crack down on the kinds of problems that horse racing has. "In racing we know we have these problems," he said, "we just let it go on. Nobody pays a fine, nobody loses their license. Who takes the brunt of that? The bettor. And the game of racing. The industry is hurting itself by not policing itself."
2:58 p.m. … Maloney still going after them, saying that past-posting incidents only come up when they are discovered by the press. The tracks and the tote companies won’t admit it until they have to, he says. It’s up to the commissions he repeats. His solutions: 1) "invest in technology to make the longest wagering cycle no more than 15 seconds" (he refers to a five-year old study done in the wake of the 2002 Pick Six scandal at the Breeders’ Cup that called for the 15-second cycle, and said it hasn’t been done yet); 2) "use technology to directly link the pressing of the starter’s button to the closing of the wagering system" (currently stewards push a button to close betting); 3) "require tracks to record when their races start. I would like to see that be in the regulations"; 4) "require all tracks and tote companies to synch their time systems to one industry standard." Maloney said he is "so encouraged" after years of banging his head against the wall on these issues.
3:05 p.m. … Bonnie looks a bit deflated when he says the subcommittee can’t take action on anything today for lack of a quorum.
3:10 p,m. … Bonnie asks Maloney why something hasn’t been done yet. "The industry lacks oversight," Maloney tells him. Duh.
3:13 p.m. … Owner/breeder Gary Biszantz, a member of the subcommittee speaks up. "I’m not sure why I’m here today," he says, then goes on to tell the story of how he told officials at the New York Racing Association five years ago that there was past posting going on and they said he was crazy. Biszantz pushes for a non-technological solultion. Close the pools at post time, before the horses are loaded into the gate, he says. "As a bettor, I’d have absolutely no problem with that," Maloney said. "But the tracks wouldn’t go for that," Biszantz answers back, then goes on about all the problems the industry faces because of the lack of oversight at nearly every level. "It’s total chaos," Biszantz emphasizes.
3:18 p.m. … Bonnie calls for a break. Maybe he can round up another committee member and get a quorum.
3:30 p.m. … Frank Fabian and Curtis Linnell from TRPB are introduced. Fabian, a former G-man who worked in the terrorism division of the FBI, is a smooth talker. He applauded the TRPB’s own wagering analysis program that the TRA funded to the tune of $600,000 and eventually fell into the lap of the Jockey Club. "For two years now, we have been doing quite a bit," he told Maloney. "We’ve been quite successful," Fabian said, adding the TRPB has the full support of all the Kentucky racetracks. Fabian said wagering anomalies have been identified and "reports have been filed" with the racetracks where those anomalies occurred. Maloney doesn’t look very convinced, and I am reminded of the reaction of one industry leader to Fabian’s similar presentation at a Jockey Club Round Table a couple of years ago in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. "That was total b.s." this person said to me after Fabian’s Round Table presentation.
"I think TRPB is doing all it can to bring the engagement of wagering integrity in the environment we are in now," Fabian told the commission subcommittee. Fabian said the TRPB has analyzed off-shore wagering activities and is putting these betting shops through a due diligence process, but would not comment when questioned on whether or not anything found in that analysis was "alarming." Malone presses Fabian on whether or not RGS (a major rebate shop) has agreed to a due diligence process. Fabian employs an artful dodge, then introduces Linnell.
3:45 p,m. … Linnell gives a history lesson about how the NTRA blew through $3 million after the Pick Six scandal of 2002 without solving the wagering problems it was charged to examine.
3:50 p.m. … Linnell focuses his report on "stop betting," showing the varous ways and times betting can be stopped. As a representatiive of the racetracks (it should be remembered), he reminds the commission that betting should be left open as long as possible. A nifty bar graph on the close of betting shows that 23% of the entire win pool of a race is wagered between the "off time" when a race is scheduled to go and the final close. Linnell calls it "counterproductive" to close wagering pools early because "betting device technology is improving."
4:00 p.m. … During a Q&A session on some of Linnell’s presentation, Biszantz complains that we are listening too much to the tote companies instead of doing the right thing. Malone shakes his head in agreement. Linnell returns to his presentation and focuses on factors that slow down the posting of final odds (which infuriate horse players who see the odds change midway through a race). One factor is the cancel-delay — the time that bets can be cancelled after betting has closed. Cancel delays are sometimes allowed for pari-mutuel clerks to make. Double hops from betting hub to betting hub can also slow odds, Linnell said, as can tracks who are not on-board an "almost final" tote update. (It’s all too complicated, which is probably the point of his presentation.)
4:05 p.m. The TRPB is investigating past-post incidents, Linnell said, using its wagering analysis tools. Those investigations are launched as a result of multiple points of contact, whether from tracks, commissions, major horseplayers and even England’s BetFair betting exchange, which takes bets on U.S. races. Linnell then explained several reasons for how past-post betting can occur, including human error or technology and hardware or software failure. Linnell is losing me again, talking about master systems, slave systems, and clones. It must mean something to someone.
The committee then discusses mistakes by tote companies that allow past posting and how they should be penalized in some way if the tote companies make a mistake similar to the kind that occurred several months ago when past-post wagering took place at Tampa Bay Downs on a race at Philadelphia Park that had already been run. "Every bet made was a winning bet!" Linnell joked.
4:20 p.m. … Linnell gave his solutions to the problems of the stop-betting issue: conduct daily testing of stop betting system; have a back-up to the stewards/judges function that currently stops betting; have a second stop-betting command; get rid of all cancel delays; and have tote time recorded on the video feed from every track.
4:25 p.m. … Maloney wants more accountability and transparency regarding the public disclosure of past-posting incidents and their causes. "I see this as a big problem with the confidence of bettors," he said. Linnell didn’t disagree, laying out a series of actions that TRPB recommends in the event of past-posting incidents, including more disclosure and transparency on the incidents, and the extent of wagering that took place after a race began.
4:35 p.m. … Linnell wraps up his presentation, and I’m afraid that Bonnie didn’t live up to his promise to move the peanut up the sidewalk. No quorum, no peanuts, and no sidewalks are in sight.
4:50 p.m. … Bonnie asks Fabian how Kentucky can improve its backstretch integrity related to the use of performance enhancing drugs in horses. "It’s through (on-track) investigators that helps us focus (TRPB’s) scant resources to work with commissions to have targeted investigations and targeted searches," Fabian said "We have to get back to some of the basics for our investigatve techniques. We have fallen short on having quality investigators."
5:00 p.m. … After a meandering discussing about the need for backstretch security to deal with catching cheaters who use performance enhancing drugs, Bonnie closes the meeting. "When we have a quorum we’ll take some action," he says.
Let’s hope someone holds the commission to that.
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Tags: association of racing commissioners international, bob beck, ed martin, edward bonnie, frank kling, gary biszantz, Horse Racing, isidore sobkowski, Keeneland, kentucky horse racing commission, lisa underwood, mike maloney, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, ned bonnie, nick nicholson, pari-mutuel wagering, past-post betting, Paulick Report, pick six scandal, Ray Paulick, RCI, subcommittee on integrity of racing and pari-mutuel act, task force on future of horse racing, thoroughbred racing associations, thoroughbred racing protective bureau
Posted in Kentucky, Regulatory Issues | 11 Comments »
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
By Ray Paulick
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, stung by the recent disclosure by its former chief veterinarian that no testing for TCO2 loading (also known as milkshakes) was conducted at the Ellis Park Thoroughbred meeting this summer, is facing another embarrassment involving its impotence over positive tests for blood-doping agents in four horses at the Red Mile harness track in Lexington, the Paulick Report has learned.
High-placed sources at the horse racing commission and Kentucky’s Equine Drug Research Council told the Paulick Report that out-of-competition testing on at least four horses detected a form of erythropoietin, which helps increase the production of red blood cells and has been used in both human and equine sports to illegally enhance performance. It is virtually impossible to detect in normal post-race tests because the drug is given up to two weeks before a race and can only be detected for about 48 hours thereafter. Cycling and other human sports rely on out-of-competition testing to catch blood-doping cheaters.
Because the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has no rules on the book regulating the results of out-of-competition testing, it is unable to prosecute any of the positive tests or penalize those involved. Officials at the Red Mile, according to sources, have merely barred the horses from further competition at the current meeting, which ends on Saturday. Rules concerning out-of-competition testing at the Red Mile can be found here.
Red Mile president Joe Costa could not be reached for comment.
“The state does not have rules for out-of-competition testing,” said Jim Carroll, a communications officer for Kentucky’s Public Protection Cabinet. “I would refer you to the Red Mile. The track has authority.”
Carroll would not confirm whether the indefinite suspensions announced on Thursday of two veterinarians, Rick Mather and Rick Rothfuss of Columbus, Ohio, were related to the alleged positive blood-doping tests. A press release from the commission said two Kentucky Horse Racing Commission investigators searched two trucks owned by the veterinarians and seized records and unidentified substances, which are being sent to a laboratory for testing. Richard Williams, the commission’s presiding judge for Standardbred racing, imposed the suspension after reviewing the physical evidence. A hearing on the suspension is pending.
“It’s gotten ridiculous,” one prominent Standardbred horsemen told the Paulick Report. “We have more vets driving around on the backstretch than we have horses back there.”
One state that takes a harsher view of blood-doping positive tests and possession of illegal blood-doping agents is New Jersey, whose racing commission routinely conducts out-of-competition testing. The New Jersey Commission has issued bans of more than 15 years for horsemen and veterinarians caught in blood-doping schemes, and in one case criminal charges have been filed.
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Tags: aranesp, bicarbondate loading, blood doping, blood-doping agents, drugs in racing, ellis park, epo, epogen, erythropoietin, horse doping, Horse Racing, jim carroll, joe costa, kentucky horse racing commission, Medication, milkshakes, new jersey racing commission, out of competition testing, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, red mile, richard williams, rick mather, rick rothfuss, standardbred racing, tco2
Posted in Industry Reform, Medication, Regulatory Issues | Comments Off
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
The horse business is Kentucky’s signature industry, employing tens of thousands of people, generating over a billion dollars of revenue throughout the year, and putting the international spotlight on the Commonwealth each spring at the Kentucky Derby. Yet, in many ways, legislators and other government officials have been dealing with the industry almost as an afterthought.
Tax breaks given to lesser industries have not been granted to farmers whose agricultural product happens to be a horse instead of a cow. Kentucky’s legislature was late to the party to create an incentive fund to reward breeders for doing business in the Bluegrass State rather than shipping their breeding stock (and jobs) out of state where more lucrative incentives have been created. And now, one of the most troublesome challenges the racing industry faces – questions about the integrity of the sport and its pari-mutuel wagering foundation – has been hampered by ongoing budgetary shortfalls at the state agency that regulates racing.
Simply put, the integrity of racing in Kentucky is being jeopardized by indifference by some at the legislative and executive level to properly fund the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
The problem goes back nearly eight years ago to the administration of Gov. Paul Patton, who cut $1 million dollars – nearly one-third – out of what was then known as the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority. Frank Shoop, then the chairman of the regulatory body, told the Paulick Report he thought the cuts were temporary and would be restored; they weren’t. Instead, the Racing Authority began assessing racetracks as much as $3,500 a day to pay for many of the functions that would previously have been funded by the state. “It’s so important to the signature industry of the state,” Shoop said. “They should have proper money to regulate the industry: transportation, insurance and other departments have proper regulatory budgets. This department has been short of money and short of money for years.
“I don’t know what the proper funding action should be,” Shoop added, “but something needs to be done that the legislature and governor can agree on.”
If something isn’t done, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will run out of money by Jan. 1, according to Tracy Farmer, a Thoroughbred owner and breeder and high-level operative in the Democratic Party that helped elect Gov. Steve Beshear last November. Farmer was named by Beshear to the current horse racing commission, where he serves as vice chairman, and is heading up a special Task Force on the Future of Horse Racing examining numerous issues related to racing and breeding.
Farmer told the Paulick Report that Kentucky’s General Assembly had $2 million set aside for the racing commission for the current fiscal year but they subsequently “raided our accounts to balance the (state) budget.” Farmer said he and others are looking at ways to fund the commission through such revenue items as the tax on claiming horses, which he estimated generates $2 million per year. “Money is being generated that’s not being put back into the industry,” Farmer said. “We’re looking at several different methodologies and will recommend one of them. This is the largest industry in the state. We have to fund the people who oversee it.”
State Sen. Damon Thayer, a Republican from Georgetown and a consultant in the racing industry who helped create the breeders’ incentive fund through existing revenue drawn from the tax on stallion seasons, pushed for legislation that would have Kentucky’s General Fund provide for the commission’s budget. That legislation failed, Thayer said, despite bi-partisan efforts to get it passed.
“The racetracks are struggling, the commission is without money, and the state is in a budget crisis,” Thayer said. “We need more money for the commission to have boots on the ground to do their job. And we were saying this before Eight Belles and Big Brown.”
The death of Eight Belles in this year’s Kentucky Derby and the admission by trainer Rick Dutrow that Derby winner Big Brown raced on anabolic steroids (then legal) has prompted an outcry for tighter regulations, stricter medication rules, and more comprehensive drug testing. Anabolic steroids have recently been banned in Kentucky and several other states, and that ban requires additional testing be added to the existing drug testing program.
Thayer plans to introduce new legislation during the next session of the General Assembly.
“What needs to happen is Gov. Beshear needs to get behind legislation drafted by Sen. Ed Worley (D-Richmond) and me that would set up a reliable, recurring source of revenue for the racing commission so the tracks do not pay for drug testing and their own regulation. The racing commission needs to be funded by the pari-mutuel excise tax so we can expand drug testing to a respectable level.”
According to Thayer, the pari-mutuel tax currently helps fund the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, equine drug research and the University of Louisville’s equine business program.
The lack of funding came to a head at a recent meeting of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission when it was disclosed testing was not conducted for performance-enhancing milkshakes (TCO2 levels or bicarbonate loading) at Ellis Park this summer because of a personnel shortage. Since that disclosure, the commission’s chief veterinarian resigned his position.
“We were shocked to learn that no testing was conducted,” said Farmer.
It may have taken weeks for commission members to learn that there was no testing for milkshakes, but trainers probably knew instantly, permitting cheaters to prosper. The absence of testing shook the confidence of many horseplayers about whether the state is doing enough to stop performance-enhancing drugs from giving an edge to some trainers.
The racing commission’s executive director, Lisa Underwood, who was hired during the previous administration of Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher, has plans to expand the size of the staff if funding is provided. She has submitted a plan to add investigators, state veterinarians and other full and part-time staff to better regulate racing and ensure its integrity.
Ed Martin, president of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, told the Task Force on the Future of Horse Racing when he became aware of how little was committed to Kentucky’s commission that he was “shocked at how low a priority the integrity of racing apparently was, especially considering how important the racing industry is to the state’s economy and identity.”
Martin compiled a study of how much is committed to integrity issues in other major racing states and found that Kentucky, “instead of being first, is last.”
His study showed Kentucky commits $7,692 per race day, less than half of the $17,948 committed by Florida for integrity enforcement. Martin said the Kentucky commission is sorely lacking investigators to monitor backstretch activities. Kentucky has two investigators, he said, compared with 14 in New York, 15 in Pennsylvania, 17 in Florida, and 18 in California.
“ Perhaps the most glaring weakness in the funding can be seen in the fact that no resources have been dedicated to policing the pari-mutuel system,” Martin said.“Kentucky in the past has dedicated nothing in this area while other major racing states have made a considerable commitment in this area, not only in terms of staff, but to ensure that an independent computerized monitoring system is deployed to protect against past posting, odds manipulations, cyber crime, and larceny. In public forum after public forum, large bettors have expressed a growing concern about the lack of commitment to wagering security.
“ While some states have committed as many as six people to wagering security and made arrangements for independent monitoring, Kentucky has yet to commit one.”
Many bettors are convinced the technology used in today’s pari-mutuel wagering system is archaic and able to be exploited by techno-savvy players who are making bets after the gates to a race have been opened. One member of the Kentucky Racing Commission who asked not to be named agreed: “There is no question people are betting after the horses are out of the gate,” he said. “They are somehow getting into the pool. It’s frightening.”
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Tags: association of racing commissioners international, bicarbonate loading, Big Brown, bluegrass state, churchill downs, damon thayer, drug testing, ed martin, ed worley, eight belles, ellis park, ernie fletcher, frank shoop, Horse Racing, Keeneland, kentucky horse racing, kentucky horse racing authority, kentucky horse racing commission, kentucky thoroughbred development fund, lisa underwood, pari-mutuel wagering, paul patton, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, RCI, steve beshear, task force on the future of horse racing, tco2, thoroughbred racing, tracy farmer, turfway park, university of louisville equiine business program, wagering integrity
Posted in Horse Racing, Industry Organizations, Kentucky, Medication, Regulatory Issues, Tote System, Wagering | 2 Comments »
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