Posts Tagged ‘disabled jockeys’
Monday, October 26th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Some people think I’d do just about anything to not get on an airplane. One of those folks is Brad Cummings, my partner in the Paulick Report. A couple of weeks ago, knowing that I’ve had my fill of bad experiences with commercial airlines, he asked if I’d be driving out to the Breeders’ Cup from my home in Lexington, Ky., to Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
“Are you nuts?” I asked. I told Brad I was in the process of booking a flight but then, for some reason, said, “Why don’t you drive out there with me.” We had just been discussing our disappointment in not being able to get a group of people together from Central Kentucky to fill a chartered bus and attend a Chicago-area fundraiser Oct. 25 for apprentice jockey Michael Straight, who was seriously injured in a riding mishap at Arlington Park this summer. Brad had really been hoping to show that people in Kentucky had the young jockey in their thoughts and prayers, but understood that giving up a Sunday and Monday to attend the event was a tall order for many folks.
 “Maybe we can put together our own fundraiser,” I told Brad, stopping at tracks along the way, and somehow raising awareness and money for not just Michael Straight but for all the injured riders who depend on the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. It’s an organization that provides sorely needed financial assistance to more than 60 jockeys who have suffered some form of paralysis, head trauma or other debilitating injury.
From that lunchtime meeting in Lexington came the idea for BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST: A FUNDRAISING ‘DRIVE’ that gets under way at Keeneland this Wednesday (Oct. 28), continues at Hawthorne in Chicago on Thursday (Oct. 29), Remington Park in Oklahoma City on Sunday (Nov. 1), Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M., next Monday (Nov. 2) and Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Ariz., next Tuesday (Nov. 3). We’ll stop at a Las Vegas racebook next Wednesday (Nov. 4) and then arrive at Santa Anita Park on the eve of the Breeders’ Cup.
Click here to read the full details about the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST FUNDRAISING ‘DRIVE’.
We made a few phone calls after our initial discussion, including one to someone at the Breeders’ Cup to see if the organization was interested in partnering with us on this crazy idea. To my astonishment, they were immediately supportive. So was TVG, the racing network and account wagering company, which will help promote this fundraising effort on both their telecasts and online through the TVG community as our exclusive media partner.
Breeders’ Cup Charities officials suggested we branch out and consider a second charity to benefit from this drive, specifically The V Foundation for Cancer Research, founded by ESPN and the late North Carolina State basketball coach and television commentator Jim Valvano. Coach V, who died from brain cancer in 2003, gave the foundation its motto, “Don’t give up…Don’t ever give up,” during an unforgettable speech at the inaugural ESPY awards when he received the Arthur Ashe Courage & Humanitarian Award, just eight weeks before his death.
We’ve all lost friends or loved ones to this disease, and the absence of stricken Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel from this year’s Breeders’ Cup will serve as a sad reminder of how devastating cancer can be. The V Foundation has funded vital research into unraveling the mysteries of cancer over the past 15 years. It ranks among the top 2% of all charities ranked by the independent organization, Charity Navigator, for maintaining extremely low administration and fundraising expenses.
While these two organizations deal with serious medical issues, we plan to have some fun while raising money on behalf of Breeders’ Cup Charities and the two organizations. We’ll be raising awareness for them, too, chronicling each stop on the zig-zagging, 2,835-mile road trip with live blogs detailing our experiences.
 We hope you’ll stop by the Paulick Report, beginning Wednesday when BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST starts at Keeneland, where the jockey colony will be autographing Breeders’ Cup caps and I’ll be participating in a one-on-one handicapping challenge with local radio personality Tom Leach, the voice of the Kentucky Wildcats. Breeders’ Cup is staking us to a bankroll that we hope to increase throughout the trip with help from the TVG community and handicappers and horseplayers at each track.
Other promotions along the way include a race pitting the two traveling partners of the Paulick Report against members of the Remington Park jockey colony riding big, bouncing rubber balls. I think I’m at least 50-1 to win that contest.
You’ll have an opportunity to support the ‘drive,’ too, by pledging a specific amount per mile at the Breeders’ Cup Charities secured web site and making a tax-deductible online donation. Please click here to donate now.
In addition, for each of the six segments of the drive, we are soliciting individuals, businesses or charitable foundations as sponsors willing to donate a minimum of $2,000 to the charities. Please email us at info@paulickreport.com if you are interested in sponsoring a segment, which will be acknowledged throughout the trip in our daily blogs.
It’s been less than 18 months since the Paulick Report launched as an independent source of news and commentary for the Thoroughbred industry. As many of you know, in our early days we were sustained by the support of readers like you who contributed during National Public Radio-style fundraising drives. Since then, we’ve been blessed with overwhelming growth in both readership and advertising support from businesses throughout the racing and breeding communities.
Because of that support, we feel privileged to be able to put our energies toward something that truly is a worthy cause. We are asking you to give again. Please join us in supporting Breeders’ Cup Charities to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: bobby frankel, Brad Cummings, Breeders' Cup, breeders' cup or bust, cancer research, coach v, disabled jockeys, hawthorne, jim valvano, Keeneland, kentucky wildcats, michael straight, Paulick Report, pdjf, permanently disabled jockeys fund, Ray Paulick, remington park, santa anita park, tom leach, turf paradise, tvg, v foundation, zia park
Posted in Breeders' Cup, Industry Organizations, Jockeys | 21 Comments »
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Permanently disabled jockeys got a huge boost today with the announcement that the Williams Stamps Farish Fund has pledged $1 million to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, the organization currently assisting 60 former riders who have been seriously injured in racing accidents.
The president of the Farish Fund is William S. Farish, the owner of Lane’s Farm and vice chairman of the Jockey Club. His pledge, to be annualized with equal payments over four years beginning in 2009, was accompanied by a message of hope that others in the industry will also step up on this issue.
“I’ve made a lot of friends over the last 30 years who are riders,” Farish told the Paulick Report. “They are in a position that if something happens to them, they don’t have the support financially to move forward. There’s a void. I think this is something that everybody connected to our sport ought to be contributing to: owners, breeders, everyone who is involved in some way or another with racing. These are independent contractors, they’re not protected once they go down, and there’s nothing for them to fall back on.”
The PDJF was formed in 2006 with the assistance of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA Charities) and several racetracks, including those owned by Magna Entertainment and Churchill Downs Inc. A number of racetracks, owners, corporate sponsors and organizations have supported the PDJF.
It was necessitated after the former Disabled Jockeys Fund administered by the Jockeys’ Guild ran out of money during the disastrous administration of Wayne Gertmenian, who was ousted in November 2005 after virtually sending the organization into bankruptcy over the previous four years. The PDJF now stands alone as a 501(c)3 charity. Nancy LaSala is executive director of the Fund, overseeing its annual operating budget of approximately $800,000.
For more on the PDJF, click here to see the May 29 feature on the organization that was part of the Paulick Report series, Good News Friday Sponsored by Liberation Farm.
Farish said the PDJF has “been on my radar for a while.” There is a separate endowment, created by the Guild, that Farish hopes can be built up to $10-million to $12-million. It currently has about $2 million, but the money cannot be used until it reaches a certain level.
The Williams Stamps Farish Fund has actively supported numerous community and racing organizations, including Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky, the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and the Kentucky Derby Museum, among others. “I’m hopeful and feel like by putting our name behind this very, very important organization, we can help financially and draw attention to the need,” he said.
“We are deeply grateful to Mr. Farish for his commitment to the PDJF and the disabled athletes it supports,” said executive director LaSala said in a press release. “Thanks to his generosity and leadership the PDJF can now focus more attention on building the endowment that will ensure that financial assistance for our disabled riders will always be available.”
Contributions to the PDJF may be directed to: PDJF, P.O. Box 803, Elmhurst, IL 60126. All contributions are tax-deductible. For inquires contact Nancy LaSala at (630) 595-7660. For more information visit www.pdjf.org.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: churhcill downs, disabled jockeys, Lane's End, Magna Entertainment, nancy lasala, ntra charities, pdjf, wayne gertmenian, Will Farish, William S. Farish, williams stamps farish fund
Posted in Jockeys, People, racing injuries | 13 Comments »
Friday, May 29th, 2009
Do you know an individual or organization who you think we should consider for an upcoming “Good News Friday” feature? Then please e-mail info@paulickreport.com with the name of the individual or organization and a brief description of why you think they should be featured. Additionally, we’d like to thank Rob Whiteley and Liberation Farm for encouraging us to bring to light some of the industry’s positive stories and for sponsoring this exclusive Paulick Report feature.
By Ray Paulick
Good news doesn’t always make us feel good. To me, that’s the story of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, a 501(c)3 charity that has the thankless task of providing financial assistance to help former jockeys cope with the realities of lives too often spent in wheelchairs. It’s an organization doing exceptionally important work, and like many other worthy causes it struggles to get the funding it needs.
The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund makes a huge difference in the lives of these former riders, who currently number 60 (nine are women). Nancy LaSala, the Fund’s board chairman, is like so many in the racing community who is hoping and praying that Rene Douglas, severely injured in an Arlington Park accident on May 23, does not become disabled jockey No. 61.
“There is a need for assistance for these individuals,” said LaSala, a native of Chicago who for 26 years has been married to jockey Jerry LaSala, currently an officer with the Jockeys’ Guild. “Many of the riders are hurt at a young age. They don’t have time to build retirement savings. Some have young children. They have no other means of income. Many have said to me, ‘If I didn’t have this assistance, I wouldn’t have a roof over my head.’ The $1,000 a month we provide helps them pay for basic necessities. If they’re ever thrown a curveball, believe me, it’s devastating for them.”
That there is even a Fund for permanently disabled riders is almost a miracle, given the turmoil the Jockeys’ Guild went through under the disastrous leadership of Wayne Gertmenian, whose 2001-2005 reign of terror left the organization teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and its Disabled Jockeys Fund depleted. Gertmenian was removed as president in November 2005, just a month after a Congressional hearing on the Guild uncovered massive problems. The Guild eventually was forced into bankruptcy.
During the final stages of Gertmenian’s tenure, Nancy LaSala and a number of Guild officers worried that the disabled riders would be left on their own, without any assistance. “I very much care about the welfare of the jockeys,” LaSala said. “In 2005, before the Guild severed its relationship with Gertmenian, I asked, ‘If this organization fails, what will happen to these disabled riders? We got involved in helping with their needs, and I think that was very valuable. We then started having meetings with other groups in the industry in January of 2006.”
Racing executives like Steve Sexton of Churchill Downs Inc. and Don Amos, then with Magna Entertainment, helped lead the charge to start a new Fund, and in May 2006 the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund was created as part of NTRA Charities. One month later, with seed money from Churchill Downs Inc., Magna and other tracks, it was able to begin offering financial assistance to permanently disabled riders in need.
LaSala said many racetracks have really stepped up to help raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Horsemen’s organizations have not been as supportive, though individuals in the ownership ranks, including Richard Santulli, chairman of NetJets, Bill Casner of WinStar Farm, Barbaro owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson, and Michael Bello, a California-based owner, have made significant contributions. In 2008, thanks to Santulli and Casner, the Fund raised $500,000 during the Triple Crown, which amounts to more than half of the Fund’s $800,000 annual operating budget. Santulli and Casner again kicked in major contributions to the Fund at this year’s Kentucky Derby.
“Jockeys have the most hazardous occupation of any professional athlete, and I feel are greatly unappreciated,” said Casner, the former chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and a self-described “ex-gallop boy that got on about 25,000 of those beasts over 16 years as a young racetracker,” one who “had my share of hitting the ground and having several flip over on me …but for the grace of God."
“There are around 1,500 licensed professional jockeys,” Casner added, “with most of them struggling with weight and making a living. They put their lives and bodies at risk every time they get on one of our horses and most will deal with a plethora of injuries over a career. If they are lucky they will walk away and not have to deal with paralysis. Exercise riders and backstretch help should also be included in this group. While they do not experience the injury opportunities that race riders do, they are still subject to the same events. It is only right that we as an industry work with the jockeys to help them help themselves as well as other backside employees. I comment Richard Santulli, as well as the riders, for taking the leadership on this important charitable endeavor over the last two Triple Crowns.”
Riders have been directly involved in some of the creative fundraising that’s been done for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. At Keeneland this spring, “Riders Up!” a karaoke competition involving many current and past jockeys, was the highlight of a very popular dinner that raised $50,000 for the Fund.
Earlier, in Hot Springs, Ark., restaurateur Mike Loy provided free dinners at his popular KJ’s Grill and racing fans paid $100 each to dine and meet some of their favorite jockeys, raising another $17,000 for the Fund. A similar event, “Dining With the Dynasties,” will be held at Arlington Park Aug. 7, the day before the Arlington Million, thanks to Arlington boss Richard Duchossois and track president Roy Arnold, who is now a member of the Fund’s board of directors. Retired Hall of Fame jockeys like Pat Day and Gary Stevens, along with other current and former riders, including some of those who benefit from the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, are expected to participate at the Arlington event.
Speaking of Pat Day, there is good news about him and Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey, two former Jockeys’ Guild presidents who resigned from the organization when the former manager, John Giovanni, was forced out and Gertmenian was brought in. Now that the Guild has regained its credibility and is on the road to financial recovery under the leadership of Terry Meyocks and a newly configured board, Bailey and Day have rejoined the organization in a show of support. Meyocks said a number of other current riders who had quit the Guild during the Gertmenian era have also come back into the fold.
Earlier this year, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund became a standalone 501(c)3 charity, and it is no longer part of NTRA Charities. It continues to struggle for its funding. “We need the support of the entire industry and all of its partners,” LaSala said.
Please contact the Fund if you would like to help. Its web site will have an online donation link in the near future. In the meantime, you can send donations to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, P.O. Box 803, Elmhurst, IL 60126. The telephone number is: (630) 595-7660 and fax is (630) 595-7655.
Liberation Farm celebrates the many horsemen and horsewomen who strive each day to make things better for horses and those who work with them. To learn more about Liberation Farm, click here.
Previous Good News Friday subjects: Father Chris Clay, The Race for Education, Military Appreciation Day at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks Pink Out for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Mary Lee-Butte and the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, Mary Jo Pons and the Radio Reading Network, TV Ratings Are Up.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Arlington Park, Barbaro, Bill Casner, churchill downs, dining with the dynasties, disabled jockeys, disabled jockeys fund, don amos, Gary Stevens, Good News Friday, horse racing injuries, jerry bailey, jerry lasala, jockeys' guild, john giovanni, Keeneland, kj's grill, liberation farm, Magna Entertainment, mike loy, nancy lasala, pat day, Paulick Report, permanently disabled jockeys fund, Ray Paulick, rene douglas, richard duchossois, richard santulli, roy and gretchen jackson, roy arnold, steve sexton, terry meyocks, wayne gertmenian
Posted in Good News Friday, Jockeys, racing injuries | 9 Comments »
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
How many times have we seen this happen? A jockey, thinking he is on a “live” horse but with nowhere to go, makes a sudden lane switch in tight quarters at the top of the stretch, bumping or impeding another horse in the race. Oftentimes the “live” horse turns out to be a dud and is outrun to the wire, finishing out of the money. Because there is no need for an inquiry, the stewards scarcely give the incident a second look.
Sometimes, if the jockey in question is an apprentice or young journeyman, the stewards will call him or her in the next racing day to review the incident in the film room. Occasionally, the jockey might get a fine or suspension. Far too often, these incidents pass without any warnings or repercussions to the jockey. No harm, no foul, the thinking goes.
But then we have a situation in which there were severe consequences, as in Saturday’s Arlington Matron at Arlington Park near Chicago. Jamie Theriot, riding Sky Mom, was tucked in along the rail, right behind the leader, and anxious to let his horse run. Even though Rene Douglas and his mount, Born to Be, was racing shoulder to shoulder with Sky Mom, Theriot forced his way out, jostling with Douglas’ mount, and resulting in Born to Be clipping heels, throwing Douglas to the ground, and then rolling onto the fallen jockey and causing severe damage to his spine.
Moments later, the horse on the lead that Theriot was so impatient to pass, drifted off the rail while tiring, providing enough room to drive a Mack truck through. By then, however, it was too late. The damage had been done. Born to Be suffered a fatal injury, and Douglas likely had his highly successful career cut short. There’s a very good chance he’ll never walk again.
Theriot was only riding the way stewards in too many racing jurisdictions allow him to ride. Watch the replays from any track on any given day, and you’re likely to see similar moves by other jockeys — some with less experience, others with more — than the 30-year-old Theriot.
Stewards who don’t pay attention to these incidents, who live by the “no harm, no foul” philosophy, are like the referees in a basketball game who don’t call many fouls, who “let the kids play,” at least until things get out of control. The stewards who let these incidents pass, just as much if not more than Jamie Theriot, are to blame for the accident that so severely injured Douglas.
Theriot got a 30-day suspension for his actions in the race from the stewards at Arlington Park. It’s a moot point now, but I’m curious if there would have been any disciplinary action taken against Theriot had Born to Be not clipped heels and fallen after being bumped, and Douglas not been injured. Would the same move off the rail by Theriot, but with no accident and death to a horse and injury to a jockey, have resulted in a 30-day suspension? I don’t think so.
The Illinois Racing Board stewards refused to discuss the incident with the Paulick Report or with other reporters. It is part of racing’s secret society, the one that says the public has no right to know what these “judges” are seeing and thinking during or after the running of a race. In many racing states, it’s virtually impossible to find out if stewards have taken action against jockeys, trainers or other licensees, even though the rulings are a matter of public record.
By contrast, racing officials in many international jurisdictions routinely file in-depth stewards reports on every race they see. It is part of the culture in those countries that the racing public has a right to know. In some countries, trainers are required to disclose riding instructions to racing officials in advance if they are likely to result in a change in tactics. In other countries, jockeys or trainers are quizzed when a horse has a reversal in form. Interviews with jockeys about lane changes are published. Click on the following hyperlinks to see some examples of stewards reports in Dubai, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore.
There are at least two reasons state racing commissions across the United States should insist their stewards file similar reports.
First, it will indicate whether or not these officials are doing their jobs, or how well they are doing them. The racing public, as well as horsemen, will keep the stewards’ feet to the fire and make sure they are paying attention and performing their duties. Many of the currently unreported riding incidents may no longer be brushed aside.
Second, the betting public deserves to know what is going on in the races on which they are betting their money. This is, after all, a game with betting at the foundation, and diligence and attention by the officials who are paid to keep the game clean and on the up and up should go a long way toward building confidence among horseplayers and satisfying the public’s desire and right to know.
Racing has so many challenges now, many of which do not have immediate solutions. This is not one of those “unsolvable problems.” Disclosure and transparency by racing stewards is easy. And it’s the right thing to do.
Better performance by racing stewards, along with greater transparency, may not have saved the life of Born to Be and the career of Rene Douglas. But what is the downside to expecting more from those who are hired to enforce racing’s rules?
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: arlington matron, Arlington Park, born to be, disabled jockeys, illinois racing board, jamie theriot, Paulick Report, racing injury, racing officials, racing stewards, Ray Paulick, rene douglas, riding accident, sky mom
Posted in Arlington Park, International Racing, Jockeys, Regulatory Issues, racing injuries | 38 Comments »
Monday, May 25th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Jockey Jamie Theriot has been suspended 30 days by Illinois Racing Board stewards for his actions in Saturday’s Arlington Matron Handicap that resulted in a spill in which jockey Rene Douglas has been seriously injured and possibly paralyzed from the waist down.
The ruling against the 30-year-old Theriot reads: “Jockey Jamie Theriot is hereby suspended from riding 30 calendar days, Saturday, May 30, 2009, through Sunday, June 28, 2009, inclusive, for permitting his mount ‘Sky Mom’ to jostle another horse during the running of the 9th race Saturday, May 23, 2009, causing the jostled horse to clip heels and fall, injuring both jockey and horse. Jockey Theriot’s mount ‘Sky Mom’ was disqualified from 5th to last position.”
The ruling was signed by state stewards Joseph Lindeman and Eddie Arroyo and association steward Peter Kosiba Jr.
Theriot had Sky Mom racing along the rail throughout the 1 1/8-mile Matron. Douglas’ mount Born to Be was right alongside Sky Mom as the field hit the top of the stretch, when Theriot appeared to angle Sky Mom out for racing room. The two horses bumped or jostled, and Born to Be clipped the heels of another horse, stumbling and throwing Douglas, then rolling over the fallen rider.
Douglas, 42, was placed on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Later that night, he was moved to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he underwent seven hours of spinal surgery. His agent, Dennis Cooper, told reporters the native of Panama who came to the U.S. in 1983 and is a six-time Arlington Park riding champion might never walk again. Cooper said doctors held out remote hopes the paralysis might disappear as the swelling to the spinal region is reduced.
Born to Be, a 4-year-old stakes-placed A.P. Indy filly owned by Chiefswood Stable, was euthanized.
NTRA has a biography of Douglas here and video of the Arlington Matron here. Click here for the Equibase chart.
Theriot is based in Kentucky, where he is currently fifth in the Churchill Downs standings, with 18 wins from 105 mounts.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: arlington matron, Arlington Park, born to be, dennis cooper, disabled jockeys, eddie arroyo, jamie theriot, jockey injuries, joseph lindeman, paralysis, Paulick Report, peter kosiba jr., racing injuries, Ray Paulick, rene douglas, sky mom
Posted in Arlington Park, Jockeys, racing injuries | 15 Comments »
Monday, July 28th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Within two weeks of the June 19 Congressional hearings that looked into Thoroughbred racing’s safety and medication issues, a small group of industry insiders met at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., to discuss potential reforms that could stave off threatened federal intervention.
A confidential discussion document that came out of the Keeneland meeting and talks with other industry stakeholders outlines a far-reaching program of potential reforms as well as suggestions for implementing and enforcing them. The Paulick Report has obtained a copy of that confidential discussion document and memorandum (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) sent to the board of directors of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association written July 9 by NTRA CEO Alex Waldrop.
Among the possible reforms discussed in the document are minimum national standards for medication, drug testing and penalties; benchmark safety standards of racing surfaces and/or a mandatory switch to synthetic tracks; a ban or limitation on racing fillies against colts; eliminating timed workouts at 2-year-old sales and distance restrictions for 2-year-old races; a funding mechanism for permanently disabled jockeys; wagering protocols and mandatory public disclosure of wagering abnormalities; uniform scratch rules and "other player-friendly advances"; integrity clauses and potential revocation of Eclipse Awards for individuals involved in infractions; and a national placement program for retired racehorses.
"As part of our post Triple Crown public relations and communications strategy based on consumer research findings, it is clear that the industry must implement real reforms in the area of horse health and safety ," Waldrop wrote in the memorandum to the NTRA board. "It is equally clear that the NTRA must play a leadership role to ensure responsible, timely and uniform execution of the equine health and safety reforms put forth by a number of industry organizations, including The Jockey Club Safety Committee. To that end, we believe it will be necessary for industry stakeholders to come together to reach consensus on industry reforms and to agree upon the methodology for timely implementation."
Waldrop recommended two days of meetings of industry leaders in Lexington, Ky., Sept. 3-4.
Waldrop called the confidential discussion document "far-reaching and ambitious to say the least and impacts virtually all segments of the industry. However," he added, " it appears that virtually all segments of the industry are in agreement that if we do not take pro-active action on the integrity front, the Federal government will very likely act on our behalf. And the questions from fans and media asking, ‘What has the industry done since Eight Belles?’, will come soon enough."
Congressman Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, the ranking Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that conducted the hearings, is calling for an amendment to the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 that would set minimum standards for racetracks wishing to conduct interstate simulcasting.
In fact, the threat of federal intervention will be used as leverage to get people on-board with the reforms, the document suggests. Suggested implementation would occur in four phases, beginning with "house rules" at racetracks "commencing upon the start of each track’s first full racing meeting in 2009." Phases II and III would depend on adoption of model rules and minimum standards by the Association of Racing Commissioners International and its member associations in various racing states. The final suggested phase would be the formation of a "national governing body comprised of key industry stakeholder and legislative bodies under an interstate compact."
Potential penalties for failing to comply with whatever reforms are pushed are loss of eligibility to host a graded race, loss of Breeders’ Cup stakes money or consideration as host site of the championships, loss of NTRA membership or loss of right to conduct interstate simulcasting.
The discussion document also calls for the commitment of owners, trainers and jockeys to compete only at tracks that operate under the agreed upon rules.
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Tags: 2-year-old sales, alex waldrop, congressional hearings, disabled jockeys, eclipse awards, ed whitfield, eight belles, interstate horseracing act, jockey club safety committee, Keeneland, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, Simulcasting, wagering protocols
Posted in Congressional Hearing, Horse Welfare, Industry, Industry Reform, Medication, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Regulatory Issues | 13 Comments »
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