Posts Tagged ‘kentucky horse racing commission’

By Ray Paulick
So Kentucky’s governor, Democrat Steve Beshear, has called a special session of the state’s legislature, beginning June 15, to deal with what he said was a budget crisis. The news landed with a rather indifferent thud in many regions of Kentucky, in part because David Williams, the Republican Senate president, said Beshear’s reasons for the session weren’t valid.

Beshear  was elected in 2007 largely on the platform of expanding gambling to ease Kentucky’s budget shortfalls and to help the struggling horse industry. Since then, he seems to have spent a majority of his time hiding in an undisclosed location, peering out occasionally to issue proclamations and reassure Kentucky residents that he is still alive and well. He looks to be no match for Williams, who has managed to bully many members of his own party to the point that they cower in a corner of indecision on important issues until hearing from their anointed leader. If Williams says nothing is going to happen in a special session, it’s a pretty safe bet nothing is going to happen—unless someone has the courage to take him on.

The third leg of Kentucky’s political stool is Democratic House leader Greg Stumbo, who has been the point person for carrying out Beshear’s election promise to help Kentucky’s horse industry compete with neighboring states Indiana, West Virginia and Illininois, by proposing legislation permitting slot machines at racetracks. Stumbo hopes the slots issue will be addressed during the special session but painted a bleak picture for the prospects of that happening with these words: “The governor’s leadership is critical.”

Asking Steve Beshear to show leadership at this stage of his governorship is a bit like asking Calvin Borel to send Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird to the early lead in a six-furlong race. I guess anything is possible, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Sure, he talked a good game when he spoke at the Kentucky Derby Trainers’ Dinner in Louisville during Derby week, saying he didn’t want to be the governor who was presiding over the death of the Thoroughbred industry, but that was like throwing red meat into a pack of starving lions.

The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) has been quietly laying the groundwork for this special session, sending out hundreds of thousands of brochures to Kentuckians about the fast-declining state of the horse industry and placing radio ads and newspaper op-ed pieces around the state. But KEEP can’t do it on their own. They need help in the state capital of Frankfort.

Meanwhile, other states are having Kentucky’s racing industry for lunch. West Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and other slots-enriched racing programs are attracting horses from the Bluegrass State because higher purses are being offered. Breeding stock is beginning to leave Kentucky, too. The Illinois Senate approved a racetrack slots bill (it’s unclear whether the House will OK the measure), but that state already has riverboat casinos where Kentuckians are spending their gambling dollars.

It’s time Beshear man-up and take on David Williams in this issue that is critical to the horse industry and Kentucky. The governor should ask Williams about his trips to gambling boats in Indiana, and whether or not the Senate president is ever “comped” on those trips or given special treatment by the casino companies who will fight tooth and nail to keep slot machines away from Kentucky tracks. He should ask if Williams has something against the horse business, the signature industry in Kentucky.

I doubt we’ll see that happen, if recent events are any indication. After Eclipse Award-winning writer Billy Reed’s blog post on his web site about Williams’ opposition to the horse industry (Williams is enemy no. 1 to racing in Kentucky) was distributed by a staffer for the Kentucky Horse Racing Racing Commission to all of its members, the Paulick Report learned that Beshear apologized to Williams and castigated the commission staffer for daring to send out anything that was critical of the Senate president.

If that’s the kind of leadership we can expect in the upcoming special session, we can kiss any slots legislation goodbye, Kentucky’s signature industry will continue its downward spiral, and the state’s budget crisis will go unresolved.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
UPDATED 1:10 P.M.: 

If Jeff Mullins serves a seven-day suspension from New York authorities scheduled to begin May 3, he could be the first winning trainer in Kentucky Derby history who isn’t able to go to the stable area at Churchill Downs to check on his horse the morning after the race.

I Want Revenge, trained by Mullins, is the likely favorite in this year’s Kentucky Derby, to be run May 2. Mullins’ suspension is in connection with New York Racing Association detention barn rules he was found to have violated while administering an herbal product to Gato Go Win prior to the Bay Shore Stakes April 4, necessitating that the horse be scratched by stewards. It was at least the 22nd ruling by racing officials against Mullins since 2000.

UPDATE: After this report was published, we were reminded that Larry Jones, trainer of Louisiana Derby winner Friesan Fire, also will begin a seven-day suspension on May 3. That suspension resulted from a positive test for the bronchodilator Clenbuterol in a horse that won a June 8, 2008, allowance race at Delaware Park. It was the first ruling of any kind against Jones, according to the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

Suspensions generally prohibit licensed personnel from having access to secure areas of a racetrack, including the stable area. It is expected the New York State Racing and Wagering Board (and Delaware Racing Commission) ruling will be recognized by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

If I Want Revenge (or Friesan Fire) wins the Kentucky Derby, perhaps Churchill Downs will schedule a press conference at Wagner’s Pharmacy, a popular breakfast spot for trainers just down the road from the stable gate. Dozens of reporters and camera crews traditionally flock to the barn of the winning Kentucky Derby trainer the morning after the race to get quotes for follow-up coverage. This year, they might be able to get some scrambled eggs to go with their stories.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Kentucky’s signature horse industry is in a battle for survival, but its enemy is not the army of slot machines in neighboring Illinois, Indiana, Missouri or West Virginia, or a few hundred miles north in Pennsylvania or south in Louisiana. It is the commonwealth’s own elected officials, beginning with Gov. Steve Beshear, whose bumbling leadership in Frankfort has enabled a gang of hapless legislators to begin the process of euthanizing the state’s No. 1 industry.

The mercy killing may not take that long. Ron Geary, the owner of Ellis Park, told the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission yesterday that 2009 will be the Western Kentucky track’s final season unless Kentucky legislators give tracks the tools to compete with other states: slot machines. Turfway Park in Northern Kentucky has cut purses and may be forced to reduce the number of racing dates next year. The only reason the track has not been closed and sold for development is that Keeneland is part owner, and officers of the Lexington racetrack and auction house understand how important a racing circuit that extends beyond Keeneland and Churchill Downs is to Kentucky.

How desperate is Kentucky’s racing business? When Churchill Downs general manager Jim Gates asked the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for approval to add a single race to this year’s Kentucky Oaks and Derby day cards, there was a lengthy discussion about whether or not the Louisville track would have enough horses to fill those additional races.

And the racing commission itself is all but tapped out. Forget about heightening integrity of pari-mutuel pools, improving backstretch security and launching out-of-competition drug testing. The commission is having a hard enough time making payroll for existing staff, let alone filling new, vital positions and creating programs to boost public confidence in Kentucky’s horse racing product. Other states may have permanent funding for their racing commissions to do what’s required to maintain integrity, but this is Kentucky, where the horse industry is viewed by some legislators as “the sport of kings” when in reality it is becoming a poor, forgotten stepchild.

Click here to take a look at the distressing presentation Ellis Park owner Geary made to the commission when he explained why he won’t have enough horses for this year’s meeting and will likely cut back to three days of racing per week, or perhaps just open for live racing on weekends. The reversals of fortune in purses being offered at Ellis Park and Turfway are frightening. Tracks in Indiana with purses enriched by slot machine revenue are taking an in-your-face, competitive posture against southern neighbor Kentucky. Pennsylvania, with a booming racing and breeding program fueled by gambling devices, is boasting that it is the future horse capital of the world. Vans are transporting racehorses and breeding stock in every direction – away from the Blue Grass State.

“Kentucky’s signature industry is fading away…100,000 jobs, and they are at risk right now,” Geary told the racing commissioners.

Yet Kentucky’s governor, who made expanded gaming his signature campaign platform and had the wholehearted support of the horse industry, suffered a severe case of memory loss in 2008 after his election, failing to bring up the issue in his “state of the state” address or make it a legislative priority. This year, Beshear has apparently gone into the witness protection program or is hiding out in a bunker until the legislative session comes to an end. He has shown a complete lack of leadership.

Legislators in some parts of Kentucky understand the importance the horse industry plays to the state’s economy, but too many House and Senate members from outlying areas simply don’t see the connection between those 100,000 jobs at racetracks, training centers and breeding farms and their own districts.

What’s not to understand? Jobs provide for payroll taxes to the state and revenue to local communities. Racetracks and breeding farms promote tourism throughout Kentucky. Without racing and breeding, Kentucky’s already bleak budget crisis would only be worse. Can you imagine how much the state would have to invest to create 100,000 new jobs? Kentucky must move forward on a plan to provide video lottery terminals, slots machines or casino wagering at the state’s racetracks for the industry to compete.

But if Kentucky’s governor and legislators can’t even provide funding for its own racing commission, how can we realistically expect them to approve a plan to provide economic stimulus to the racetracks and breeding farmers who are struggling?

“We’re essentially going to be broke at the end of this fiscal year,” said Robert Beck, chairman of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. “I’ve got an economics degree, and I can’t figure it out. Our source of funding is not going to go through the legislature, and I’m very disappointed by this.”

The lack of support from the state, which Beck called a “travesty,” will, he said, “directly affect the integrity of the game.”

Beshear appears to be well on his way to becoming a one-term governor, and while there is hope Kentucky’s next chief executive will provide more leadership than Beshear has, the damage to the horse industry will be severe – if not fatal — when his time is up.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
It may not be searchable, completely accurate or as comprehensive as it could be, but the Association of Racing Commissioners International has put together a web site that includes publication of recent rulings from various racing commissions and stewards throughout North America. It’s the kind of thing the Daily Racing Form did years ago in print when it enjoyed a monopoly on past performance information and was the de facto publication of record for the pari-mutuel industry (not to mention one of the most profitable newspapers in the country).

In those days, you could find out who was fined for having a loose dog, smoking in the shedrow, or parking illegally in the stable area. You could also read what jockeys have been suspended or fined for rules violations, what trainers got positive tests for prohibited drugs or overages for permitted medications, and what owners hadn’t paid their bills.

But as profits and news space shrunk, the Form cut out many of its “service to the industry” features, and one of the things to hit the editor’s cutting-room floor was stewards and racing commission rulings. It became increasingly difficult to keep up with why certain jockeys weren’t riding, why some red-hot trainers suddenly went ice-cold, or why a horse was now being trained by someone we hadn’t heard of (usually an assistant to a suspended trainer).

Some tracks post their stewards and commission rulings in public areas or in the racing office; big name suspensions or fines might get picked up in the trade press or local newspapers. But, by and large, it’s been a hit or miss proposition to try and keep up with who has run afoul of racing officials.

Enter the RCI, an organization formed in 1934 under the name National Association of State Racing Commissioners whose name was changed to Association of Racing Commissioners International in 1988. Whether under the NASRC or RCI banner, this has traditionally been viewed as one of the most useless organizations the industry has ever had, mostly because it lacks authority to get anything done. The RCI is an association that can make all kinds of recommendations to its members, but lacks the authority to enforce anything. Some years ago, the RCI threatened to sanction members that didn’t adopt its guidelines on such issues as medication regulations, but those efforts were laughed off. To make matters worse, then RCI president Tony Chamblin was under fire from many commissioners, and a number of states quit RCI and in 1997 formed a splinter group, the North American Pari-Mutuel Regulators Association.

Thus, until the two groups merged back together in 2006, racing had the ultimate absurdity: two competing national associations of regulators, both of them relatively toothless and useless. It’s no wonder we are in such dire straits today regarding the lack of national rules and regulations for the sport.

Fortunately, RCI and NAPRA did merge, and for the past few years RCI president and CEO Ed Martin has been putting the pieces back together. The RCI remains toothless, and some would suggest they are still useless. However, there are things that RCI can do in the way of communications to the public and education to its members, and it’s good to see the organization is focusing on those areas.

One thing RCI can’t control is the quality of its membership. For the most part, racing commissioners continue to be political appointees of governors who in many cases are returning favors for campaign contributions or other types of assistance. Many of those appointees are absolutely clueless when it comes to racing, but RCI can help educate them.

From the standpoint of communicating to the public, there is no greater role for RCI to play than to be a clearinghouse of current and past information from all of its members. That means all rulings from stewards and racing commissions against licensees should be easily accessed at the RCI website, and in a perfect world those rulings would be completely searchable. That’s not the case yet, because RCI is yet another one of those cash-strapped racing organizations that has a bigger mission budget.”

However, what the RCI has (click here to view recent rulings) is a pretty good start. Looking at the rulings posted today, for example, I learned that jockey Gabriel Saez (who was under fire from animal rights groups last year after the death of Eight Belles) was fined $500 for striking his mount with the whip after dismounting from a Feb. 8 race at Fair Grounds. I also learned that a Kentucky licensee named David L. Kirk has been suspended six months for “possession of injectable medications and hypodermic needles” on association grounds.

There are clearly some errors and omissions on the RCI rulings page. One ruling involving Monticello harness track in New York is listed as under the jurisdiction of the California Horse Racing Board. There are numerous rulings missing from California, and none from Arizona, among other states.

But it’s a start.

Why is it important for this information to be public? From the perspective of racing fans, their money supports this game and they deserve to know who among the state licensees has been sanctioned for any and all rules violations. Owners who make a significant investment in the game also have a right to know who is following the rules and who isn’t. Access to this information should be seamless and completely transparent for all jurisdictions.

Some state regulatory bodies, including the California Horse Racing Board, New York State Racing and Wagering Board, and Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, among others, have focused on making their own websites searchable for rulings and infractions. But their time and money might be better spent helping the RCI build a comprehensive, user friendly and completely searchable web site so that racing could have a dependable clearinghouse of information. It’s something the industry deserves, and the RCI is the best-positioned group to deliver it.

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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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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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