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.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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