Congress Joins Horse Racing Debate

I've been struggling with keeping my opinions out of the whole horse racing issue. The Eight Bells tragedy is still fresh in my mind and I hope she wasn't lost for naught. For now, I'll still to posting news stories as they develop.

Congress joins debate on racing, thoroughbred troubles
House panel to study drugs, breakdowns and breeding
By Andrew Wolfson • awolfson@courier-journal.com • May 24, 2008

First, it was steroids in baseball. Now Congress is turning its attention to the horse racing business.
Citing concerns that "leading officials in the sport" have failed to address longstanding concerns over the welfare of thoroughbred racehorses, a House panel has demanded that state racing commissions provide information on breakdowns, drug use and breeding.
Saying the public demise of Eight Belles in this year's Kentucky Derby shows that the "thoroughbred breed has become increasingly fragile," the leaders of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection say they want answers by June 2.
The panel expects to hold a hearing sometime next month on the state of horse racing in the United States, said Kristin Walker, press secretary to U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, its ranking minority member. Whitfield and subcommittee Chairman Bobby Rush, D-Chicago, made their demands in a letter sent this week to the Lexington-based Association of Racing Commissioners International, which represents 44 jurisdictions.

They ask the organization to identify by name every trainer who has been sanctioned for medication infractions during the past five years and for a list of the nature and severity of the injuries of every horse over that period.

They also ask if the racing commissioners would favor a comprehensive tracking system for track-related thoroughbred injuries and if they would support a central national body to govern horse racing, such as the one in the United Kingdom.

The letter does not reveal how the information will be used, but it does say that "we believe Congressional oversight should play a role in determining whether the special status of the sport under federal law is still warranted."

In 1978, Congress enacted the Interstate Horseracing Act, allowing racetracks to televise their races to off-track locations for wagering, then amended it in 2002 to allow wagering at home over the phone and Internet.

Alex Waldrop, chief executive of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, said yesterday that the "health and safety of our horses is a top priority for the thoroughbred racing industry, and we do appreciate Congressmen Rush's and Whitfield's interest in our sport."

He said he believes the commissioners' group will cooperate fully with the request. Waldrop said the NTRA supports an injury-reporting system but opposes a federal racing commission because there are already groups like his own and the commissioners' association to promote uniform regulations nationally.

"We believe that states are the right places to govern these issues," he said.
Waldrop testified before the subcommittee in February, when it examined how drug use in various sports, including horse racing, was affecting safety and the integrity of competition.
The congressmen's letter says that "many, if not most, racing experts believe that the thoroughbred breed has become increasingly ... incapable of withstanding ... the rigors of dirt racing on the track."

It cites charges that breeders are "biologically engineering horses to run very fast at a very early stage in their lives at the expense of long-term durability," and the use of race-day medications that allow unsound horses to compete and pass on their genetic infirmities to their offspring.
Officials with the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, Racing Commissioners International and Churchill Downs could not be reached for comment.