Day in Court

So next Thursday June 19 is the day that the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection has summoned the powers that be in the sport of horse racing to appear before them in Washington, D. C. Oh what I would give to be a fly on that wall!

Among the witnesses slated to testify in Panel 1 (The State of Thoroughbred Racing) are Alan Marzelli, president of the Jockey Club, Arthur Hancock, breeder of Gato del Sol among other great horses and longtime equine advocate, Randy Moss, analyst for ESPN (why?), Jack Van Berg, Hall of Fame trainer and Rick Dutrow.

There is a second panel (The Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse) clearly devoted to more academic issues since the constituents are predominantly vets including Larry Soma, from Univ. of Pa. and Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

At stake will be whether or not the sport gets to retain its "special status" needed for betting across state lines. Bobby Rush, Illinois Democrat is the chair and ranking member is Ed Whitfield, a Kentucky Republican and longtime equine advocate.

I have quite a few problems with the witness list and those missing from it. Larry Soma, the Penn vet is an anesthesiologist. Why isn't Joan Hendricks, the Dean of the Vet School, attending or even Dean Richardson? And why are there no jockeys on the list? or even exercise riders? Who better to talk about the state of the industry and the horses in it than those who actually ride them?

And I would definitely have added a huge commercial breeding operation like Three Chimneys or better yet Coolmore. Let them talk about how many horses are being bred each year. And there should be an auction company like Fasig-Tipton who could speak to the amount of money spent on horses each year and what happens to those who don't sell.

And what about a representative from the yearling industry--those that "hothouse" them until they are ready to be sold and those that break them. Let them hear about the ways in which these yearlings are coddled and then show some photos of those same yearlings at sale--big, strong, muscular. Isn't it amazing that they developed those muscles in the paddocks, simply turned out and running with their friends.

In other words, this is not even the tip of the iceberg nor is it likely to uncover anything that isn't already known but not admitted. These people are all too enmeshed within the industry to rat on each other--with a few exceptions like Hancock. Trust me, it would be difficult for a vet who makes his/her living treating race horses bash the industry that feeds his/her family or the drug companies that fund his/her research.

And what is Randy Moss doing on the list to begin with?

So call me cynical, but I don't think this will amount to anything other than a slap on the wrist, albeit a fairly public one even though I would so love to be proven wrong....