Battle Lines

The beat goes on with regard to the backlash from the June 19 Congressional hearings into the state of thoroughbred racing. On July 18, an equine welfare and safety forum in Hershey, PA. gave those who were not asked to testify before Congress an opportunity to voice their opinions regarding the status of their sport. The battle lines seems to be clearly drawn.

On one side we have the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) team, led by Alex Waldrop, president of the organization, now joined by Jay Hickey, representing the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protection Association (HBPA), and Ed Martin, president of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, who do not want the federal government "interfering" in their sport. They cite the existence of the 1982 legislation to regulate parts of the horseracing industry that "went nowhere" as well as efforts on the part of the industry, notably the Racing Medication Consortium and the Grayson-Jockey Club research foundation, to regulate itself. In other words, we are working on it; leave us alone.

On the other side we have the Ed Whitfield-led contingent that proposes "Congress set minimum standards in the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 and require state racing authorities to adopt those standards to continue receiving the benefits of simulcasting." In other words, no standards, no money.

Somewhere in the middle is Dr. Scott Palmer (you might remember him as one of the veterinarians at Pimlico the day Barbaro was injured who jumped into the fray and helped the track vets diagnose the horse, who is currently the owner of the New Jersey Equine Clinic), who noted that catastrophic injuries are nothing new to horse racing and there are lots of reasons for them. That said, he advocated "a core-value system that puts the welfare and safety of the horse uppermost. We need to do it in a very public-way to blunt criticism. We need evidence-based information, not political decisions. We need courage to accept personal responsibility. We need to be in it for the long haul." In other words, give us a chance to research this and come up with some hard-core numbers and in the meantime we will redraft our mission statement and put the welfare of the horse at its center.

All fine and well but I'm still on Whitfield's side. It seems to me that the industry has had long enough to regulate itself and figure out that the welfare of horses needs to be first and foremost and it is only now, under the perceived threat of interference from Congress, that they are actually doing anything other than pay lip service to the issues within the sport.

It's no different than any other kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The only way to reduce the temptation is to make the jar disappear.