Phipps addresses PETA allegations; THA chairman Foreman
responds
The following is a statement released Friday by Jockey Club chairman Ogden
Mills Phipps:
Following the allegations raised by People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA) and reported on March 20, 2014, by The New York Times,
many of us in the Thoroughbred industry are eagerly awaiting the final
determination of these issues by the New York State Gaming Commission and the
Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
It is my hope that these state bodies use all the prosecutorial powers
available to determine if there is evidence of animal cruelty, medication
violations — and cheating.
Like so many others, I was upset by what I read in the Times and
disgusted by what I saw and what was alleged in that PETA video. Any person
abusing a horse or caught with an electronic stimulation device like the one
described in the video should be banned from the sport for life.
And as much as it pains me to see our industry being denigrated in the media,
there is another part of me that feels that we, as an industry, deserve every
bit of that criticism because the sport’s rules and our penalties have not been
effective deterrents.
To be sure, we have seen some encouraging actions from racing commissions.
In 2011 in New York, the regulators handed trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. a
10-year suspension on the basis that Dutrow’s conduct at racetracks in New York
State and elsewhere had been “improper, obnoxious, unbecoming, and detrimental
to the best interests of racing.”
And last year, authorities from Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico
collectively issued fines and suspensions to 14 licensees totaling nearly
$253,000 and carrying 213 years of suspensions for those held to have had a role
in the administration of illegal drugs, such as Dermorphin, to racehorses.
Those are steps in the right direction.
Owners, trainers, veterinarians — and really anyone who makes a living in
the Thoroughbred industry — need to speak up any time they witness improper and
dangerous treatment of horses or dishonest activity.
We certainly shouldn’t need an animal rights organization or a major
publication to identify bad actors or their bad deeds.
All of us should feel a personal and professional duty to police this sport
and immediately report any wrongdoing, either directly to the appropriate
authority or through a national hotline, such as the one maintained by the
Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (866-TIP-TRPB).
As recommended by the American Association of Equine Practitioners, owners,
trainers and veterinarians should share and adopt a policy that any therapeutic
treatment or veterinary procedure for a horse involved in racing or race
training be based upon a specific diagnosis and communicated among each party.
And, above all, there must be respect for the horse.
The Jockey Club, in addition to our industry service and marketing of the
sport, has devoted immense resources over a long period of time to ensure the
health of our athletes, resolve medication and safety issues in our sport and
bring much needed transparency to the regulation of our horse racing.
We continue to believe that horses should compete only when they are free
from the influence of medication, and we have supported the reforms that make up
the national uniform medication program that was first proposed in 2011 (horseracingreform.org)
and encompasses controlled therapeutic medications, prohibited substances,
accredited labs and penalty guidelines for multiple medication violations.
By our count, however, only four of the 38 states with racing have fully
implemented the national uniform medication program thus far (namely: Delaware,
Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia) — and those states deserve our highest
praise and appreciation. A dozen others are in various stages of “adoption” but
have yet to commit to a definitive implementation date — often because of the
simple fact the bureaucratic process can be painstakingly slow. In other cases
special interest groups, intent on maintaining the status quo, have stalled
action.
While there is no doubt that some of those shown in the March 20 video
deserve condemnation for their actions and their attitudes, representatives of
states that have not adopted the national uniform medication program should also
shoulder blame for the current state of affairs. Their inaction feeds the
negative perceptions of our sport and lends credence to the charge that we are
incapable of broad-based reform.
For every small step forward — whether it’s a televised racing series, a
marketing tour, or new owner and new fan initiatives — we take two giants steps
backward when prospective fans, owners, television networks, sponsors, elected
officials or animal rights advocates read and see media reports that convey
inhumane treatment of our athletes and a lack of integrity in our sport.
Enough is enough.
The horses deserve better.
Owners and trainers deserve better.
And in a sport based on the integrity of competition, certainly fans who
wager their hard earned money deserve better.
At the Round Table Conference last August, I said that The Jockey Club
supported these reforms on a state-by-state basis, but the clock was ticking. I
emphasized that if the state-by-state approach failed to produce the needed
changes, we would look to alternative means to implement these reforms.
One alternative avenue is federal legislation.
The draft legislation proposed by some federal lawmakers involving the United
States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is a highly attractive model. USADA has the
experience, the knowledge and the credibility to bring much-needed integrity to
our sport.
The time to draw that proverbial line in the sand is rapidly approaching and
The Jockey Club’s Board of Stewards plans to do that no later than the 62nd
annual Round Table Conference on August 10, 2014.
Over the coming weeks and months, we will carefully assess the progress and
the status of the national medication reform campaign.
If the major racing states have not implemented these reforms, The Jockey
Club will reach out to federal lawmakers who have previously proposed federal
legislation for our industry and to other supporters of this approach. We will
aggressively seek rapid implementation, including steps leading toward the
elimination of all race-day medications.
With the safety of our horses, the integrity of competition and the general
perception of the sport all at risk, we cannot afford to wait any longer.
Enough is enough.
Later on Friday, Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (THA) Chairman and
CEO Alan Foreman released the following statement in response to Phipps:
We appreciate the comments of Dinny Phipps as they relate
to the uniform medication and drug testing reforms that are currently
circulating throughout the racing industry. We are proud that these reforms
began through a collective commitment by the Mid-Atlantic racing states, in
cooperation with the horsemen and racetrack entities, to develop and implement
the program. The Jockey Club has not only supported the initiative but has also
committed its time and resources to getting this done nationally.
The uniform program was first announced by the Mid-Atlantic
states on April 1, 2013. Recognizing that implementation requires either state
regulatory or, in some cases, legislative action, the Mid-Atlantic announced
that it would implement the reforms on January 1, 2014, or whenever a
participating state’s live racing commenced in 2014. Since then, the effort to
get this program adopted and implemented nationally began in the summer of 2013.
When the industry determined that it would eliminate
steroids from competition in 2008, the effort began with collective action by
the Mid-Atlantic states and took approximately 18 months to be achieved
nationally. At the time, the industry was hailed for its ability to move swiftly
and collectively to significantly change policy. We are a year from when the Mid-Atlantic introduced the current reforms and 9 months since the effort was
embraced nationally. In his statement, Dinny referred to only 4 states that,
according to the Jockey Club, have implemented the reforms while acknowledging
that many others are in the process of doing so.
Some in the media today have questioned my recent public
statements that all but 4 of the 38 racing states are in the process of adopting
the program in light of Dinny’s comments. I think everyone should know the
status and progress of the reform program.
In the Mid-Atlantic, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West
Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York have adopted and implemented the program. It
is significant that West Virginia needed 2 legislative sessions to get the
reforms implemented and the West Virginia legislature recently adopted the
reforms that were not adopted in 2013. The only remaining reform to be
implemented in Pennsylvania is the 3rd party administration of Lasix at PARX and
implementation there is imminent. While New York is in the process of formally
adopting the medication thresholds, the reforms have been in place since
Governor Cuomo mandated their implementation following the Task Force Report in
2012. New Jersey already has many of the reforms in place, including 3rd party
administration of Lasix, and is awaiting approval from the state’s legal
department on the rest.
The following states are in the final adoption stage or
preparing to commence implementation — Kentucky, California, Massachusetts, New
Mexico, Minnesota, Arizona.
All but 4 of the remaining states are considering the
reforms and it is anticipated that they will adopt the reforms sometime in 2014.
The 4 outlier racing states not currently considering the
reforms are Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Colorado. The failure of these
states to move forward is an embarrassment to racing and unacceptable. This
needs to be collectively addressed by everyone and every organization associated
with our industry.
In regards to laboratory accreditation, progress has been
remarkable. Just 3 years ago, only a few of our testing laboratories were
accredited and the RMTC’s tougher accreditation program was just getting
started. The reforms require a laboratory to have both international and RMTC
Code accreditation. Today, 3 laboratories conducting testing for 10 states have
obtained both international and RMTC Code accreditation. Five more laboratories
testing for an additional 17 other states have obtained international
accreditation and are currently undergoing RMTC Code Accreditation and should be
fully accredited in 2014. Five jurisdictions that previously were relying on
testing by an unaccredited laboratory have moved their testing to laboratories
that will have both international and RMTC Code accreditation in 2014.
Only 5 states — Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, South Dakota and
Texas - currently rely on testing performed by a laboratory that has no
accreditation whatsoever. Again, this should not be tolerated by our industry
and needs to be collectively addressed.
The industry is presently implementing a system to identify
and root out multiple drug offenders. The required national database has been
developed and implemented by ARCI. Starting January 1, 2014, all medication
violations carry points that will lead to the identification of multiple drug
offenders and those who do not adhere to our new strict protocols.
In the span of less than one year, we have been in the
process of implementing the most sweeping reform in medication regulation and
testing in a generation. Given the regulatory and legislative environment under which racing is required to operate, the pace of this reform has been
unprecedented and deserves to be recognized. The federal government would not
move any faster.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com