WHOA, the Water Hay Oats Alliance, is no longer.
Its planned obsolescence coincides with the March 27 start-up of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) operation, which is being overseen in great part by the newly formed and independent Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU).
When a small group of high-powered and well-connected horsemen and women in racing got together more than a decade ago to form WHOA, it was with the idea of promoting federal legislation to install the United States Anti-Doping Agency to control drugs (both legal and illegal) in horseracing.
Since the mandate is no longer applicable, WHOA leaders felt they had no raison d'etre, so the grass roots operation was put out of existence.
While on a micro level WHOA failed in delivering its mandate, WHOA on a macro level has to be viewed as an unqualified success, as it led to the passage of the legislation that enabled HISA into existence.
The struggle to achieve success has gone down many lonely roads with many twists and turns. I must say that the positive feelings our members still experience outweigh the bitter losses. Career-long friendships were formed, as well as life-long friendships lost over the battles to get the legislation passed.
I am loath to bring up once again the fact that it was I, Barry Irwin, who in an Op-Ed in The Blood-Horse in 2004, floated the idea of engaging USADA to help rid the sport of drug cheats and level the playing field in our game.
I say “loath” because that was an idea. It is the original group that formed WHOA that deserves most of the credit for getting the ball rolling towards fruition. As was alluded to earlier, that very ball ran right over some personal and business relationships that had proved to be valuable for years.
Two of the most influential families that were seminal to the movement no longer communicate with those of us who remained to the end and it is nothing if not regrettable and aching. Fights over the direction of the legislative initiative hurt feelings and led to irreparable estrangement.
Being a journalist by nature and trade, I have learned to develop a thick skin. Not so for most of my peers in WHOA, many of whom have deep emotional scars from being either blackballed or slagged. It was quite common in the initial years of WHOA's existence to be harshly called out in public or print, or privately behind their backs, as those clinging to the status quo referred to our members as “crazies.”
I was used to being ridiculed for my stances on many issues which prompted me over the years to write Op-Eds in any number publications around the globe. But not so for others. For a long, long time it was a very lonely effort cranking out stories to increase public awareness or push for change. There was a time when it seemed like it was just me, Stanley Bergstein, Arthur Hancock, and Andy Beyer who wrote on a regular basis that drug cheats had altered the playing field to a dramatic degree.
If nothing else, the efforts of WHOA — boosted by a growing list of converts to our cause — convinced the majority of those in racing that cheating was prevalent. Before WHOA, few believed this to be the case.
In the beginning it was just WHOA and nobody else. The “establishment,” propped up by the usual alphabet-soup of organizations invariably ram-rodded by paid executives, considered us to be a fringe group with no viable reason for being.
Then, through perseverance, one by one we picked off organization after organization. The Jockey Club came around, Keeneland saw the light, TOBA reluctantly came on board, etc.
A popular cliché of our times references the day the music died. Well, I will never forget the day the music played. It was at The Jockey Club Round Table when the late Dinny Phipps acknowledged the effort and signaled that his organization had decided to put its enormous treasure and clout behind the effort to change the course of events in the fight to rid the game of cheaters.
We all know that, with Stuart Janney at the helm, this led to the funding and direction of hiring the 5 Stones investigative force that was successful in coordinating with federal and state law enforcement to nail Jorge Navarro, Jason Servis, Dr. Seth Fishman and any number of other lawbreakers.
The Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA), although invited to join our cause or at the very least provide some direct input to make their desires fully known, refused to see the light.
The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), likely fearful of giving up its power, fought us every step of the way, relying on meaningless testing stats that still to this day do not address the impact of real performance enhancing drugs that have changed the dynamics of the racing game.
The anti-HISA, anti-WHOA, status quo-clinging minority is still complaining and on the outside looking in as HISA swings into full gear.
And they and their associates, which now include attorneys general from a few states, like to characterize HISA's enabling legislation as coming into being in the dead of night by some legislative trick.
In reality, the legislation to put HISA on the map was a truly bipartisan effort during the administration of President Donald J. Trump that — in an era of Congressional gridlock and unprecedented political division, stands as nothing short of an incredible achievement.
Anybody or group that tries to minimize this accomplishment will sound like just what they are — sore losers.
To many in WHOA, the inability of USADA to gain the nod of operating the drug controls did not and still does not sit well. Some will never get over it.
Truth be told, I am still not thrilled about not seeing USADA head Travis Tygart in charge of the anti-doping program if for no other reason than the legislation never would have been passed without his generous and expert contributions.
Some think the fix was in from the very beginning, others choose to believe that the decision not to use USADA was based on financial considerations. We may never know the real story.
But now it is time to move forward.
In closing, I would like to single out Staci Hancock for her dedication and unselfishness in being the on-going “mother” of WHOA. Her husband Arthur Hancock, a fearless individual, a great fighter and gifted writer, willed the organization forward in its darkest hours. Bill Casner is a true intellectual, a great resource on many subjects and an unerring compass in gently herding the troops in the correct direction. Thanks to those troops that gave of their time to walk the halls of Congress in an effort to educate and encourage senators and representatives to help our legislative initiative. And, finally, a big thanks must go to those well-heeled and well-connected owners and breeders of both political persuasions that used their might, money and influence to move the legislation through the corridors of power.
Barry Irwin is founder and CEO of Team Valor International
The post Irwin: WHOA! Water Hay Oats Alliance Reaches A Stop Sign appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
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