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Lawson: Ministry Of Health Doesn’t ‘Even Want To Try To Understand,’ Won’t Engage In Dialogue

Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson is fed up with the ongoing crisis at Ontario racetracks. The Ontario Ministry of Health has not given the green-light for racing to resume in the province, making Ontario the only major horse racing jurisdiction in the world to not have resumed live racing.

“Racing in the afternoon is safer than training in the morning. This is the ironic part,” Lawson told the Toronto Sun this week. “But they don't even want to try to understand why that is.”

Lawson said the Ministry of Health refuses to engage in any sort of dialogue about resuming live racing in Ontario, despite the fact that indoor sports like professional hockey have been allowed to resume.

Over 1,500 horses and 1,000 individuals have been training and preparing for the 2021 race season at Woodbine alone, and the horsemen are beyond frustrated. Many owners have begun pushing trainers to send horses south of the border to the United States, and backstretch workers' jobs and livelihoods are in jeopardy.

“I am so frustrated,” Lawson continued. “I can't explain to you why there is no dialogue. But there's nothing. The left hand's not talking to the right hand and we are frustrated. (Horse racing) people are taking it out on me and I'm kind of fed up. I've done everything with the Ministry of Health, and there's just nothing.”

Tex Sutton Remains ‘Weeks Or Even A Couple Months’ Away From Resuming Full Operations

Equine air transport company Tex Sutton has not yet secured a new lease on a cargo plane, reports bloodhorse.com. President Rob Clark said Tex Sutton is still “weeks or even a couple months away” from a full resumption of operations.

Tex Sutton's lease on “Air Horse One” expired on May 8, and negotiations for a new lease have begun but are not yet complete. Other temporary alternatives include seeking a lease on a slightly smaller aircraft, or chartering flights for a full load of horses.

In the meantime, Tex Sutton is acting as an authorized agent for FedEx's equine air transport services, which will carry Belmont Stakes weekend contenders from the West Coast to New York on May 29 and June 2, according to the company's website.

Help Wanted: Applications Being Accepted For Director Of NTRA Communications

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) today announced that it is seeking applications for the position of Director of NTRA Communications.

The Director of NTRA Communications, which will be based in the organization's Lexington, Ky., office, will be responsible for the overall communication efforts of the NTRA while also serving as a clearinghouse and resource for national and industry trade media.

For more details on the position, visit https://www.ntra.com/about/employment/.

The NTRA, based in Lexington, Ky., is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 horse racing interests and thousands of individual stakeholders consisting of horseplayers, racetrack operators, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity, welfare and integrity of Thoroughbred racing through consensus-based leadership, legislative advocacy, safety and integrity initiatives, fan engagement and corporate partner development. The NTRA owns and manages the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance; NTRA.com; the Eclipse Awards; the National Horseplayers Championship; NTRA Advantage, a corporate partner sales and sponsorship program; and Horse PAC®, a federal political action committee. NTRA press releases appear on NTRA.com, Twitter (@ntra) and Facebook (facebook.com/1NTRA).

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CHRB Again Under Fire For Transparency; Gonzales Frustrated By Handling Of CBD Case

Vice Chair of the California Horse Racing Board, Oscar Gonzales expressed frustrations Wednesday with a lack of transparency in the handling of the recently-revealed CBD complaint against trainer Ron McAnally, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.

Roses and Candy, trained by McAnally, tested positive for CBD after winning the third race at Del Mar on Nov. 22, 2020. A complaint against the trainer was officially filed Monday after a six-month investigation.

Meanwhile, the CHRB has been in the midst of changing the classification of CBD. It is currently not classified in California, meaning a positive test would be treated as the most severe, Class 1/Penalty A. The Association of Racing Commissioners International lists Cannabidiol as a Class 2/Penalty Category B substance.

On Jan. 21, the CHRB pushed back the proposed rule change to make Cannabidiol a Class 3/Penalty Category B drug to the February meeting, at which point it went out for public comment. California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL) will have to approve the drug classification before it becomes official.

However, CHRB spokesman Mike Marten said executive director Scott Chaney and investigators will recommend that stewards treat the alleged infraction as a Class 3 violation.

“Part of what's gotten this board in some real challenging circumstances is when we arbitrarily try to move or shift a drug [classification] before a rule is completed,” Gonzales said at Wednesday's meeting, referring the the handling of Justify's scopolamine positive in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby.

“Given what we know, I believe the board would have handled this if we had the power to do [so],” Gonzales continued. “But what does not sit right with me is that the board was not given a proper heads up that as we went about approving a list of medications… that there very well could be some pending cases. And after that [Jan. 21 meeting] we gave it a full month, and not once did anybody say, 'This list that you're voting on, be aware that there are some cases pending.'”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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