Tag: The Paddock

Jeff Gural, owner of The Meadowlands, Tioga Downs, and Vernon Downs, told harnessracingupdate.com this week about his plan to lobby New Jersey's Governor Phil Murphy to help him convince the state's standardbred industry to opt-in to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. Gural said the primary incentive to convince the industry would be the end of it's $10 million annual subsidy in New Jersey.

Gural has built a reputation as a staunch anti-doping presence in harness racing, and he sees HISA as a better way forward than allowing the “status quo” to remain in place, i.e., allowing the state to regulate the sport.

Meanwhile, the United States Trotting Association is among those racing industry organizations actively opposing the HISA legislation, a position the USTA strengthened on Tuesday when it released an open letter to The Jockey Club.

“HISA is not the solution,” the USTA letter reads. “HISA failed to prevent seven deaths at Churchill Downs during Derby Week. Another horse broke down and was euthanized on Sunday.”

Gural addressed the USTA's position in his comments to harnessracingupdate.com, as well.

“[USTA president] Russell [Williams] and [USTA chair] Joe [Faraldo] could be leading us on a path of extinction once the public finds out how prevalent drugs have been in our industry,” Gural said. “As far as HISA is concerned, the industry has a choice: they can either side with Jeff Gural or Joe Faraldo. I am committed to getting rid of the drugs in the sport. I have accomplished a great deal, but there is more to do and I am not satisfied that the current arrangement where the state is responsible to regulate the sport is the way to go.

“I assume most of you will side with Faraldo so don't blame me if something bad happens. I tried to get the word out. Time will tell which of us is right but when you consider that Joe's trainer is currently serving a three-year jail sentence and the other leading trainer at Yonkers is also in jail I hope you will change your mind. I have personally spent over $1 million to clean the game up and I am not done. I will not rest until the drugs are totally eliminated and I honestly think the status quo doesn't work.”

Read more at harnessracingupdate.com and ustrottingnews.com.

The post ‘Committed To Getting Rid Of The Drugs’: Jeff Gural Will Lobby For New Jersey’s Harness Industry To Join HISA appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Jockey Shane Dye, a member of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, shared his opinion about what he feels is a lack of safety in the safety vests jockeys wear during races with punters.com.au.

“The vest comes up and hits your head, resulting in more head injuries, and it prevents a jockey from rolling, the most important reaction in a fall,” Dye said. “I've got no doubt in my mind that the vest causes more serious head, neck, and back injuries because you can't roll.”

Dye cited a 2014 study into the safety vests which examined insurance claim data prior to and following the introduction of the vests.

The report indicates “a significant increase in neck fracture percentages during the post-vest period” and “a significant increase in back fracture percentages during the post-vest period,” and that “the vests are neither comfortable nor have they been universally accepted as being worthwhile.”

The winner of over 100 Group 1 races also pointed to a research paper written in 2019 by Lisa Giusti Gestri, which concludes: “the current vests are failing in providing sufficient protection.”

Editor's Note: The aforementioned opinion is that of jockey Shane Dye, an expert in race riding but perhaps not in safety data. The 2014 study's key findings are printed in full below, and a link to the full study is available here:

“Despite an apparent growing acceptance of the vests, most riders felt the protective capabilities of the vests and the vest comfort levels should be improved. While a reduction in sprain and strain injuries in the chest and back were identified (suggesting a vest meeting current standards may be reducing these lesser injuries), an increase in neck and spinal fractures was also identified. There was no evidence that the increase in neck and spinal fractures was related to wearing the vests (as suggested by some riders). Instead a review of raceday footage carried out by a biomechanical engineer showed that most of these injuries are “indirect injuries” and a result of a rider taking a forward dive into the track. This theory was supported by the identification of a significant increase in head and facial fractures during the same period of study. Several vests were tested as part of this work, with the widely used Tipperary Ride Lite vest failing testing requirements. As a result of the project the ARB immediately began further investigations into the Tipperary vest and subsequently ruled to suspend the use by licensed jockeys, track riders and stable hands of the Tipperary Ride Lite vest. The ARB is continuing to work with the manufacture of the Tipperary Ride Lite vest to address safety concerns. That action alone is a significant outcome of this project.”

The post Opinion: Hall Of Fame Jockey Believes Safety Vests Result In ‘More Serious Head, Neck, And Back Injuries’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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I've found myself having to be VERY defensive of our industry over the last week, and it's ultimately brought me to something (admittedly long-winded) that I feel like I need to say. I'll get a lot of pushback for this, probably, but I'm telling you — it's the absolute truth.

Since starting my journey into racing as a teenager and continuing to try to figure out what my place is in it, I've seen (and contributed to) a narrative among pretty much everyone where we think the question we need to ask is “How do we grow the sport?”

It's the wrong question.

Racing is unequivocally not entitled to think about growth right now. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably well-meaning but is ignoring a whole lot. If this last week has taught us anything, the question we should be asking is, “How do we stop our sport from shrinking?”

A lot of us try to create growth by externally projecting all of the good our sport creates. And there really is so, so, so much good. There are so many great groups out there — educational groups, experiential groups, exciting new ownership opportunities. Y'all are amazing. I see you, I love you, and I support you (please let me know if I can ever personally help you in any way, truly). We need these things and the industry must keep supporting them. With our time, with our investment. They are doing essential work.

But with the perception that we need to accentuate the good, there's also this (in my opinion, incredibly flawed, and even dangerous) view that we need to suppress the bad.

Do you know what the best way to stop hearing bad stories is? To eliminate them. To simply — not have bad stories to tell. We can't eliminate bad stories entirely, but we can definitely try. And if this week has taught me (and hopefully everyone else) anything, it's that we must try.

At the very minimum, we need transparency. You all know what I'm talking about. For other owners, for bettors, and for the casual fan. We also need quick(er) adjudication, and we need punishments that bite. We need funding for better testing. We need a comfortable betting public.

Many of you are also frustrated with HISA. I'm going to take a firm stance on this one — HISA is deeply flawed, but it's what we have. I know many are afraid of government involvement, but certainly no one can make the argument that we're still capable of self-regulation. Sorry. At a very minimum, we need to let HISA be the work in progress that it is. I'm sure it'll keep evolving, and I'm even more sure that horsemen will play a central role in that process. Patience, as with all things, is key.

If you don't like HISA, I expect you to voice other ideas.

Next, I want to address the brain drain that is happening from the racing industry, especially among young people. There is a cultural generational difference I've encountered on this app many times over between what the definition of “hard work” is and should be. I can tell you… I know SO MANY incredible, genuinely hardworking young people wanting to build lives in this sport, willing to tackle almost anything this industry throws at them to achieve their dreams. But I also know so many people who have left, frustrated and disillusioned. They feel overworked, underpaid, and most importantly, like there is a massive ceiling to what they can achieve in their careers. A ton of men too, but especially women, and especially people of color. There's no intended slant here — this is fact.

There needs to be a deep, deep culture shift to change a lot of these things. But the status quo is driving a lot of us out. And it's not just young people, either. You know what's a very simple solution (one that holds true for younger and more experienced workers alike)? Pay them. A living wage. I know so many people who live in abject poverty in this industry, it's crazy. Working for people who can afford to pay them more. And invest in their well-being more. Don't expect (the amazing!) advocacy groups, etc. to do it for you.

So if you can afford to pay your employees more (and believe me, most of you really, really can – although I recognize some of you can't), do it. I promise you your margins will be fine. I promise you your business will thrive because of it.

I also want to address breakdowns, since that's at the forefront of all of our minds now. I know we are decades into breeding to emphasize certain things, and that many soundness issues with the horse itself are not wholesale solvable. But I want to implore breeders big and small, and especially farms as they make decisions on what stallions they hope to stand, to ask themselves one thing before they make their decisions. Ask yourselves, “Does this horse REALLY need to enter the gene pool?” And go from there. If they regularly bled, if they didn't or couldn't race at three, if they were ever significantly injured, or if they were a real, serious problem to keep sound, among other things … the answer is probably no. And I ask you to consider making that decision, whatever it costs you.

And I recognize how high and mighty that sounds. I've been a small breeder myself. But at the end of the day, we all should be in this because we love the horse. Because we want to be good stewards of the breed. And sometimes good stewardship requires making hard decisions.

And maybe we should also be investing more into track surface development, I don't know. This isn't remotely my area of expertise, but I've been as alarmed as anyone with what I've seen with track safety. Track management is responsible and MUST listen to horsemen.

Finally, back to negative coverage. Many are so caught up in what you think the mainstream media does that you try to find an agenda everywhere, often where there isn't one. Sorry to call some people out, but it's true. I promise you, journalists are just trying to do their jobs. If they run a story that's bad, a story you don't like, or that sheds a negative light on something, it's probably because that thing … happened. And you need to let them run that story, if you're anything from a fan to an industry stakeholder. You *need* to let them run it. Because, to tie everything up, we need to hear about the bad. Remember that transparency thing? Sorry. We need to hear about it. If you don't want to hear about it, you need to be doing everything you can to make sure the bad doesn't happen. Yes, you personally. All of us. From casual fans to big industry stakeholders. And if the bad gets out to the general public? It's probably a good thing, only disguised as a bad thing. It'll keep us accountable. Because, y'all. We need to be better. This sport WILL die if we don't.

It needs to come from every corner of the industry. Everyone who makes an investment of time, money and heart into this. So I welcome any input anyone has – any reaction to this and any solutions anyone has to offer. Because, sorry for my language, I love this shit. Let's fix it.

–Sophie Shore
Co-founder, Nexus Racing Club, fan, breeder
Durham, N.C.

This commentary was originally published via Shore's Twitter handle @Shore_Sophie and is reprinted here with permission.

The post Shore: After The Week We’ve Had, ‘Racing Is Unequivocally Not Entitled To Think About Growth Right Now’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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There has been a lot of news in the racing world over the past week, and as any Paulick Report reader knows, it hasn't all been focused on Mage's impressive Kentucky Derby win last weekend.  

Much of the recent news has been focused on two different issues with morning line Derby favorite Forte – his veterinary scratch on Saturday morning, and news that a post-race drug test after his win in the Hopeful Stakes revealed meloxicam.

Stewards in New York held a meeting with trainer Todd Pletcher regarding the failed drug test this week and disqualified Forte from his Hopeful Stakes win, then suspended Pletcher for 10 days and fined him $1,000.

We've seen a few questions/concerns/points of confusion from racing fans about these situations and have addressed the questions we're equipped to answer below.  

–Why did it take so long to get the test results back after Forte's run in the 2022 Hopeful Stakes on Sept. 5?

The delay does not seem to have been in getting preliminary testing done on the post-race sample. By all accounts, that seems to have been completed on a normal timeframe – according to reporting from The Blood-Horse, Forte's connections said in a news conference this week that he was notified about the positive on Sept. 28, 2022. That was the day entries were taken for the G1 Champagne Stakes, and prevented Forte from being entered there. This, the connections say, is why he appeared a week later at Keeneland, where he won the G1 Breeders' Futurity.

There are two different explanations as to why the stewards only just had a hearing about the case this week. In reporting this week from the New York Times, the gaming commission blamed Team Forte, claiming that their attorneys delayed the hearing for the intervening eight months. In this week's press conference, Team Forte said the delays were the fault of the commission. Team Forte says the commission took a long time — reports vary on how long, but possibly four months — to provide them with a list of laboratories that were authorized to conduct split sample testing for meloxicam.

Split sample custody has historically been a problem for New York's laboratory, as we reported in 2015.

-Ok, then why are we just finding out about it now?

Officials cannot legally acknowledge a pending positive test until after the stewards have met with the trainer to hear their side of the case and have issued a ruling. The stewards can't hold such a meeting until after a split sample is tested, if the trainer requests such a test.

A horse's connections can divulge a pending positive, wherever they are in the adjudication process, at any time they choose. That's why the public knew about Medina Spirit's post-Derby positive so quickly. Trainer Bob Baffert called a press conference the day after he was informed there had been a positive test.

The only reason we knew about this case earlier this week, prior to the stewards' meeting with Pletcher, is because the New York Times broke the story, citing two unnamed sources.

-Did Forte's connections delay the hearing to avoid a positive interfering with his Kentucky Derby run?

Probably not. The Hopeful doesn't carry any Kentucky Derby qualifying points, so his disqualification would never have impacted his ability to run there.

It is true that they knew this matter was pending as they headed into the Derby. 

-Does this have anything to do with his Kentucky Derby scratch — is this a sign the horse has been dealing with the same problem this whole time?

Not necessarily.

Pletcher said the horse has never been given meloxicam under his care, and that the positive is likely the result of environmental contamination. Team Forte also claim that the New York laboratory implied they also thought the test was the result of environmental contamination, though how that could have occurred is still unclear. Lab director Dr. George Maylin told The Blood-Horse he said that was one possible explanation for the presence of meloxicam. According to Maylin, there is zero tolerance for meloxicam in post-race samples.

Pletcher said this week that after an internal investigation, he could not find that any employee in his shed row had been taking the drug.

Forte's connections said after his scratch the morning of the Derby that he'd been battling a foot bruise in the days leading up to the race. Video of a pre-race veterinary exam by Kentucky officials shows the horse reacting slightly when the inside heel bulb of his right front was palpated by veterinarian Dr. Nick Smith, which is consistent with a foot bruise. While bruises can be slow to heal, he could not have won four races in between the Hopeful and the Derby on the same foot bruise, nor would he likely have passed pre-race veterinary examinations with a bruise.

Meloxicam is used in both people and horses for arthritis, but it's not approved for use in Thoroughbreds in training. It's not something a veterinarian would commonly reach for to address a foot problem in a racehorse.

-Is this a case of doping?

'Doping' is a trigger word for a lot of people in horse racing. To those inside the business, the accepted use of the word refers to willful administration of a substance that has no legitimate purpose in the horse in an attempt to advance the horse's performance beyond his natural abilities. Substances like EPO fall into this category. Anabolic steroids have limited therapeutic use but are usually thought of the same way, since they increase a horse's ability to build muscle beyond his natural capacity to do so. Meloxicam isn't approved for use in horses in training for racing, but it is federally approved for prescription use in horses generally. Whether it was given willfully or not, there is currently no evidence it's going to make a slow, sound horse into a fast, sound horse. When used therapeutically, it can make a sore horse more comfortable.

-Is this why he's not going to Preakness?

No. Currently he's ineligible to run in the Preakness because he is on the veterinarian's list in Kentucky. Any horse that is scratched the morning of a race for unsoundness by a veterinarian is automatically placed on the vet's list for 14 days, and in order to come off the list, they must perform a workout before an official veterinarian and have their blood tested for any anti-inflammatories or painkillers. At the earliest, Forte could work for a state vet on Preakness morning, but there wouldn't be time for drug tests to come back before post time.

Fourteen days is more than enough time for most foot bruises to clear up, but the rule doesn't have any flexibility depending on the source of unsoundness on race morning. It's not the job of regulatory veterinarians to perform complicated diagnostics to pinpoint the reason for lameness. That's probably for the best, since it would subject veterinarians to additional pressures surrounding the reason they record for their scratch.

As for the suspension, Pletcher is appealing the case and has been granted a stay of suspension while the appeal is handled. That means he'll be clear to train until he drops or loses his appeal, so it's likely he'll be saddling horses somewhere in the country on Preakness Day.

-What about HISA? Aren't they supposed to prevent all this?

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act created a centralized national authority to do two things – oversee safety regulation, and oversee a medication control program. At the time of the Hopeful (and even at this moment) the safety program is in place, but the medication control program is not. The safety rules do not deal with drug testing, although they do outline the use of a veterinarian's list, which coincide with Kentucky officials' actions here. Kentucky regulation also reflects the 14-day stay on the vet's list after a scratch for unsoundness, so even if HISA didn't exist, Forte would be in the same situation.

The post Forte FAQ: Why Did It Take So Long To Find Out About That Positive Test? And Other Questions, Answered appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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