Friday Show Presented By Pegasus World Cup At Gulfstream Park: Racing’s Social License To Operate

Racetracks are licensed by the state, as are owners, trainers and many others employed in the horse racing industry throughout the United States. There is yet another license required for racing, but this is one you can't put in your wallet or hang on a wall.

In this week's edition of the Friday Show, Paulick Report publisher Ray Paulick and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills discuss that relatively new and somewhat nebulous license, one known as a “social license to operate.” In brief, an SLO amounts to a business or industry's ability to exist through the approval by the general public of its standards and practices.

The term came up most recently in the ongoing hearing called by the New York Racing Association against Bob Baffert for his recent medication violations. An expert witness called by NYRA said an industry's social license to operate may be impacted when someone as high-profile as Baffert is associated with what the general public believes is the drugging or deaths of horses.

Racing is far from being the only sport or industry whose social license to operate is being scrutinized by both animal rights extremists but also by many in the general public. Greyhound racing lost its social license to operate in numerous states and is now virtually out of business in the U.S. Football's social license to operate has been called into question in recent years because of head injuries to players, but the sport evolved in response to social pressure and is thriving.

Can horse racing do the same thing?

Watch this week's Friday Show presented by the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

The post Friday Show Presented By Pegasus World Cup At Gulfstream Park: Racing’s Social License To Operate appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Irwin: USADA Essential To A Successful Horseracing Integrity And Safety Authority

It was not by happenstance that in a 2004 Op/Ed I wrote in The Blood-Horse and eight years later the Water Hay Oats Alliance in its mission statement both singled out the United States Anti-Doping Agency as the one entity that could rein in the rampant use of drugs both legal and illegal in horse racing.

Through several iterations of proposed congressional legislations in different political administrations, WHOA forged ahead, convincing The Jockey Club, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders' Association, Breeders' Cup and other leading organizations to join its efforts. But WHOA never lost sight of its goal as stated in its original mission statement: USADA needed to be named by congress to oversee drugs in racing.

When Mitch McConnell finally saw the light and agreed to help his state's signature industry by embracing the idea of the federal legislation, he joined the effort for a final push that resulted in the idea of naming an entity, named the Authority, to deal with the Federal Trade Commission in setting up drug controls. The idea from the very get-to and through the rewritten federal law was to bring USADA on board to do their thing.

But between passing the legislation, seating board and committee members and drafting rules for drugs and safety, the Authority lost sight of its mandate and role in the process. Things that plague most political actions and serve as a stark reminder of the corruption to which many humans are capable of brought forth conflicts of interest and the weightiness of power. The Authority shockingly announced during the holidays that it had been unable to come to a meeting of the minds with Travis Tygart, the head of USADA. The newly formed group revealed that it was moving ahead to find an alternative overseer of drugs in racing. 

Conflicts of interest? Abuse of power? Money up for grabs? Really? Yep. Really.

I will save you all from having to read the rest of this and get right to the point: USADA is the only group with the brand, gravitas, respect and tools to save the sport of Thoroughbred racing. Yes, there are other groups that could address testing, investigations and education, but in total none of them has what USADA brings to the table. 

Jeff Novitzky, a storied federal investigator who graduated from breaking open the 2002 BALCO scandal and currently is in charge of athlete performance for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a board member of the Authority. He is potentially an important player in determining who gets the nod to oversee drugs in racing, as he actually has experience in hiring USADA to work on behalf of the UFC.

As explained by Novitzky, there are ultimately three tasks that need to be addressed by any anti-doping organization, namely testing, investigation and education. Interestingly, he said that education is perhaps the most important, as it involves an authority figure such as Travis Tygart being able to educate athletes as to how sophisticated and thorough USADA can be in its job. Novitzky says that this aspect of the triple-pronged approach has formed an effective deterrent to cheating by his athletes. Novitzky said that it is possible to find outfits that could do testing and investigation, but very challenging to find a group that could educate the participants like USADA. That is a difference maker for him.

The reason that WHOA and I have pushed so hard for USADA is that a totally independent group is essential in allowing the game to function and give fans and competitors alike the confidence that the sport is on the level.

Here is why an independent group is needed. In a game dominated by super-wealthy, powerfully-connected participants that operate their enterprises on a win-at-all-costs ethos, only an independent body is able to withstand the onslaught of a corrupt individual to assist them in breaking the rules.

In today's environment, within the confines of racing (and not including the Federal Bureau of Investigation), powerful individuals who get caught breaking the rules always seem to find a get out of jail free card. 

The reason so many horsemen and owners seem to be against USADA's involvement in racing is that their reputation has preceded them. They are incorruptible and this scares the crap out of them.

However, with USADA now set to be totally bypassed in favor of some other organizations that have been mentioned, independence will be thrown right out the window and all of our efforts will have been for naught, because the bad guys will have won again and nothing will have changed. Right now forces that want the appearance of change, but behind closed doors actually embrace the status quo, are calling the shots.

Forces working against USADA include those with conflicts of interest. Among them are Authority members that have existing affiliations to other anti-doping doping agencies, rival testing labs lined up for a big payday and individuals pulling any strings they can find to keep USADA from becoming the top cop on the block. There is a lot of money involved and more than one testing lab or doping agency that would like to get their piece of the pie. Cronyism, regional muscle flexing and a good old-fashioned money grab characterizes the battlefield today.

It says here that the Authority has lost sight of its role in the process and that a combination of egos fueled with new-found power, members swayed by passionate enemies of USADA and lots of money up for grabs has corrupted what should have been a simple task. And for all appearances it looks very much like those empowered to guard the palace gates want to ascend to the throne.

Barry Irwin is the founder and CEO of Team Valor International

The post Irwin: USADA Essential To A Successful Horseracing Integrity And Safety Authority appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Letter to the Editor: Why I Choose Racing Over The Sports I Loved For 50 Years

I just read the letter from my fellow Texan (Name Withheld) and I appreciate that he took the time to share his thoughts. I try to be open minded and we (racing) need everyone's opinion. However, like a coin there's two sides to this story and I feel compelled to share a different perspective.

As a kid growing up in Detroit in the 1970s, my days and nights were filled with following and watching football, baseball, basketball and hockey. I wasn't a casual fan, I was the true meaning of fan – fanatical. Watched and played sports 24/7, read the sports page front to back, traded cards, listened to the Tigers broadcast on my transistor radio well past bedtime and became a sports encyclopedia that could tell you Denny McLain's ERA the year he won 31 games, but couldn't recite the presidents of the United States.

As I became an adult, I continued to be an avid sports fan and had season tickets to the Miami Dolphins, the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys and, for the past 25 years, the San Antonio Spurs. I was in Candlestick Park for “The Catch” and in the arena when the Spurs hung five championship banners. Talk about a run. I thought to myself, 'It doesn't get any better than this.' I couldn't have been more wrong!

I had always been intrigued by Thoroughbred racing, but I was just a casual fan who went to the local racetrack occasionally or watched the Triple Crown races on TV. Then something happened about 15 years ago that changed my sports world forever! I decided that I wanted to own a piece of a racehorse and went in search of a syndicate and a horse that looked good to me. I didn't know anything about anything so going in search of a racehorse is nothing short of hilarious to me today. Anyway, I fell into safe hands and I was off and running.

Those early years were a blast – surrounded by great people that were truly passionate about the game and lived it morning, noon and night. I was having a ton of fun, but after a few years the numbers on the circuit I was running just didn't make sense. In other words, my expense to purse ratio was not good enough to sustain my stable. I had graduated from the syndicate ranks a few years earlier and the expenses can mount up if you aren't careful. A change had to be made if I was going to survive in the game that I was now so passionate about.

That took me to the West Coast and what was, in my eyes, the mecca of racing. You only need to sit in the stands of Santa Anita Park once looking out over the track at the San Gabriel Mountains or stand in the saddling paddock of Del Mar to know you don't want to run anywhere else in the world. To make a long story shorter, my move to California was a game changer for me. I had the good fortune of some graded stakes wins and Breeder's Cup appearances that I thought were reserved for only the top players in the game.

I don't take winning for granted. It's a tough game and winning is the culmination of a lot of hard work on the part of a lot of good people. Horsemen and horsewomen committed to their trades and working tirelessly to achieve results in a sport where losing 80% of the time is considered a success. I have found that most are motivated by passion and not by money or greed. But maybe the best part of all is the friendships that you make in racing — the kind that will celebrate you when you win and are there to pick you up when you lose.

So, whatever happened to the sports I followed for 50 years?  While “Name Withheld” wrote about horse racing changing, so has MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL. I guess the $150 million contracts, the outrageous tickets prices, and the $15 hotdogs and beers contributed to my change, but it was the greatness of racing that ultimately changed the sports landscape for me.

While change is inevitable in all sports, it doesn't have to be a negative. Let's evolve our game to be more inclusive and let's work together to make it better. It's easy to tear something down, but it takes real commitment to make racing something we can all be proud of.

I'm in – how about you?

In closing, I would like to thank my trainers, my partners, my jockeys, my agents, my veterinarians, my fellow owners, the racetracks and my horse racing friends that have contributed so significantly to giving me the opportunity to take the ride of a lifetime. It truly is The Greatest Game!

–Mark Martinez (Agave Racing Stable)


If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, please write to info at paulickreport.com and include contact information where you may be reached if editorial staff have any questions.

The post Letter to the Editor: Why I Choose Racing Over The Sports I Loved For 50 Years appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Friday Show Presented By PHBA: Snubbed In Eclipse Award Voting

Finalists were named last week for the 2021 Eclipse Awards in the various human and equine categories, and it should come as no surprise that there are differences of opinion about which horses and people were snubbed by voters and should have made the top three.

In this week's edition of the Friday Show, Paulick Report bloodstock editor Joe Nevills is joined by news editor Chelsea Hackbarth and horse racing writer and handicapper Andrew Champagne to review some of those who didn't get the support among voters representing the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, Daily Racing Form and National Thoroughbred Racing Association/Equibase.

Nevills thinks Dr. Schivel should have been a finalist in the Sprint category. Hackbarth asks, “Who did he beat?” Nevills and Champagne both think G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal should have been a finalist, either in the sprint or male turf division. He didn't make either list.

Nevills said he abstained from voting in the steeplechase category, insisting it isn't his area of expertise. Hackbarth reminded Nevills that she expanded Paulick Report's horse racing coverage to include major North American steeplechase races in 2021.

Champagne mostly wants people to agree to disagree respectfully.

On that we can all agree.

Watch this week's Friday Show, presented by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, below:

The post Friday Show Presented By PHBA: Snubbed In Eclipse Award Voting appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights