Keeping Pace: Take 10 Minutes To Read The New Federal Integrity Report: You'll Be Smarter If You Do

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, created as part of the new federal racing law, just came out with its 2023 Annual Report. It’s a milestone, of course, because it’s the first annual report since federal regulators took over enforcement of (most of) Thoroughbred racing last year. Everyone in horse racing, but especially those of you who for one reason or another are opposed to the new racing regime, should take 10 or 15 minutes and read through the report. Some of it is the fluff that comes with most annual reports. But you can learn something new on just about every page. I’ve picked out just a few of many passages I found interesting.

Here’s how federal regulators described their mission: “We knew that we needed to combine experience in the horseracing industry with backgrounds in anti-doping, investigations, veterinary science, and laboratory operations. Between the legacy DFSI staff who transitioned to the HIWU team, and the new individuals brought on to lend their expertise, we are confident that the best multi- disciplinary talent was engaged to ensure the Program's successful implementation and operation.” The idea that HISA didn’t reinvent every wheel but instead relied in part on “legacy” staff at Drug Free Sport International, as they put it, is an important theme that runs through the report.

Later, for example, in a section about testing, regulators wrote: “Many members of this group were existing test barn personnel and regulatory veterinarians who continued in their positions while operating under the voluntary implementation agreement in place between HIWU and their respective state racing commission or racetrack.” There are, in other words, plenty of familiar faces at racetracks and along backstretches who are now enforcing federal rules instead of state ones (even when those rules are the same) This isn’t news to most trainers, jockeys, and caretakers whose horses have gone through testing but it’s worth noting.

Here’s another passage that caught my eye: “The intelligence informs test selection and the kinds of analyses applied to specific samples. This strategy is practiced in all aspects of the testing program, including TCO2 Testing and Out-of-Competition Testing. Strategies are informed through internal collaboration among HIWU staff, but they also rely on regular dialogue with, and information provided by, racing participants who have "boots on the ground" at racetracks, e.g., investigators, stewards, and regulatory veterinarians, who help advise testing strategies through their on-site observations.”

I know I have said this many times before but I will say it again. It’s imperative for HISA and HIWU officials to supplement testing with old-fashioned “boots on the ground” investigative work to find hidden ownerships, and “beard” trainers, and other skullduggery. There are “paper” trails, or at least email or text trails, that link those conspiring to dope horses. These investigations aren’t easy. They require time and hard work by qualified forensic accountants and other specialists. I hope that federal racing officials are thinking of ways to ratchet (and pay for) this work. “On-site observations,” as the feds say, isn’t nearly enough.

Finally, I was struck by this passage: “The data in this report shows that the overwhelming majority of horsemen are complying with the ADMC Program and protecting the safety and welfare of the horses in their care.” I want to applaud these horsemen and horsewomen. I know that many of you are only grudgingly transitioning to the new federal system. I know some of you have legitimate complaints about how the law has been rolled out. I hope most of you realize that constructive criticism of HISA rules already has generated some requested reforms. Like I said, take 10 minutes or so and scroll through the report. It’s not a waste of time.

Texas Two-Step

How would you like to be an honest Thoroughbred trainer competing these days at Lone Star Park in Texas? You’ve been told how the new federal racing integrity law is an affront to states’ rights and all that jazz; about how state racing commissions have it all under control when it comes to doping integrity issues; about how the federal appeals court in your jurisdiction is on the verge of rescuing you from the clutches of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. Congratulations, right? Right. And your reward is having to compete for purse money with a trainer who has been provisionally suspended and barred from racing next door at Oaklawn.

Master of Disguise, a horse trained by Robertino Diodoro, is entered to race this Thursday on Lone Star’s opening day card. Diodoro, the leading trainer during Oaklawn’s 2022-’23 meet, was cited last month for alleged possession of levothyroxine, a thyroid medication that is a banned substance under federal doping rules. He was provisionally suspended by HISA and then saw his entries ultimately scratched by Oaklawn racing officials. Diodoro can’t race in Arkansas, which is covered by the new federal racing law, but he evidently can race in Texas, which is a major plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new federal racing law.

“Diodoro is not the first HIWU-suspended trainer to resurface in states not operating under HISA jurisdiction,” writes Byron King. “In another example, trainer Jonathan Wong, who previously raced mostly in California and Kentucky, began racing in Louisiana after being suspended for two years by HIWU after a horse of his tested positive for metformin, a commonly used drug used by humans to treat type 2 diabetes. Matt Vance, executive vice president of racing for Lone Star Park, did not return a phone message seeking comment, nor did John Holleman, an attorney to whom Diodoro directed media inquiries” after his suspension was announced.

This episode is a perfect illustration of why the state racing commission system has failed and why uniform national standards make sense. Licensees who run into trouble with regulators are always going to find their way to jurisdictions that either don’t have the strictest integrity rules or don’t have the regulators or political will to enforce them strictly. I have no idea whether Diodoro’s suspension ultimately will be upheld or overturned. But I know that if I were a trainer competing against him at Lone Star Park this week I would perhaps have a different view of a system that allows each state to decide for itself how it wants to police the sport.
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A slap on the wrist

Here’s another good example of how state racing commissions fail to adequately protect racing integrity. From the USTA’s latest “Fines and Suspensions Bulletin: “Jared Bako was the trainer of record for the horse Micky Gee N in the 11th Race at Yonkers Raceway on February 26, 2024. Post race analysis … contained Isoflupredone that exceeded the allowable level permitted. Micky Gee N finished 1st and is hereby disqualified and placed last. Having appeared before a representative of NYSGC and waived his right to a formal hearing and right to appeal and split sample, Jared Bako`s 15-day suspension and $500.00 fine is reduced to 7 days (March 26, 2024 through and including April 1, 2024) and a $250.00 fine.”

I understand plea deals. But a seven-day suspension and a $250 fine is nowhere near enough of a disincentive to stop trainers from taking a shot at avoiding a drug detection. Indeed, the original punishment – 15 days and $500 – is not enough of a penalty. More from the Bulletin: “During the term of suspension, Jared Bako is denied the privilege of and access to all grounds under the supervision of the NYSGC. Jared Bako is also ordered to return all purse monies earned from the above-mentioned race ($9000.00). Micky Gee N shall be required to provide a negative sample prior to being permitted to enter to qualify or race. No trainer transfers of horses under Jared Bako`s care will be permitted during the term of the suspension.”

I endorse the provision that precludes trainer transfers of Bako’s horses because I think that helps reduce the use of beards or “paper trainers” which, as I have written before, is a huge problem in harness racing (and especially at Yonkers). An even better way to make it painful for trainers whose horse tests positive would be to suspend the horse itself for a period. Maybe that would prompt owners to gravitate toward trainers who aren’t violating horse doping rules. I say that as an owner who believes that owners in horse racing generally don’t have nearly enough accountability for integrity violations. Let me know what you folks think (my email is below).

More on Standardbred aftercare

There were quite a few responses to last week’s Keeping Pace column about Standardbred aftercare, none of which make me think that there are any easy solutions to ensuring better coordination among horse rescue groups. The issue is complicated by claims about the work and the budget of the Standardbred Transition Alliance, a group backed by the United States Trotting Association that awards grants to horse rescue groups that gain accreditation. Earlier this month, Mitchel Skolnick, the STA’s longtime treasurer, went public with claims that ought to infuriate the STA’s donors.

Skolnick writes: “There are many industry connections, owners, trainers, etc. who care for horses that are retired. The STA could help offset some specific costs these people incur taking care of their horses. Its mission could also be expanded to include other breeds as an incentive for their aftercare agencies to take on Standardbreds. Furthermore, The STA does not need a 12-member board. Half that number would be considerably more effective and efficient. And it does not need the expense of a full-time salaried Administrator. At the current pace of spending, the STA will exceed a million dollars in administrative costs in fewer than nine years.”

If that scenario sounds familiar, it is. The USTA itself has far too many board members, wastes money on excessive administrative costs (including the hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees incurred in fighting HISA), and continually ignores its members when it comes to Standardbred horse rescue. The STA either has to be a big part of the effort to coordinate rescue groups, which means the STA needs new leadership or it has to fold and hand off its money (and donors) to groups that are less bureaucratic. Meanwhile, to put things into perspective, here is what horse rescue looks like in Serbia.

NOTES

Medication restrictions at 2–year-old sales. First, let me join HISA officials and many others in horse racing in applauding the effort by sales companies to cut back on drugs used to prep horses for sale. “Beginning July 1,” reports Paulick Report’s Natalie Voss, “non-steroidal anti-inflammatories will not be permitted within 48 hours of a breeze show or after 6 p.m. the night before the horse sells. Corticosteroids may not be given closer than 48 hours prior to a breeze show or 24 hours prior to sale.” The new policy “also prohibits stacking, or the use of more than one NSAID, which is also prohibited at the racetrack,” Voss writes.

We can applaud the effort while questioning how it will be enforced and whether it will be effective in better protecting vulnerable young horses. Voss writes: “Four years out from a federal doping case that aptly demonstrated there are plenty of questionable drugs that can’t even be tested for, it raises the question: How much longer should the sport allow self-policing in its public marketplace?” Not much longer, I think. Let’s hope we look back on this reform a few years from now and see it as a step toward universal sales medication policies that include stricter and uniform enforcement provisions protecting horses before they race.

Meanwhile, a horse trained in New York by George Weaver has tested positive for metformin, the diabetes drug that is a “banned substance” under federal drug rules. Weaver’s lawyer has asked for a split sample test and Weaver will be allowed to train pending the results of the test. ​​“The groom who cares for the horse is on the medication,” Weaver’s lawyer told Thoroughbred Daily News’ Bill Finley. “This is a clear case of contamination.” Less clear is what California-based trainer Lorenzo Ruiz was thinking when he worked as an outrider during a provisional drug suspension. That prompted an independent arbiter to increase Ruiz’s ultimate suspension earlier this month to seven years and an $80,000 fine, reports BloodHorse

Put it in writing, people. I am fascinated by a Kentucky case now on appeal to the state’s supreme court (covered by BloodHorse) that focuses on whether a claimed training commission agreement can be enforced even though it is not in writing. Here’s what Kentucky law says:

“No contract or agreement for payment of a commission, fee, gratuity, or any other form of compensation in connection with any sale, purchase, or transfer of an equine shall be enforceable by way of an action or defense unless: (a) The contract or agreement is in writing and is signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought…” The question in the case of the sale of Daddys Lil Darling is whether trainer Ken McPeek’s alleged deal falls into that category. It will be interesting to see if state legislators add or subtract from that language depending on what the Kentucky Supreme Court decides.

Art and horse racing. Congratulations to Leo Kahl for winning a nationwide art competition celebrating the Preakness Stakes. "My objective was to capture the colors, excitement and festive mood of Pimlico Race Course and the Preakness Stakes," Kahl said. "I chose the loose and romantic medium of watercolor to depict this scene as it best depicts the movement and drama of the day." The painting is great. Memo to Jason Settlemoir at the Meadowlands Racetrack*: Hire Kahl to do a similar painting of the Big M on Hambletonian Day, or Meadowlands Pace night, and then raffle off the painting to benefit Standardbred aftercare.

(Disclosure: The Meadowlands is a sponsor of the “Keeping Pace” column)

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