As horse racing heads into its summer season, there are many questions.\u00a0 We all know that the winter at Santa Anita was not a good one.\u00a0 The national media took note of the 30 equine fatalities and forced the sport to take a good, hard look at itself.\u00a0 The goal is simple\u2014make the sport safer.<\/p>\n
Opinions ranged from banning race day medications, suspending the trainers who get caught drugging horses, and limiting whip use but real reform will be hard to achieve.\u00a0 Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n
As the Santa Anita season concluded,\u00a0 racing officials there banned trainer Jerry Hollendorfer because four of his horses died during the meet along with two more to the north at Golden Gate Fields. But a few days later, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) welcomed him with open arms, inviting him to bring his horses to Belmont and Saratoga.\u00a0That didn\u2019t play well with those who want to see changes made to better protect the safety and welfare of thoroughbreds and a few days later, NYRA reversed course and said the Hall of Fame trainer would not be allowed to train\/race horses at the NYRA tracks.<\/p>\n
There is a loophole.\u00a0 Holledorfer may not be allowed to train in New York, but his horses will be allowed to come to New York.\u00a0 The trainer is transferring them to Don Chatlos, his longtime assistant who does have the necessary credentials\u2014license, insurance\u2014to train and race horses.\u00a0 Mind you, this is legal, but there is a bit of stench, don\u2019t you think?\u00a0 No matter your opinion on this, for those who think uniformity and national regulation is imminent, think again.<\/p>\n
Some believe that a national governing body with a commissioner will help to cure ills such as these, but that won\u2019t be happening anytime soon.\u00a0 And if this was a normal year, with fewer fatalities at Santa Anita, NYRA would have certainly allowed Hollendorfer to train and race.\u00a0 In the end, NYRA reversed course because they had to show\u00a0some<\/em>\u00a0sensitivity.<\/p>\n Why does this happen?\u00a0 Why wouldn\u2019t New York automatically honor California\u2019s ban on Hollendorfer?\u00a0 The reason is simple\u2014money.\u00a0 In this case, California\u2019s loss would be New York\u2019s gain.\u00a0 If Hollendorfer brings his horses to New York, it helps fill fields, adds value for bettors and hopefully increases handle.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t baseball; where money is made through ticket sales, hot dog sales, merchandise sales and TV money.\u00a0 Horse racing relies on having healthy horses and bettors, plain and simple.\u00a0 And, New York will still benefit if Hollendorfer\u2019s horses make it to Saratoga one week from now.<\/p>\n In horse racing, the states compete against each other; they want to collect as much money as they can, so when a trainer can\u2019t train in one state, he looks for another.\u00a0 NYRA can justify it too.\u00a0 They can blame the rains that plagued Southern California this winter and they can say that the Santa Anita track wasn\u2019t equipped to handle it and thus grant permission for a banned trainer to come to their tracks and work.<\/p>\n The disturbing part is the lack of transparency.\u00a0 Hollendorfer is not the first to suffer equine fatalities and this requires a thorough investigation.\u00a0 Will we ever find out if the trainer was the victim of bad luck; or, was he pushing unsound horses into training and the starting gate?\u00a0 We know this happens, but where does it come from?\u00a0 Are the tracks pushing trainers to make sure fields are full?\u00a0 Is it the owner, the person paying the training bills, or is it the trainer who thinks that the chances of fatal injury are not severe enough?\u00a0 There is the old school thought of \u201cwhen in doubt, send them out\u201d when we need more \u201cwhen in doubt, keep them out.\u201d<\/p>\n There are reforms coming and there is talk of making changes to help the sport get safer, but there hasn\u2019t been a lot of discourse.\u00a0 Where are the leaders; Bob Baffert?\u00a0 Bill Mott?\u00a0 Doug O\u2019Neill?\u00a0 Mark Casse?\u00a0 Where is Javier Castellano?\u00a0 John Velazquez?\u00a0 The Oritz brother and\u00a0 Flavien Prat?\u00a0 We need to hear from these guys more not less; because these are the leaders that can help the sport survive and thrive.<\/p>\n The sport has never made things easy for itself.\u00a0 In the early 2000s, many tracks switched to synthetics and equine fatalities decreased significantly.\u00a0 Many applauded the reform, but it never fully caught on.\u00a0 The New York tracks, Churchill Downs and Gulfstream never switched and after a few years, most of the big-time tracks went back to dirt.\u00a0There were tons of reasons for not going all-in on the fake dirt:\u00a0 bettors didn\u2019t like it, trainers didn\u2019t like it, there were too many soft tissue injuries, and the list goes on and on.<\/p>\n Soft tissue injures are no joke; they often end the racing career of a horse, but when a horse suffers one and quietly retires, the sporting world doesn\u2019t read about it like they did this winter and spring at Santa Anita.<\/p>\n The last thing the industry needs is hearings on Capitol Hill.\u00a0 Do you remember when they called on baseball to come and testify about the use of PEDs?\u00a0 Do you recall the circus it was led by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and of course Rafael Palmiero, who defiantly wagged that finger, denying PED use only to fail a test weeks later.<\/p>\n If the Horse Racing industry doesn\u2019t do more, the odds are great that Congress will get involved.\u00a0 We will see members of the House of Representatives who know nothing about the sport, speak into microphones and lecture those that supposedly care about Thoroughbreds and thoroughbred racing.<\/p>\n The Santa Anita meet has mercifully ended and while the industry let out a collective sigh of relief, it is now time to roll up the sleeves and come up with real reforms to make the sport better and safer for all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As horse racing heads into its summer season, there are many questions.\u00a0 We all know that the winter at Santa Anita was not a good one.\u00a0 The national media took note of the 30 equine fatalities and forced the sport to take a good, hard look at itself.\u00a0 The goal is simple\u2014make the sport safer. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n