Page 12 - May 2016

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by Jennifer K. Hancock
The ARCI hosTs Town MeeTIngs
The Association of Racing Commissioners International is holding “Town Hall” meetings across the country and the latest were held at Lone Star Park in Texas on April 18 and Remington Park in Oklahoma on April 19. The meetings are intended
to unify the racing industry and develop a consensus path to improve the policing of the sport and advance uniform regulatory policies. Uniform medication, uniformity in model rules, pending Federal legisla- tion and other timely issues affecting the racing industry are part of the discussion at the meetings, which are open to all industry stakeholders.
Several more meetings are scheduled in the coming months including Ocala, Florida, on May 24; Auburn, Washington, on July 13; Shakopee, Minnesota, on August 3; and Arlington Heights, Illinois, on August 4.
Edward J. Martin, president of ARCI, said the organization is planning to have about 20 meetings across the country and to conduct an online survey for industry participants.
“We’ve been talking to owners, trainers, veteri- narians, track officials and some regulators,” Martin said. “What we are trying to do is to identify those issues that the people in the sport really believe
need to be addressed and then explore what options might be acceptable to people. There are some well- intentioned proposals that some people have made in Washington, D.C., but they do not represent the vast majority of the people involved in horse racing.”
Martin said ARCI is looking for common problems that can be solved by getting everyone on the same page.
“When an industry is united it can do good things,” Martin said. “When an industry is divided you just end up fighting with yourself for years and years. Some of the questions that have come up deal with uniformity, whether or not there should be a central rule-making authority, and some of the options that have been put forward to do that. There’s been a discussion on whether there needs to be out-of-compe- tition testing, but the number one problem that people are repeatedly mentioning is that they do not feel that the public or public officials really know all that is being done in horse racing to care for our horses, to guard against cheaters and to police the sport. They feel that the perception of the sport is hurting the sport and that it is time for people to start accentuat- ing the positive rather than dwelling on the negative.” Debbie Schauf, the executive director of the Oklahoma Racing Quarter Horse Association esti- mated that about 55 people attended the meeting at Remington Park.
“It was a very good turnout and the largest that they have had,” Schauf said.
One horseman told Schauf that the meeting was a good orientation to what is being done in the
industry and said it opened his eyes up to the fact that it’s not as easy as it seems because not everybody agrees on what the rule ought to be or how it should be enforced. The added wrinkle that each state has different laws and procedures for changing the rules makes it even more difficult.
“If you ask people if there should be uniform medication and racing rules, that’s a no brainer, but the devil’s in the details,” Schauf said and added that people usually want to keep the rule that they are familiar with in their own state.
Visit the ARCI website, www.arci.com, for the latest information on the Town Meetings.
hAIR TesTIng ChAnges AnnounCed foR ChAllenge
The Bank of America Racing Challenge Championships are set to take place at Los Alamitos Race Course October 29. The conditions for the Challenge were issued on October 15, 2015, and included, for the first time, mandatory hair testing for clenbuterol beginning with the regional qualifying races and all Championship races.
The American Quarter Horse Association Executive Committee has decided to amend the Challenge conditions by no longer requiring hair testing in the regional qualifying races, which are to be held in numerous states. However, the hair testing requirement (pre-race testing three weeks prior to race) remains in place for the Challenge Championship races that are to be held at Los Alamitos.
Any fees for hair testing which have been collected by AQHA from 2016 Challenge participants will be refunded, and there will be no hair test fees owed by participants in the Challenge Championship races. Sustaining payment amounts will return to $400 for the Juvenile division and $600 for all other divisions. In addition, nominating and sustaining payments may again be made over the phone.
According to an AQHA press release, “The new requirement for hair testing is part of the AQHA’s ongoing efforts to address animal welfare issues in
the American Quarter Horse industry, including the harm caused by the misuse of medication in the racing industry. The first step taken by AQHA in this regard was the implementation of the Multiple Medication Violation System. While the MMVS was recently suspended in order to conduct an evaluation of its over- all effectiveness and to develop even better methods
of addressing medication misuse, one thing that the MMVS demonstrated is that clenbuterol misuse is a serious problem in the racing industry. Of all the drug violations reported to AQHA by the racetracks and jurisdictions, almost 40 percent involved clenbuterol.”
AQHA plans to continue its efforts of work- ing with ARCI members and state commissions to
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The MonTh in review
10 SPEEDHORSE, May 2016
Track chaTTer