Wandering Eyes

Zac Purton’s frustration of another narrow Group One defeat on Oohood in Sydney was compounded by a careless riding suspension that will see the Australian miss the next two meetings after Sunday’s fixture at Sha Tin. Purton had to settle for second again after he went within a whisker of winning the Group One Sires’ Produce Stakes on Oohood but there was worse to come when Racing NSW stewards hit him with a careless riding from an earlier race. Purton was found guilty of not... View the full article

The Australian bloodstock industry is a more commercial one than its counterparts in Europe and America, in the sense that a greater percentage of the better-performed horses in a given crop are put on the market. This is backed by figures produced by Aushorse earlier this year that showed that 67% of Group 1 winners in Australia in 2014, 2015 and 2016 were offered at public auction before their Group 1 win; that percentage was 61% in the U.S. and 46% in Europe. A large percentage of the fields for some of Australia’s most important races have passed through a sales ring (for instance, 17 of the 20 runners in this year’s G1 Golden Slipper had gone under the hammer), and that gives us an opportunity to look at what segment of the market these top horses are coming from. The Golden Slipper winner, Estijaab (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}, out of the dual Group 1 winner Response {Aus}, by Charge Forward {Aus}) cost Emirates Park Stud A$1.7-million at Easter last year, and was the second-most expensive filly and fourth most expensive yearling sold at the sale. Naturally, she leads last year’s Easter graduates by earnings and is the lone Group 1 graduate of that Easter crop at this very early stage (just three Group 1s for juveniles have been staged thus far this season). Last year’s Slipper winner, She Will Reign (Aus) (also out of a mare by the Red Ransom stallion Charge Forward), had cost just A$20,000 at Inglis’s Classic sale the year prior, thus giving proof to the theory that top-class winners emanate from all levels of the market. The only other stakes winner so far from last year’s Easter sale also comes from the lower market: China Horse Club’s Irish Bet (Aus) (Smart Missile {Aus}), winner of the Listed Restricted Inglis Nursery on debut in December. Mick Flanagan, who signed the sales ticket on Irish Bet, told the TDN after that win, “Irish Bet was a cheap, good-looking horse and the other cheap one I bought at that sale a few years ago was Vanbrugh [cost A$100,000 and won the G1 Spring Champion S.].” China Horse Club has spent aggressively on colts at this sale in recent years, and its efforts were rewarded this season with dual Group 1 winner Russian Revolution (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), a A$320,000 purchase, retiring to Newgate Farm as one of the more popular new sires for 2018. Irish Bet wasn’t a rare buy at the middle to lower end of the market. Flanagan said, “We bought a couple of those cheaper ones last year in New Zealand and Australia. He wasn’t the only one, and we’ve done that in America and Europe a bit as well. We bought eight or nine yearlings in Europe and they didn’t really go more than 300,000, and there were a few in there for less than 100,000 as well.” Last year’s Easter sale has yielded three stakes-placed horses: the A$100,000 Cristal Eyes (Aus) (All Too Hard {Aus}), bought by Echo Beach Bloodstock and in training at Lindsay Park; Canyonero (Aus) (Pierro {Aus}), a A$130,000 purchase by trainer Mark Newnham; and the Team Hawkes-trained Wild Planet (Aus) (Animal Kingdom {Aus}), a A$280,000 buy. Three of those five black-type 2-year-olds, including Estijaab, were offered by Arrowfield Stud. Last year’s A$2.5-million top lot, Melik (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}), is in training with Peter and Paul Snowden for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum and was third in a trial on Feb. 12. Meticulous (Aus), the A$2.4-million son of Medaglia d’Oro split between the likes of Coolmore, Nordic Racing and Breeding, Stonestreet and Aquis, is in the same stable but is yet to trial. The A$1.8-million filly Al Naifa (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) won at second asking on Jan. 21 also in the colours of Sheikh Khalifa for trainer Tony McEvoy. Looking at the 2016 Easter sale results naturally allows for a clearer picture, and that sale is thus far performing admirably in comparison to 2015, with so far 17 group-winning graduates (equal to 2015) and seven Group 1 winners (one more than 2015). With the exception of the Golden Rose winner Trapeze Artist (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), who was passed in at A$250,000, Coolmore Stud offered the two least expensive of those Group 1 winners: Eclipse Thoroughbreds’s VRC Oaks winner Pinot (Aus) (Pierro {Aus}) (A$200,000) and the Blue Diamond winner Catchy (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) (A$220,000). Three of those seven Group 1 winners are by Fastnet Rock and those also include the New Zealand Group 1 winner Age Of Fire (Aus) (A$400,000) and the G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner Merchant Navy (Aus) (A$350,000), who will eventually stand alongside his sire at Coolmore. The priciest of those Group 1 winners was Shadwell’s South African Group 1 winner Mustaaqeem (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) at A$1.75-million, and he is the lone black-type winner thus far from the nine seven-figure yearlings sold at the sale. Summer Passage (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), another NZ Group 1 winner, cost A$800,000. The remaining group-winning graduates of the 2016 Easter sale include one purchased for under A$100,000 and three apiece bought in the brackets of A$100,000 to A$250,000, A$251,000 to A$500,000 and a half-million to A$850,000. Gai Waterhouse bought the two top-priced lots at Easter 2016. The A$2.3-million Boulder City (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), a half-brother to Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}), is unraced and untrialed, while the A$1.8-million Regal Stage (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}), a full-brother to champion sprinter Lankan Rupee (Aus), has trialed once, a third in November. Five of the nine millionaires from the sale are winners and one of those, the listed-placed Siege Of Quebec (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), topped Thursday night’s Chairman’s Sale – Racing Prospects at A$1-million, with Aquis Farm buying into him with trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. Q: Where do go horses come from? A: Everywhere. All the more reason for buyers to do their homework across the board this week at Easter. View the full article

Happy Clapper (Aus) (Teofilo {Ire}) continued an excellent campaign and recorded an overall third Group 1 win with a score in Saturday’s A$3-million G1 Doncaster H. The gelding won the G1 Epsom H. in the spring and took the G1 Canterbury S. at Randwick on Mar. 10 before finishing second to Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) two weeks ago in the G1 George Ryder. Battling with Arbeitsam (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) through the opening furlongs before dropping back to stalk on the fence, jockey Blake Shinn opted for the inside route as they turned for home and Happy Clapper, runner-up in this the last two years, would not be denied this time, hitting the line two lengths to the better of Criterion (NZ)’s half-brother Comin’ Through (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Arbeitsam. Pedigree Notes… Happy Clapper is a half-brother to this season’s G2 VRC Sires’ Produce S. winner Not A Single Cent (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}), who failed to factor when 10th in Saturday’s G1 Sires’ Produce S. on the same card. The dam, Busking (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}), has a yearling full-brother to Not A Single Cent. View the full article

Last season’s The Everest winner Redzel (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) was hot favourite to make it Group 1 win number two in Saturday’s G1 TJ Smith S., but he instead had to settle for second behind another son of his reigning champion sire, the G1 Golden Rose S. winner Trapeze Artist (Aus). While Redzel bounced out on top and set the pace, Trapeze Artist raced without cover about two lengths off the speed. Wound up straightening for home, Trapeze Artist used most of the stretch to grind down the game Redzel and ultimately won by a snug two lengths, with a further four lengths back to the third In Her Time (Aus) (Time Thief {Aus}). Pedigree Notes… Trapeze Artist, who also featured on this card last year when bringing up the third of a trifecta for his sire in the G1 Sires’ Produce S., is the second living foal for Treppes (Aus) (Domesday {Aus}), a half-sister to the G1 Stradbroke H. winner Crawl (Aus) (Dr. Grace {Aus}). The mare’s yearling colt by Zoustar (Aus) died, and she has a filly foal by Wandjina (Aus). View the full article

Happy Clapper (Aus) is the leading earner worldwide for Darley shuttler Teofilo (Ire), and the 7-year-old gelding widened the gap by a significant margin on Saturday when taking the A$3-million G1 Doncaster H., the headliner of a four Group 1 card on the opening day of The Championships at Royal Randwick, taking his bankroll past A$5.8-million. Happy Clapper, who was claiming his third Group 1, became Teofilo’s second winner of this mile showpiece, with Kermadec (NZ), who stands alongside the sire at Darley’s Kelvinside Stud, having won it in 2015. Teofilo, who will stand Southern Hemisphere time for A$44,000 this year, has sired five Group 1 winners Down Under and is in his sixth season with runners. The sire taking the honour of most winners on the card was I Am Invincible (Aus), whose progeny took out three of the first four races on the card. Last year’s Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Houtzen (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) won for the first time this prep when taking the G3 PJ Bell S., while the 2-year-old Paquirri (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) was a 51-1 winner of the opening G3 Kindergarten S. I Am Invincible was unlucky to not have four winners on the card, his 2-year-old filly Oohood (Aus) placed in yet another Group 1 when missing in a photo finish with the 81-1 shot El Dorado Dreaming (Aus) (Ilovethiscity {Aus}) in the G1 Inglis Sires’ S. There have now been three juvenile Group 1s staged in Australia this season and Oohood, amazingly still a maiden, has hit the board in all three: she was also third in the G1 Blue Diamond S. and second in the G1 Golden Slipper. El Dorado Dreaming’s small-time trainer Ben Smith wrapped up what was a productive day when his Group 1-winning mare In Her Time (Aus) (Time Thief {Aus}) finished third in the Doncaster. As can nearly be expected at the Saturday races in Australia, Snitzel (Aus) also made an impact, siring the quinella in two races, including the G1 TJ Smith S. Last season’s The Everest winner Redzel (Aus) set the pace and was brave to the line, but was run down late by last season’s G1 Golden Rose S. winner Trapeze Artist (Aus), trained by Gerald Ryan, who also trained the sire. Snitzel had earlier on the card delivered the quinella in the G3 Carbine Club S. for 3-year-olds when the TDN Rising Star Muraaqeb (Aus) led home Jadeskye Racing and partners’ progressive Dissolution (Aus). Damion Flower of Jadeskye raced Snitzel. Snitzel’s sire, Redoute’s Choice (Aus), also gained plaudits on the day as the broodmare sire of the first three home in the G1 Australian Derby. Snitzel and I Am Invincible currently sit one-three on the general sires’ table and have 64 and 41 yearlings, respectively, catalogued for this week’s Inglis Easter sale. They are split in the sires’ standings by the much-missed High Chaparral (Ire), who nearly got a Group 1 win on the board himself on Saturday when his G1 Victoria Derby winner Ace High (Aus) was nosed out by Levendi (Aus) in the Australian Derby. The winner is a new Group 1 winner for Pierro (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}), who stands at High Chaparral’s former home, Coolmore Australia. A 2-year-old Triple Crown winner who was also a mile Group 1 winner at three, Pierro is shaping up into a very valuable outcross for Australian breeders, being free of Danehill and Danzig. The current wide-margin leading second-season sire is also responsible for the G1 VRC Oaks winner Pinot (Aus), as well as Group 3-winning sprinters Tulip (Aus) and Pierata (Aus), both Group 1-placed. View the full article

Jockey Umberto Rispoli says it is simply the power of positive thinking that has him ready to race just days after shattering his collarbone. Oh, and there is that plate and nine screws in his shoulder plus a daily regime of physiotherapy, exercise, stretching and standing near-naked in a sub minus-110 degrees Celsius cryogenic chamber for three minutes each day. Whether it be willpower or the wonders of modern sports science, Rispoli’s effort to be cleared to ride so soon after a... View the full article

After some time off following surgery to remove an ankle chip, the highly regarded Gas Station Sushi is back racing in the $150,000 Beaumont Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select (G3) April 8. View the full article

After some time off after surgery to remove an ankle chip, the highly regarded Gas Station Sushi is back racing in the $150,000 Beaumont Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select (G3) April 8. View the full article

Analyze It remained unbeaten and virtually untested in three starts when he notched a 5 1/4-length victory in the Kentucky Utilities Transylvania Stakes (G3T) over the Keeneland grass course April 6. View the full article

Analyze It remained unbeaten and virtually untested in three starts when he notched a 5 1/4-length victory in the Kentucky Utilities Transylvania Stakes (G3T) over the Keeneland grass course April 6. View the full article

Analyze It remained unbeaten and virtually untested in three starts when he notched a 5 1/4-length triumph in the Kentucky Utilities Transylvania Stakes (G3T) over the Keeneland grass course April 6. View the full article

Lady Shelia Stable's Holiday Disguise closed late to best her rivals in the $150,000 Distaff Handicap (G3), her graded stakes debut, April 6 at Aqueduct Racetrack. View the full article

Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman's Hoppertunity, the "barn favorite" in Barn 5 on the Santa Anita Park backside, has run all over the country and twice overseas, but he will try something different April 8. View the full article

As the Road to the Kentucky Derby heats up, each week we will take a look at three things to watch from the 3-year-old division as they head into the weekend's respective prep races. View the full article

The Super Derby at Louisiana Downs, which lost its Grade III status for 2017 when it was switched to the turf, has been reinstated as a Grade III for 2018 by the American Graded Stakes Committee after it was announced that it would return to its previous dirt surface. “The committee has reviewed this change from 2017, and has determined that because the race will be reverting to its historical conditions after only one year as a turf race and has run under those historical conditions in two of the last three years, the race’s Grade III status will be reinstated for 2018,” a release explained. View the full article

In a race where multiple graded stakes-winning sprinter Limousine Liberal is slated as the 6-5 morning-line favorite, the $250,000 Commonwealth Stakes (G3) at Keeneland April 7 could prove to be a step forward for Godolphin's Westwood. View the full article

ANALYZE IT (c, 3, Point of Entry–Sweet Assay, by Consolidator) was bet down to 4-5 favoritism to remain perfect in Keeneland’s GIII Transylvania S. and did just that with a dazzling victory. Running in a joint third as loose-on-the-lead longshot Beer Pressure (Silent Name {Jpn}) clocked a half-mile in :48.83, the bay ranged up outside that rival turning for home and quickly did away with him in the stretch, charging clear to an impressive 5 1/2-length score. The final time was 1:45.60. Captivating Moon (Malibu Moon) prevailed for second in a blanket finish. Tabbed a ‘TDN Rising Star’ after romping by 6 1/4 lengths on debut at Belmont Oct. 18, Analyze It followed suit with a decisive score in the GIII Cecil B. Demille S. at Del Mar Nov. 26. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0. O-William Lawrence; B-Headley & Nancy Bell and NATO (KY); T-Chad Brown. View the full article

Ogden Phipps II has been appointed to the New York Racing Association Board of directors effective Apr. 4, filling the seat made vacant by the resignation of Bobby Flay. Flay, a celebrity chef and prominent horse owner and breeder who has campaigned the likes of Grade I winners Creator, Her Smile and More Than Real, was appointed to the NYRA Board of Directors in 2012. “The NYRA Board of Directors extends its profound appreciation to Bobby Flay for his many years of service to the NYRA Board,” said Michael Del Giudice, Chairman of the NYRA Board. “Through his focus on the integrity of the sport, and willingness to speak to the concerns of the next generation of racing fans, Bobby has distinguished himself as an ambassador for the sport. We wish him all the best.” Mr. Phipps, son of the late former NYRA Chairman and The Jockey Club President Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, hails from one of the most prominent racing and breeding families in American history. A fourth-generation horseman, the 40-year-old co-owns and manages Phipps Stable, and is a co-founding partner of the New York City-based private equity firm Snow Phipps. He serves on a number of corporate boards, and is a trustee of the Bessemer Trust, Bessemer Securities, Wake Forest University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “Our family has always felt so fortunate to have enjoyed a long history with the New York Racing Association,” said Ogden Phipps II. “NYRA plays a central role in driving the future of horse racing, and sets the industry example when it comes to constantly improving both the guest experience and quality of racing. I’m honored to be able to add my voice to this accomplished board and to play a direct role in bettering a sport that means so much to so many people.” Del Guidice added, “Few families have contributed more to the fabric and history of thoroughbred racing in New York and throughout the country than the Phipps family,” added Del Giudice. “Ogden Phipps II carries on that legacy through his passion for breeding and racing, commitment to the Phipps Stable and appreciation for NYRA’s history and vision moving forward. We are pleased to welcome him to the NYRA Board and look forward to his contributions in the years to come.” Click here for more on the NYRA Board of Directors. View the full article

Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman' Hoppertunity, the "barn favorite" in Barn 5 on the Santa Anita Park backside, has run all over the country and twice overseas but will try something different April 8. View the full article

In the aftermath of World Approval's defeat in the March 10 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T), trainer Mark Casse said he hasn't seen the same energy from the champion gelding and is debating whether to start him in the Maker's 46 Mile (G1T). View the full article

John Jamison has been named General Superintendent for The Stronach Group’s track surfaces in Florida–Gulfstream Park, Gulfstream Park West and Palm Meadows–it was announced Friday. A second-generation horseman with over 40 years of track maintenance experience, Jamison has been the track superintendent at Palm Meadows since September. He has previously served as track super at Lone Star Park, Sunland Park and Indiana Grand and was the official starter at Sam Houston, Indiana Grand, Hipodromo de las Americas and Manor Downs. “John brings an abundance of knowledge and experience to this position,” said Gulfstream Park General Manager Bill Badgett. “Our track surfaces are of paramount importance to us and all horsemen. John is a fine addition to our great Florida team.” View the full article

ALMITHMAAR (g, 3, Tapit–Gotta Have Her {MGSW, $1,132,608}, by Royal Academy) missed by just a head in his Gulfstream unveiling Mar. 4 and went one better this time with a front-running graduation on Keeneland’s opening day. Seizing the early advantage, the 2-1 shot ticked off early fractions of :22.17 and :45.75 under Eclipse winner Jose Ortiz with several rivals in hot pursuit. Turning for home in front, the $625,000 KEESEP purchase was briefly challenged by favored D Squared (Speightstown), but swiftly shut the door on the rival and rolled clear to score by a length in 1:18.11. Longshot Just Like Richie (Divine Park) and $925,000 KEESEP purchase Corot (Pioneerof the Nile) came running on late to finish second and third, respectively. D Squared settled for fourth. The winner hails from the family of French Highweight and MG1SW sire Lope De Vega (Ire) (Shamardal); and MGSWs Lady Blessington (Fr) (Baillamont) and Da Big Hoss (Lemon Drop Kid). Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0. O-Shadwell Stable; B-Green Lantern Stables LLC (KY); T-Kiaran McLaughlin. View the full article

After a soft-tissue injury sent her to the sideline last summer, Nick Alexander's homebred six-time stakes winner Enola Gray will make her return to racing April 7 in the $200,000 Royal Heroine Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita Park. View the full article

Jockey Jose Ferrer, a mainstay on the East Coast dating back to 1982, will receive the 2018 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award at Santa Anita Park April 15 in a winner's circle ceremony between races. View the full article

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.–Three perspectives on how to achieve North American uniformity of Thoroughbred racing regulations were presented on Thursday’s second day of the Association of Racing Commissioners International’s 84th annual conference on Equine Welfare and Racing Integrity. James Gagliano, president of The Jockey Club, batted leadoff and pushed for a proposed federal bill that would put control of drug testing in the hands of the United States Anti-Doping Agency–a move widely opposed by the major horsemen’s associations, most racing regulators and privately by many racetracks. Alan Foreman, chairman and CEO of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, countered that the Interstate Compact on Anti-Doping and Drug-Testing Standards spearheaded by Mid-Atlantic states is a template for achieving the uniformity that counts without adding a costly and unnecessary bureaucratic layer. The New Jersey Racing Commission, which is part of the Mid-Atlantic alliance, adopted a third approach by changing its laws to where the ARCI model rules automatically go into effect in the Garden State–a method known as “by reference.” The model rules are created and approved by the ARCI board to provide the blueprint for individual jurisdictions in the regulation of the sport. Gagliano painted a picture of an American industry that needs H.R. 2651, titled the Horseracing Integrity Act, to stay viable internationally by establishing a single authority to create and implement a national uniform medication program while putting medication oversight in the hands of USADA, which does not do actual testing but contracts with existing labs. He said that since 2012, only 11 states have passed all components of the industry-developed Racing Medication and Testing Consortium’s National Uniform Medication Program: medications, penalties, laboratory accreditation and third-party administration of the anti-bleeding medication known as Lasix. Calling The Jockey Club a staunch supporter of the RMTC, Gagliano said, “We simply can’t agree with the RMTC and others’ assessment of progress or accept the status quo. “Until and unless states agree to adopt the ARCI model rules by reference, all effective on the same date and so long as the National Uniform Medication Program remains a living document, we most assuredly will never achieve uniformity in our current regulatory system,” he said. “We and our colleagues at the Coalition for Horse Racing Integrity and hundreds of members of the Water Hay Oats Alliance and others believe the unified body is contained in H.R. 2651… It will provide a level playing field within North American racing and will be a foundation for harmonizing U.S. racing with international racing… We as a racing nation–and arguably the leading racing nation in the world–cannot continue to ignore the concerns of our international colleagues with our glacial progress toward uniform rules.” Foreman said there is uniformity where it matters. “And facts in a different context than what you may hear in other forums,” he told assembled legislators. “There’s been a steady drip of releases the past few weeks and narratives from those who support federal legislation and reported in essentially industry-controlled media sites with this drumbeat of steady criticism of the way you all are regulating this business…. We all know our principle tenets: fairness of competition, level playing field, integrity of the sport, protection of the betting public and the protection of the health and welfare of the horse. “… We drug test, we identify prohibited substances and don’t permit prohibited substances,” he said, adding that “the enforcement might be different… But ladies and gentlemen, we are uniform. What we’ve tried to do over the years–and some people beat us up for this–is we try to do it better.” Foreman said that 97% of betting on horse racing in America comes on states that have adopted the RMTC’s Controlled Therapeutic Substances list. “So when they tell you that we’re not uniform, put it in perspective as to who is not doing this, and does it really matter?” he said. Foreman said the Mid-Atlantic states represent 40% of the national handle on a daily basis as the nation’s largest concentration of racing, including at times when 12 Thoroughbred tracks within 200 miles might run at the same time. As such, the Mid-Atlantic has led the charge toward uniformity, with its regional regulatory group mushrooming and creating what has become a potentially national compact in the Interstate Compact on Anti-Doping and Drug-Testing Standards, he said. “Everyone who has skin in the game at this segment of our business, and they’re not there to bring their agendas,” he said of the current working group. “They are there to help collectively to move us forward to see if we’re complying with the national program. Are there next steps to take? What are the problems we need to address?” Foreman noted a 23% reduction in positive findings among post-race drug tests in 2017 from 2016 in the region, including only three in New York last year, and a 27% decrease in equine fatalities from 2013 to 2017. He said that four years ago only a handful of racing laboratories had national accreditation, but that today only one state’s lab is not accredited. “You hear all this stuff in the media about chaos and confusion and lack of uniformity,” he said. “Is that chaos? Is that confusion? That’s compliance with a program. “A compact is a streamlined way of getting us all collectively to adopt a rule and implement it at one time. It requires legislation in every state that wants to join. Maryland became the first state last week to unanimously adopt the compact… I expect by end of the year we’ll have Delaware, New Jersey, New York; and West Virginia will be next year because we’re beyond their [legislative] deadline…. The compact is not being created to become this new rule-making body.” Compacts don’t have “opt-out” provisions, but the Mid-Atlantic’s compact–open to any state to join–requires that 80% of member jurisdictions vote in favor for a compact rule to pass. “It’s a protection device to insure there is at least the ability to discuss and send back for further consideration a proposed rule,” Foreman said. “It is designed as the next logical step, and that is: If you have a consensus and want to make a change, we can do it one time and do it quickly. Our horsemen want it, our regulators want it. It’s in everybody’s best interest, and it’s totally non-threatening. “The Mid-Atlantic has agreed to do this. And if nobody else does, that’s fine. This is not one of these ‘OK, we’ve got a national thing here and because Nevada and Wyoming didn’t join you don’t have a national compact and we’ve got to run to the federal government because they’re the only ones who are going to get it done.’ We’re going to do it for the people for whom it’s important.” Ed Martin, ARCI’s chief executive officer, cited states, including those outside the Mid-Atlantic, that have approved various forms of enabling legislations to join a compact. “There are more states looking at it for next year, and you are seeing some concrete advancement on this concept,” he said. “It’s not a theoretical.” Judy Nason, deputy director of the New Jersey Racing Commission, said her state looks forward to being in the compact. In pursuit of uniformity in 2014, New Jersey opted to adopt ARCI’s model rules by reference. “When ARCI updates the rules and amends them, New Jersey automatically incorporates those amendments and supplementations by reference,” she said. “It keeps us current with the work of this body.” Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association that fiercely opposes the federal bill, asked Gagliano from the audience about his repeated references to international racing and Grade I stakes. “Are you talking about a class separation in integrity and a variation in testing?” Hamelback asked. “Because you distinctly left out what I would consider 95% of racing…. We all agree essentially that North American racing is the leader in the world. So why does the international comparison continue to be utilized?” Foreman added that in the Mid-Atlantic, every lab tests to the level of graded-stakes protocols. Martin said everyone agrees “on most aspects of where we need to be. “There is a lot of money being spent on people to argue from both sides of this issue. I sit on the board of the RMTC, and I look at the amount of money committed to research. I look at the number of strains of EPO (Erythropoietin, used in blood doping) that nobody in the world–in horse racing lab or human–can detect. And where our challenge is with emerging threats, the amount of money we’re spending disagreeing over what route we should take (to uniformity), if that money was given to the RMTC to do research, we might be better off. “This is a tough sport to police, whether you’re in California, New York, Washington, France, Great Britain. We need to collectively figure a way to pool certain resources and focus in on real threats we have to the integrity of this sport as well as the health and welfare of our horses. There might be some times when we just have to agree to disagree. But in the scheme of things, they are relatively minor.” Roundtable: Emerging drug threats include “research chemicals” bought online One of the daunting challenges for racing’s testing detectives trying to ferret out illegal substances in horses is the ability of people with a credit card and mailing address to purchase from unscrupulous websites medications and drugs that have the potential to affect performance in a race, said Dr. Rick Sams, laboratory director of the LGC Science Inc. that does Kentucky horse racing’s testing. Sams said that the some substances showing up in post-race samples are listed as research chemicals “sold with disclaimer that they are for research purposes only and not to be administered to humans or animals… Some have never been tested in animals or humans for any purpose. They are sold on the internet and can end up in people or horses that are entered to race. “We have to know the identity of these substances in order to enter them into our databases so that we can make identifications when we encounter them,” Sams said as part of a roundtable discussion on drug testing. “Methods to identify some of these substances will require innovative methods, and that will require considerable research funding. “Delays in our ability to find these substances are risk factors for integrity of racing and also potentially damaging to the health and welfare of the horse and human participants in racing.” Other areas of concern for the testing labs: selective androgen receptor modulators (known as SARMs) that appear to build muscle and burn fat but none of which are approved for use in medicine; designer drugs that include synthetic opioids; drugs resurfacing in racing samples after being discontinued because of side affects or addiction liability, and peptides, some of which are designed to have an anabolic-steroid effect. “There are qualitative issues in regard to these substances,” Sams said of such online purchases. “In some instances they are impure. In some instances they don’t contain what they are labeled to contain, or they contain too much or too little based on label claim.” Dr. Dionne Benson, executive director of the RMTC, said the consortium no longer focuses on therapeutic medication with precious research dollars. “We’re focusing on things that should never be in a horse, and eliminate those threats,” she said. She said that the RMTC is also starting “double blind testing” of the country’s racing testing labs, sending out doctored samples along with legitimate post-race regulatory samples to see if the lab detects what her staff put in it. RMTC currently is doing single blind testing, where the lab is told to test urine and blood samples that it knows were prepared by the RMTC. “We know the labs are going to do their best work on it,” she said. “But what we need to find out is if your samples that you send in as a commission are treated the same way… This is the only program like this in the world. We are learning a lot about the laboratories and their capabilities this way. The laboratories are doing fairly well. In some cases we’re finding that we administer drugs and none of the laboratories can find them, which doesn’t necessarily mean that’s a failure of laboratories. It means we need to do more work on that specific medication or substance because no one can find them. “The goal here is we can certify that these labs can do the best work in the world. They were talking earlier about ‘super testing’ [for major races]. Virtually every laboratory in the country is capable of–and most of them are doing–super testing on everything from a $5,000 claimer to the Kentucky Derby. It’s not a situation anymore where we have many levels of testing. We’ve moved the needle quite a bit.” View the full article