Integrity Act Hearing: Opponent Says ‘Consensus Bill’ Achievable in Six Months

[Wandering Eyes]

Witnesses from the Thoroughbred industry who testified Tuesday in Washington, D.C., at a legislative hearing on the Horseracing Integrity Act largely agreed that the sport is facing an unprecedented equine health crisis. But they were sharply split as to whether the current version of a federal bill mandating an independent anti-doping and medication control program was the best way to solve it.

The most cogent argument repeatedly put forth by pro-legislation speakers was that racehorses, unlike human athletes, don’t have a say in being administered either performance-enhancing or therapeutic drugs, and that decades of permissive pharmaceutical use has eroded both the actual health of American Thoroughbreds and the public’s perception of whether the game is fair and ethical. Race-day medication has got to go, supporters argued, claiming the crisis is so far out of control that a federal remedy needs to be voted in to replace the current 38-state regulatory framework.

Opposers of HB 1754 told legislators that the sport’s equine health crisis stems instead from a need for better monitoring of pre-existing health conditions in racehorses, the need to introduce foaling-to-retirement tracing capabilities, and shoring up overall safety standards. They argued that if regulators had wider access to shared veterinary records, it would enable them to red-flag and treat horses likely to suffer catastrophic injuries before they happened.

It was also revealed in testimony that at least one stakeholder who is against the current version of federal legislation is open to the idea of achieving uniformity through a compromise bill that could be hammered out by this summer.

“We’re all in theory talking about the same goals,” Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), the sponsor of the Integrity Act, said near the end of the two-hour hearing before the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce. “And yet each of you [who testified against it] opposes the very piece of legislation that would make [uniformity] a reality instead of a tired talking point.

“So my question to any of you—and it’s mostly a rhetorical one—is when can we actually expect results from [the current status-quo] scheme?” Tonko continued. “We’ve received countless promises from the industry for decades. And yet here we are in 2020, with more than 40 deaths on the tracks at Santa Anita that are tarnishing the sport in the eyes of the American public. When is enough enough?”

Dennis Drazin, an attorney who is a former New Jersey racing commissioner and current chief executive of Darby Development, which operates Monmouth Park, replied that the two sides might not be far off in agreeing on a reform plan.

“I’m frustrated by the delay. I agree with Congressman Tonko that it’s taken too long,” said Drazin, who testified against passage of HB 1754. “But we’re at a crisis now. Because of [the equine fatalities] in Santa Anita, the whole focus of the industry is on saving horse racing, because we recognize we’re heading in the wrong direction. And I think that if you give us—I’m going to go out on a limb and say another six months—we’ll be able to come together with a consensus bill that would be better for the industry.”

This story will be updated.

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