This past weekend, racing in New York moved from Belmont Park to Aqueduct, the Breeders’ Cup had a successful 2020 at Keeneland and the winter season is upon us. There are also developments in a number of important Thoroughbred racing issues in the U.S.
I would like to touch briefly on some of them now. They include:
- Thoroughbred U.S. racing economic indicators YTD through October
- Developments in the Jorge Navarro/Jason Servis et al indictments
- Brief but important developments in the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)
- ‘Taking an edge’ remains pervasive in American racing and it must be seriously addressed before the implementation of the HISA in January 2022.
As I discussed in my most recent column, despite the fact that we have had 26 percent fewer racedays in the U.S. through October and 24 percent fewer races through October, the total wagering on U.S. races in 2020 is less than one percent below 2019. Also, the fact that average wagering per raceday in 2020 is 33.77 percent higher than 2019 suggests to me that the larger tracks are outperforming the smaller tracks.
A critical factor in this substantial increase may be the dramatic increase in network television coverage. Total hours for Thoroughbred racing was 43 hours in 2011, 200 hours in 2018 and well over 1,000 hours in 2020.
The main contributing factor has been a major network deal between NYRA, Fox Sports and America’s Day at the Races. Social media and advertising is provided by the Jockey Club’s company, America’s Best Racing. Additional advertising and content support is provided by Churchill Downs and the Breeders’ Cup. The Triple Crown Races and the Breeders’ Cup are televised on NBC and NBCSN. America’s Day at the Races also gets regional TV coverage on MSG and Fox regional networks.
So in May, June and July racing was the only major sport with national TV coverage. There was no baseball, no basketball, no football and no hockey until late in the summer. This exclusive window brought new betting customers to racing.
Economic indicators for October 2020
Courtesy of Equibase
The all-source handle for the two-day Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland at the weekend, was $160,472,894, the sixth largest handle since the event went to two days in 2007. Remarkably, despite the lack of spectators, the 2020 BC all-source handle was seven percent higher than the last time Keeneland held the event in 2015, when the attendance total for the two days was 94,652.
As I wrote in my last column, while the wagering activity in 2020 was flat compared to 2019, the financial contribution to the tracks and purses will be significantly lower as the on-track wagering makes a much higher contribution to the track and purses than the revenue received from simulcast and Advanced Deposit Wagering (ADWs). I will prepare an estimate of the shortfall in purses and track revenue once I get the final 2020 handle numbers and calculate the impact of the on-track wagering migrating to the ADWs.
Servis-Navarro case developments
There have been three new developments in the March 9 indictments of trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro and 26 other participants. Bill Finley, of Thoroughbred Daily News, broke a story last Friday regarding a superseding indictment that was filed against Servis and two veterinarians, Alexander Chan and Kristian Rhein. The additional new charges include mail and wire fraud, which are federal crimes that carry maximum penalties.
At least two other trainers, one veterinarian and one distributor, were not served a superseding indictment. There is some speculation that these and other remaining parties under indictment may be discussing information with the prosecutors.
Previously, on September 16, Audrey Strauss, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, announced that two defendants, Scott Robinson and Sarah Izhaki, had each pleaded guilty to conspiring to unlawfully distribute adulterated and misbranded drugs for the purpose of doping racehorses in connection with the two cases in which they are charged.
“From at least 2011 through March 2020, Robinson conspired with others to manufacture, sell and ship millions of dollars worth of adulterated and misbranded equine drugs, including performance-enhancing drugs intended to be administered to racehorses for the purpose of improving those horses’ race performance in order to win races and obtain prize money.
Separately, from at least February 2018 through November 2019, Izhaki conspired with others to transport, sell and deliver tens of thousands of dollars of erythropoiten, a ‘blood-builder’ drug commonly referred to as EPO.
Robinson is scheduled to be sentenced on January 15 and Izhaki is on December 2, 2021.
On Thursday, October 29, 2019, Jeremy Delk, owner of Taylor Made Compounding (TMC), pleaded guilty to unlawful distribution of selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMS) and other substances that the Food and Drug Administration had not approved for distribution in the U.S.
SARMS are synthetic chemicals designed to mimic the effects of testosterone and other anabolic steroids. According to the plea agreement, TMC also unlawfully distributed other unapproved new drugs. In connection with the plea, TMC agreed to forfeit more than $1.7 million, representing its 2019 sales for the products.
Prosecutors may use plea bargaining to further their case against a co-defendant. They may accept a plea bargain arrangement from one defendant in return for damaging testimony against another. This way, they are assured of at least one conviction (albeit on a lesser charge) plus enhanced chances of winning a conviction against the second defendant. Delk and TMC are scheduled to be sentenced on February 24.
Speedy progress for Integrity and Safety Act
Since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky, announced his support for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) at Keeneland on August 31, things have moved quickly. Read this TRC article, which I wrote shortly afterwards, to see how the stars aligned to get McConnell’s support and get the industry fully aligned with this critical initiative.
McConnell added a safety component to the medication and integrity components. The Senate and the House drafted one bill for consideration and vote by both legislative branches.
On September 29, the House of Representatives passed the HISA bill on a unanimous verbal vote. McConnell intends to get the Senate bill passed during the ‘lame duck’ session, which will be convened before the end of the year.
The HISA will be the most important Federal legislation since the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 and in some respects even more important.
The blight of ‘taking an edge’
When I joined NYRA in 2004 as an executive, I quickly learned a new phrase, ‘taking an edge’. Anywhere I walked around the tracks, Aqueduct, Saratoga or Belmont, I would hear that phrase on the front side or the backside or watching horses work in the morning.
At first, I thought that this meant refining your skills and the employee talent in your barn, improving the quality of the horses in your barn, developing your own skills, employing the best jockey, etc. Yes, it was all of that. But it was often much more than that … and more sinister.
In fact, ‘taking an edge’ was often a euphemism for cheating.
I worked at the Daily Racing Form for eight years and at NYRA another eight, and, by the time I left NYRA, I truly felt that there was a very serious ‘go along to get along’ attitude that pervaded the racing culture. I would like to share a few areas where taking an edge applies.
Perhaps the most serious concern I have is in medication, testing protocols, lenient penalties, etc.
Let’s start with medication rules.
Out-of-competition testing is the only possible way to detect some performance-enhancing illegal drugs. Epogen, generally referred to as EPO, is a hormone that boosts red blood cell production and increases endurance and opiate stimulates. The critical value of EPO as a performance-enhancing drug is that you can administer it and wait several weeks for it to take full effect, at which time it cannot be detected in the horse's blood or urine in post-race tests.
I believe EPO is widely used in U.S. racing precisely because there are very few racing jurisdictions in the U.S. that have effective out-of-competition testing programs.
Here are the facts:
In the U.S, out-of-competition testing makes up less than one percent of drug testing in U.S. Thoroughbred racing, compared to the UK (14%), Australia (21%), France (11%) and Hong Kong (10%). Clearly, the US authorities do not want to catch the cheaters.
The one organization that effectively has an out-of-competition testing program is the Breeders’ Cup.
In the last four years, the Breeders’ Cup has disqualified two horses. In 2017, Ron Ellis trained Masochistic, who finished second in the BC Sprint but tested positive for an anabolic steroid. Ellis had admitted that he had administered it 68 days out from the race and thought the horse would be clean. The horse gave a positive out-of-competition test three days before the race but still ran. Post-race, the horse tested positive and was disqualified.
This year, Princess Secret, a 2yo filly, tested positive for an anabolic steroid in an out-of-competition test on October 26. The horse was withdrawn.
Trainer Daniel Pita said on Monday, “This filly has never been administered stanozolol in her life.” He said Princess Secret has been under his care since she was bought in October 2019 out of a Florida yearling auction for $30,000, and that she has been in training at his barn at Gulfstream Park West since April. The tests don’t lie. Perhaps this was a case of ‘taking an edge’.
The point is that most racing jurisdictions in the U.S. do not have adequate out-of-competition programs in place to catch cheaters.
In sum, they spend a lot of money on tests for what amounts to positive tests on overages of approved medications that have no material effect on the horse’s performance in a race. The sad and unfortunate result is that there are many opportunities for trainers to take an edge.
Tension at the entry box
The most important relationship on the racetrack is the relationship between the racing office, at all levels, and the trainer community. Given the declining horse population and horses running less frequently, there is always going to be some tension at the entry box between the racing office and the trainers.
The racing office wants larger fields to generate handle that makes the game go and the trainer would like to run in a race against as few horses as he/she can. It is a built-in conflict, but this relationship must be conducted with honesty and transparency.
At the entry box, drawing and filling races and deciding what races are going to ‘go’, writing the condition book, putting up ‘extra’ races, managing the production and accuracy of workouts regarding time and distance are all critical to a strong racing program that works for everyone over time.
The racing office must build open and honest relationships with trainers big and small. There is no room for ‘taking an edge’ in this critical relationship.
Insight from Mark Casse
Another example of trainers taking an edge is from an article written by Mark Casse, one of the best trainers in North America, who has been enshrined in both the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and the U.S. Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame.
On March 2,2020, the TDN published an op-ed by Casse: Clenbuterol - It has to be stopped, and Now!
Here is a brief except from this column I wrote about Casse’s article.
“Clenbuterol is the most abused drug in our industry,” Casse wrote in his introduction.
Clenbuterol is a bronchodilator that was designed to be used in the treatment of asthma and respiratory diseases. Casse stated that, if used inappropriately:
- It increases muscle mass
- It improves endurance and stamina
- It boosts energy levels.
However, it has some potentially dangerous side effects:
- Bone loss
- Alters bone micro-architecture
- Produces an irregular heartbeat.
The drug has been banned by every major sporting body in the world and was banned by the International Olympic Committee over 20 years ago. However, it remains legal in Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. with very short withdrawal periods. In effect, clenbuterol has taken the place of anabolic steroids, which were banned over ten years ago in racing.
It is a performance-enhancer due to the increased muscle mass and the increase in endurance and stamina, but it can have deadly consequences due to the bone loss and irregular heartbeat.
Casse is convinced, based on what he has observed, that the abuse of clenbuterol has contributed to more breakdowns.
The Horseracing Safety and Integrity Act, which creates the Horse Racing Safety and Integrity Authority, hopefully is a little more than a year away from starting its operations (in January 2022). However, we need to lift up the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry to the stature and position of respect that it deserves.
No more ‘taking an edge’ … no more cheating.