On Thursday, July 12, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a lengthy hearing entitled 'Medication and Performance Enhancing Drugs in Horse Racing.'
The hearing examined the prevalence and use of medications and performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing, and also broached the idea that uniform, federal regulation of the U.S. horse-racing industry with stricter rules could help the industry succeed in the overall national gaming sphere.
Eight prominent horse racing industry representatives participated in the hearing.
Panel 1
Barry Irwin
• Chief Executive Officer, Team Valor International
Kent H. Stirling
• Executive Director, Florida HBPA, Chairman, Medication Committee, National HBPA
Jeffrey Gural
• Chairman, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, Chairman and Managing Partner, American Racing and Entertainment, LLC
Jim Gagliano
•President, The Jockey Club.
Panel 2
Matthew Witman
• National Director, American Quarter Horse Association
Marc Paulhus
• Former Director of Equine Protection and Vice President, Humane Society
Ed Martin
• President and CEO, Association of Racing Commissioners International
Dr. Sheila Lyons, DVM
• Founder and Director, The American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Founder and Director, Homecoming Farm, Inc.
Highlights from the first panel included comments from Gural, who, among other things, spoke of the need for racing to tackle its issue of 'chemists' in the industry. "We need to eliminate the chemists if we are going to survive,” Gural put it bluntly.
The second panel saw Dr. Lyons pull no punches on the issue of performance-enhancing and non-therapeutic drugs in racing, as she stated that "the horse racing industry has demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to regulate itself."
The archived hearing in its entirety, as well as the submitted testimony from the eight panelists, the majority statement from Committee Chairman Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, and the opening statement from Senator Tom Udall can be seen here.
Senator Udall made his position quite clear in the hearing, threatening that he would attempt to cut off horse racing’s lifeline of off-track wagering if it doesn’t clean up its act.
(With files from the Boston Herald, the New York Daily News and the USTA)