New medical regulations by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission; a two-ended sword
On 18th January while the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission was declaring the revised disciplinary measures in regard to medication violations, it had to hold back its final stance on the penalties and regulation, as it had to
reconsider the crisis that the State is already facing when it comes to competing with the other States for owners, who are willing to race their horses in the jurisdiction.
However, numerous States have been approached by other various horse racing nations as to the biased and unjustified entries that tamper the racing standards due to the medication that the Kentucky horses are on.
According to the regulation, the horse that will be found positive on the test after a race that it has claimed, the connections would have to suffer through disowning while the horse’s owner, and thus the rest of the connections would be switched.
The prior owner would also be bound to bear all the expenditure that would go into transfer, be it the transportation, training, testing, etc.
The first time offense includes a $1,500 fine, along with suspension for fifteen days, and in case the second offense falls within 365 days then the purse money will be with held and will result in disqualification.
A fine of $2,500, thirty days’ suspension, forfeiture of the prize money, disqualification and the horse to be placed on the veterinarian’s list for forty-five days are the penalties if the second offense is incurred while saddling the same horse.
Same stands true for committing the offence a third time, but it would also lead to the horse being consulted by a commission veterinarian before being permitted to run in a race.
According to many these regulations are too tough and restricting and then there are others who argue that how can protecting such an owner whose horse’s test has run positive three times is justified.
Implying such rules would also distort the image of Kentucky, and all the efforts and hard work that has gone in making it one of the best racing states in the country would become useless.
“I have a problem with this, especially since it is going to be available to anybody who wants to look at this and they are going to construe this however they want,” said Dr. Jerry Yon, EDRC chairman. “I think the drug rules are really good and I
would put those up against anybody’s in the U.S. Somebody is going to take this and blow it way out of proportion and tell everybody how bad Kentucky is. That’s what I’m afraid of, is that this one issue is going to topple all the great work that we have done,”
Yon added.
Medical Director with the KHRC for the last three and a half years, Dr. Mary Scollay was reported to have said that there has never been an instance where the same horse has had three Bute positive, so there is not really a dire need for regulating
something that never went wrong in the first place.
Yet there are others, who suggest that at least let States like New York go for such a drastic regulation, and then Kentucky can follow in if the need arises.
Zubrod, who is another active member of the EDRC is convinced that there are still trainers in the industry for whom the ethics and rules matter more than winning, and that they would support such steps.
The decision has not been taken for now and is under serious consideration.
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