Three riders, over 70,000 races ridden between them, more than 13,000 winners, nearly $600 million in purses accumulated. Three Eclipse Award-winning Hall of Fame athletes with six Kentucky Derbys and 20 Breeders’ Cup victories among a list of achievements too extensive to note here. Three legends of the sport who conducted their careers in the saddle to the highest standard and who have been longstanding global ambassadors for U.S. horse racing.
All three of these men support the Water Hay Oats Alliance. Patrick Lawrence Gilligan asked Chris McCarron, Steve Cauthen and Gary Stevens why.
McCarron: “I believe in a level playing field and that level playing field has to start at ground zero. That means no medication, let the horses run on their merits and see who is the best. I don’t think it is in the long-term interest of the horses’ health to be treating them with medications, to allow them to perform an exercise that they maybe would not be physically sound to do without them.
Cauthen: “I’ve never been a big fan of drugs in horses. As a jockey, not knowing what is in them, that’s worrying. You don’t want them running not even feeling their feet. But the bottom line is that it’s not just that. The world nowadays doesn’t want human athletes running on drugs and it doesn’t want horses running on drugs either. We have to come in line with reality and hopefully give fans who bet on the sport more confidence that everyone is on a level playing field.”
Stevens: “Everyday you go out there, you, as the rider, and the horse are at risk. It’s a dangerous sport. But, when you have medications, even legal ones on raceday, I just do not believe that it’s safe for equine or jockey, and this has long been my thought. We have 33 racing jurisdictions here [in the U.S.] with different sets of medication rules, and that’s one reason I signed on.”
The Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act, has recently passed the House of Representatives, could you share your thoughts on the Act.
McCarron: “There are a lot of smart people who have been working on this for a long time, and I am with it because they have been working to have every state on board and one entity that could set medication guidelines.
“I would have the utmost faith in USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency). They have been doing this for a long time. Some people may say, ‘well, what the heck do they know about horse racing?’ They don’t need to know about horse racing, they just need to know about chemistry, what is legal and therapeutic and what is performance-enhancing.
“Because of USADA’s experience in the field, I believe there is no better entity to organize this very daunting task. I have worked in supporting the passing of this act and have learnt a lot and I know in my heart I am on the right side of the fence.”
Cauthen: “There needs to be one body that rules racing nationwide. The current model doesn’t work. Everyone needs to be following the same rules everywhere. It needs to be run like any good business. I think the people are doing their jobs, but it is just different everywhere.”
Stevens: “It’s another step. I hope it comes about and it looks like it will, and absolutely it’s the right direction and it will be a big day for horse racing.”
The whip is another issue being debated with widely differing new rules being implemented or planned in several states. What are your views?
McCarron: “I like the idea of having to give the horse time to respond after it is struck before it can be used again because, obviously, if it doesn’t move forward there’s no point continuing hitting it.
“I was known as a rider that used the stick a lot, and I’m not proud of that at all, and if I was riding today I would definitely be working to change my style. A lot of fans don’t want to see horses hit all the way down the stretch.
“I definitely don’t think the whip should be taken away, or not being allowed to hit the horse at all, but I am in favor of limiting the number of strikes and not allowing horses to be struck multiple times in rapid succession.”
Cauthen: “My view is that it needs to be dealt with within the industry and we need the same rules anywhere. A jockey needs a whip on a horse, they need it for their safety and the safety of their competitors, you have to be able to ride the horse, and the whip is part of what you ride the horse with.
“I think slapping down the shoulder and back-handers are not a problem. I’m not sure it's a numbers thing so much as just getting everyone together and coming up with one set of rules everywhere. I don’t think good riders go bashing their horses and I don’t think good trainers would want that anyway. But it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever doing one thing in New Jersey, one thing in California, another thing in Kentucky.”
Stevens: “I think limiting the number of strikes will make the good riders great and the average riders better, and some jockeys won’t deal too well with it.
“Regarding the different rules everywhere, I would say to the guys, ‘go out and test it for a couple of weeks then come and give some feedback.’
“I have no problem with the six-strike rule coming to California. What bothers me is a horse with absolutely no chance at the back of the field being flailed on. I have been doing raceday analysis for several years now, and I don’t like to see that.
“But there is no way I would want to go out there to ride a race without being able to use the whip. Horses can get distracted out there. I was riding a horse called Storming Home, and it was well known you couldn’t use the whip on him. He spotted a photographer in the infield, shied out and I ended up in an intensive care unit for five days.”
How would you like to see the sport five years from now?
McCarron: “I’d like to see a contraction, maybe tracks limiting the length of some of their meets, and maybe even not having racing every day of the week. In the long term, I think the current trend toward contracting meets is heading in the right direction.”
Cauthen: “I think it’s a great sport and the more people get a chance to connect with it the better. When other sports were cancelled, viewing and betting on horseracing took off when television exposure increased on Fox Sports and the other channels. We have to keep reaching out, there is great racing and lots to look forward to, we just need to work on cleaning up our act and, when we have done that, there can be more time to focus on a great sport that produces great rivalries when horses meet. People love that.”
Stevens: “I would like us to fall in line with international rules on medication with zero tolerance for raceday medication, and I would also like to see whip rules around the world unified, instead of each country having different rules.
“We have been the only show in town until recently, and our viewership on Fox Sports for our Saratoga live show has been unbelievably good. The indictments were horrible, but this bill can make it a good thing, because maybe without those arrests the bill may not have progressed.”