So many acronyms, I’m worn out … the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) and within it the KHBPA, LHBPA, OHBPA ad infinitum (a total of 31 affiliates). Then there’s NYRA and the NTRA - did you even know about them? Where have they been, and what have they been doing? TSC, ARCI, AAEP, and on and on. And now HISA (Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority).
I wasn’t very complementary towards the NHBPA when they seemed the lone voice not pulling for HISA and its formation. I couldn’t understand it. I compared them to the Flat Earth Society.
They argued that more research, more science and non-government regulation was the way to go. There is all the research and science you want on drug-free racing, preventing catastrophic fractures, and the efficacy of toe grabs for the past 200 years all over the world.
The experiment of racing with medication has been running for 40 years in the USA now, and it has been an abject failure in every way - public relations, public perception, field sizes, starts per horse per year, integrity of the breed, foal-crop size, health and safety of horse and riders, fans of the sport, attendances.
Every single one of these things has been negatively impacted by the medication experiment in North America.
Now the NHBPA has issued a legal challenge to the constitutionality of HISA, something to do with freedom, I guess. I suppose if the passing of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act through the correct channels is unconstitutional, then we must look at the constitutionality of the Interstate Wagering Act also.
So, I was stomping about muttering NHBPA and other acronyms under my breath when I decided to research this bunch of characters.
I came across a series of audio replays of a national conference they held in 2019 in Clearwater, Florida.
It was excellent. The speakers were thoughtful, earnest, learned, knowledgeable. I learned about the task facing vets and researchers discovering how innocuous plants could synthesize prohibited substances when ingested by a horse, everything from common plants to wood shavings used in bedding were culprits. And then the task of the veterinary experts to provide testimony on behalf of innocent trainers faced with an amphetamine positive: They talked about the need for finding proper threshold levels, the dangers to trainers of zero-level rules.
Forward-looking and earnest
There was good discussion of maximizing data use to excite newcomers, youngsters with sharp minds; how soon analysis of every horse in every race taking every stride could be computed and collected digitally in real time, a new dimension in data provision, and the need to allow those interested in such data to access it for free or nearly free.
And there was much more. Training grooms, racehorse-training seminars, benefits.
Those are precisely the types of conversations the sport should be having and participants should be interested in, but most of these videos had about four views, and somehow I don’t think all 29,000 members of the NHBPA were in attendance, much less all the other bodies who should have been listening and learning with interest.
I still think the NHBPA are on completely the wrong page with regard to the formation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. But I now think they are forward-looking and that they seem earnest. And they care.
I have been in the States nearly seven years (which is nearly seven years too many for some) and I still haven’t connected all the dots to the various factions and their duties and powers, but it all must be very inefficient.
Conflicts staying in-house
HISA will probably not be the end of what U.S. racing needs if it really does want to evolve and modernize. It may just be the beginning. But maybe much of what is necessary to have in an organization that is prepared and capable of addressing all aspects and challenges the sport faces already exists.
Last year showed everyone that a business, or even very large organizations, do not need all their people or departments in one place, so geography of the groups within racing is probably not a factor.
So, what if they could voluntarily be put together into one body? The Jockey Club is the breed-registry arm, could NTRA be the marketing department and public relations? Could the NHBPA the horsemen’s representation, with the state racing commissions overseeing licensing, stewarding the races and day-to-day disciplinary action?
It would mean conflicts took place in-house instead of in court, and everyone would basically be on one side, one voice (after the advocating in the committee room was done). I think it could be done if everyone listens and respects each other. Like I didn’t.
I would ask the NHBPA to listen to me now, though. I am going to tell you how bad things are. I watched flat racing in Europe for 40 years and I cannot ever remember seeing a single disarticulated front-leg fracture, the worst injuries, the most dangerous for the rider, both horse and jockey fired Into the dirt (and it nearly always is dirt).
Around 85 percent of catastrophic injuries to horses in the USA are estimated to be fractures. Santa Anita Park suffered 29 catastrophic injuries in 2019, so around 25 of them would be estimated to be fractures. If 33 percent were disarticulated front-leg fractures, then that is eight of the worst possible falls for riders, at just one track, in just a part of one year.
In 40 years watching flat racing in the UK, I can remember one rider being killed and one paralyzed. America’s Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund currently has around 60 severely disabled jockeys it is trying to help - people with severe brain injuries, quadriplegics.
I think I read somewhere that statistically one or two riders are killed on average race-riding in the USA each year. If that is correct, that means 60 dead riders over the time I knew of one death in the UK. There is a problem that needs fixing in the USA. No horseracing body should stand in the way of a solution.
The words of JVB
The late Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg, winner of around 6,500 races, gave his views at a hearing before Congress in 2008 titled Breeding, Drugs, and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Horseracing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse.
“… the first and most important thing is to implement the most sophisticated drug testing available,” he said.
“As for medication, it would be in the best interest of this grand sport and our grand equine athletes to abolish any and all medications. This would mean no race-day thresholds of Lasix, Bute, steroids or any other medications.
“The present rules permitting the use of steroids and other drugs has compromised the integrity of horseracing and has been a major factor in falling attendance and for interest falling to an all-time low. The crowds at most now you could shoot a cannon through and not hit anyone.
“As for racecourse surfaces, they should be a good, sandy loam and maintained for the soft cushion. I do not think it helps our fans to be concerned with how fast the race is run. The safety of the horse should be the priority, not how fast the track is.”
The NHBPA seems to be representing its members well (with one exception). All 60 of those severely disabled riders will have ridden for some of the NHBPA’s 29,000 members, some will have been paralyzed from their horses.
The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund has no source of regular funding through the industry, relying entirely on charitable donations, and of course its regular fundraising events were nearly all cancelled last year.
Surely this is wrong and perhaps the NHBPA is a body that could give some thought how this very worthy charity could find more secure funding. Making a donation, no matter how small, would help those ex-riders. Click here for details of how do donate.
Patrick Gilligan has recently founded Vanguard Thoroughbred Solutions, a specialist consultancy service to racecourses, racing commissions and related organizations. Email: Vanguardthoroughbredsolutions@gmail.com