The New York State Gaming Commission Sept. 24 passed several rule amendments related to equine medication, including further restrictions on the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and a total ban on stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. The NYSGC also amended rules regarding the role of veterinary technicians on the backstretch and a requirement for continuing education…
With an eye toward a possible proposal to change New York’s rules on the race-day medication furosemide, the state’s Gaming Commission met in Saratoga Springs Aug. 25 to solicit opinions about the medication. The Gaming Commission is staffed by members who requested the forum be held, admitting that they have no background in horse racing…
A grim winter at Aqueduct In late 2011 and early 2012, horses racing at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York died in alarming numbers: 21 of them between Nov. 30, 2011 and March 18, 2012, nearly double the number that suffered catastrophic injuries in the same period the previous year. It was a time of…
Advocates for change in horse racing didn’t find much reason for optimism in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s legislative update held in Saratoga Springs Aug. 7. The presentation from lobbyist Greg Means, founder and principal of The Alpine Group in Washington, D.C., reviewed current legislation or proposals that pertain to racing. Included were bills covering…
Last Friday afternoon, a group of 25 trainers, including some of New York’s top conditioners, released a statement declaring their support for a phase-out of the raceday medication furosemide by 2016. Among them are trainers, such as Todd Pletcher and Graham Motion, who have in the past advocated for use of the anti-bleeding medication. Furosemide,…
On May 21, the New York State Gaming Commission released the security procedures for the horses entered in four of the six Grade I races on Belmont Day: the Manhattan, the Met Mile, the Ogden Phipps, and the Belmont Stakes. Such procedures are put in place for races worth more than $1 million, according to…
To some observers, the most damning element of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) video of trainer Steve Asmussen’s barns is that it reveals nothing that violates racing’s medication rules. That video, released in March and covered by The New York Times, purported to show what really goes on behind the scenes of a…
At a July meeting in Saratoga Springs, the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) approved a model rule described by the organization as the third of three measures designed to address inconsistencies in national medication policies in Thoroughbred horse racing (here). Just about two months later, details of the system have yet to reach the…
Among the many complaints leveled at racing’s regulatory bodies — specifically state racing commissions — one of the most serious is that trainers with multiple medication or drug violations get off too easy. With a model rule passed on July 31 in Saratoga, the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) hopes to bring those complaints…
While the topics at this year’s Saratoga Institute on Racing and Gaming Law were similar to those at other industry meetings this summer, the tenor of the presentations and perspectives of the panelists were not. Two days after The Jockey Club Round Table conference, at which chairman Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps declared that the organization…
Brooklyn Backstretch 