In addition, the Standardbred
trainers and practicing veterinarians who participated in the meeting indicated
a willingness to form a multi-state coalition to support enactment of RCI’s
proposed Interstate Racing Regulatory Compact as a means to achieve greater
uniformity in the regulation of racing through creation of a central regulatory
body of state regulators.
The informal meeting was organized by
Mr. Gural and RCI President Ed Martin to have a frank discussion with the
region’s regulators of horsemen, veterinarian, and track operator issues
affecting the conduct of the sport.
“There is a tremendous amount of
common ground,” Martin said. “We recognize that the best way to focus
regulatory efforts on the cheaters is to be clear and consistent as to our
rules and their implementation so as to not expend considerable resources
chasing innocent mistakes to the detriment of the need to focus on activity that
is clearly illegal or demonstrative of a pattern to sidestep rules everyone
else must abide by.”
New York rules are presently written
to prohibit the administration of medications within certain time limits,
affording the regulator the ability to detect medication rule violations
through a laboratory finding or a review of veterinarian records, as has been
done in several instances.
“The group will use the New York
rules as a basis to explore whether a time-based approach could work in these
jurisdictions,” Martin said, noting that representatives of eighteen RCI-member
state regulatory bodies met via conference call on Wednesday and expressed a
desire to explore a move in the same direction.
“The challenge we have is to deter
illegal activity and there is a growing sense among the regulators that
time-based rules afford an additional way to pursue violations. At the same
time, horsemen and veterinarians are telling us that this approach would
provide a clear line that should not be crossed rather than trying to determine
the nuances of the different testing labs operating in the various
jurisdictions,” he continued.
RCI has adopted and recommended
uniform lab standards, is supporting the RMTC laboratory accreditation project,
and is working on an overall modification of its recommended model drug rules
to differentiate between overages of legal substances appropriate for routine
equine care and those that have no business being in a racehorse or any horse
at all.
The participants in the meeting noted
that the implementation of uniform national standards has been sporadic. To
address this, the trainers and veterinarians present indicated support for the
RCI proposed model state legislation to create a National Racing Commission
using an interstate compact mechanism. They indicated they would start a
multi-state coalition of horsemen and veterinarians to promote the concept in
the jurisdictions in which they race.
In addition to Gural and Martin, the
participants included trainers Jimmy Takter, Linda Toscano, Bruce Saunders, and
Kevin McDermott. Veterinarians involved in the discussion included Dr. James
Mitchell, Dr. Paul Nolan, Dr. Stephen Dey, DHRC Regulatory Veterinarian Dr.
Annie Renzetti, and Chair of the Racing Committee of the American Association of
Equine Practitioners Dr. Scott Palmer. Participating regulators
included, Frank Zanzuccki, Executive Director of the New Jersey Racing
Commission, Ron Ochrym, Executive Director of the New York State Racing and
Wagering Board, Hugh Gallagher, Executive Director of the Delaware
Harness Racing Commission, and George Crawford, Racing Director of the
Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission. Counsel Rick Goodell and Dr. George
Maylin also participated on behalf of the New York regulators.
