Howard Hamilton

In my last article, I indicated that there was a growing concern among thoroughbred racing enthusiasts that there is far too much disparity in the penalties meted out for drug abuses in thoroughbred racing compared with what happens in other sports.

Mention was made of the the winner of the recent Tour de France cycling competition and the immediate action taken by the governing body - The Union Cycliste Internationale. You will recall that the winner of that event - Floyd Landis tested positive for excessive levels of Testostorone and was suspended for two years - a career shattering imposition. The last paragraph of that article stated:

" ... I have been occupied with some deep hitting discussions about illegal use of drugs. The cycling imbroglio and the Gatlin case in track and field re opened a whole new can of worms and the arguments have been very far reaching. Andy Beyer writing in the Daily Racing Form of August 11 was very outspoken in his condemnation of those who use performance enhancing drugs. He was impressed with the speedy manner with which the Union Cyclyste International (UCI) was confronting illegal drug use and the speedy, meaningful punishment meted out to cheaters.

He contends that horse racing tends to sweep its problems under the rug. While the controlling body of cycling has acted properly to defend the integrity of their sport, the horse racing regulators fail to confront there problem because of the fear of alienating sponsors, media and major investors.

Avoiding bad publicity

When the winner of an important race comes back with a positive drug test the offence is handled privately, administering fines that often amount to a slap on the wrist and never suspended an offender racing regulators are more concerned with avoiding bad publicity than exposing cheaters.

The cycling regulators were willing to endure the ultimate in bad publicity, disqualifying the Tour de France winner and taking the consequences of their action with the bad publicity and public scandal in order to make a statement: "We will not tolerate cheaters."

The UCI metes out penalties that are meaningful. A doping violation brings a two-year suspension that seriously disrupts the career of the punished. At 30, Landis would effectively be finished in the sport. Gatlin received eight years suspension and is now finished as an athlete.

His punishment is a marked contrast to the laughable penalties handed out to trainers whose horses are caught with positive drug tests.

A number of cases has been cited which confirms that racing regulators seem more concerned with avoiding bad publicity than exposing cheaters. Racing fans (in the United States) have long suspected that many offences are dealt with quietly, behind the scenes, to avoid public scandal.

Some of these suspicions were confirmed in a 2004 report by the Blood Horse magazine on the California horseracing board. When horses of prominent trainers tested positive for illegal drugs, the board handled the case privately, administering fines which were insignificant.

The punishment meted out to Landis and Gatlin are in stark contrast to the laughable penalties meted out to New York's prominent trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr., who was caught with two drug violations and received a 120-day suspension, last year.

This was subsequently reduced to 60 days. During his 'suspension' his horses continued to run under the name of his assistant with easy telephone and email access. There was nothing to prevent Dutrow from supervising the operation away from the track.

Horse tested positive

In another case, Steve Asmussen, the top racing trainer in 2004 and 2005, was recently suspended for six months by Lousiana authorities after one of his horses tested positive for Mepivacaine, a local anesthetic used to block pain in an animal's leg.

Asmussen faces another six-month suspension for a violation in New Mexico. Reports in the press treated the offence as if it were a technicality or an accident and not a case of cheating. Asmussen's powerful stable continues to operate in the name of his assistant, Scott Blasi.

No track officials question the presence of stand-ins for these cheaters - a word hardly used in racing. Most owners continue to support these trainers, feeling no stigma in being associated with them.

There is only one way that horse racing can prove that it is serious about stopping the use of illegal drugs. When a trainer is caught - irrespective of his status - engaging in a blatantly illegal practice, he/she should have the book thrown at them, run them out of the sport and castigate them as cheaters and a disgrace to society.

We must never forget that horseracing, more than any other sport, can only survive with the support of those who believe implicitly in its integrity. Let us become more proactive in our treatment of cheaters. They have no place in our sport.

Howard L. Hamilton, CD, JP, is a former president of Racing Promotions Ltd. and Caymanas Track Ltd. He is currently president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders' Association of Jamaica. He can be contacted at howham@cwjamaica.com.