Doping watchdog set to take reins
Federal authority to regulate drugs in racing industry
ALBANY — When the spring meet launches at Aqueduct Racetrack next month, thoroughbred horses are expected to be racing under a whole new rule book.
A federal authority established by Congress is preparing to take the reins of regulating the sport from state agencies in New York and across the country March 27. That will mean some new rules spelling out which medications are permitted for horses and what performance-enhancing substances are banned. It will also mean a new enforcement body collecting samples, orchestrating testing and investigating on and off the tracks in order to root out cheating.
“I think having a nationwide strategy that is intelligencedriven is really going to be an opportunity for the industry to see how clean it is or clean itself up,” said Lisa Lazarus, chief executive officer of the new federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.
The authority is still ironing out numerous details including hiring staff, coordinating drug testing and finalizing new regulations for the sport.
New drug rules for thoroughbred racing are currently under review by the Federal Trade Commission. Lazarus said she sees nothing that would stop the rules from getting a stamp of approval March 27 and taking immediate effect.
The new rules are substantially similar to the existing regulations in New York, according to Brad Maione, a spokesman for the New York Gaming Commission, the state agency that has for years governed horse racing in New York.
Enforcing the new rules will be the job of a new team working for the federal authority under the umbrella of Drug Free International, a company that handles drug testing programs for the National Football League, Major League Baseball and other sports. Investigations will be lead by Naushaun “Shaun” Richards, an FBI agent who recently left the Justice Department after helping spearhead the takedown of a horse racing doping ring involving dozens of people, and Shawn Loehr, who led enforcement for the California Horse Racing Board.
The new enforcement program will do more out-of-competition testing “than the industry has ever seen,” Lazarus said.
The authority expects to contract with state laboratories around the country to perform testing. George Maylin, director of the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory, said he has no agreement with the authority and has received no guidance about how many samples he may have to test or how he will be compensated. He added that it will be very difficult for him to acquire any additional personnel or equipment he may need to do the work in 30 days.
“I don’t know if we are doing the testing or not,” he said.
The federal takeover means the Gaming Commission will be stepping back from regulating thoroughbred racing in New York. It’s unclear if this will mean a decrease in state spending on horse racing regulation or staff reductions in the commission’s horse racing division.
When asked about spending and staffing, Maione, the agency spokesman said: “We cannot answer this question at this time.”
The federal authority, HISA, said it intends to contract state and racetrack employees already working on sample collection, testing and investigations to execute its new rules and enforcement protocols.
The Gaming Commission declined to enter a voluntary agreement with HISA to permit state employees currently involved in thoroughbred racing regulation to be contractors for the new authority, although several states are in the process of signing similar agreements, according to Lazarus.
The New York Racing Association, the group that administers racing at Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct, will contract with HISA on some tasks such as out-of-competition testing, NYRA spokesman Patrick Mckenna said.
“HISA is fully responsible for training staff performing HISA functions,” Mckenna said. “NYRA is currently finalizing staffing of certain functions in consultation with HISA.”
The state Gaming Commission will continue to regulate standardbred racing which takes place at eight harness tracks around the state, including one in Saratoga Springs.