Jockey Club Round Table

by Tom Law

The ongoing push toward the implementation of uniform medication practices and recently resurgent call to improve the health and welfare of the racehorse were among the central themes pushed by presenters at the Jockey Club’s 57th annual Round Table and Matters Pertaining to Racing on August 23 at the Gideon Putnam Report and Spa in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The Round Table was divided into those two segments that, on the surface, seem to be relatively distinct but, in reality, are very related issues for the industry from a perception and public relations standpoint.

The common theme throughout, whether the topic was racehorse adoption and rehabilitation programs, racing surface safety, or uniform medication standards, was all about that perception—specifically how the public views the American racing industry.

“Keep that word perceived in mind,” said Daily Racing Form Chairman and Publisher Steve Crist during his remarks titled “The View from Bettors, the Public, and the Media“ that came toward the end of the two-hour meeting. “There is a huge difference between perception and reality and, in fact, that difference is crucial to this issue. “

Many of the differences in reality and perception were outlined by the event’s speakers.

Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Executive Director Diana Pikulski told the group that “reality is a Thoroughbred industry made up largely of owners with only modest resources” when discussing how ex-racehorses might find their way to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada.

Joe Gorajec, executive director of the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, said the public’s frustration by the lack of uniformity over drug rules was “justified.”

Overall, medication issues stood out as clearly at the 2009 Round Table as they have in many recent editions, although one of the industry’s leaders on the issue, Jockey Club Chairman Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, was not in attendance to lead the charge.

Jockey Club Vice Chairman William S. Farish, owner of Lane’s End in Versailles, Kentucky, led the proceedings as Phipps continued to recover from surgery earlier this summer.

Despite Phipps’ absence, his theme of continued vigilance on behalf of the industry to work on “integrity issues, or even the perception of integrity issues” continued to resonate.