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Closer look at the Breeders’ Cup reveals the need for reform
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Bullsbay preparing for the Breeders' Cup (AP Photo/JaeC. Hong)
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The cliché, if you aren’t cheating, then you aren’t trying applies to horse racing. Upon closer examination of the Breeder’s Cup, more than half a dozen trainers will bring horses to the event with multiple and serious drug violations.
According to The New York Times, of the top 10 U.S. based trainers in winnings this year, only one has never been cited for a medication violation, Christophe Clement. What has changed in the sport?
Clement said, “Now trainers get suspended and go away, and when they come back they get more horses and more owners than they had before they left.”
Why should trainers who cheat be rewarded with more business upon their return? It comes down to greed and money. Owners want to win, trainers get paid to produce. If owners see a trainer is willing to do anything to win, then they want their horses to be trained by that individual, horses’ safety be damned. They are willing to do anything to get in the winner’s circle and the less the owners know the better.
The notion that owners and trainers care about the health and safety of the horses is laughable. When the New York Racing Association suspended trainer Jeff Mullins for six months after he was caught medicating one of his horses and then lying about it, no other racing jurisdiction has agreed to honor the penalty. This lack of effort illustrates that no real reform will take place unless there is a central governing body for the sport. Horse racing has proved that it cannot police itself.
The Breeders’ Cup is making some strides in cleaning up the sport, but seems a little slow on the uptake. Starting next year, organizers said they will keep out trainers with serious drug violations.
This is a step in the right direction for the Breeders’ Cup, but what about other jurisdictions?
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