CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED TRAINERS
ALAN F. BALCH Is perception reality?
W
E hear it all the time: “perception is reality.” That’s demonstrably and obviously false in the physical world, whether we’re talking astronomy (as in, the world is flat, and the sun moves around the earth), or horses (as in, this 1-9 shot cannot be beaten). When it comes to more abstract subjects, it’s a much closer case. Not too many years ago, “baseball is dying” seemed like a perception that was probably true. It wasn’t. Those in charge refrained from making that perception a self-fulfilling prophecy. They refused to repeat the mantra endlessly for all to hear and believe. Instead, they acted, taking dramatic steps (including team re-alignments, wild cards, and division/league playoffs, coupled with intense marketing) to combat what ailed their sport. In the case of American racing, the perception that we have a dying sport has taken hold among many of its leaders (who apparently can’t resist the temptation to repeat and proclaim that perception as a reality). Worse, some of those who profess to love it the most seem intent on pounding nails into its coffin, and getting others to join them. Still, there is abundant objective, factual evidence of racing’s continuing vitality and attraction to the public, contrary to the negative perception. The last two charismatic Triple Crowns alone, and several like them in recent years, demonstrate conclusively the ongoing and
vivid attraction of horses and racing – our great sport – for the American public, as do entire race meetings at Saratoga, Keeneland, and Del Mar, each year. So do many annual racing occasions, including Opening Day at Santa Anita, Florida Derby Day at Gulfstream, or the Arlington Million in Chicago, among others. Our sport’s leaders could and should be celebrating, enhancing, and marketing racing’s vital and inherent appeal, investing heavily in it. Instead, many of those with the highest profiles irrationally focus media and therefore public attention on “raceday medication,” by which they mean their paranoia about Lasix. They cast a shadow over the entire sport by pleading for the United States Anti-Doping Agency to “save us,” as part of a cumbersome, federally legislated structure of new bureaucracy beggaring belief. These saviors of ours put anti-bleeder medication into the same category as “doping,” along with every other therapeutic medication, thereby placing therapy on a par in the media and public mind with the most egregious offenses imaginable in any sport: blatant cheating through drug abuse. It is nothing short of reprehensible that our anti-Lasix “leaders” would bring an entire sport into disrepute because of their own narrow-minded cynicism. I cannot deny that we humans are often tempted to act on our worst instincts. But I do deny the ridiculous assumption that another layer of supervision of our sport from Washington, D.C. would by some magic be at all superior to the state governance under which we grew and prospered for nearly
100 years! In fact, where federal regulation is clearly required (such as the automobile industry or the financial markets), does it prevent or even deter wrongdoing? About 11 million Volkswagen owners will answer that. As for those who caused the Crash of 2008 . . . . We can no longer tolerate the masochistic, self-righteous, and enthusiastic destruction of our sport’s reputation we are seeing today, particularly from inside it. To the extent our experienced testing laboratories need improvement, they should be our priority. If we need more research to develop tests for the presently untestable, do that. Continue the important work toward regulatory consistency among experienced jurisdictions. Above all, however, given the human race’s eternal ability to take unsavory advantage of revolutions in science and chemistry, let’s use the latest technology ourselves to deter and apprehend the few real cheaters and aspiring miscreants who inevitably may be in our midst. That means the horses must be protected from them. We believe it is incumbent upon us as trainers to contribute to this effort: our organization has earmarked $150,000 to invest in highdefinition digital camera surveillance inside stalls of in-today horses, matching a previous pledge by California owners. We expect it to be exceeded by other stakeholders (including tracks, regulators, and breeders) who believe in the paramount importance of integrity as much as we do. These are the right approaches to enhancing integrity in racing. Endlessly shouting “doom” from Capitol Hill will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. ■
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These saviors of ours put anti-bleeder medication into the same category as
“doping,” along with every other therapeutic medication, thereby placing therapy on a par in the media and public mind with the most egregious offenses imaginable in any sport: blatant cheating through drug abuse 6
TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 38
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