Using the 2013 Kentucky Derby to gain a little attention, a group of lawmakers has unveiled plans in Congress to "end doping in horseracing and kick cheaters out of the sport."
It's not the first effort to take on the "Sport of Kings" by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), Rep. Ed Whitfield (D-KY) and Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA); previously, they had used a bill to press the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on the sport, but it attracted little support.
This time, the group is taking a different approach, providing the the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) with the power to enforce anti-doping standards for horse racing.
The plan goes one step further by saying the USADA could block individual race tracks from accepting bets from off-track betting and simulcast sites around the nation, threatening a major financial penalty for failure to crack down on illegal drug use by trainers.
"A level playing field and a clean sport should be the goal for all of us," said Sen. Udall.
"The chronic abuse of race horses with painkillers and other drugs is dangerous and just plain wrong," he added.
Last year, Rep. Pitts used a hearing to urge the horseracing industry to consider restricting race day medications for thoroughbreds, getting support from Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens.
"It is my strong belief that the use of race day medications in the sport of horse racing has to be banned or our sport will not survive another decade," Stevens testified.
This bill would end race day medication for horses, set a new national framework for medications, stiff penalties for those found cheating and a better system of veterinary ethics.
Currently, medication rules for horses are a patchwork quilt of different guidelines in each state, which some argue encourages a move to skirt the rules at different tracks.
Their new draft bill, the "Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act" can be seen here.
Kentucky Derby 2013
I always put in a plug for the Derby - it is a great sporting event to attend in person, and Louisville, Kentucky is a fun place on the first weekend in May.
One of the more interesting reviews of the Derby weekend came from Hunter S. Thompson, who in 1970 wrote his famous, "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" for Scanlan's Magazine.
This year's Derby will take place 40 years to the day that Secretariat began his run for the Triple Crown, winning by two lengths over Sham with a strong stretch drive.
http://youtu.be/ffvXiSjPp6c
After winning the Derby, Preakness and Belmont, Secretariat became the first horse in 25 years to achieve that prize, the first since the great Citation in 1948.
Secretariat was followed by two other great horses in winning the Triple Crown - Seattle Slew in 1977 and then Affirmed in 1978.
But since Affirmed held off Alydar in three fantastic races, no other horse has won the Triple Crown in the last 35 years.
So, that brings us to 2013, and the search for a Kentucky Derby winner.
Before I get to my picks, I turn things over to my father, who taught me everything I know about playing the horses:
"Usually I'm prejudiced against West Coast horses but there's only one in the race and he has the only triple digit and best last race Beyer by eight points. So I'm going with Goldencents to win and am looking at Revolutionary, Normandy Invasion and Overanalyze to complete my Trifecta."
If you don't speak Daily Racing Form, my father says that Goldencents has the fastest Beyer speed figure in the field, 105 in the Santa Anita Derby. (Anything in three digits is very good.)
Goldencents is 5-1 in the morning line.
As for my pick, I always like to look for the horses come from way back - and Churchill Downs is a track that can favor that type of late running horse.
Like father, like son - I looked over the field and come up with the same three longshots that my father did - except I'll throw out his favorite and go with Revolutionary, with Normandy Invasion and Overanalyze, the Arkansas Derby winner.
Happy Derby Day!
