Owners the focus of tough new WEG and Big M rule
One positive test in 2018 could lead to owners, trainers and horses being banned from all stakes races at the two WEG tracks and the three Jeff Gural-owned tracks.
by Dave Briggs
Owners and trainers take heed: one positive test in 2018 could result in all of your horses being banned from all stakes races at the Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) tracks and the Meadowlands, Tioga and Vernon Downs.
The new rule called the Standardbred Racing Integrity and Accountability Initiative (SRIAI) is a partnership between WEG-operated Mohawk and Woodbine and the three Jeff Gural-owned tracks and is already in effect for 2018.
WEG chairman Clay Horner, a long-time proponent of enhanced owner responsibility, said he hopes the tough new integrity rule, announced Friday (Jan. 5), will force horse owners to make better trainer choices.
āThe objective here is for owners to be very vigilant and very careful,ā Horner said Friday of the SRIAI that bans any owner, trainer or horse from participating in stakes races at the five racetracks in 2018 if they have been found by a racing regulatory agency to have tested positive for prohibited substances as defined within the Association of Racing Commissioners International Uniform Classification for Foreign Substances of Class I, II, TCO2 or steroids after Jan. 1, 2018.
Mohawk president Jessica Buckley said itās important to note the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency (CPMA), which oversees the wagering side of the sport in Canada, told WEG the number of positive tests is minimal each year.
āWe did have a presentation from the CPMA at the end of December and we were really pleased to see the amount of tests that are being done and the super low percentage of positives,ā Buckley said. āThis isnāt a measure that weāre taking because (the sport has) suddenly become dirty. Itās really not the case. However, itās so important for us as stewards in the industry to be able to give confidence to existing owners and new owners and the playersā¦ itās important for them to believe in the integrity of our product.ā
Despite the low number of Class I, II, TCO2 and steroid positives, Horner explained that if a horse receives such a positive, the owner or owners of that horse will be banned from competing in stakes at the aforementioned tracks in ’18 with any horse in which they own at least a 25 per cent share.
āSay Owner A has a horse with Trainer A. If Trainer A has a positive test of one of these natures, then all of Owner Aās horses in which he or she owns 25 per cent or more are disqualified from future participation, regardless of who the partners are and regardless of who the trainer is,ā he said.
āWe want partners to say to their fellow partners, āLook, I see that youāve got horses with somebody that is riskier than the trainer that we have horses with together. It would be a terrible thing for there to be mistake, or something thatās done, that could impact us all here. And, in particular, for me to suffer that bad consequence because you werenāt careful and diligent in your choice of trainers.āā
āSay Owner A has a horse with Trainer A. If Trainer A has a positive test of one of these natures, then all of Owner Aās horses in which he or she owns 25 per cent or more are disqualified from future participation, regardless of who the partners are and regardless of who the trainer is.ā
ā Clay Horner
Rule restricts horse transfers
Furthermore, Horner said the rule is partly designed to prevent owners from moving horses to other barns in the event of a positive test.
āI would say that is, for lack of a better word, the toughest and most novel provision here and itās expressly designed to address some of the ownership patterns and behaviors in harness racing,ā Horner said.
āThereās no transferring of the horse. Put it this way, thereās no selling Lady Shadow to new owners who can participate in future events. When your horse is out, youāre out. Just think about it, if youāve got a horse in the North America Cup and another one of your horses gets caught with a positive from a bad trainer and puts your North America Cup horse out, you can sell the horse, but he still canāt race in any of the WEG or Meadowlands stakes for that year. Think of what that means to the value.ā
Vital to horses and bettors
The Central Ontario Standardbred Association (COSA) that represents the people that race on the WEG circuit signed off on the rule. So has prominent horse owner John Fielding who is on the WEG board. Fielding said the rule protects horses and bettors and should help improve the sportās integrity.
āNot only is it good for the sport from an integrity point of view, itās vital to the animal, itās integral to the health of the animal,ā Fielding said Saturday. āFrom a humane point of view, weāre protecting the animal as much as the industry, as much as the other owners, as much as the fair trainers who get up at 5 every day and work their nuts off and get outsmarted by somebody with a better mousetrap.
āWeāre also trying to attract bettorsā¦ Weāve been talking about it for years, how do we get younger people, newer people, wealthy people, non-wealthy people involved in this sport? Well, if you come in on a non-level playing field, why would anyone come into the business?
Horner said WEG started the initiative and then approached Gural and his team to be partners.
āI think itās going to shake things up,ā Gural said Saturday. āI canāt imagine any sane person, who owns stakes horses using anyone that is considered a drug trainer or someone who has had violations in the past because the consequences are so Draconian.ā
Asked about his use of the word āDraconianā to describe the rule, Gural said, āItās meant to be Draconianā to send the strongest message possible that cheaters are not welcome.
Gural said it was āvitally importantā to partner with WEG on the rule.
āI think if I had done it on my own, it would have had little or no impact and if (WEG) had done it on their own it would have had more impact, but not as much,ā Gural said. āNow, you really are looking at some major races.ā
John Campbell said heās been in contact with the Hambletonian Societyās executive committee about the new rule, āand weāre actually going to discuss it again at the start of (this) week. Itās something that our full board will discuss in March. Itās an issue that will go before our full board and I will take their direction after this March meeting.ā
Campbell consulted on the rule
Horner said WEG has been working on the details of the initiative āfor seven or eight monthsā and received help from Hambletonian Society president and CEO John Campbell.
āOne of the guys that was very helpful to us was John Campbell,ā Horner said. āWe initially were planning to include Class IIIs and Johnās advice, which always turns out to be terrific advice, was that itās a harder area because there is some therapeutic stuff (in Class IIIs), some non-therapeutic stuff. He said. āWhy donāt you start off with (Class) Is, IIs, TCO2s and steroids? There should be nobody milkshaking a horse that doesnāt know they are doing it, so thereās no chance of a mistake. Same thing with steroidsā¦ā If thereās a reason to think that we should add Class IIIs in another year then we can do that.ā
Campbell said Saturday that, āBasically, I was just a consultant and brought up some scenarios. It took a while to get the wording they were looking for and I just brought up some scenarios with previous wording that I donāt think they were looking for that could happen. But itās their initiative. Itās not (the Hambletonian Societyās), by any stretch.
āI certainly donāt have sympathy for guys who are drugging horses, but I do have sympathy for trainers that get caught for these Class IIIs and Class IVs that are therapeutic, just because itās very easy to get one. Itās like a minefield for these trainers with the different thresholds and whatās allowed in certain states and other states itās not. Iām certainly cognizant of what these trainers go through trying to train horses, keep them healthy, and not get a positive test with a therapeutic.ā
Hoping others will adopt the rule
Horner said WEG would approach other tracks and other jurisdictions about adopting the rule.
āWe are taking the lead and weāll take accountability and responsibility for it, but we think everybody should join us,ā Horner said.
āWe certainly hope the Hambletonian Society will join us.ā
Campbell said heās been in contact with the Hambletonian Societyās executive committee about the new rule, āand weāre actually going to discuss it again at the start of (this) week. Itās something that our full board will discuss in March. Itās an issue that will go before our full board and I will take their direction after this March meeting.ā
Gural said he also hopes other tracks will adopt the rule.
āI think it would be very embarrassing for the sport, truthfully, to have a horse that couldnāt race at the Meadowlands or Mohawk and yet won a Breeders Crown race at Pocono. I think social media would go crazy.ā
Horner said bettors are āalways top of mind and, obviously, the thinking was that they should be able to have greater confidence. One of the things we donāt think gives (bettors) confidence is something like a stop gap point of view like last year, in terms of replacement or stand-in trainers that leaves bettors wondering, āWhatās the deal here?āā
āNot only is it good for the sport from an integrity point of view, itās vital to the animal, itās integral to the health of the animal. From a humane point of view, weāre protecting the animal as much as the industry, as much as the other owners, as much as the fair trainers who get up at 5 every day and work their nuts off and get outsmarted by somebody with a better mousetrap. Weāre also trying to attract bettorsā¦ Weāve been talking about it for years, how do we get younger people, newer people, wealthy people, non-wealthy people involved in this sport? Well, if you come in on a non-level playing field, why would anyone come into the business?ā
ā John Fielding
Improved consistency and transparency
Horner said the rule is designed to create consistency and transparency.
āOne of the objectives here was to say, āHere are the rules. They are right here. You know what they are and you know what the penalties are. They penalties are significant and it applies to everybody. There will be no favorites or the possibility of favoritism. Thereās no discretion in these rules. Anyone who is offside is out ā big guy, little guy, bad guy. So, for all of you that think the track owner plays favorites, here it is,āā Horner said.
Fielding said the rule is, āthe same for everybody. So if Jeff Gural is employing a trainer who all of a sudden goes to the dark side, or is partners with someone on the dark side, then itās going to affect him. Itās a fair deal.ā
Gural said he hasnāt evaluated his own partnerships, yet, to find out which trainers some of his partners use, but he does have a lot of horses racing with different trainers and partners.
āI would never use someone that I thought was a drug trainer, but I use Ake (Svanstedt) and he had a positive (for a Class IV drug in 2016),ā Gural said. Under the rule, in which Class III and IV positives are currently exempt, Guralās horses would still be eligible to race had Svanstedtās Class IV positive come in 2018.
Fielding also races a lot of horses but said, āmost of mine are centered around two or three trainers nowā¦ I know all my partnersā¦ In the case of Jimmy Takter, I let him call most all of the shots, so it doesnāt really affect me. If Jimmy gets himself in trouble or wants to take on owners that have had trouble in the past with other trainers, then thatās his decision and now heāll be more aware of that. If itās going to affect the horse, I donāt think heāll do it.ā
Horner said both Fielding and fellow WEG director Doug Millard, āare big owners with a lot of partners and a lot of horses and both of them said at the Standardbred Committee, āWe have to do this. This is the right thing to do.āā
āI think itās going to shake things up. I canāt imagine any sane person, who owns stakes horses using anyone that is considered a drug trainer or someone who has had violations in the past because the consequences are so Draconianā¦ Itās meant to be Draconianā to send the strongest message possible that cheaters are not welcome.
ā Jeff Gural
Drive owners away?
But will the new rule drive some owners out of the game?
āNot to be Pollyanna-ish about it, but our objective and our hope is, at the end of year one and year two and year three, to look and see more and better quality owners, as opposed to fewer and riskier owners,ā Horner said. āWe recognize that, yes, some people will find this to be a deterrent to them staying in the game because they are only prepared to play on a risky basis or operate with someone that they either know, or ought to know, is at risk of falling afoul of these rules.
āThe whole purpose here is to be respectful and instill confidence in good owners, that when they put up that money, and they have the big horse, they are going to have a fair ground to compete on in the biggest races.ā
Campbell said he has no idea how the rule will impact the sport. āItās really an unknown what the impact of it is going to be. I donāt know how owners will approach this as far as the trainers they hire,ā he said.
Gural said he thinks it will take a year to figure out if the rule has a positive impact.
āOne of two things is going to happenā¦ some trainers will lose horses and some trainers will probably just stop using drugs because they just canāt afford to take a chance. So, then the question becomes, āHow do their horses perform without drugs?ā
āItās possible that someone who uses drugs says, āIāve got to stop using drugs because Iām not going to take a chance on getting caught milkshaking a horseā and then all of a sudden their percentage goes down and then they lose owners anyway,ā Gural said.
āWe did have a presentation from the CPMA at the end of December and we were really pleased to see the amount of tests that are being done and the super low percentage of positives. This isnāt a measure that weāre taking because (the sport has) suddenly become dirty. Itās really not the case. However, itās so important for us as stewards in the industry to be able to give confidence to existing owners and new owners and the playersā¦ itās important for them to believe in the integrity of our product.ā
ā Jessica Buckley
Honest trainers could benefit
Will honest trainers that have struggled to get good horses benefit from the new rule? Buckley said that is a likely outcome.
āDefinitely, that will be a spin-off effect of this in the best possible way. All of the best horsemen will rise to the top,ā Buckley said.
Horner said he likes the idea of the honest operators getting a better opportunity to compete.
āThere are some terrific trainers out there who have a hard time attracting high-profile horses and owners in a very competitive context. One would like to think that this is going to be a good thing for those guys,ā said Horner, who has long championed integrity issues and fought against owners that try to flaunt the rules.
āItās been a concern and interest of mine for a long time. Iām just thrilled to have the support of so many people at WEG and the Meadowlands, along with John Campbellā¦ It really was a very powerful moment at our Standardbred Committee meeting when it went through,ā Horner said, adding Buckley and Bill McLinchey, WEGās senior manager of wagering operations, did a lot of the leg-work and approached both COSA and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) for consultation.
āWe have COSAās blessing for what weāre doing and weāve had a review of it from an AGCO perspective as well,ā he said.
Will the runners adopt the rule?
Fielding, who is also deeply active in the thoroughbred world as a breeder, said he would like to see WEG adopt the rule for both breeds.
Buckley said she is sure WEGās Thoroughbred Committee āwill also be reviewing (the rule) and will make a decision down the roadā¦ This really was a standardbred initiative to begin with. We collaborated with the Meadowlands on it, so itās standardbred for now.ā
āA better way to put it,ā Horner said, āmight just be that the standardbreds are ahead as far as thatās concerned.ā
Horner said the rule was modeled off rules from the thoroughbred Breedersā Cup, ābut there are some things here that are entirely new and a real step forward, we think, from a standardbred point of view. Weāre pretty excited about itā¦ The Breeders’ Cup applies to trainers and horses and it applies to Class Is, Class IIs and steroids. What weāve added are TCO2s and what weāve added are the owner provisions.ā
Guralās integrity fight
Meanwhile, Gural said heās also, āworking hard to find out what drugs are being used by these trainers. So, Iām approaching it on two fronts ā one, this front, and the other is using out-of-competition testing and using Hong Kong and using informants and other typical methods to determine what drugs are being used. I think the main thing thatās being used to improve a horseās performance dramatically is painkillers. I think EPO helps and some other things help, but what really helps is if you have a horse and he canāt finish the mile because heās in pain and now that pain is gone away he can finish the mile.
āEither way, Iām not giving up on catching bad guys, so one way or the other weāre going to put an end to the drugs.ā
āI think Jeff Gural has been fighting this for a long time,ā Fielding said. āWeāre trying to attract new owners to the sport. Weāre trying to attract bettors. Weāre trying to sustain the sport that we all love and the integrity piece is always a cloud hanging over our head as an industry. I think (the new rule is) a great first step. It might not be perfect and may need to be tweaked later on in certain areas, but I think itās a very good first stepā¦ Clay Horner is probably the smartest guy Iāve ever met in my life and heās put a lot of deep thought into this. I think it comes out pretty well.ā