Sullivan: Racing's drug reforms encounter roadblock in front of finish line

Efforts to streamline and strengthen thoroughbred racing’s drug enforcement made an unscheduled detour last week when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority announced the “suspension” of negotiations with the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Whether this was a permanent breakup between HISA and USADA or merely a break remains unclear. But barely six months before a set of proposed drug policies and procedures are due to be implemented, and no viable Plan B known to exist, the sport of kings has essentially reached the top of the stretch only to encounter an unexpected roadblock in front of the finish line.

“This is a quagmire,” said Craig Bernick, president of Florida’s Glen Hill Farm and founder of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation. “You have to hope they can rescue this deal. But right now, it doesn’t look too good.

“I feel like it’s crazy. I feel let down as a participant and other people should, too. We definitely need to improve this part of the sport or we won’t have a sport.”

While both HISA and USADA have issued statements without identifying specific areas of conflict, Bernick is among those who suspect the additional expense anticipated with USADA’s involvement is most likely responsible for the impasse and should have been understood by stakeholders from the start.

More:How these proposed rules would deter horse racing's drug cheats if adopted

Some racing executives regard USADA’s enforcement model as costly overkill. A pending lawsuit by the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association objects to ceding so much power to an outside entity. Marty Irby, executive director of Animal Wellness Action, believes HISA board members balked at the five-year commitment Congress called for in passing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act last December.

Where reform-minded horsemen generally agree is that to regain the public trust racing has lost to recurring scandal, interminable investigations, Kentucky Derby controversies and dead horses, HISA should reengage with USADA or quickly find a credible alternative — one that enables the sport to establish consistent nationwide standards, objective oversight and escape the uneven efficiency of state commissions too often compromised by conflicts of interest and overmatched against expensive attorneys.

“The good of the industry is at stake,” Arthur Hancock said Monday. “Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail.”

Hancock, owner of Stone Farm in Paris, Kentucky, also owns one of thoroughbred racing’s most distinguished pedigrees. Both his grandfather and his father are enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame for their roles in the founding and growth of fabled Claiborne Farm. Hancock has made his own mark on the sport through 30 years of lobbying to rid racing of the influence of “drugs and thugs," — first in a landmark 1991 address at a University of Arizona racing symposium and later through formation of the Water, Hay, Oats Alliance (WHOA).

After three decades of clearing obstacles undermining racing’s integrity, Hancock said he is optimistic the HISA/USADA impasse is not the end. 1st Racing CEO Craig Fravel, former president of the Breeders’ Cup, said he “remains confident we have good people making good decisions and they’re not being done in some biased fashion.”

“The main issue now is timing,” Fravel said. “What can be done in terms of promulgation of rules in a relatively short period of time within a governmental apparatus?”

More:'It's so easy to cheat': Is horse racing finally getting serious about drug misuse?

Earlier this month, HISA announced its intention to implement the Anti-Doping and Medication Control aspects of the new law in stages, taking charge of out-of-competition testing on July 1, with race-day testing remaining under the control of state regulators until 2023. The “suspension” of negotiations with USADA was announced on December 23.

“I hope it can be salvaged,” Bernick said. “USADA has been paraded out in front of the horse business for almost a decade. They’ve been keynote speakers at Jockey Club round tables. I find it hard to understand how this could happen with someone you have a nine-year relationship with as the poster boy to clean up our sport.

“We’ve all understood that USADA was going to be the group undertaking that effort. That looks like it’s blown up.”

Jockey Club President Jim Gagliano declined comment.

Ed Martin, president of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, said he was “disappointed” the USADA deal has not closed, and is “anxious to try to help the HISA board in any way we can so this process can successfully launch next summer.” To that end, he has encouraged USADA’s Travis Tygart to incorporate some of the stronger state-funded operations as a means of controlling costs.

Animal Wellness Action’s Irby, a veteran of Washington politics, said he would try to help by turning up the heat.

“I’m not sure where we go from here,” he said. “But I will say this: As an organization, we’re going to make sure we put as much pressure as possible on the HISA board to stick with USADA. If that means I have to go back to Congress and start lobbying Congress again, then that’s what we’re going to do. We are going to ensure that that law is implemented properly.”

That’s a goal, of course, not a guarantee.

Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @TimSullivan714