Trouble in Harness Racing Land

I read the most extraordinary column by Sam Lilly in the March issue Standardbred & Harness News.

It alludes to organized crime’s being involved in harness racing and urges a clean-up of unsavory aspects “for there to even be a future for horse racing (harness, thoroughbred, quarter horse.”

“Whoa,” I thought.

I haven’t read anything like that anywhere else.

Of course, I don’t read much about racing, but, given that there are lots of horses in McHenry County, I thought folks might be interested in reading some more.

This isn’t everything that Lilly wrote about the subject, but it lays out the seriousness of the situation:

There is a real concern on the part of some harness journalists that it may be getting dangerous to offer criticism I the harness world. The murder of Randy Rankin in Canada has all the earmarks of a contract hit. Of course, Randy had been most vocal about the “information” he had on illegal activities and was going to blow the whistle.

Down Under a prominent harness announcer had his automobile blown up in his driveway in what was construed as a warning. In his case he has gone into hiding…anyone who anyone knows there are unsavory characters in the horse racing game as in most others. It does give one pause however.

…reasons for blood and urine testing of horses in competition…

• deter cheating…
• punishing the wrong-doers.

Well, if it is to deter, then testing is obviously failing miserably…

I would put much more of the resources in pre-race testing, extensive pre-race testing…

Ontario with out-of-competition testing shows where the real power lies. Interesting enough that New Jersey has announced they are going to start such testing. This is how the Ontario Racing Commission has been able to catch people within the 72 hour period after an injection of EPO…Ontario…has not hesitated to declare these individuals undesirable and denied them racing privileges…

…if anyone thinks the infusion of slot money will solve all of the ills of horse racing, then they are sadly mistaken…There is widespread belief that reform of the racing product is absolutely essential for there to even be a future for horse racing (harness, thoroughbred, quarter horse).

I am more and more convinced that the taint around horse racing and the attendant gaming has reached a level where it can not be ignored. When you ask just about anyone on the street about harness racing and their response I something like

"oh, that’s crooked"

we have a major league problem.

For a long time it seems many in the horse racing game were fearful that if our laundry were aired publicly it would be do devastating that the industry might be destroyed. Whether it is true or not is not long an issue for debate.

As some jurisdictions have begun to lower the hammer those jurisdictions that do not are going to stand out like a sore thumb.

The consequences in my opinion is that those who give a hoot about horse racing will gravitate to those jurisdictions where they feel they are getting a fair shake and an honest effort. If they do not feel their current location is providing that – sayonara baby!

More at McHenry County Blog.