Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

Sam Ferguson DVM — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:01:55 GMT

In addition to my above comment, it is that political process that needs to be overwritten using a central all powerful commissioner

to make the right decisions, not the political decisions.

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

Sam Ferguson DVM — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:16:11 GMT

The problem with political organizations such as the NTRA, and even our government, is they are all about compromise and appeasing everybody's interest. The result is a very slow watered down result.

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

Joyce Moore — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:41:40 GMT

The Alliance is most certainly a P.R. based initiative created soley to attempt to smooth over the public's outrage at the deaths of Barbaro and Eight Belles and to placate an easily distracted Congress.

The Alliance has been in existance for over two years. What's changed? Nothing. Horses are still dying on the track; few, if any, horses are run without being loaded up on drugs; and the non racing public is still at the front line in the battle to keep former racehorses from ending up as steaks and burgers.

Even IF the Alliance had good intentions, this program does nothing more than ask its very few member tracks to participate. There are absolutely no repurcussions for not participating. Tracks that do apply and are found to not meet the low standards set by the Aliiance are given exhorbitant amounts of time to comply.

Without mandates that apply to ALL tracks; elimination of all drugs; and significant funds set aside to support or humanely euthanize horses no longer able to race, the industry will continue on its path of destruction.

I for one am tired of the talk. It's long past time to actually DO SOMETHING FOR THE SAKE OF THE HORSES and not just for the allmight dollar.

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

Cc — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:40:44 GMT

Until Pletcher, O'Niel, etc. are sat down severely, there's no way to present to the public or anyone involved in racing that the industry is trying to clean itself up. Pletcher walking away from LAT is a joke. Lasix reaction? Is it the same Lasix that caused problems for DMC? And yet another reason slots/casinos are not the answer for horse racing. Fix your product! Like it or not the public does not consider the horse a thing - they see them as pets and expect care accordingly.

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

Fran Loszynski — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:30:10 GMT

I believe Mr. Beck when hesays the Alliance has caring and compassionate people that are concerned. I only met Mr. Beck once but his caring for the sport and compassion for racehorses and their jockeys put me as a fan in his corner. It seems to me he only wants a very simple equation: A fun atmosphere, safety for the athletes, while still being lucrative for the sport and its fans. Seems to me that is what horseracing and casino gambling are all about to begin with!

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

Dawn in MN — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 09:35:16 GMT

I am disappointed in the NTRA.

After the congressional intervention I expected so much more from the NTRA and the Safety and Integrity Alliance. Heck I expected more from Congress. I don't know what powers to clean up racing Congress may have, but I personally applauded their interest and hoped for so much more.

Ouch...now I'm torn, it's like you're saying something is better than nothing, and unfortunately you're right. I am more inclined to agree with Bill Walmsley's observation and hbc's proposal.

My husband studied political science in college and he pointed out to me that immediate, radical change is almost never good, and yet I believe that the NTRA is not doing enough.

More progress must be made. Racing is stuck in the middle ages, or worse...I know, let's let the Europeans buy and eat the "failed" athletes, and their connections!

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

needler in Virginia — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:37:27 GMT

While the NTRA and the Alliance MAY be the big dogs on the block, they have no teeth, and therein lies the problem. Damn right there should be a STRONG governing body with oversight and penalty-imposing power. Instead, we get "we hope", "we try" or "the aim is.......". If a track cannot conform and belly up to the bar, it should be cut out of the loop........PERIOD. There is no more wiggle room, guys. Racing has flimmed and flammed and scammed for too long, and the bettors and casual fans know it. One look at the Life at Ten "investigation" and "penalty" shows just how racing views its' fans and punters: as idiots who won't remember what happened last year at the Breeder's Cup.

Among MANY other proposals, I'm sick and tired of the plan to ban ALL race-day meds being "in the works". BULL. When the law changes and we CANNOT turn right on red any more, we comply with the law. WHEN will SOMEONE see that compliance is just that easy....either you DO IT or you DON'T! And if you don't? You don't get to race.

No cheers or safe trips tonight............

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

Sam Ferguson DVM — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:42:40 GMT

Much of our thoughts and comments are understandably centered on our own areas of interest in the industry when, in my opinion the answer lies with appeasing those parties that truly make racing work: bettors, spectators, racetrack owners, horse owners, and last but not least, the Horse.

Integrity, Medication, a level playing field,decreased owner costs, and public support can all be greatly enhanced by removing pre-race medication from the horse.

Our industry is too fragmented for an alliance alone to resolve and implement this issue. It would take a racetrack owner such as Frank Stronach, who not only has the resources to pull it off, but also has a tremendous love of the horse, to virtually eliminate such treatments from his tracks. He could have all veterinarians use a central pharmacy, all veterinarians accompanied by track personnel, and all treatments recorded. Furthermore he could eliminate pre-race treatments to international standards.I would suggest no treatments for 72 hours pre-race.

then, Walla, your various racetracks form an alliance based on similar standards, with controlled studies available for equine ailments such as bleeding, regenerative cell therapy, and arthritis; entities that might relate to human conditions and their treatments. Of course in the meantime, integrity issues have been addressed, a level playing field has been formed, and the public can have a renewed and wholesome interest in racing. With that comes more wagering, higher purses, and better income for the corporate racetracks.

Thats not to say this is the complete answer, but at least its a start, and if somebody doesn't do something soon, there will be no tomorrow for racing.

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

sceptre — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:15:56 GMT

I'm a bit torn about heaping praise, or placing my faith in the NTRA or its sub-group, the Safety And Integrity Alliance. While their suggestions (? "mandates") may be better than nothing, or what had existed before, they are far from reasonably sufficient when it comes to racehorse safety. Notice also-read Mr. Beck's own words- that while the NTRA existed well before 2008, it took a survey (and the Eight Belles' tragedy) for them to take action in this regard. Even then, their motivation stemmed from a desire to change public perception and ward off govenmental heat, rather than to improve racing's "safety" for its sake only. Had there not been the "survey" or the "heat", they would have likely continued to look the other way. So, given this to be the case, why should we place our trust in them? They have managed, for now, to ward off congressional scrutiny on racing, which may prove counterproductive in the long run. Meaningful change is necessary, and I very much doubt that the NTRA, or its committees, are up to the task. Those in positions of power should be chosen based on true merit, rather than by mere name recognition or financial clout.

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

twocreeksfarm — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:37:58 GMT

Alex Waltrip and his unbelievable salary would be the first cut,also Bob Elliston pay for not getting Alex's job. Alex's salary is around $800,000 per year. This is the same Alex that while working for Churchill tried to beat the horseman out of money.

Anthony you need to go to the races outside of Fayette County.

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

hbc — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:58:54 GMT

the problem is there are no penalties for not being accredited.

the answer is simple, give all tracks 12 months to become accredited or they loose their graded stakes races. without graded stakes a tracks meet becomes

irrelevant and obsolete. the question is does the graded stakes committee have the stones to actually do it?

re: Supporting the Alliance - By Antony Beck

ASL — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:09:37 GMT

Losing the NTRA and its Safety Alliance would be a major step backward for the industry. Now is not the time to be throwing in the towel in regards to supporting the NTRA's initiatives.