Jul
28
Do any tracks fail NTRA accreditation?
by Barry Roos
Published: July 28, 2009 17 Comments
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I just read where Monmouth receives full NTRA accreditation.
Here’s a question, have any failed?
Will any fail? I think Pimlico got provisional accreditation but thus far I haven’t heard if any failed.
Isn’t the NTRA funded by tracks?
Is this not a conflict of interest?
If you want to truly show the public you are trying to improve the safety of racing, don’t you need this to come from unbiased scientists who aren’t working under the guise of the NTRA?
Nothing against those involved with the accreditation of the tracks, but send scientists from MIT, not vets who make their living at the racetrack or officials paid by tracks. They know where their bread is buttered.
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The time to bring this up was when the NTRA announced the Safety and Integrity Alliance… not a year later.
“…The time to bring this up was when the NTRA announced the Safety and Integrity Alliance… not a year later.”
ekxd2 – A year ago we did not know this would be a rubber stamp. The author waited a year until there was empirical proof.
Haven’t people figured this out yet? This is another diversionary sham with the hopes you’ll forget what was said last year. This isn’t the first either. Arthur Hancock testified before the Congressional committee last June that he’s been waiting 28 years for their committees and standards to change and he’s tired of waiting for racing to police itself. They are keeping your blinkers on and allowing you to see ONLY what they want you to see.
They are not saying a word that only 55 tracks have agreed to go along with their accreditation plans when there are well over 100 tracks running Thoroughbred races in this country. That’s less than 50% but there’s still people out there that think the racing industry can police itself and is capable of enforcing changes?
Days after the NTRA bragged about Delaware Park’s accreditation, Delaware park announced it will not change front toe grabs to the 2 mm length required for accreditation. So what does the Safety and Integrity Alliance do? They changed their criteria to allow dirt tracks to decide if they want to continue with the longer toe grabs despite mountains of scientific research since the 1990′s that show that the longer the toe grabs the higher the incidence of injury and catastrophic accident. This is a direct quote from the NTRA website: “The Thoroughbred Safety Committee continues to believe that the recommendation limiting traction devices on front shoes of Thoroughbreds to toe grabs no greater than 2 mm is in the best interests of the welfare and safety of the horse.” So despite knowing this length “is in the best interests of the welfare and safety of the horse” (not to mention the jockey!), they’d rather change the rule than have to reverse all the publicity they gave Delaware Park for being accredited.
Absolutely there’s a conflict of interest and sadly it does not stop with the NTRA but details would make this comment too long!
I too waited to see if the promises made before Congress and then again last October during the announcement of the formation of the Safety and Integrity Alliance were going to be implemented across the board.
They are not removing those blinkers. Only outside oversight with authority to block the simulast signal will ever be able to enforce meaningful changes to allow fans, owners, trainers, breeders, bettors and the world to see the full scope of the racing industry and decide at that time if they wish to participate.
Best to put these accreditations on ignore, where they belong. They fail to force the elimination of what is most lethal to horses: abusive and greedy owners in for the money, not the horses or the sport, bad trainers, and vets who are all too happy to sell drugs to keep racing ill and infirm horses. Tommy Tompson was photographed kicking the tires of Churchill Downs starting gates. Great! What does he know anyway? The major issues which hurt and kill horses continue to be avoided and major changes to protect horses are avoided as well. It is business as usual and these accreditations are best ignored. The NTRA has no authority anyway.
Interesting conversation…I doubt any track seeking accredidation will be denied. Last week they, (NTRA,)were at Arlington Park in Illinois . The one day they wwere there, a two year old , making her first start, broke her leg and continued running on three legs. A terrible, terrible catastrophic injury. And I have heard that this year has been a very bad year at Arlington for breakdowns. So…if they get the NTRA seal of approval, the theory that no one gets denied may well be true.
Racing will always look for the “quick fix” solution when it comes to equine welfare and real problem solving. As long as they can delude themselves into thinking they have fooled the public through “perception”, they do not have the resolve to implement real change for the better. Look at the horse slaughter issue. Tracks like Mountaineer Park idolized Dale Baird for years even though he boasted about the number of thoroughbreds he sent to slaughter. As more and more horses were rescued from kill auctions, several ractetracks decide that they will adopt a no slaughter policy, but do absolutely nothing to set up a method of enforcement. Even though there is federal legislation waiting to be passed that would stop the pipeline to slaughter for all American horses, the NTRA refuses to support the bill. I just want to know who is pulling Alex Waldrops strings? Waldrop does not have the authority to make decisions, so someone is giving him his marching orders….who is it?
I posted on this topic in April mainly about the suspect timing and the independence issues. What gets me is why on earth they accredited Hollypark with it most likely being turned into condos next year? Our thoughts are very similar.
Why would I,or the general public,give a damn whether or not a track has been “certified”.The public has no idea wht the “NTRA”is anyway,so why would they care about some silly “accreditation”.This means nothing,and most,if not all,of the things they are looking for are already being done at tracks,so it is a waste of time and money.
think we have proof here that the smoke screen won’t work.
“accreditation without credibility” is being performed by some pleasant
people without a clue. Can you imagine the money that this exercise costs in addition to the NTRA boondogle ? exercise failsafe !
best part is that the tracks pay the NTRA $10,000.00 to get the accredidation. That way the NTRA gets $$ to lobby for issues that the “power people” care about. And believe me, horse slaughter is NOT one of those issues
Very good question by Barry Roos. The Alliance is certifying compliance with the Alliance Code of Standards. The Code is the culmination of thousands of hours of work by industry officials, regulators, scientists, chemists, vets, engineers and others who know more about industry safety and integrity issues than any “outside experts.” The purpose of the certification process is to push nationwide, uniform implementation of recommendations that the industry has never been able to accomplish because of its lack of a central authority. Accreditation of compliance with a code of standards is done by many industries with much success. We are following models developed by healthcare, insurance, education and other industries similar to horse racing in that they each need a way to incent nationwide change in state regulated businesses. The accreditation inspection team – made up of independent experts like regulators, vets and others with no connection to the NTRA or the inspected tracks – only inspect tracks that apply for accreditation so it is not surprising that no tracks have failed to be accredited. Tracks that can’t meet the standards – which are very rigorous and in most cases expensive – simply don’t apply until they believe they are ready. Accreditations are paid for primarily by the tracks being inspected which means tracks like CDI and Belmont clearly see the value in accreditation by the Alliance. Our provisional accreditation of Pimlico demonstrates that we do not rubber stamp applications. Pimlico has work to do before they reach full accreditation. Go to NTRA.com and check out the section regarding the Alliance. Read the Code and decide for yourself. I think you will conclude that every provision of the Code is important, demanding and merits immediate implementation. The entire process will be audited by the national law firm of Akin Gump to verify that all accreditations where properly conducted, documented and granted. Finally, this is only the first step in the process. The Code will be updated and strengthened annually as better data is obtained, more research is done and new recommendations are forthcoming. This will require tracks accredited now to make additional changes to be accredited next time. This is precisely the approach used by healthcare to make major changes in the healthcare industry over the past 75 years. Give the process a chance to work. Over time, it will prove itself to be the best way to accomplish change in this complicated, decentralized business of ours.
Thank you for weighing in Alex. But I am going to disagree with the statement “…who know more about industry safety and integrity issues than any “outside experts.”
You have people like Dr. George Pratt at MIT who have 25 years studying track surfaces in relation to the welfare and safety of thoroughbreds. I would prefer his opinion over politicians or vets who make their living treating horses at these tracks. Is Dr. Pratt participating in the certification of tracks? If not, why not?
I can tell you after over 30 years in racing, racetrack safety is the most important thing to the survival of the industry. Having trained for 16, keeping horses sound is next to impossible on most surfaces. I support Polytack and the attempt to find a viable solution using artificial surfaces. But what is going on at Del Mar is a shame and creating more black eyes for an already hurting sport.
I applaud your initiative, but feel that the attempt to police our own industry is similar to Major League Baseball trying to in-house the steroid issue.
“The purpose of the certification process is to push nationwide, uniform implementation of recommendations that the industry has never been able to accomplish because of its lack of a central authority.”
I have to question the above statement in light of the fact that accreditation is a voluntary procedure. If the industry was truly concerned about the horses and jockeys, it would mandate regulations (with strict enforcement) and not simply make recommendations.
The industry can either continue to ‘recommend’ that unsound horses not continue to run or that trainers stop shipping to slaughter but until the industry demands such things be stopped, nothing will change.
“This is precisely the approach used by healthcare to make major changes in the healthcare industry over the past 75 years.”
Does the NTRA truly believe that the approach used by the healthcare industry over the past 75 years is applicable to horse racing? One only needs to look at any media source to see how well that approach has worked.
Until the NTRA truly commits itself to putting the welfare of the horses and jockeys as top priorities, fans will continue to turn away from racing.
Alex,
You wrote “The Alliance is certifying compliance with the Alliance Code of Standards. The Code is the culmination of thousands of hours of work by industry officials, regulators, scientists, chemists, vets, engineers and others who know more about industry safety and integrity issues than any “outside experts.”
If this is true, how is it then that each of the 6 tracks fully accredited thus far have achieved this status while failing to meet the criteria outlined in the Code of Standards? None of the 6 accredited tracks meet the Thoroughbred Aftercare criteria outlined in the Code, and Belmont (as reported by NY Times sportswriter, Joe Drape) does not meet the Post Mortem criteria.
It is a shame that the NTRA has taken what actually could have been a step forward
toward implementing REAL change within the industry and instead has completely discredited the entire process. How is anyone to believe that these tracks are meeting any of the criteria when its become obvious that they do not meet some of the standards?
You also wrote that no track has failed accreditation inspection. Please tell me then what the status and results of the accreditation inspection is for Arlington Park? The NTRA inspection team was on hand at Arlington the week of July 20th and yet nothing has been published about this. As a former trainer based in Illinois who retains deep connection to the Illinois horse racing industry, I know for a FACT that Arlington does not meet Code criteria pertaining to the injury reporting database, post-mortem exams, and Thoroughbred Aftercare. In an NTRA press release issued a few days ago announcing that Monmouth Park had been fully accredited, the last paragraph states that Arlington Park, Del Mar, and Saratoga are next on tap to be inspected. This was written AFTER the inspection team had already been onsite at Arlington. What gives…why the subterfuge?
Alex,
You continue with your blatantly contradictory statements and people are suppose to believe this industry has any intention of changing a thing without any enforcement ability?
Above you stated:
“The Code is the culmination of thousands of hours of work by industry officials, regulators, scientists, chemists, vets, engineers and others who know more about industry safety and integrity issues than any ‘outside experts.’”
Yet on your very OWN NTRA website’s previous “Strategic Thinking” blog YOU — Alex — YOU asked the “outside experts” for their opinion, quote from your previous blog:
“Do me a favor. Let me know what you think is the biggest single challenge facing Thoroughbred racing in the coming months and years. And let me know how the industry in general and the NTRA in particular should address that challenge.”
So when people respond to your plea and offer their requested input of what’s happening in Thoroughbred racing you then reverse yourself and condescendingly degrade and belittle them for replying because you have experts already. Please take your medication! Racing’s horses do.
“The Code is the culmination of thousands of hours… “outside experts.”
Alex, I realize that you are the front guy for powerbrokers who have gotten away with exploiting horses to death with impunity for far too long and have established a strong code of silence which is being busted as they can’t censor information like they used to with the Internet. Racing insiders and bosses of yours have permitted the boosting and falsification of racing records with chemicals, perpetuating catastrophic injuries and chronic illnesses.
What is missing is BASIC COMMON SENSE but experts don’t get rich using common sense and only a few get rich with accident prevention. The NTRA cannot hide behind the fancy names of its hired experts to justify its scheme. How much did these thousands of hours spent on experts cost and who paid for that?
The accreditation should start with horses: observation and prevention. Seasoned, neutral horsemen should spend entire mornings for one week at each track by the outside rail and record all the stiff, lame and empty horses. Identify them, examine them by outside, neutral veterinarians and X-rays them if none are available. Those that you haven’t seen exercise shouldn’t run. Injured horses shouldn’t run.
When such daily injury prevention is in place each day then the track accreditation should look into other things.
All drugs should be banned on race day and leading to race day. Surveillance cameras should be in all barns to prevent abuse and tempering. Vets should treat horses under surveillance cameras. Horses entering and leaving all tracks and training centers should be positively identified and recorded.
Cortisone joint injections should be banned one month prior to racing. Same with clenbuterol, Bute, etc. because drugs are used on racehorses for the wrong reasons and horses need serious protection against those who control them. Horses that cannot train and race without chemicals should not.
A 6 year old would know that using basic common sense.
Racing powerbrokers need to stop paying Scientifics and legal experts for thousands of hours of work to produce recommendations which avoid addressing the real problems: drugs, infirm horses training and racing, cruelty, catastrophic injuries, death/slaughter, lack of moral values and the thick code of silence.
COMMON SENSE – MORAL VALUES – SPORTSMANSHIP are gone from horse racing. DRUGS, GREED and ABUSE have replaced honorable conduct and equine welfare.
These troubling issues need to be addressed if the NTRA want to seriously accredating participating tracks! No more expert hours and research studies are needed to be paid for to make racing substantially safer.
Everybody knows what needs to be done but since it would shrink racing and revenues, nobody want to do it.
Racing will wait for a huge catastrophe in the order of the death of two well known jockeys at once or a scandal of such proportion that the future of racing is threatened under the weight of public outrage and Congress.
Electronic equine medical records should be kept for all racing horses from birth. They should be publicly disclosed for the sake of transparency and honorable conduct or at least be made available to racing insiders and racing equine rescuers. Racing secretaries should examine these records before writing condition books and taking entries. Jockeys should examine these records and stop riding anything that’s still standing and able to move without a limp on chemicals. Examining vets who should examine all racing horses around the country should review these medical records to know what to look for if if these horses should race or not. Their work is compromised if not corrupted to fill races. Before accrediting a track enough examining vets should be hired and be totally protected from intimidation and allowed to do their jobs regardless if some races fill or not. No lame horses should be racing even if once drugged and numbed they can move well enough. The NTRA accreditations don’t stop infirm horses from racing and that should be Priority #1. Eliminating drugs on race day should be Priority #1a.
No accreditation should be given to tracks which permit horsemen and vets to withdraw humane medical care and pain management or euthanasia (to keep expenses and fatality counts low) to wounded horses. No spent, ill and injured horses should be allowed to leave the track with anyone taking them to unknown destinations. There is a very ugly, shady traffic going on at the track with injured and spent horses and the NTRA and its august experts have failed to address and demand an end to barbarism starting at the track.
Because the code of silence is still so strong, whistle blowers should be encouraged to report cruelty and fraud and receive $1,000 for each valid tip, which would be paid by collecting $1,000 from each perp including for withdrawing pain management and medical care for hours and days to injured, unwanted horses and for getting rid of them instead of paying for surgery or proper veterinary care and rehabilitation, or euthanizing them, or delivering them to rescuers, selling them to private parties willing to rehab them and train them to second careers or make them into pasture companions.
If racing would stop paying experts for the thousands of hours of work and started to use COMMON SENSE, it could boost the anonymous whistle-blower reward to $5,000 to help clean up racing by busting the perps’ code of silence.
No track should be accredited if it is not using the equine ambulance for injured horses in order to keep the number of “vanned-off” low.
Racing horses are caught in the crossfire of greed and cruelty with everyone making a buck off them until they are run into the ground. The track surface doesn’t matter much unless it is horrible. Safety vests, helmets and reins don’t matter much if infirm horses are allowed to run on drugs.
Accreditation should be awarded to tracks which ban dangerous electric hot walking machines. Yes, it costs more to walk horses by hand but owners who can’t afford taking care of their horses correctly should consider owning fewer horses and take better care of those they own. Too many corners are cut to save money while they endanger and hurt horses.
Accreditations should be awarded to tracks which have dirt to and from the track and between barns, not dangerous asphalt.
Most racing pow-wows are all about $$. Charity events before major races seldom include race horse retirement. There is a great need to support TB rescues that have to turn down most horses due to lack of funds.
The accreditation should be awarded only to tracks which use and enforce all recommendations which came out from the two Welfare & Safety Summits.
Last but not least the “claiming game” needs to be reformed to stop gross abuse and debauchery. Good horses, stakes horses, graded stakes horses and millionaires like Tour of the Cat should be prevented from racing as $4,000 claimers. Once these stakes horses are injured, they are literally passed around like hot potatoes on chemicals within the “claiming game” and exploited until they are run into the ground. The survivors that are not rescued are sent the butchers.
How can a NTRA accredit tracks as long as DNF and dead but claimed horses have to be paid for and reward the bas**** who sent them racing that day?
Track accreditations should only be awarded to tracks that ban all cruelty against horses.
Henry,
Can you hear that tremendous roaring sound? That is the sound of thousands of scared, crippled, doped up Thoroughbreds cheering you on!!
Thank you and bless you for your insightful and dead-on accurate post!
Gail
Anybody with a half of a brain knows that you can wipe your ass with their so called reccomendations . This has proven to be true time and time again over the years in countless situations especially when their is money involved flowing in and out of the same pockets in any given industry. Accreditation HA HA! Don’t make me laugh. Do they really think they can continue to pull the wool over everybody’s eyes. Get rid of waldrip and his cronies and their black cloak of secrecy and put someone who actually cares about the well being of our great american sport. Alex is already on his way out, get rid of him before he can do anymore damage.