Horse racing leaders move to set national safety standards

Looking to halt doping scandals and horse deaths marring ir sport, thoroughbred racing leaders Monday anunced launch of an integrity and safety authority to create national standards replacing patchwork of state regulations overseeing industry.

authority will help set industry-wide standards for medication use, track conditions and or safety standards to protect thoroughbreds and ir riders.

initiative will be backed by federal legislation to be introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Kentucky Republican said horse racing industry “deserves uniform standards and guidelines that will help protect this sport."

legislation will provide federal recognition and enforcement power for new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority to develop uniform, baseline standards for industry.

“If we want to preserve horse racing and its future, we needed to act," McConnell said at a news conference at Keeneland in heart of Kentucky's horse industry. “We owe it to horses. We owe it to jockeys. We owe it to trainers, breeders and fans to make thoroughbred racing as fair and as safe as possible."

Horse racing has been hobbled by schemes to drug horses to make m race faster and by horse deaths. Santa Anita racetrack has been rattled by a number of deaths when horses broke down.

Unlike or professional sports with central league offices, thoroughbred racing is regulated at state level, resulting in a patchwork of rules on medication standards and testing protocols. authority will be an independent, n-governmental regulatory body that will bring more transparency to inner-workings of horse racing, industry leaders said.

“Simply put, it is an inefficient system," said Drew Fleming, president and CEO of Breeders’ Cup Limited. “Our industry needs uniform standards and protocols that are consistently enforced to make sure that integrity and equine safety are top priorities for every track, every horseman in every race.”

Im credits: AP