Ban race-day drugs for horses

Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader: Horse racing is and always will be a dangerous sport.

Human and equine athletes compete at high speed in crowded fields relying on muscle, bone and split-second judgment to keep them safe.

There are factors that affect that risk, including the integrity of owners, trainers, veterinarians and racing officials.

The challenge horse racing faces is convincing the public that it’s doing everything possible to reduce the risk.

It’s a challenge the sport simply has not met.

The only realistic solution is to embrace the efforts of Kentucky Rep. Ed Whitfield and New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall to amend the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 to prohibit administering performance-enhancing drugs on race days to horses in simulcast races. Hundreds of people in the industry have signed a letter advocating federal oversight.

Performance-enhancing drugs are often used to mask pain so that a sore horse will still run hard. As most human athletes know, pain is a message that, if ignored, can lead to serious injury. In horses, serious injuries are often fatal.

Worse, if a breakdown happens during a race, the horse, rider and the competitors are endangered.

Inherent risks

Some animal rights activists will probably never accept the inherent risk of horse racing as anything other than cruelty. Racing fans will always have a twinge of fear when the gates open but will go on loving the sport.

In between, there are millions of people who might be fans if they could only believe that some authority is watching out for the safety of horse and rider in every race in every state.