Pending US House hearing on racing

[DJofSD]

Time to get you pencils and paper out, fire up that email application and call a US House of Representative on the list below.

Why? The Energy and Commerce subcommitte on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection is suppose to be inviting racing officals to hearing sometime during the month of June. See this (http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/45527.htm) article on the Bloodhorse web site.

Likely they will be focusing on the Eight Belles breakdown and euthenasia. However, we can bring to the committee members attention the fact there are numerous other issues that can be viewed as problems. Put bluntly, if we do a good job, those racing officials can be made to squirm. And if the horse slaughter bill is any indication, this is an opportunity to strike while the iron is hot.

Here's (http://energycommerce.house.gov/Subcommittees/ctcp.shtml) the link to the sub committee's web page. The members are:

Bobby L. Rush, IL, Chairman
Ed Whitfield, KY, Ranking Member
Jan Schakowsky, IL, Vice Chair
Cliff Stearns, FL
G. K. Butterfield, NC
Charles W. "Chip" Pickering, MS
John Barrow, GA
Vito Fossella, NY
Baron P. Hill, IN
George Radanovich, CA
Edward J. Markey, MA
Joseph R. Pitts, PA
Rick Boucher, VA
Mary Bono Mack, CA
Edolphus Towns, NY
Lee Terry, NE
Diana DeGette, CO
Sue Wilkins Myrick, NC
Charles A. Gonzalez, TX
John Sullivan, OK
Mike Ross, AR
Michael C. Burgess, TX
Darlene Hooley, OR
Marsha Blackburn, TN
Anthony D. Weiner, NY
Joe Barton, TX (Ex Officio)
Jim Matheson, UT
Charlie Melancon, LA
John D. Dingell (Ex Officio)

Pick an issue or two or three that needs to have a spot light shown on it. Let your closest representative know about it. Don't worry if you are in a state that does not have a rep from your state on the committee, any form of communication will help bring attention to the issues.

Go for it. Let's make those do-nothing industry officials nervous.

[FlyinLate]

Time to get you pencils and paper out, fire up that email application and call a US House of Representative on the list below.

Why? The Energy and Commerce subcommitte on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection is suppose to be inviting racing officals to hearing sometime during the month of June. See this (http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/45527.htm) article on the Bloodhorse web site.

Likely they will be focusing on the Eight Belles breakdown and euthenasia. However, we can bring to the committee members attention the fact there are numerous other issues that can be viewed as problems. Put bluntly, if we do a good job, those racing officials can be made to squirm. And if the horse slaughter bill is any indication, this is an opportunity to strike while the iron is hot.

Here's (http://energycommerce.house.gov/Subcommittees/ctcp.shtml) the link to the sub committee's web page. The members are:

Bobby L. Rush, IL, Chairman
Ed Whitfield, KY, Ranking Member
Jan Schakowsky, IL, Vice Chair
Cliff Stearns, FL
G. K. Butterfield, NC
Charles W. "Chip" Pickering, MS
John Barrow, GA
Vito Fossella, NY
Baron P. Hill, IN
George Radanovich, CA
Edward J. Markey, MA
Joseph R. Pitts, PA
Rick Boucher, VA
Mary Bono Mack, CA
Edolphus Towns, NY
Lee Terry, NE
Diana DeGette, CO
Sue Wilkins Myrick, NC
Charles A. Gonzalez, TX
John Sullivan, OK
Mike Ross, AR
Michael C. Burgess, TX
Darlene Hooley, OR
Marsha Blackburn, TN
Anthony D. Weiner, NY
Joe Barton, TX (Ex Officio)
Jim Matheson, UT
Charlie Melancon, LA
John D. Dingell (Ex Officio)

Pick an issue or two or three that needs to have a spot light shown on it. Let your closest representative know about it. Don't worry if you are in a state that does not have a rep from your state on the committee, any form of communication will help bring attention to the issues.

Go for it. Let's make those do-nothing industry officials nervous.

Looks like my local congressman is the chairman. I actually work for another congress member here in IL. I'm going to have to make a call to Rush's office later this week.

[highnote]

Since I can't fall asleep tonight here's a thought based on this article...

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/45695.htm

Maybe the new HANA should author a letter and send it on behalf of horseplayers?

[Indulto]

http://www.horseraceinsider.com/John-Pricci/
Stewards Give Desormeaux Three Thumbs Up; Mr. Dutrow Goes to Washington
by John PricciJune 12, 2008…On the same day the New York stewards went to the movies with Desormeaux, where apparently his performance earned three thumbs up, the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection released a witness list for a June 19 hearing ...

... Guess the feds think there’s more to racing’s problems than a jockey that might have been overprotective of a would be Triple Crown champion. They will, however, speak with Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, as well as several prominent owners, breeders, veterinarians, and racing officials, the heads of the five racing families.

… Waldrop has been quite vocal on the steroids issue. Immediately after the Belmont, he said that racing cannot afford to have the legitimacy of its stars questioned with respect to the use of steroids.

Waldrop, however, is “not willing to concede that we don’t have a healthy breed,” and that “there has been a rush to judgment on the [speed vs. stoutness] issue.”

Of course, Waldrop must protect a robust market place--his organization vitally depends on the contributions of a fiscally healthy industry for its survival--horse sales being the driving force behind the business of winning a Triple Crown title.

Contrarily, empirical evidence has shown that the breed is not robust, tracing to the concentrated amount of inbreeding yielding early developing horses with speed, the kind of talent that cannot be taught. …http://www.drf.com/news/article/95379.html
House subcommittee slates hearing on sport
By MATT HEGARTY6/11/2008A federal House subcommittee that has focused on the use of drugs in sports has scheduled a hearing for June 19 to examine the racing industry's existing regulations and to consider the intervention of the federal government in the sport.

... the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, said Wednesday in an interview the hearing will address a range of topics that primarily deal with the patchwork of rules governing the sport in the 38 major U.S. racing jurisdictions.

"The whole purpose of the hearing is to look at the lack of transparency, the lack of uniform rules, and the lack of ability to enforce anything on a national level," Whitfield said.

Several racing officials, who did not want to comment in advance of a specific announcement from the subcommittee, said that subcommittee staff have been meeting with racing officials for a week to discuss plans for the hearing.

… The hearing is a "reaction to what's happening in the industry and with the breed," Shapiro said, referencing the recent high-profile breakdowns of Eight Belles, George Washington, and Barbaro.

… The subcommittee said the hearing would be titled, "Breeding, Drugs, and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Horseracing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse."

… Most horse racing officials are uneasy with the prospect of federal regulation of the sport, preferring to allow states to set racing rules. Whitfield has indicated that he is willing to use the federal Interstate Horseracing Act - a 1978 law that enabled simulcasting across state lines - to fund federal regulation of the sport by diverting proceeds from simulcasting revenues. The act could also be amended to prohibit racetracks from conducting interstate simulcasting unless the tracks complied with federal rules, Whitfield has said.

[Kelso]

Waldrop and his NTRA are worthless. Shameless shills for the breeding-for-breakdowns industry.