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Originally Posted by classhandicapper
I'm generally against doing things at the Federal level when they can be done at the state level. The complicating issue here is different rules on drugs and treatments in each state.
It would be one thing if everyone knew the entire medical history of every horse (or if horses never shipped). Then you could at least theoretically have an informed view on whether a horse's performances on circuit 'a" would be duplicated on circuit 'b' with different treatments and drugs.
But this industry can't even time races correctly yet.
It's crazy to think fans are going to start looking through medical records to see which drugs and treatments a horse has been receiving or that all that info is going be provided in the PPs (let alone the public understand it). We are lucky we even get Lasix info.
IMHO, this is one of the exceptions where I think some kind of national policy on drugs and treatments makes some sense. How much further beyond that you want to take it is questionable, but the drug issue from state to state has long been a problem.
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How about starting with the BC? If there were a policy in place that all participants must have certifications of lifetime drug status to run then wouldn't that get the ball rolling? To be fair it would have to be phased in. The triple crown races could implement the same mandate. At that point what owner or trainer would risk a shot at the ultimate races with any horse that has potential?
After transitioning to drug-free big races the mandates could then be implemented to lower level races.
