NM: Tougher penalties, testing considered for horse racing

Tougher penalties for drugging racehorses to enhance their performance will soon be considered in New Mexico. The state Racing Commission on Thursday scheduled a public hearing for May 2 on adopting the penalties set forth by the Association of Racing Commissioners International. Robert M. Doughty, chairman of the five-member New Mexico commission, said those standards generally carry heavier penalties than the state now applies in drug cases. Doughty said he expected the commission to devise a hybrid system, combining the strengths of the international standards with elements of New Mexico drug enforcement policies that work well. If that happens at the May public hearing, the commission would be positioned to implement new rules for New Mexico's horseracing industry at its June 21 meeting, Doughty said. He said the commission was considering changes in drug policy and enforcement before The New York Times last month published a 6,000-word story on the failings of American horseracing tracks and regulators. The Times found that five of the seven U.S. tracks with the highest rates of horse breakdowns and deaths were in New Mexico. Doughty faulted a portion of the newspaper's statistical analysis. New Mexico tracks often "van off" horses as a medical precaution. The Times focused on that point, but missed the context that it was an extra step toward keeping horses safe, Doughty said. The method may have been skewed the newspaper's analysis and given the state's racing industry an inflated number of horse breakdowns, he said. But, Doughty said, there was no doubt that the Times' digging raised important issues, particularly on drug use and how it can imperil horses and jockeys...more