Article by Bill Heller

Bruce Brown

That’s a good question. I usually have a good enough relationship with my vets. I really trust their judgment. It seems like nowadays there aren’t many vets who would do something you don’t want, something that you really don’t need, whatever it takes to get a horse in a race. That’s not in our game anymore. I have in my head what I think, but usually it matches well with my vets.

Kelly Breen

I probably use a vet’s recommendation, maybe 85 percent of the time. I have gone against their recommendation because of my gut. Usually, my gut is the right answer. For sure, there are times when my gut is wrong. But sometimes the scientific answer is not always correct. Generally, the advice given from the vet is the textbook version, and not everything is textbook in horse racing.

Charlie Baker

Well, if it conflicts with my gut feeling, percentage wise, I would say 65 percent I’d follow the vet. It all depends on the situation. Is it one I’ve dealt with in the past? If so, I would use my experience, especially if it’s a younger vet, one fresh out of school. If I’m totally confident in my vet, I listen to him.

Carla Gaines

That’s a good question. You always want to do what’s best for the horse. You kind of have to go along with the veterinarian. These days, with just being way more cautious—not that it was irrelevant before—if you have a gut feeling that a horse is fine, you still do diagnostics to make sure your horse is fine.

Ian Wilkes

You talk to him. Common sense prevails.

Burl McBride

I stick with my gut feeling, but I do trust my vets because I can’t see an X-ray. I can’t see an ultrasound. I’m pretty opinionated. These horses will talk to you if you listen.

Leonard Powell

A lot of times, I would use the vet for a sounding board. I’d really consider his opinion. Ninety-ninety percent of the time we come to a consensus.

Tom Proctor

I don’t ask a veterinarian for advice. I have a license. They have a license.

By Bill Heller

Todd Pletcher, Hall of Fame trainer

It’s difficult to project, but I think we’re going to continue to see what we’ve seen the past five years: a reduction in the tracks that are open. I think we’ll see continued growth in gambling, period. I think racing is benefitting from that—an open mindedness to gambling. Everyone now is gambling on football—pretty much on everything. One thing that grew during the pandemic was gambling. There will be fewer tracks but more of them operating successfully.

One thing we need to do is continue to make improvements on safety.

Assuming it (the HISA) goes through, it’s a good thing for the sport. We need some uniformity. It’s very difficult as a trainer to keep track of all the different rules in every jurisdiction. It should level the playing field.

Graham Motion, trainer

I hope, once we have the Horse Racing Integrity (and safety) Act in place, we’ll be in a better place five years from now. There will be smaller foal crops and less racetracks but a better product—one with more integrity. The status quo is unacceptable. It’s almost impossible to keep up with the different rules. We need uniformity and integrity, and right now we have neither.

Kelly Breen, trainer

I think what we saw in the pandemic was that people are betting—maybe more online. So many people learned how to bet on their phones and iPads during the pandemic that we’re setting record handles.

On track, you go to Saratoga, and it was mobbed. On the blue ribbon days, everybody is going to show up. I’m at the Keeneland Sales, and you can’t raise your hand. Racing is good. If you can get a good legislative body, and get everybody together for where we need to be in the next five years so you don’t have different rules on medication, the good horseman will be around.

Cliff Sise, Jr., trainer

Will we be here in five years? They are just tearing it apart. In New York, they have great purses now, but the new governor wants to take all that money and spend it otherwise. If that happens, purses will go so low. In California, Del Mar does well, but we don’t have the contract to get the purses up to where they should be. Owners are getting disgusted. We’re all shaking our heads wondering if we’ll be here in five years. It depends a lot on governors. If they look down on us, they can just say no more horse racing. PETA is watching us. We’re under the microscope so much. It’s a tough game to enjoy anymore.

Eric Jackson, Oaklawn Park Senior Vice President

Five years is a pretty short time from now. There will be fewer tracks than today, but those that survive the withering will be better than before. Sports are popular. I think it will be quality over quantity. In any sport, there’s demand to see it at a better level.

Chris Merz, Director of Racing, Santa Anita

I’m going to shed a positive light. I’m hoping this new bill puts everybody on the same page with the same rules. Then we can coordinate post times so they don’t conflict. It will be an industry working together to help the industry. We need to make this work. I think we’ve seen what happens when we don’t.

Michael Dubb, owner

There will be more consolidation, and we’ll be probably at the infancy of a marriage to legalized sports betting providers. I think that’s the future of racing. Anything that grows handle is probably good. You get a sports provider and a content provider, and the future will be TVG horse shows—you get on somebody’s platform. Do I want to bet if it’s sunny or cloudy? Do I want to bet football? Here’s horse racing. Do I want to bet that? think that’s the future of racing. Twenty years ago, we didn’t know the future of racing would be iPads. That’s how it turned out.

Barry Schwartz, owner and former CEO of the New York Racing Association

A lot has changed because of the pandemic. I think it exposed people to gambling on the Internet. Handle is everything. To me, right now, racing looks very alive and well. You see what’s going on at Keeneland. They’re already way past last year. Critical to racing is HISTA. They’ve got to get that up and running so the public has more confidence in racing, and that racing is legitimate. I think if we have a real strong organization in place, it will make people a lot more confident about racing—about racing being legitimate. The bottom line is I see a lot of things to be happy about with racing going forward. I didn’t feel that way five years ago.

Nick Cosato, owner

I would like to think we’re headed in the right direction with the Integrity Act. I’m optimistic.

Jack Knowlton, owner

I’m optimistic that racing will be in a better place in five years than it is today. In part, I do believe that the federal legislation will allow more resources to do the kind of testing we need to stay one step ahead of the cheaters. One of the big things is we never had enough resources to do the research. They’re coming up with new stuff to cheat. In my mind, that’s the biggest issue racing is facing. I think you’re going to have owners feeling better about participating.

And we’ll have one set of rules. The other thing, and we’ve made strides, is the issue of safety. We look at the data, and we’re getting a lot better, but there’s more work to be done. We have to continue to improve it. That’s definitely going in the right direction. The other issue is after-care, making sure we find a place for these athletes when they’re done with their careers.

North American Article Index

#Soundbites - How closely do you follow your veterinarian’s advice if it conflicts with your gut feeling about your horse?

#Soundbites - What do you think racing will be like five years from now?