The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is pleased to release a suite of reforms as part of the 'Moving Ahead: Horse Racing Regulation in Ontario' project.
These rule and process changes reflect the AGCO’s commitment to promoting integrity and safety, protecting the public interest, helping to reduce the administrative burden for participants, and contributing to the government’s ongoing efforts to support the sustainability of Ontario horse racing.
This package of reforms reflects the work of:
- The Equine Drug Program Working Group;
- The Health and Safety Working Group; and,
- An AGCO internal review of the Rules of Racing, with the objective of updating the rules to reflect the current state of industry practices and reducing the administrative burden on licensees.
Equine Drug Program Reforms
The Equine Drug Program Working Group was announced in May 2017, in collaboration with the Canadian Pari-Mutual Agency (CPMA), and met five times over a period of seven months.
As announced on February 8, 2018 in the Equine Drug Program Working Group’s Summary Report, the AGCO is introducing a number of measures which will streamline the AGCO Equine Drug Program processes. These changes include the following:
- The Penalty Guidelines are being updated, to better reflect the severity of equine drug violations and better protect equine athletes;
- The Race Official’s review of a positive test will be a more efficient process;
- Standardization of the process for offering settlements for most drug violations with early admission; and,
- Horses will no longer be automatically suspended for 90 days following a positive test.
Additional details on all process changes can be found in the Working Group’s Summary Report, and in other materials found on a new AGCO webpage dedicated to the AGCO Equine Drug Program. Included on the webpage participants can find:
- A process map of the revised AGCO Equine Drug Program, which provides a visual description of the new positive test process;
- The updated Penalty Guidelines; and,
- Information on positive test violations and rulings (to be implemented in late spring of 2018).
The AGCO Equine Drug Program Rule changes and the new Penalty Guidelines can be found in the Directives.
Health and Safety Working Group
The Health and Safety Working Group was announced on September 15, 2017, and met four times over the course of five months.
The Working Group played a valuable role in advising the AGCO on ways to enhance health and safety for both equine athletes and human participants, and in identifying opportunities for the industry at large to act collectively on a range of prominent issues.
The Working Group’s Summary Report, released March 7, 2018, may be viewed online on the AGCO website on the ‘Moving Ahead’ project page. Based on the recommendations of the Working Group, AGCO is introducing two changes:
- Standardbred Rule 6.52 and Thoroughbred Rule 15.37, related to extracorporeal shockwave machines, have been modified. Effective April 21, 2018, only veterinarians licensed by the AGCO can possess and use such machines under specific conditions.
- A new Standardbred Rule 6.54 and a new Thoroughbred Rule 15.39, address the use of blood gas machines. Effective April 21, 2018, only veterinarians licensed by the AGCO may use blood gas machines on a racehorse and the use of machines is restricted to valid diagnostic procedures. The use of a machine on a racehorse must be recorded and maintained as part of the record for a horse.
The health and safety rule changes can be found in the Directives.
Rules of Racing Updated to Reflect the Current State of Industry Practices
The AGCO has also taken the opportunity to reflect on the current state of industry practices and is updating the Rules of Racing accordingly. Across the two rule books, sixteen (16) rules which are no longer in use are being removed and twelve (12) are being updated to better reflect current practices. A number of the changes are expected to help reduce the administrative burden on industry.
These rule changes can be found in the Directives.
AGCO Official Race Reports
In 2017 the AGCO launched a Race Reports pilot project, and today the AGCO is pleased to announce the expansion of the program to all racetracks in Ontario, as each racetrack becomes operational in 2018, starting with Woodbine Racetrack on April 21, 2018.
The pilot was initially launched at The Raceway at Western Fair in April 2017, and over the course of the last eleven months, the AGCO expanded the pilot to include Woodbine Mohawk Park, Flamboro Downs and Rideau Carleton Raceway.
The Race Reports include details on in-race calls made by AGCO Race Officials and other insights impacting each race card. Daily race reports have been advocated for by the betting public for additional wagering insights, and by participants for improving consistency.
Details on the outcome of the 2017 Race Reports pilot project, including feedback received from industry through a recent survey, will be released in the Spring 2018 issue of the AGCO’s Race Line newsletter.
A big thank you to the racetracks that supported the 2017 Race Reports pilot.
Racing Reform Phase 2
Later this year the AGCO will launch Phase 2 of its multi-year racing reform project.
This second phase of reform will focus on modernizing the Rules of Racing to better align with the AGCO regulatory framework; progressing towards a more risk-based, outcomes-based and compliance-focused model.
The AGCO is committed to ongoing collaboration with industry stakeholders, and therefore will establish formal engagement and advisory processes to ensure industry input is reflected in future reforms.
In the months ahead, there will be further communication regarding Phase 2 of the reform process.
(AGCO)
With respect to application
With respect to application of the penalties as established by these guidelines, there remains an incredible amount of leeway with respect to penalties. We have all seen many circumstances where “circumstances” result in significant differences in rule enforcement. This provides a great opportunity for the public to question the integrity of the regulatory body. Two things I feel need to be addressed.
1) less variation in the penalties and less leeway to alter the penalty with respect to “mitigating circumstances”
2) All rulings should be handed out in a public forum which allows other participants to hear the testimony on both sides so there is real transparency in the system.
In addition, considering the considerable penalties with respect to TCO2 violations, a split sample should be held and provided to anyone testing positive in the event a challenge is put forth. Since TCO2 testing is very inaccurate, all testing should take place at the time of sampling so that if a split sample can be drawn and tested in the presence of a stable representative with the machine being recalibrated in the presence of that representative prior to running the sample through the apparatus.
Finally, the question of trainer responsibility. If a trainer is accompanying a horse to the track at Mohawk and is stabled off the grounds. How are they to insure, in a reasonable manner, that the rest of the stable is secure? This is an impossible task. One easy solution would be to require tracks to provide secure stabling with cameras on every stall and in every shedrow. All horses should have to be on the grounds a minimum of 8 days prior to being entered. When arriving on the grounds blood and urine samples should be taken as per CPMA protocol. The stable area should be void of personal vehicles and all participants enter through a secure screening process with technology similar to that used at airports. Vets should have to set up clinics on the grounds and all equipment and medications dispensed through a central facility. Considering the size and scope of penalties indicated trainers will be faces with, its only reasonable the tracks bear some responsibility.
Good start but other rules
Good start but other rules and Directives should be implemented:
Claiming : When there are more than one claim on a horse, a system should be put in place which would allow fair chance to all claimers. A ball system which the ball is chosen at the security desk in front of all participant (or any other system that shows transparency) At the present time the same trainer (yes we all know who it is) is getting almost all claims, must be a very lucky man.We are in 2017 how can we let judges turn the claiming pages over and pick one (what a joke).TRANSPARENCY!!!! for a fair game AGCO you should be involve in changing this process. This is as worse as drugs for the horses.
Trainer suspended: This is another joke within the Industry, a trainer gets caught and the owner changes the trainer for the old trainer friend or groom and life continues as it was before. I know owners that has 3/4/5 names as trainers but its the same trainer. AGCO should have people go over the named trainer books and records to audit the change. See the flow of Money....After the review of the books and records, If any faults...Introduce a penalty for a defacto trainer or and any trainers involve and to be banned for life.If the penalty do not fit the crime, you can add 150 penalties, people will continue to try and get an advantage.
Abolish of Dummy claimers: Some of the horses racing both at B tracks and woodbine/Mohawk are racing for a price tag for twice and sometime 4/5 time their worth. This reduces the numbers of claim which at the same time makes it difficult for new owners (new blood in our sports) to claim a horse. We need to introduce more claiming races and reduce the nw to a minimum... We all agree with need to get new owners, but at the same time we do not give them more than the same 40ish horses for claim every week. The only reason we see this is that the racing secretary does not have the same goal as our business mandate. A call the AGCO to discuss, I was told this is not their mandate, well what is their mandate is its not to structure our game to maximise our profit and well being?
These three changes are MUST as we turn the page on ...the way we use to do business. People that want to invest and bet on our sport needs to see that we have a clean game with transparency.