The results of the Association of Racing Commissions International's Industry Input Project, which included 28 focus groups and an in-depth survey of industry stakeholders, show support for the creation of a centralized rule making entity accountable to existing racing commissions. The survey sites top problems as perception, competition, uniformity in the rules and doping.
The concept of anti-doping policy being handled by a private entity, such as USADA was supported by 44% of respondents, but 87% of those respondents found it unacceptable to have the private entity accountable to a US federal agency. The majority of them (73%) felt the entity should be accountable to a government entity.
“We don't have a horse in this race,” said Ed Martin, ARCI President. “When pursuing legislation, either on the state or federal level, initiatives resulting from a general consensus tend to minimize potential opposition and have the greatest possibility of success. We believe this project has identified ways to build that consensus on a breed by breed basis. Only the industry can decide whether to do that or not.”
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