A Hall of Fame Vote for Steve Asmussen

When Steve Asmussen and his assistant Scott Blasi were accused in 2014 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals of all sorts of nefarious deeds, I was among the many who thought he should never be inducted into the sport's Hall of Fame. His on-track accomplishments were more than enough to make him a slum dunk Hall of Famer, but the picture that PETA painted of him was an ugly one. He seemed completely unworthy of one of the sport's highest accomplishments, one in which character issues and the treatment of the animal must be considered.

Some two years later, we've all had time to digest the situation, further delve into the facts and hear from two racing commissions who investigated the charges made by PETA against Asmussen. We've moved well beyond the point where this was such a hot-button, controversial issue that caused a lot of us to rush to judgment.

Now, we're dealing with a situation where Asmussen has had his day in court, we've all been able to take a deep breath, and Hall of Fame voters such as myself have had ample time to dissect the case against him and reconsider their positions. That's what I have done, and I'm happy to admit I had this one wrong. On Sunday, I filled out my Hall of Fame ballot and didn't hesitate to put the check mark next to Asmussen's name.

The easy part is deciding whether or not Asmussen has had enough success during his career to merit entry into the Hall of Fame. In that area, there is no debate. He is second among all trainers in career wins and fourth in earnings. He holds the record for most wins in a year, which he accomplished in 2009 with 650.

If those numbers were largely piled up in claiming races or at lesser tracks they, alone, wouldn't be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame. But Asmussen, who does win an awful lot of races at the Retama Parks of the world, trained three straight Horse of the Year winners as Curlin (Smart Strike) won the title in 2007 and 2008 and Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) was named Horse of the Year in 2009. He's also won five Breeders' Cup races and two editions of the GI Kentucky Oaks.

He appeared all set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014 when his name was withdrawn from consideration because of the PETA allegations. That wasn't the wrong thing to do at the time, as it was important for all the facts to be gathered and for the Kentucky and New York racing commissions to complete their investigations before voters could make an informed decision about his candidacy.

With that process having been concluded, the Hall of Fame put Asmussen back on the ballot for this year. With no one doubting his credentials when it comes to his on-track accomplishments, voters must decide whether or not he has broken or bent the rules so much or in such a serious fashion that they don't believe he should be in the Hall of Fame.

The PETA investigation into the Asmussen barn was troubling, even though it dealt much more so with Blasi than Asmussen. There was talk about using batteries and the secretly recorded tapes lead one to believe that Asmussen ignored the rules when it came to proper documentation of his workers, many of them illegal immigrants. Worse yet, the tapes gave the impression that the well-being of the animal was not foremost in Asmussen's mind and that he didn't hesitate to take any edge he could to win a race, even if that wasn't in the best interests of the horse's health.

None of that shines a particularly good light on him or his organization, but nothing PETA captured on tape proved that he broke any rules. It should take a lot more than what PETA came up with to keep someone out of the Hall of Fame. It should take something like being a blatant cheater or someone who is guilty of animal cruelty. We all know PETA can go too far and in this instance they did. They painted Asmussen as the worst kind of person possible and didn't come close to having the evidence to back it up.

The Kentucky Racing Commission was the first to weigh in. In January, 2015 it found no evidence that Asmussen mistreated his horses. The Kentucky Commission stated that “PETA's allegations could not be substantiated” and concluded that Asmussen's horses “were well cared for.” The Kentucky authorities took no action against Asmussen.

The New York Gaming Commission was next to have its say. They were a little tougher on Asmussen, fining him $10,000 for administering synthetic thyroxine to horses. Thr other allegations leveled by PETA against Asmussen were dismissed.

Asmussen has received two suspensions during his career for drug violations, one for lidocaine, another for mepivicaine. It's okay to argue that a trainer should never have any medication violations on their records, but in the grand scheme of things, those offenses are relatively minor, and certainly not something that should disqualify him from the Hall of Fame.

A total of only four, be they horses or humans, can be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in any given year. Those superstar mares Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) are on my ballot and should be on everyone's. I also voted for jockey Ramon Dominguez, who was the best jockey in the country until his career was cut short by injury. Then there's Asmussen. You don't have to love him or even like him. But, sorry PETA, he has done nothing to justify keeping him out of the Hall of Fame.