USDA Head Calls for Independent Testing

A day after The Jockey Club announced that it would pursue federal legislation to bring about national medication reform and would seek a partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart, CEO of USADA, spoke to a group of industry insiders to discuss how his agency could help make uniform medication testing and policing a reality in the sport. 
Speaking Monday at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga at the request of the Water Hay Oats Alliance, Tygart said, “Our interest in this, at the end of the day, is clean sport. We were asked to get involved. Congress called us, we heard from the industry. We are here for the right reasons. And we wouldn't be here otherwise.” 
The USADA is an independent, non-profit organization which receives government grants. It oversees drug testing for the United States Olympic Committee and conducted the investigation which eventually led to cycling legend Lance Armstrong being stripped of his Tour de France titles. 
Tygart stressed several times that USADA's independence was key in creating a successful national policy and a clean image for the sport. 
“We're not here to grow revenue for the sport,” he explained. “You all are–that's your industry's job. But we're separate from that. We're here to protect the rights [of the participants]. Because, if it's not impossible, it's awfully difficult to both promote and police your sport. There is an inherent conflict of interest. We used to call it the fox guarding the hen house.” 
Tygart outlined possible models that USADA's involvement in drug policy and testing in racing could take, but, ultimately, he said, the industry itself would have to come up with the specific rules and structure of the program. 
“The idea is not to apply what happens in the Olympics to horses,” Tygart commented. “It is not to take our current list of prohibited substances and apply it to racing or to take our current test distribution plan and apply it to horses. You have to develop the rules that would apply that are unique. That, with significant industry input, you come up with the best practices. How you collect, what you collect. Burdens of proof in cases, the legal process–all of those types of substantive arenas.” 
Racing will only be helped in the long term by cleaning up its image, according to Tygart. 
“I think you will experience the lesson that the Olympics learned, that your pie will grow bigger when you get this [medication] issue solved,” he said. “At the end of the day, it is an investment that pays for itself in the long run.” 
Arthur Hancock, one of WHOA's founding members, said it is important to get information on USADA to the industry. 
“We organized this meeting for industry stakeholders and for people involved in the industry to hear Travis Tygart and get a better idea of what all this is about after The Jockey Club put its weight behind federal legislation–not regulation or intervention. We just want to shed more light on what we can do to have a good image. Because you sell the sizzle and not the steak. You cannot market a flawed product. So we have to get racing cleaned up, just like they did cycling. And we'll all have a rosy future. There are a lot of games in town and we won't be able to compete with them unless we have a good image.” 
Also in attendance was former Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones, who called the alliance between USADA and The Jockey Club, “a marriage made in heaven.” 
“I think everybody recognizes that we have a problem and when you have problems, you need to find problem solvers,” Jones said. “As a lot of people have been talking about what the problem is and how do we deal with the problem, I really believe that USADA can play a very significant role in that. And I think The Jockey Club can play a very important role in it.” 
Jones added that he was wary of putting too much trust in the political arena. 
“We have to be careful in the way we deal with the politics of the situation,” he said. “If you turn this thing over to Congress–you see what Congress has been doing the last few years. How many problems have they solved? It's pretty hard to really get too excited about that. But bringing in the marriage made in heaven with USADA and The Jockey Club, I'm really excited about. It's important to keep that independence.” 
Looking forward, Jones concluded, “Our next step is to continue our association and to have people step forward and say, 'I want to be part of this.' We have to build the team. We've got some mighty good players out there that probably will begin to get the message and it's up to all of us to encourage that.” 
Among those in attendance at the museum Monday were trainers Ken McPeek, Nick Zito and John Ward, as well as WinStar Farm President Elliott Walden, West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley, Team Valor's Barry Irwin, Live Oak's Charlotte Weber, Roy and Gretchen Jackson and George Strawbridge. Bloodstock agents Doug Cauthen, Patrick Lawley Wakelin and John Adger were in the audience, as were NTRA President Alex Waldrop, Jim Gagliano, president of The Jockey Club, and racetrack executive Hal Handel.