While the topics at this year’s Saratoga Institute on Racing and Gaming Law were similar to those at other industry meetings this summer, the tenor of the presentations and perspectives of the panelists were not.

Two days after The Jockey Club Round Table conference, at which chairman Ogden Mills "Dinny" Phipps declared that the organization would support federal oversight of racing in the absence of further medication reform, a variety of panelist said public perception of the sport is based in faulty and biased representation by both the press and industry organizations.

Both events were held in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

On the opening panel of the law conference, trainer John Kimmel, DVM, who holds a veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania, asked how many people in attendance believed that racehorses were overmedicated. When approximately 50% of the attendees raised their hands, Kimmel challenged their perception