Commentary: Perception of Medications and Racing
- Topics: Article, Drug Testing, Thoroughbreds
Perception is reality. Over and over we hear this phrase as it relates to politics, business, and even Thoroughbred racing. These three words are used so often because the concept is real and powerful.
Unfortunately, horse racing is dealing with its own shady perceptions. At the forefront is a belief that North American horses need race-day medication to compete. Race-day medication means allowing a horse to run on the anti-bleeding drug Salix.
Having horses running on drugs is not sitting well with people in this country; heck, it’s not even sitting well with our fans.
The "Driving sustainable growth for Thoroughbred racing and breeding" study done this year by the international management and consulting firm McKinsey & Co. indicated only 46% of racing fans would recommend horse racing to other people. By comparison, 82% of baseball fans, 81% of football fans, and 55% of poker players are evangelists for their sport of choice. Then when McKinsey asked how many racing fans considered themselves "proud to be a fan," only 35% said yes compared with 66% for other sports
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