At the first Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing since the April death of Ogden “Dinny” Phipps, the legacy of the the long-time chairman of The Jockey Club was invoked in chairman Stuart Janney’s opening remarks.
“[Dinny] wanted [The Jockey Club] to help the industry more than it had in the past, whether it was in the area of integrity, technology, or marketing of the sport,” said Janney on Sunday as he welcomed the audience in the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York, and those watching The Jockey Club’s online broadcast of the event.
Those three topics were the focus of this year’s Round Table, as presenters both domestic and international, from within horse racing and without, offered perspectives familiar to those that had previously attended the annual conference, building on the findings and recommendations in the 2011 McKinsey reported commissioned by The Jockey Club.
Frustrated by what it sees as the lack of progress in medication reform in the United States, two years ago The Jockey Club announced it would actively seek to pass legislation enabling federal, independent oversight of U.S. medication policy, testing, and penalties. As it stands, the 38 racing jurisdictions in the U.S. set their own rules regarding medication and penalties, and while industry organizations have over the last several years made progress on implementing the National Uniform Medication Program, that progress has neither been quick nor thorough enough to satisfy The Jockey Club.
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