American Racing's Biggest Problem

And Up-to-date, Weighted Rankings of the Best American Racehorses

A Column by Steve Davidowitz
July 18, 2007

Aside from the high caliber of racing we are set to experience at Del Mar in Southern California and at Saratoga in upstate New York, it is difficult to remain silent about the most important issue plaguing racing on these shores.

I am talking specifically about performance enhancing and pain reducing drugs administered for racing purposes.

Consider this fact: Every racing jurisdiction in Canada and the United States permits the use of powerful drugs, such as the diuretic furosemide (Lasix) and the analgesic phenylbutazone (Bute), when no other country in the world permits similar drugs for racing purposes.

Unfortunately, American drug testing, while quite comprehensive in some states, is under-financed in too many jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, veterinarians who work with racehorses on the backstretch are given far too many liberties in prescribing and applying "medications" (read that as d-r-u-g-s). Some of these drugs go way beyond helping racehorses recover from aches, pains and temporary maladies. Some, in fact, screen pain and tacitly encourage trainers to run their horses with minor ailments, while their pain-warning systems are shut down or severely muted.

Moreover, the drug problem in American racing is not just limited to masking minor aches and pains. The problem is quite similar, in fact, to the performance enhancing issues faced by other professional sports all over the world - from American baseball to international cycling to Olympic track and field.

There are corticosteroids and equine growth hormones; there are marginally known performance enhancing substances; and, as we learned from the case that is building against trainer Patrick Biancone, there may be dreaded snake venom thrown into the mix.

While I am not a vet, or horse trainer, or racing official, I have been watching and betting on horses for more than 40 years and do believe there are some practical steps that racing officials could take to severely curtail drug abuse in the American game. Here specifically is one horseplayer's considered suggestion that attempts to deal with the realities at hand and incorporates several practical components.

• Every racetrack should have a refrigerated, state controlled commissary stocked with the major therapeutic medications for each registered, practicing track vet. The key to this idea would be to bar all vets from bringing any medications from outside the racetrack into the restricted barn area.
• All medications, in fact, should be dispensed at the commissary under state supervision directly to registered track vets before they begin their rounds of the horses under their care each morning.
• At the end of their rounds, all medications that have not been dispensed should be returned to the commissary. Failure to do so would result in fines and suspensions for the offending vets.
• To deal quickly with unusual illnesses and injuries, the commissary would also have a state supervised emergency truck filled with the most exotic medications needed to treat emergency issues as needed.
• Beyond this approach to dispensing drugs for therapeutic purposes, the penalties for violations must be more severe in every case. No longer should an assistant trainer be given the reins to the horses under a suspended trainer's license. No longer should the racing industry tolerate repeat offenders, even if they are national leaders such as Steve Asmussen or Todd Pletcher or any of the other headline makers.

Although the vast majority of trainers work with talented, honest vets, even the hard working, extremely honest trainers such as Michael Dickinson have trouble dealing with the practices in vogue today. Speaking candidly in a public forum last March, Dickinson admitted that he uses steroids on his horses to stay competitive in a game where others are taking such liberties.

The only way to change that, Dickinson said, "is to strictly control access." That is precisely the rationale behind my proposal, but even with support from trainers such as this two-time Breeders' Cup winner and others, there is no evidence that American racing officials in any state have the fortitude to press for the reforms this issue deserves. Your comments are welcome.

Steve's private, weighted rankings of the top American horses, three years old and up, males and females:

Although the 2006 Horse of the Year Invasor has been retired due to injury and the Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches spiked a temperature last weekend and is skipping the $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Belmont on Saturday, we are entering a 100-day period of top-notch American racing. That fact is underlined by the opening of Del Mar's 43-day race meet this week and Saratoga's 36-day session next week where more than 50 graded stakes races will be run at those two tracks from now through September 5. This annual summer stakes frenzy will continue unabated through September and October at several major tracks as the leading horses in every division prepare for the two-day Breeders' Cup extravaganza at Monmouth Park on October 26 and 27.

After watching the results of more than two dozen major stakes since my initial 2007 rankings were first published here on June 20 (see archived column), several adjustments and additions have been made. Suggestion: Horseplayers might consider these relative rankings when horses in the same division face each other under favorable weights at suitable distances. Please also note that horses whose weighted ranking are higher than the initial June 20 list as well as horses that are listed here for the first time are italicized.

Three-year-olds, 1 1/4 miles on dirt (top 23 rated):

Curlin (129); Street Sense (129); Any Given Saturday (125); Rags to Riches, filly (124); Hard Spun (122); Chelokee (121); Tiago (121); Nobiz Like Shobiz (118); C P West (117); Sightseeing (117); Zanjero (117); Sam P (116); Circular Quay (116); Scat Daddy (116); Delightful Kiss (115); Imawildandcrazyguy (115); Great Hunter (114); Song of Navarone (114); Xchanger; (114); Sedgefield (113); Dominican (113); Slew's Tizzy (113); Cowtown Cat (112).

Notes: Rags to Riches is actually the theoretical co-high weight in my three-year-old rankings at this distance due to her five-pound sex allowance. . . Any Given Saturday looked very strong winning the $147,000 Dwyer Stakes (G2) over Nobiz Like Shobiz at Belmont Park on July 4. Apparently the rest did Any Given Saturday a world of good. . . . Xchanger won Delaware Park's version of the $300,000 Barbaro Stakes (G3) on July 15, while King of the Roxy was a fair second. . . . Tiago defeated Albertus Maximus and Souvenir Slew in the $350,000 Swaps Stakes (G2) at Hollywood Park on July 14. The latter pair looked more like milers (see below) than true distances horses.

Three-year-olds, one mile on dirt (top 12 rated):

Hard Spun (123); Teuflesberg (118); Xchanger (117); Most Distinguished (117); Time To Get Even (117); Stormello (116); Desert Code (114); Albertus Maximus (114); Black Seventeen (114); King of the Roxy (113); Souvenir Slew (112). Dream Rush, filly (110).

Notes: Dream Rush was a powerful winner of the 6 furlong, $250,000 Prioress Stakes (G1) at Belmont on July 7 and still seems likely to carry her speed at least a mile when she is trained to do that. . . . Black Seventeen, one of the best three-year-old sprinters in America, won the 6 furlong, $300,000 Carry Back Stakes (G2) at Calder Racecourse on July 7. A mile may be slightly beyond his best powers.

Three-year-old fillies, 1 1/8 miles on dirt (top 8 rated):

Rags to Riches (130); Octave (121); Magnificence (120); Moon Catcher (119); Winning Point (118); Cotton Blossom (117); Boca Grande (116); Dream Rush (115).

Notes: Moon Catcher scored a narrow victory over a game Winning Point in the $500,000 Delaware Oaks (G2) on July 14. Heavily favored Cotton Blossom was a lackluster third. Boca Grande needs to step it up if she is going to remain on this list.

Fillies and mares four years old and up, 1 1/8 miles (top 6 rated):

Nahoba's Key (121); Unbridled Belle (119); Balance (119); Indian Vale (117); Ermine (116); Take D'Tour (116).

Notes: Nashoba's Key scored a narrow but measured victory over Balance in the $300,000 Vanity Handicap (G1) at Hollywood Park on July 7. ‘Nashoba' is a versatile, natural router on the improve, headed to the Breeders' Cup Distaff or the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. . . . Unbridled Belle had good overall form before she upset the $1 million Delaware Handicap (G2) on July 15. Her heavily favored stablemate Indian Vale ran a disappointing fifth.

Four-year-olds and up, one mile on the turf (top 15 rated):

The Tin Man (123); Kip Deville (122); Art Master (121); My Typhoon, filly (118); Lady of Venice, filly (117); Therecomesatiger (117); Remarkable News (117); Price Tag, filly (116); Wait A While, filly (116); Karen's Caper, filly (116); Showing Up (116); Quite A Bride, filly (115). Woodlander (114); Jet Propulsion (113); Precious Kitten, filly (112).

Notes: Art Master turned in a very strong performance to win the $100,000 Poker Handicap (G3) over Woodlander at one mile on the Belmont turf on July 14. . . . Lady of Venice won the $1 million CashCall Mile on July 6, with Precious Kitten a respectable second and versatile Price Tag, who needs more distance, checking in third.

Four-year-olds and up, 1 1/4 miles on the turf (top 14 rated):

The Tin Man (125); Better Talk Now (123); English Channel (123); After Market (123); Lava Man (122); Sunriver (121); Einstein (120); Sky Conqueror (118); Honey Ryder, filly (118); Jambalaya (117); Obrigado (117); Stormin Away (117); Shakis (117); Cosmonaut (116).

Notes: English Channel turned in a smooth winning performance in the $750,000 United Nation's Handicap (G1) at Monmouth Park on the turf on July 7. Honey Ryder was a good second and Better Talk Now was a late moving but non-threatening third. . . . Sunriver won the $150,000 Bowling Green Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on the Belmont turf course in a manner that suggests he will be a good fit at Saratoga or perhaps as a potential in the money prospect for the Arlington Million on August 11.

Four-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs (top 14 rated):

Smokey Stover (125); Fabulous Strike (123); Songster (123); Kelly's Landing (121); Mach Ride (120); Dream Rush, filly (118); Bordonaro (118); Thor's Echo (118); Will He Shine (118); Bilo (117); Suave Jazz (117); Siren Lure (116); Indian Flare, filly (114), Battle Won (114).

Notes: Although both Smokey Stover and Fabulous Strike were defeated by Mach Ride in the $500,000 Smile Sprint Handicap (G2) at Calder Racecourse on July 7, the track was sloppy and the results were not true indications of their respective talents. . . . Bilo scored a game wire-to-wire win in the $300,000 Triple Bend Handicap at 7 furlongs at Hollywood Park on July 7. . . . Surf Cat, prepping for longer, was a sharp second and consistent sprinter Battle Won was third.

Four-year-olds and up, 1 1/4 miles on dirt (top 20 rated):

Invasor (133, retired); Discreet Cat (126, absent several months); Pyramid Tap (126, training in Saudi Arabia); Brass Hat (124); Lawyer Ron (124); Lava Man (123); Flashy Bull (123); Fairbanks (122); Surf Cat (121); Master Command (120); Political Force (120); Corinthian (119); Buzzards Bay (119); Magna Graduate (119); Diamond Stripes (119); Molengao (118); Bob and John (116); Sun King (116); Boboman (115); Wanderin Boy (114).

Notes: The handicap division is wide open for obvious reasons, with several new faces and important stakes on the horizon. . . . Fairbanks, for instance, is lightly raced and improving rapidly and Brass Hat, a high-quality older horse, is on the comeback trail. . . . Stay tuned for analysis of their next outings, along with other graded stakes at Saratoga and Del Mar.

Steve Davidowitz will be hosting a handicapping seminar in front of the Del Mar grandstand at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 21. This will be followed by a signing session for his popular new book, The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing, at the Del Mar Gift Shop near the main entrance.

Steve Davidowitz has written two highly acclaimed books on Thoroughbred racing---Betting Thoroughbreds and The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing. He also is a regular contributor to Daily Racing Form's Simulcast Weekly and DRF Plus and his columns appear in the Bodog Racebook each week.