It's no secret that racing had a tough year in 2019. We asked a cross-section of participants what their number one goal is to make racing better in 2020. (Want to participate? Email suefinley@thetdn.com)
In my opinion, the number one priority for racing to achieve in 2020 is to come up with some form of stronger leadership from within the sport. Clearly the idea of a commissioner is a pipe dream; to me the next best thing would be an advisory committee which would have the role of counsel for stewards and racetracks to refer to and answer to in times of need and to get out in front of negativity towards the sport. Not only should the stewards and racetracks have someone to answer to, but they should be able to seek advice from an overseeing body much like the NFL does when they have questionable calls during a game. In cases of medication issues, perhaps weekly meetings by the overseeing committee to discuss how best to handle infractions across the country. Obviously there would need to be incentives for racetracks and jurisdictions to join and some form of consequences for those who don't. We have amazing resources within our industry and we should make far better use of them. I firmly believe the California situation would not have spiraled out of control had we had an organization to get out in front of the negative publicity. We have to do a better job of policing and protecting our sport before it's too late.
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