Ken Lowe

Kenneth F. Lowe, Jr., the colorful and sometimes controversial chairman of the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC), died suddenly earlier this week. His passing was first reported Sept. 4 in a remembrance editorial in the Journal-News of Martinsburg, West Virginia. Lowe was in his mid-70s, and no cause of death had been announced prior to publication of this story. On Thursday, a staffer at the WVRC confirmed Lowe's passing to TDN, but declined to speak on the record about the circumstances of the chairman's death or about his recent health,...

by Ken Lowe (TDN is re-running this letter to the editor, which originally appeared in Wednesday's newsletter, due to editing errors). There were many empty seats at the table when HISA was invented, that being "Middle America Racing", comprised of almost every jurisdiction between "the moon (California) and New York City (NYJC)." Now, being "blue collar horse folks," we all know it takes three (3) legs for a stool and in this "fixed race" it was Kentucky. Throw kerosene on the flames, when certain trainers were indicted by the Feds...

After a failed attempt last year to adopt a group of drug-related model rules that every other racing jurisdiction in the mid-Atlantic region has already implemented, the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) on Monday voted 2-0 to advance to the state legislature new regulations concerning medication abuse and stepped-up penalty scales. The July 12 passage of new rules concerning clenbuterol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, intra-articular injections and the adoption of the most current Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances list did not come without drama and several detours. In fact, much...

In an effort to play catch-up with other racing jurisdictions in the mid-Atlantic region that have already adopted or are in the process of implementing model rules regarding medication abuse and stepped-up penalty scales, the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) voted to send four proposals backed by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) out for a 30-day public commentary period during the board's May 18 meeting. But when the WVRC meets again to vote on whether to adopt those rules at a yet-to-be-scheduled date, commission chairman Ken Lowe, Jr....