My Heroes: NYS Racing and Wagering Board

On October 12, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board acted like heroes for all of us worried about the drugging of racehorses. Richard Dutrow Jr. was finally barred from New York's racetracks for 10 years. His name is well known in racing circles for almost 70 violations at 15 racetracks in 9 states. Consider this: Dutrow hid illegal workouts of his horses, used strong painkillers including butorphanol found in winnning horse Fastus Cactus, kept 3 syringes in his desk loaded with xyzaline, a muscle-relaxant. John Sabini, chairman of the Board, said: "His [Dutrow] repeated violations and disregard of the rules of racing has eroded confidence in the betting pubic and caused an embarrassment throughout the industry." It is hoped that Dutrow will not be licensed in other states to race. Those who drug horses to win are not only guilty of greed. Veterinarians believe that using both legal and illegal drugs on race horses is account partly for the fact that the United States has the world's highest rate of thoroughbred mortality.
But Dutrow has the right to counsel, and they managed a win when at a hearing, Judge Richard Giardino upheld the stay. If he hadn't, Dutrow would have been refused entrance to all New York tracks right away. One wonders how much the judge knows about the years on end of drugging horses and how many people have tried to get rid of this widespread horse abuse. With this stay, Dutrow can go on training horses until his appeal is heard; lawyers can delay this process easily. Dutrow said of Giardino's ruling, "I'm glad I still get to go to the barn. I got a very positive attitude here, no negativism at all. It's easy for me to get up in the morning and go to the barn. Everything else comes so naturally for me there." Unfortunately we all know what comes naturally. We congratulate the Board, and wish that Dutrow had been barred for life.

Can Breezes Hurt Two-Year Olds?

Horse people are taking another look at breezes and the danger they pose to two-year-olds who are forced to run them. Breezes, according to a new article in The Wall Street Journal by Dionne Searcy, are exercises that these young horses are put through at sales events to show off their ability. These sprints are 1/8 of a mile and "are typically run in less than 11 seconds." Sometimes, the running horses have undeveloped bones and muscles, which can't withstand the intense stress of a breeze, and thus cause injuries. And if you think these horses automatically turn out to be Derby winners, you're wrong. Sometimes they don't even win a race. Among other other concerned activists, PETA has taken up the cause, pursuing animal cruelty charges against two auction houses where two horses died in breezes; urging auction companies to let young horses just gallop or accelerate gradually, which is done at some European companies; requesting auction houses to bar horses younger than two-years-old from the exercise; and last, to postpone breezes if the the track is in bad condition or the temperature is too high.What do you think? My facebook page has the whole story.

Read the Prologue to My New Book Now

If you would like to read the Prologue to my new book, He Trots the Air, go to my web site at www.mmfisher.com, and click on the very small image of the book's cover. There you'll also find me musing about writing the book and what I wanted to accomplish.

Connie Holt's Newest Case: He Trots the Air

At the beginning of He Trots the Air, Connie has a string of good fortune, leading her to believe that this year will be happy, vastly different from a year ago when she had to investigate the tragic deaths of three horses. For one thing, employer and friend Cary McCutcheon has acquired Darkling Lord, a Thoroughbred of dazzling pedigree, and plans to run him in the Gold Cup International Steeplechase in October. The colt will train at Fayence in Albemarle County, and Connie looks forward to visiting the horse often to watch his progress. Earlene Collins, who breeds Arabian horses, finds what could be an original Henry Stull (1851-1913) painting hidden in the attic of her pre-Civil War home. Busy with her work, Earlene asks Connie to find an art expert to work with the painting, a task Connie welcomes. And in Denver, where she meets with restorer Patrick Laurent, she reunites with a man whom she has never forgotten.

But on her return from Colorado, things turn dark and dangerous. No one but the reader knows that from the beginning of the novel, a plot has been underway to drug Cary's colt for reasons that have nothing to do with financial gain. Someone has hired three desperate people to commit the crime. Just thirteen days before the Gold Cup, Connie and Cary learn that something is going to happen to the horse. They start a relentless, time-starved investigation complicated by too few facts to go on, the continuing frustration of speculation without foundation, and the strong possibility that they won't be able to solve the puzzle and save Darkling Lord from harm. As both the conspirators and Connie and Cary move closer and closer to race day, tension and worry grow almost unbearable. The climax comes in front of the colt's stall on the day of the race--and no one is ready for what happens.

If you would like to read He Trots the Air, just click on Contact Me Directly (under the book cover to the left) to order an early autographed copy. I'll tell you how you can get it now, and at a substantially lower price than after June 15.