Horses receive extraordinary care while on track. But it is well past time the industry puts increased effort into making sure that when horses run races, they run with no illegal drugs. That means allowing HISA to take over, begin investigations and increase drug-testing. And when someone gets caught doping and cheating, rather than getting a slap on the wrist or a few hundred dollars in fines, they should banned from the sport.

I’ve been a fan, a bettor, a supporter and an advocate of horse racing for more than 40 years. Because the horse racing industry as a whole has turned the other cheek with respect to drug cheats, I’m ready to turn the page on horse racing — unless the leaders of the sport do what baseball and cycling have done to their cheating participants. They must punish the cheaters, and restore integrity and safety to the game…

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