COVER 1 - NMHBA SUMMER 2017 low res

But, he’s optimistic the
problems can be solved, that
the state’s racing industry can
regain credibility outside its
borders, and those trainers
and owners who continue
to break the rules can be
punished and weeded out.
His current job has been a learning
experience from day one.
He was shocked at the high number of
drug positives-especially among Quarter
Horses—they have plagued racing in New
Mexico. He is troubled by the perception
among bettors outside the state that racing
in the state is “dirty.’’
But, he’s optimistic the problems can be
solved, that the state’s racing industry can
regain credibility outside its borders, and
those trainers and owners who continue
to break the rules can be punished and
weeded out.
“Every day I’m excited to come to
work,’’ says Trejo.
New Mexico horses tested positive for
illegal drugs 169 times in 2016, a number
Trejo says floored him.
“The drug positives (in New Mexico)
is something I never thought would
happen in the United States,’’ he says. “At
Charlestown, we’d maybe have 12 a year
with year-round racing. This is a major
problem.’’
Bettors in other states who wager
through simulcasting take notice and aren’t
willing to gamble on New Mexico tracks.
“I went through the handicappers of
North America website and saw a lot of the
New Mexico tracks are ranked down low
with handicappers,’’ said Trejo. “I called a
friend of mine, who is somewhat involved
with them, and was told: `It’s a no-brainer.
People don’t trust your product around the
rest of the country. It’s why you don’t get
action from other places.’”
The amount of money bet on New
Mexico races within the state and through
simulcasting to other tracks has remained
right around $170 million to $171 million
a year in the period from 2011 to 2015.
In 2010, the total was $186.3 million, but
Trejo notes that year the state ran eight
more racing days. There was an upward
spike to $176 million in 2014.
Trejo said the amount of money bet on
New Mexico races is crucial to the Racing
Commission because mutual handles help
Izzy and longtime girlfriend Beth Witherspoon
provide funding for drug testing.
“If we start seeing decreases, then our
testing fund will diminish,’’ he said. “We’ve
got to gain the confidence of horse players
around the country.’’
“The tough pill for us to swallow as
an agency is the drug positives create a
burden on this agency,’’ says Trejo. “They
absorb the majority of our resources and
time. We’re basically just a drug positive
processing agency right now. I hate to see
us in that light, but the truth is that’s what
we deal with mostly.’’
“It would be nice if we could work
on other things and try marketing horse
racing, but the unfortunate truth is we’re
focused on drug positives and trying to
stop them.’’
Trejo says commission investigators,
along with consultant Dr. Scot Waterman,
have done a lot of “brain-storming’’ and
have either implemented new rules or are
working on others.
Among them:
“We are one of the first jurisdictions in
the country to implement a 60-day steward’s
list rule,’’ he says. “What it does is, if your
horse tests positive for any one of five certain
types of drugs, including clenbuterol, cobalt
or drug hormones, your horse automatically
goes onto the steward’s list and can’t race for
60 days, no matter what. So now an owner
is sitting with a commodity that he can’t
make money with.’’
Trejo says owners, not just their trainers,
should be held more accountable. To that
end, the commission staff is looking at a
possible policy that would allow individual
tracks to put all horses that come from
a stable that has used so-called program
trainers and has had positive drug tests on
a do-not-enter list.
“This may get us to where we need
to be faster than any other mechanism,’’
says Trejo. “At the current time, if you
get a drug positive and your trainer gets
suspended, you can just go find another
trainer. But with this policy, all (of an
owner’s) horses are going to be put on a
do not enter list. So as an owner, he won’t
be able to enter at any track in the state.
They’ll have to go out of state to run and
that’s exactly what we want, to get the
cheaters out of New Mexico.’’
Trejo says a rule change that went into
affect last December is shortening the
amount of time it takes to suspend a trainer
once a positive has been confirmed through
testing of split samples.
Another rule change that went in late
last year allows the commission to impose
tougher sanctions on trainers and owners
who are repeat offenders and have a history
of drugging their horses.
“In our perspective, these people are
killing the New Mexico horse racing
industry,’’ said Trejo. “The drug violators
kill the game in a couple of ways. One,
they take away all the credibility and people
don’t trust horse racing. Two, the people
that are playing fair can’t win a race. So
attrition starts taking place. A guy who had
20 horses, now has 10 or five because his
owners can’t afford to finish fifth and sixth
all the time. So you lose owners and you
lose trainers.’’
“This commission is trying its best
to catch these people. We probably did
more testing than any other state in 2016
between out-of-competition and post-race
testing. And it could be to our detriment
because we catch a lot of people and it
makes our numbers look high.’’
Trejo says catching the cheaters remains
a “cat and mouse game.’’
“It’s something that probably
continues,’’ he says. “You have a lot of very
intelligent people that unfortunately don’t
have a lot of integrity.’’
Looking ahead, Trejo says the testing
of a horse’s hair could become a significant
tool in drug testing New Mexico horses.
He says it’s an expensive process, but one
that the Racing Commission’s medication
committee supports and could be adopted
as a rule this summer.
“A lot of drugs can be detected in hair
up to six months after use,’’ said Trejo.
“For example, if you gave your horse
Zilpaterol in January, we should be able to
detect it in May. Even if it doesn’t show up
in the urine.’’
Trejo said California does hair testing
and Oklahoma has done some informal
testing.
All of which, says Trejo, provides plenty
of reason for optimism.
“I’m more pumped up now because
we are finally starting to see results,’’ he
says. A lot of dots are being connected.
People may disagree, but I think we’re at a
crossroads and we are headed in the right
direction.’’
38 New Mexico Horse Breeder