GOP rep calls for crackdown on race-horse doping

A high-ranking GOP lawmaker wants the sport of horse racing to clean up its act.

Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) recently introduced H.R. 2461 to crack down on race-day doping of race horses.

{mosads}The measure’s introduction coincides with the Triple Crown win by American Pharoah.

Asked whether American Pharoah’s accomplishment is legit, the Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee chairman told The Hill’s Molly K. Hooper, “I don’t know, I can’t say why horses win and lose, but I know that most horses are on meds on race day.”

“When a horse is using performance-enhancing drug or medicine to mask the pain, often they will run injured. When a horse injures or breaks a leg, that’s a death sentence.”

Pitts has a special connection to injured horses. His district contains the New Bolton Center animal hospital, where beloved Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was a patient for nearly a year after a tragic leg injury during the Preakness in 2006.

Barbaro’s owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, are constituents of Pitts. They support his effort, the congressman says, noting that in the American horse race world, “It’s an uneven playing field, it’s not fair. It switches the odds in favor of people who are cheating.”

“Today there are some 27 drugs on a permitted list that they can use on race day.”

Watch Pitts describe the measure and his reflections on Barbaro in the video above.

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