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 Saturday's running of the 142nd Kentucky Derby, the most famous
race in America and the first in the Triple Crown series of three
races, puts horse racing at the center of attention for many sports
fans, a place it only rarely occupies.
Some who see dark clouds for the industry advocate placing it under
the control of a single person, at least as it comes to drug testing
for the horses to crack down on cheating. Others question the need
to horse around with a formula that has worked for decades in a $25
billion industry.
In a sport in which a star horse captures headlines like American
Pharoah but then retires the next year to make the real money in
breeding, arguments are playing out over whether a commissioner is
needed, or perhaps a group of leaders.
"We are fiddling while Rome is burning," former Maryland Jockey Club
Chief Executive Joe De Francis said last week at a U.S. House of
Representatives hearing in Washington
 "It is the very nature of the regulatory framework, the pervasive
regulation on a state-by-state basis, that prevents us from solving
our own problems through a commissioner's office the way football
can do or the way baseball can do," he added.
He voiced support for House legislation that would turn drug testing
in the sport over to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the
nongovernmental organization that handles drug testing for U.S.
Olympians.
Many industry executives said the lack of a central authority in a
sport with 38 racing jurisdictions and large race track owners like
Churchill Downs <CHDN.O>, which owns the Derby, may be holding the
industry back.
"We have not been even remotely close to getting everyone on the
same page, and I can say with the utmost certainty that will never
happen. We need federal oversight and we need it now," celebrity
chef and horse owner Bobby Flay told the House hearing.
While a super horse like American Pharoah occasionally jolts the
sport's popularity, the long-term trend is worrisome. Horse racing
once was among the most popular U.S. sports, but its popularity
faded in the second half of the 20th century.
A Harris poll in January underscored the problem. It found that only
1 percent of Americans listed horse racing as their favorite sport.
It ranked as the 13th most popular sport, just behind swimming and
track and field. In 1985, horse racing ranked eighth, with 4 percent
calling it their favorite.
In 2011, the Jockey Club, the sport's breed registry, commissioned a
study on challenges faced by the industry. The idea of a
commissioner to oversee horse racing was not even discussed because
it was seen as unrealistic. The report concluded the sport was
losing the battle for bettors and fans.
After hitting a peak of $15.2 billion in 2003, the money wagered on
races in the United States fell to $10.6 billion last year,
according to the Jockey Club. With so many gambling and
entertainment options, horse racing has suffered.
"We're no longer the only game in town," said Alex Waldrop, the
National Thoroughbred Racing Association's president. "There are
casinos on every street corner."
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'SKY IS NOT FALLING'
With online betting and a push to build tourism at the farms where
American Pharoah and other popular horses retire to breed, many
contend the industry remains strong.
"The sky is not falling," said Bob Baffert, who trained American
Pharoah in the horse's Triple Crown triumph.
"I don't see a problem," Baffert added. "We just need more stars."
Some in the industry feel it should not mess with its current
formula. The 2015 total for money wagered on races rose 1.2 percent
over 2014 and has risen 4.4 percent in the first four months of 2016
compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Jockey Club
and Equibase, which tracks the industry.
But many tracks now offer casino gambling as a means to survive.
Mike Pegram, chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners of California,
expressed worry and said there are no easy fixes.
"The Derby is bigger than ever," said Pegram, whose horse Real Quiet
finished four inches (10 cm) short of winning the Triple Crown in
1998. "It's the everyday racing that's still struggling."
Timothy Capps, director of the University of Louisville's equine
industry program, said the sport has not marketed itself
effectively.
Neal Pilson, a sports consultant and former president of CBS Sports,
said having a commissioner would not work.
"You can have all the commissioners in the world, but he's not going
to control the economics of the sport, which dictate that the
ownership has to take the horses out of competition in order to
recover their investment," Pilson said.
"Baseball players play for 20 years, football players play for five
or 10 years, these horses run for one year."
(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Will Dunham)
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