Asian Racing Conferance kicks off.

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Lobby for ‘medication' races to lose status


THE first shot in the fight to have major races run under rules that allow raceday medication stripped of their black-type status has been fired by the Asian Racing Federation executive council.

Closing the formal part of the three-day Asian Racing Conference, ARF chairman Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges revealed that the council had taken a decision to lobby the relevant authorities.

He said: "If we are to have quality control of racing through ratings, it has to be linked with zero toleration with medication for racing. So we are saying that only races that are run with no medication should be awarded Group or Listed status."

Engelbrecht-Bresges conceded that the ARF, whose members stretch from South Africa and Turkey to Australia and New Zealand, cannot impose the condition.

However, he said moves would now be made to implement the decision through the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, of which he is a joint vice-chairman, and the sales companies, which control cataloguing conditions.

*Leading Indian breederCyrus Poonawalla has stood down as vice-chairman of the ARF, to be replaced by Bob Pearson, chairman of the Australian Racing Board.

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Vet highlights issue of
therapeutic drugs


LEADING UK equine veterinary scientist Ed Houghtonmade a plea to non-European racing nations to join the drive towards achieving international harmonisation for the control of therapeutic drugs commonly used on racehorses.

He pointed out that the five member nations that make up the European Horserace Scientific Liaison Committee - Britain, France, Germany, Ireland and Italy - have agreed screening limits and detection times for 16 drugs, including bute, that are prohibited substances for racing purposes but acceptable in equine veterinary practice.

"The example of the EHSLC shows that we have a level playing field in Europe," he told delegates at the Asian Racing Conference, "and there is now a need to expand this initiative."

Houghton, former chief scientist at HFL and still retained as a consultant, is playing his part as chairman of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities' advisory council on prohibited substances, which has been working towards providing a new wording in the prohibited substances' section of the international agreement.

He said: "The advisory council generally supports the approach currently adopted by the racing authorities of the EHSLC, and agrees that the screening limits be considered for wider adoption at international level.

"Detection times, corresponding to the agreed screening limits, have been determined and published for these substances, to allow practising veterinarians to apply good practice in their use in the treatment of horses, and to avoid, as far as possible, ‘inadvertent positives'."

Houghton revealed that the National Horseracing Authority of Southern African had given a commitment to follow the EHSLC line, and that authorities in Hong Kong and Australia were looking to review the scientific data produced by theEHSLC.

Making a direct appeal to other countries that could sign up to a new clause in the international agreement, he said: "With your help, we can centre on and co-ordinate our drug regulation rules to the benefit of racing."

Houghton's compelling account of what is going on to create a level playing field in the world of controlling prohibited substances put into perspective an earlier presentation by Queensland barrister and part-time trainer Jim Murdoch, who called for what the scientist was about to deliver almost in total.

Taking time for out-of-place swipes at betting exchanges, for adding "a new dimension to the threat to racing's integrity," and British trainers for raising the issue of Takeover Target's drug problems in Hong Kong, Murdoch suggested there should be an international anti-doping code.

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Dickinson enters debate on all-weather surfaces



STANDARDS not standardisation: that was the response from former jockey-trainer, now all-weather track manufacturer, Michael Dickinson when debate at the Asian Racing Conference turned to the hot topic of next-generation synthetic surfaces.

Dickinson, with his wife Joan, is promoting his own creation, Tapeta.

He said: "Standards are fine, but I hope we never have standardised tracks, because they are getting better every year.

"We're getting better cars, better mobile phones, and it's just the same with surfaces, because all the manufacturers are doing research and development."

The question of standardisation was raised by Ian Pearse, director of the Australian company that makes Pro-Ride, on which the Breeders' Cup was staged successfully last month.

He said: "We need global standardisation of these types of tracks, and we need to work together so they stay consistent.

"Engineered surfaces that require little maintenance and have all the attributes of a high quality turf track are our future."

Whereas Tapeta and Pro-Ride are relative newcomers to the scene, Polytrack marches on ahead of the field for surfaces laid, with Kranji in Singapore becoming its 12th racecourse installation.

R Jayaraju, senior track manager for the Singapore Turf Club, reported that having laid the Polytrack circuit in three weeks, the surface is performing well.

He said: "The kickback is low and the surface consistent."

Polytrack creator Martin Collins, whose training track at the Japan Racing Association's Miho site was opened earlier this year, will take his tally of race tracks to 13 when the Cagnes-sur-Mer circuit is used for the first time next month.

Meanwhile, the promoters of Polytrack, Pro-Ride and Tapeta are waiting for a signal from Dubai to start the tender process for the lucrative and prestigious contract to supply the dirt-track service at the glittering new course Meydan.

NETWORKING is a crucial part of manning exhibitions or attending conferences, and Joe Conway, consultant for Irish-based feed firm Connolly's Red Mills, reckoned he has saved himself a few wasted journeys by taking in the Asian Racing Conference in Tokyo.

"Economies are in trouble all around the world, so it's useful just to listen to people talking about their experiences back home, wherever that is," he confided.

"Some places are okay - the Middle East, for instance - and even in some places that aren't doing well, you can still find some people who won't be affected.

"I've done a lot of listening, and it will save me a few air miles."

Malaysia, for one, is definitely off his map for the moment, he said.

Brits flying the flag

Team GB flew the flag at the conference with a natty, pocket-sized brochure that featured the red, white and blue of the Union Jack.

Details for seven representatives, including BHA chief executive Nic Coward and Ascot's globetrotting ambassador Nick Smith, were translated into Japanese. Also noted was vital information about the year of each person's birth.

Of two born appropriately in the year of the horse, one was Anna Pinnington, international development manager for British Bloodstock Management, who dreamed up the bright idea of the dual-language calling card.

She and executive chairman Gavin Pritchard-Gordon make up two-thirds of the BBM team, leaving Desna Tatler to man the fort at the industry-backed organisation's new Newmarket office.

Finding a familiar face

Small-world theorists were in their element when Dr Andrew Clarke stood up to play his part in a session devoted to racetrack surfaces, and quoted figures for fatalities from a research study into UK racing.

Now based in his native Australia as chiefexecutive and veterinary director of Living Legends - a rest-home for retired champion racehorses beside Melbourne airport - as well as a consultant for all-weather turf manufacturer Strath-Air, Clarke was closely involved with a similar number-crunchingexercise in 1991-2001.

Then, he was in Canada as head of the equine research centre at the University of Guelph, Ontario, having previously spent eight years on a Robert Sangster-funded fellowship at Bristol University.

What's the meaning of this?

At The Races chief executive Matthew Imi has discovered a whole new meaning to his name - literally. He learned that ‘imi' is a familiar word in the Orient. In Japanese it means ‘meaning'.