Historian — Crusader — A chat with Fred Hudson — Part Two

Our Mane Attraction continues the conversation with Fred Hudson and his crusade to help our harness racing sport survive and thrive in the future.

(HL) Fred, we left off last time with your crusade to curtail illegal drug use and the problem of deaths on the racetrack and the analogy that climbers of Mount Everest need Sherpas to make the summit and you need “Sherpas,”—so-to-speak—to accomplish the problems plaguing the industry. Any other areas of concern?

(FH) Yes, JB, and you have touched upon them in several of your Mane Attraction columns of the past…and that is a shortage of racehorses. There are a number of reasons for this concern. First, speed takes a toll on our equine athletes, and they can’t go as long as they once did when the 2:00 mile was king.

Every year, we see less and less aged horses, say, eight and up through age 14. They fill our overnight races, and the result is an ever-so-slow drain on the number of horses entered. It results in less races and less entries in any race and we’re seeing that throughout the industry. Second, horses are bred for speed, meaning ages two through four and then they are retired to stud duty…some, of course, can’t make it to four.

(HL) A recent Mane Attraction brought out this problem and spread it even further into the driver-trainer arena.

(FH) Yes, and that is absolutely true. I think you mentioned that a very small percentage of drivers and trainers are under the age of 25.

(HL) Yes, I think it was something around 1.5%.

(FH) That is serious because, not only are we losing horses, we are losing drivers and trainers for the future. The same goes for caretakers, It doesn’t stop there, either. This whole problem is in many areas from the race office personnel, judges, racing commissions, labs, aftercare, shipping and other things, I am sure. Whose is going to take of those aging folks? We don’t have any “farm leagues.”

(HL) How true that is…You don’t see many Carson Conrad’s around…or Brett Beckwith’s…or Braxton Boyd’s…Brandon Parker, Jeremy Bobbitt, Marvin Luna, Darryl Gates…a few others that quickly come to mind…The guys that are in their prime at 45 or 50 these days are going to be 65 and 70 before you know it,,,and David Miller will be pushing 80!!! So, point well taken.

(FH) Yes, you have hit the nail right on the head. It’s a problem that is not being addressed. If it’s not addressed soon, it will be too late.

(HL) So, when did this crusade of yours begin?

(FH) It didn’t start out as a campaign. It evolved into one over time. I started out to save and promote the sport and it evolved over time into the lobbying, the alumni, the newsletter and the show. Along with HISA and the SAFE Act, we have also lobbied on other horse racing issues that include equine programs for veterans—that’s veterans, not veterinarians—the H-2A and H-2B to address labor shortages in the industry, the PAST Act expanding spring regulation and enforcement at horse shows, exhibitions, sales and auctions.

(HL) That PAST Act covers a lot of ground, doesn’t it?

(FH) That bill addresses the act of soring horses, which includes various actions taken on horse’s legs to produce higher gaits that cause pain and stress…and lameness.

(HL) So, your efforts go well beyond the standardbred breed.

(FH) Yes, all breeds! You know, one of the first things I found out was that nobody had any idea about harness racing. In one meeting, I had a meeting with several members of Senator Toomey’s staff.and not one of them know that they had any horse racing at all in Pennsylvania, let alone harness racing! I attended a meeting of 400 persons and barely anyone knew what harness racing was.

(HL) Do you find ANY good in harness racing?

(FH) Yes, there is plenty of good and that is exactly why it’s worth the fight. There is a tremendous amount of growth in Kentucky—but you know that. Purses are great, better bred yearlings are drawing top dollar, the breed, itself has drastically improved with the rare two-year-old pacer able to go a quarter in :25 seconds and a trotter in :26 and change. The breed is far more athletic than 30 or 40 years ago. And it’s spread to areas outside of racing…real estate, are businesses, it’s wide reaching, and the State is responsible for investing in horse racing.

(HL) That’s great for the few, yes, but the 2:10 two-year-old list is kaput and a juvenile pacer going in 1:53 may not earn a dime—same for 1:57 two-year-old trotter. And all the big money seems to be going to the same powerhouse’s year-after-year. I’m not so sure that’s good for the sport and enticing new owners.

(FH) You are right about that. There’s a trainer’s monopoly that its tough to crack and, yes, that has ruined it for a lot of smaller stables. I think trainers need to get back in the bike and drive their own horses. On some nights at Yonkers, there are only 12 drivers for the whole card. In the old days, sometimes you’d see 50 drivers on the program. I think it’s great that The Meadowlands has 30 or more on their card, primarily because of the amateur events.

(HL) Yes, the smaller stable appears to be getting the short end.

(FH) We have a group of owners who buy up the better yearlings and then partner with each other and then split the horses between a small group of trainers. The small owner is being driven out and the big stables have all the top drivers all tied up…and they have the vets and blacksmiths (farriers) tied up, too.

(HL) Back to HISA for a moment…I know there seem to be pluses of HISA. Do you see any minuses?

(FH) I am the only person from the harness racing industry that lobbied in Washington, D.C. for HISA. At the time I started lobbying for it, it was not called HISA—it was called the Horseracing Integrity Act (HIA). It changed to HISA in September of 2020. HISA is the result of our industry turning a blind eye to the cheating that started 40 years ago. The Feds HAD TO STEP IN to clean up the sport of horse racing.

When you read some of the transcripts from the horse racing doping trial and hear some of the things that were said in regard to the illegal drugging of our horses, it is sickening. The corruption in the sport is everywhere that you look and the only ones that have enough power and resources to clean it up is the Federal Government and HISA is the agency to do so. If HISA fails, racing is finished! When the HISA Bill was passed, there were 25 people at the Zoom victory party. Only two persons were there from our industry—Jeff Gural and me.

(HL) Pretty sobering, to say the least.

(HL) Fred, again, I appreciate your willingness to discuss these sensitive subjects…so let’s begin with the “medication” situation in harness racing and, in fact, many other pari-mutuel sports.

(FH) Like you said, JB, one person cannot do this alone, Like you said, nobody climbs Mt. Everest without “sherpas” to help get them to the top. I, too, need harness racing “sherpas” to help eradicate this problem. To tell you the truth, I am surprised we don’t have a whole army of people wanting to level the playing field in our sport. Owners and trainers should be on board big time.

(HL) So, where do we begin?

(FH) First, we ALL have to recognize that there IS a problem. It’s no secret that drugs have infiltrated our sport so the problem is weeding out the users…and weeding out the ones that are supplying the drugs to the users.

(HL) Well, didn’t we kind of do that a few years ago with the many arrests and trials that took place back then?

(FH) From my pipeline, I am told that the problem is worse today than is was before the March 2020 indictments and arrests. I was speaking with a retired trainer-driver from one of harness racing’s top families and he said that he sat down with a group of trainers, and he was shocked to hear them talking about what drugs to give horses…what dosage to administer…and how many hours out to give it to avoid detection.

(HL) So, this is far from the hay, oats and water days of the past.

(FH) He said that they don’t know how to train horses without drugs.

(HL) Lasix is still popular at pari-mutuel tracks. Do veterinarians still see it as a positive for the performance of the horse?

(FH) I can give you 100 vets—mostly racetrack vets—that say that Lasix is good for the horse and can enhance performance. I can also have 100 vets that say it’s no good for the horse. All other sports say hydrate…hydrate…hydrate. And we’re saying DEHYDRATE!

(HL) Well, I, myself, take Furosemide (Lasix), along with other medications and I haven’t noticed any ill effects.

(FH) You’re comparing apples with oranges, JB. But there are side effects with Lasix or, as you have, Furosemide—same thing—and you can get a racing heart, breathing problems, dehydration, poor blood flow. You’re just lucky that you probably take a low dose, and it doesn’t bother you.

(HL) I used to hear that Lasix might be used as a mask for other drugs. You’re thought on that?

(FH) The World Anti-Doping Agency has Lasix listed as a masking drug and is illegal. I saw a baseball player get a 180-game suspension for a Lasix positive. I am sure there are many more like it. And don’t forget the big steroids deal in baseball. I understand everybody is looking for an edge. It’s time the playing field be equal for all—especially in this new era of sports betting.

(HL) So, my next question is this…When a vet is administering Lasix to our equine brethren, how does anyone know if it’s ONLY Lasix being administered and not mixed with something that’s not legal?

(FH) You just hit the nail right on the head. Great question! Let’s take EPO…

(HL) Stop right there. Some folks don’t know about EPO. What, exactly, is it?

(FH) EPO is a hormone to increase endurance by boosting red blood cell production which, in turn, increases oxygen throughout the body. It’s a performance enhancer.

(HL) If it’s legal, isn’t that a good thing?

(FH) Not when it’s mixed with Lasix. It’s a heart attack waiting to happen! It thickens the blood. Think about it this way, in simple terms…If the average horse weights 1,000 pounds, about 700 pounds is fluid weight. When Lasix is administered, that horse will lose 30- or 40-pounds peeing and another 20- or 30-pounds sweating during a race…and with the speeds they are going today, it’s a dangerous mix. That invites organ failure and I think that’s why many horses have kidney problems.

(HL) So, what is the solution for this…if there is one?

(FH) Personally, I don’t think the threat of a couple of years in jail scares any trainer at all—maybe five to 10 years and they might think about it. You know, none of the trainers arrested in 2020 were arrested for a positive…they were caught by undercover work that included wiretaps and videos.

(HL) But then, they have these “beard” trainers that take over. How do you stop that?

(FH) Plain and simple…Any trainer under suspension that uses a “beard” AND THE BEARD TRAINER, should get a lifetime suspension from our sport. End of story.

(HL) Thank you, Fred, for your insight and taking the time to talk with us.

May The Horse Be With You!

by John Berry, for Harnesslink