A message from Director of Racing, Jennifer Durenberger, regarding recent horse racing forum
- October 18, 2013
- by MGC Communications
- 0 comments
The Racing Division of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission couldn’t be happier with the first of what we hope will be many annual Horse Racing Forums. Chief executive officers of the Jockey Club and United States Trotting Association (USTA), as well as the Chair of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC), provided an overview of racing at the national level in the morning’s informational session. At the local level, a panel of local stakeholders spent the afternoon discussing the implications of the Expanded Gaming Act on horse racing in Massachusetts. Both sessions were extremely well-attended by our industry’s busy occupational licensees, other interested members of the public, and the entire Gaming Commission.
One thing we are particularly proud of was that this Forum marked the first time members of the Jockey Club, USTA, and RMTC have had public dialogue since the late September announcement by the USTA that it was withdrawing its support of a set of rules regarding controlled therapeutic substances in the horse along with its membership from the RMTC. The dialogue between the leaders of these three organizations can only be characterized as thoughtful, articulate, and constructive, and the amount of respect shown for each other and for different philosophical approaches to a complicated issue was something to behold. The webcast and transcript of this forum will be posted on our website once available, and I encourage you all to watch and learn. I think you will agree that we are both fortunate and privileged to be able to say, “It happened in Massachusetts.”
Jennifer Durenberger, Director of Racing