Jockey Club releases poll results

The Jockey Club on Friday released the results of a poll it funded that attempts to gauge voter response to issues facing horse racing and initiatives that the organization supports.

The poll was conducted by the Washington, D.C. consultancy firm PSB and collected responses from online participants from April 16-21, at a time when racing was being criticized in some quarters for its policies due to a spate of fatalities at Santa Anita Park in Southern California this winter. The poll’s questions asked respondents for their reactions to various statements that touched on catastrophic injuries, veterinary care, and regulations, including a Jockey Club-supported effort to build support for federal legislation.

The Jockey Club is expected to use the results of the poll to massage its lobbying effort behind the federal bill, which would give the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a private, non-profit company, the authority to enforce the sport’s medication and drug-testing policies, replacing the current state-by-state system of regulation. The bill is supported by a wide range of racing constituencies, but it is also opposed by other powerful groups, including Churchill Downs Inc., which is headquartered in the hometown of the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell.

Just prior to the Kentucky Derby last week, the Coalition for Horse Racing Integrity, a company founded by the Jockey Club to push the federal bill, launched a social-media advertising campaign targeting fans of horse racing in an effort to get them to sign petitions indicating support for the federal bill. The CHRI said the campaign will target seven million “people interested in horseracing” and will run for two months, with a particular focus on targeting fans in the market areas where Triple Crown races are run.