Let's start with information

[BitPlayer]

I just read Matt Hegarty\'s piece in the online DRF regarding security at the Preakness:

http://www.drf.com/news/article/65058.html

It reads in part:

\"The special security team is being put together by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, a national group seeking to strengthen security and medication procedures in racing. The consortium has paid for so-called big-event teams to be in place at Keeneland Racecourse for the April 16 Blue Grass Stakes and at Churchill Downs for the Derby.\"

This is the first I\'ve read that enhanced security was in place for the Blue Grass. I can\'t tell from the article what kind of testing was in place for the Blue Grass.  Based on what I\'ve read on this site (the Lou Raffeto thread), there also appears to be some confusion regarding the extent of testing that will be in place for Preakness and Pimlico Special Days.

It strikes me that, to the extent the the DRF and other racing press really believes in enhanced drug testing and security, there\'s a role for it to play here.  Why not publish, on a daily basis, or at least on a website, what testing and security measures are in place for every track covered by the publication that day?  Doing so would serve two purposes.  One, like it or not, it is certainly relevant handicapping information.  Two, it will make the laggards in the industry look bad by comparison.  The incentive for racetrack operators to implement measures is reduced if the betting public cannot figure out what the track is and is not doing.

Admittedly, some judgment is required here.  I don\'t want to know every test that is going to be done, but I want to know if there will be race-day detention, if there will be milkshake testing, and how many substances are being tested for.  By choosing what information to provide, I think the racing press can shape the measures tracks will take.

P.S.  TGJB, I\'d also like to know if the track is doing business with batch betting shops, but since Matt Hegarty (inexplicably?) did not mention rebate shops in his article, I\'ll save that thought for another day.

[razzle]

Bit,

Good points, well expressed.  You articulate the question I think many of us are asking.  raz