ESPN Horse Racing

The best news about this Kentucky Derby is that it's probably going to be on the up and up.

Wasn't it always? Sadly, the answer is probably not. The sport is finally waking up to the realization that far too many horses have been running on a lot more than hay, oats and water and the winner might not always be the best horse but the horse with the best juice in his system. With $1 million in purse money on the line in past Kentucky Derbies, not to mention the prestige that comes with winning America's most famous race, there are those who surely were willing to take whatever edge they could, legal or not.

Fortunately, a lot of people have become determined to do something about that, and the folks in charge of making sure the 131st Kentucky Derby is shenanigan-free have stepped up their efforts to stop the bad guys. There was a renewed sense of urgency after Southern California-based trainer Jeff Mullins, who will saddle Buzzards Bay in the Kentucky Derby, was caught giving a horse a milkshake, an alkalizing agent that wards off fatigue in a horse. Earlier this year, New York-based trainer Greg Martin was indicted on charges of doping a horse and tipping off members of the Gambino crime family that the juiced-up animal was going to win. That was another embarrassing moment for the game.

Particularly in Kentucky, the increased scrutiny is a welcome change. This has been the anything-goes state, where horsemen held all the power and the drug rules were the most lenient in the country. Short of rocket fuel, everything was legal. And there was reason to believe that wasn't legal was still being used. The state wasn't exactly bending over backwards to clean up or police the game.

In recent months, that attitude started to change. Some important people started to realize Kentucky's outlaw image was an embarrassment and they vowed to clean up racing in the state.

"I think a lot of different issues brought this to the forefront," said Jim Gallagher, the executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority. "In many venues, security wasn't adequate and we were not meeting the participants' or the public's demand for providing a setting where there was a good security system in place."

Within the next few months, Kentucky will totally rewrite its regulations concerning what medications are legal and what aren't. The state will adopt standards used in virtually every other racing state that allow only the anti-bleeding medication Lasix to be used on a race day. The state is one of many now testing for milkshakes. The post-race tests given to Derby starters will be state-of-the-art.

Beginning Thursday, Louisville police officers and Jefferson County sheriff's deputies started patrolling the barns and keeping close watch on every horse entered to run in the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. In addition, roving investigators from the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau and the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority were keeping track off the Derby and Oaks starters, their trainers and their veterinarians.

Gallagher said he has heard mostly positive feedback from horsemen. It seems that those who don't cheat are finally fed up, tired of losing races to the guys who insist on breaking the rules.

"I feel like I'm here all day long paying attention and using my 40 years experience as a horseman," Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas said. "I'll take my chances that if we're all on a level field I can beat those guys. I don't feel I can beat them if they're fooling around."

Unfortunately, none of this guarantees that someone won't try something. There remain many potent drugs that are undetectable. Knowing that the authorities have no test for a particular drug, a trainer can use it without any fear of getting caught. It's doubtful that a police officer with no knowledge of racing and, particularly veterinary science, would have any idea when a trainer or vet is pumping something illegal into a horse's system.

"Is our system foolproof?" Gallagher said. "That's a tough question. The answer is probably not. But it is a significant upgrade what has been done in the past. Can we do even better? Of course we can."

The answer to that problem is a detention barn system. The New York Racing Association instituted one this week. Every horse must move into a detention barn six hours before they race. For that time period, they are under house arrest and could not possibly be given anything illegal.

Hopefully, Churchill Downs will take that important step in the future. In the meantime, at least the good guys are fighting back. It's about time.