THE man who helped bring down Lance Armstrong has been drafted in to help clamp down on drugs in American racing.
Travis Tygart will take on a new challenge in his role as Chief Executive at the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) where he helped catch a number of global stars.
American racing has suffered of late with a host of big names having horses test positive for banned substances.
Trainer Bob Baffert recently had superstar Gamine disqualified while fellow handlers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis were last year arrested on charges of running an illegal doping ring.
And USADA will now oversee drug testing, anti-doping and medication violations in racing.
Tygart told Thoroughbred Daily News: “Cheating, honesty, ethics and the rule of sport are the same across all sports.
“While some might want to say there’s a difference between equine anti-doping and medication control programmes and what happens in humans, the mentality of cheating and trying to get away and get an advantage over the rules is all the same.
“We’re really looking forward to it and it’s a huge responsibility but one we’re ready to embrace.
“We’ll learn the nuts and bolts of the industry that we don’t know and put in a gold standard programme that people can have a lot of satisfaction and pride in knowing it allows an equal opportunity to win playing by the rules, which is all any athlete can ask for.
“I’ve sat down with Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton, Marion Jones and I’ve heard the pressures on those athletes to win and I’ve heard about the hyper-competitive environment and the win at all costs mentality.
“There’s a culture in our society, and we should be honest about it, that it’s okay to win if you cheat as long as you don’t get caught. In sport, the rules are very clear and they say you can’t do that.
“In horseracing it’s all the more important because the horses — the athletes — can’t say no. They don’t get a choice. They are at the whims of a trainer or an owner and that’s unfair.”
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