Horse Racing Industry – Mark Davis

Growing up I always loved horses. When I was young my cousin brought my brother and I to Delaware Park and I was just fascinated to watch the races. I knew there was a lot more to the horse racing industry than what people talked about or knew but listening to Mark Davis was interesting. He started out by giving a brief overview of the industry such as William DuPont Jr. designed Delaware Park. He also told us about lower Delaware and during the late 1960s Harrington raceway and Dover Downs was built. Thoroughbreds race about 80 days a year while the harness racing has 180 days. I knew that before and after a race both the horses and the jockeys get series of drug tests to see if they had extra boosters in their system to help them perform better like EPO. There are approximately 23 EPO testing that can be done but the horses only get tested on three. There are also several people involved within the industry such as judges, investigators (people who are retired state troopers), veterinarians, breathalyzer techs, and etc., each with their own unique jobs. What I didn’t know was that in harness racing you need to have a license. These people consist of owners, trainers, drivers, groomers, vendors and track employees.

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