TUCSON, Ariz. – The public perception of horse racing has been battered and beaten over the past five years due to spates of horse deaths that would likely have not garnered much attention generations ago, and that has made lobbying on behalf of racing far more difficult in the present age, according to officials who spoke on a panel on Wednesday at the Global Symposium on Racing. The panelists, which included officials at two horse-lobbying organizations and representatives from the horse industries in Florida, Maryland, and New York, stressed that racing officials need to leverage economic-impact data in order to demonstrate to legislators and other local officials that the industry is deserving of attention and help. “When I go into a legislator’s office, I’m not meeting with the legislator, I’m meeting with a staffer,” said Najja Thompson, the executive director of New York Thoroughbred Breeders’ Inc. “And they’re not listening to me unless I have the data to implore them to let me meet with the legislator on our industry’s impact on New York.” There are several sources for economic impact data, most notably the surveys and studies performed periodically by the American Horse Council and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. The latest edition of the AHC survey is expected to be released next year, according to Julie Broadway, the executive director of the AHC. The latest edition was released in 2017. Broadway said that the data gathered as a result of the economic impact survey is used “every day” when AHC officials meet with federal legislators, staffers, and bureaucrats. The data is broken down by breed and by state impact, and it’s typically cited by state racing and breeding associations when going to legislatures, though the best use of the data can vary, Broadway said. “It works differently depending on how they relate to it,” Broadway said. “I can go into one office, it’s all about the jobs. I can go into another office, and it’s all about the green space. … It varies greatly.” Lonny Powell, the executive director of the FTBOA, showed the audience a laminated card, printed on both sides, that sums up the economic impact of the national Thoroughbred industry on one side and the Florida impact on the other side. Powell said he has carried stacks of the cards with him for the past 11 years, handing them out constantly, so that the figures are distributed widely and are top-of-mind when he needs to go to a legislator or local community leader for help. “You’ve got to develop relationships,” Powell said. “This takes years.” :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Powell was critical of the Thoroughbred racing industry’s participation in the last AHC survey, saying that only four tracks responded to the AHC’s survey. Broadway, who had said in her own presentation earlier that she “had to beg to get Thoroughbred industry responses,” nodded her head in agreement. “Please nobody give up,” said Powell. “The work is hard, harder than it’s every been. But you can get there. Examine your industry, because you have to be able to tell someone the consequences if your industry goes away. And how can you do that without an economic impact study?" Alan Foreman, the longtime counsel to the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, said that the threat of the industry going away in the face of either legislative action or a reluctance to help the industry is becoming more and more prevalent. The MTHA is currently lobbying for the ability to use industry subsidies for bonds to rebuild racetracks in the state, and it will need legislative approval. “Every office I go into, every person I talk to, they ask me what’s going on at Santa Anita, what’s happening here or there,” Foreman said. “So you have to combine economic impact with the social license aspect. Don’t ignore the social license. It’s critical. We have got to be able to demonstrate that we are doing everything possible to address the health and welfare of our horses.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.