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Sunday, October 29, 2006

By CAREY THEIL

Special to the Press-Register

A few weeks ago, when rumors surfaced that District Attorney John Tyson Jr. was looking into allegations of "race fixing" at Mobile Greyhound Park, Racing Commission chairman Eddie Menton tried to put everyone's mind at ease.

Calling the allegations "farfetched," Menton reassured gamblers, telling them, "We want people to know that it's safe to go to the dog track and bet."

The next day, retired commission veterinarian Clarke Yarbrough claimed that it would be extremely difficult to fix races at Mobile Greyhound Park, and his rationale seemed to make sense.

"Once they catch one of them and fine them, they lose more money than it's worth," he told the Press-Register. "You don't see a whole lot of that anymore."

Chairman Menton went even further, telling a reporter he was "certain" that the commission's drug-testing programs were effective.

Then the other shoe dropped.

On Oct. 20, the district attorney announced that 13 people had been charged with felony counts of transmission of racing information for illegal gambling -- charges that carry maximum 10-year prison sentences.

Three of the 13 individuals were also charged with felony counts of tampering with racing animals.

According to prosecutors, racetrack employees and gamblers scammed at least $67,000 over two years by drugging dogs and placing large bets on those races.

It now appears that a vast race-fixing scheme operated for at least two years right under the noses of racetrack regulators. And when the district attorney began to investigate those responsible for this scam, the same track regulators cast doubt on the allegations.

How could this have happened?

It is hard to believe that commission executives thought the odds of race fixing were so remote. All they had to do was check with other regulatory agencies.

According to public records, in 2002 authorities from the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigated allegations that a greyhound trainer was receiving anabolic steroids by mail.

After placing an undercover surveillance camera in the kennel where the trainer worked, law enforcement agents caught him injecting at least 11 dogs with a foreign substance over a two-day period.

In another case, 119 dogs tested positive for cocaine at Florida dog tracks between 2001 and 2003, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Since 2003, dogs have tested positive for cocaine at commercial racetracks in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Colorado.

As long as commercial dog tracks are dependent on gambling revenues, there will be individuals who seek to bend the rules for personal gain.

If we are going to allow this form of animal-based gambling to be legal in our communities, it is imperative that we have regulatory agencies that actively work to prevent such abuses.

It is time for members of the Racing Commission to step up and take responsibility for their failure to adequately monitor Mobile Greyhound Park.

Further, to ensure that the integrity of wagers is protected at Alabama racetracks, Gov. Bob Riley should call for an independent investigation to determine how this regulatory failure could have occurred.

The public deserves to know why the commission didn't discover this illegal gambling scheme sooner, and why it cast doubt on race fixing allegations when they were finally discovered.

A cloud now hangs over the Mobile Racing Commission. Until taxpayers get answers, the commission will lack credibility.