Do I know Jeff Gural ? The quick answer is ‘no.’ I was introduced to Jeff a few years ago by his ‘right hand man’ Jason Settlemoir and spoke with Jeff for about 30 seconds and that was it. While attending the Hambletonian, I noticed Jeff walking around the ‘apron’ looking like Peter Falk’s (Columbo) doppelganger in both dress code and, after closer scrutiny, in obvious brilliance.

Do I admire Jeff Gural? The quick answer is ‘yes.’ He has been a passionate supporter of harness horse racing for decades. When the Meadowlands and Vernon Downs faced financial collapse the man spent millions and millions of his own money to save those tracks and then, to complete the trifecta, he built Tioga Downs. Jeff continues to operate all three tracks ably assisted by Jason. To be sure there are others out there with ‘deep pockets’ but the only one who came to the rescue was Jeff Gural.

Yet , that pales in comparison to the admiration I have for the man in his quest to stop the insidious, indefensible, inscrutable brutalization of both the horse and the racing industry with the use of illegal drugs.

As a former member of parliament for Canada I unequivocally agree with Jeff when he warns about losing government subsidies unless we get our act together. I know only too well politicians respond to the general public’s concerns. After all, they need their votes to get re-elected. If the issue that concerns the general public is illegal doping of horses and that the horse racing industry is not doing their due diligence to deal with it , then we are putting our future in jeopardy. Believe me, it could happen and the result will not be pretty for horse racing.

So , instead of excoriating Jeff Gural — as some are prone to — we should be lauding his actions to eradicate this anathema.

Thank you Mr. Gural for having the courage of your convictions and your efforts to blunt this dagger before it eviscerates the horse racing industry.

Hector Clouthier / Petawawa, ON