EQUINE welfare and drug misuse continues to be a hot topic within mainstream coverage of racing in North America.

This year saw People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) land the biggest blow to horse racing’s public perception and reputation.

PETA filed state and federal complaints against two-time Eclipse Award-winning and Hall of Fame nominated trainer, Steve Asmussen and his assistant trainer, Scott Blasi, alleging animal cruelty, labour law and immigration violations.

Allegations, reported by journalist Joe Drape on March 19th in the New York Times, resulted from a four-month undercover operation in which a PETA investigator was employed unknowingly by Asmussen at top racecourses Churchill Downs and Saratoga in the spring and summer of 2013.

The investigator, equipped with a hidden camera and microphone, compiled more than seven hours of video footage and documented stable activities in a 285-page report that included medical documents and reports from veterinarians who reviewed the videotape.

Much of the focus of the video and written report are on the widespread use of medications for joints, lameness and pulmonary hemorrhaging that are legal under all US jurisdictions.

PETA also accused Asmussen of employing undocumented workers, requiring them to use false names on Internal Revenue Service forms, and conspiring with Blasi to produce false identification documents.

Over the past 30 years, PETA has aggressively assailed corporations for the way they treat animals and has run undercover investigations. However the Asmussen investigation was PETA’s first significant step into advocacy in the horse racing world. The organisation said the treatment of racehorses would now become a priority for the group.

The allegations came as horse racing in America continues to wrestle publicly with a drug culture that its officials concede has badly damaged the sport. A previous New York Times article in 2012 showed how a pervasive drug culture, encouraged by trainers and aided by veterinarians, put horses and riders at risk.

The newspaper found that 24 horses a week died at American tracks, a rate far greater than in places, such as Europe, the Middle East and Australia where drug use and regulation is restricted and policed.

The recent 45-day ban by New York Racing Association (NYRA) and reciprocal ban by the Breeders’ Cup board of California-based trainer Doug O’Neill only served to highlight the ongoing problem faced by North American racing - the lack of a central policing body.

The ban in October represented O’Neill’s 18th North American drug violation. Although banned from running a horse in the Breeders’ Cup, Goldencents was saddled by his assistant Leandro Mora to win the 2014 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

The American racing industry is facing its most serious challenge.

With the year 2014 coming to a close, it remains to be seen if the wise words of industry leaders voiced over the last 10 months can finally be put into practice and the new era of national regulation and drug-free racing promised by many in the United States can finally emerge into common practice.