Interesting oped by Barry Irwin on "PEDS"

[derby1592]

See link: http://opinions.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=25048

He argues that the biggest problem facing racing is the epidemic use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) and he advocates imitating the US Olympic approach of having an independent oversight group that is responsible for detection and enforcement.

He feels that the racing industry (as was the US Olympic Committee) is incapable of policing itself.

It\'s hard to disagree with that.

Chris

[TGJB]

Barry and I have not always enjoyed the best relationship (to put it mildly), but he\'s dead-on here. A question-- he mentions an independent agency that cleaned up track and field, and says we should have a similar one. Why not got to the SAME one and see if they want the job? They probably know more about performance enhancers than anyone else.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

TGJB wrote:

> Barry and I have not always enjoyed the best relationship (to
> put it mildly), but he\'s dead-on here. A question-- he mentions
> an independent agency that cleaned up track and field, and says
> we should have a similar one. Why not got to the SAME one and
> see if they want the job? They probably know more about
> performance enhancers than anyone else.
>

Jerry, I like the way you think. Something has to be done about Crybobby and Son of Leading trainer and others that have recently changed the nature of the game. They are cheating. I know it and I appreciate that your background makes it clear that you know it. There needs to be an independant organization to thoroughly monitor entered horses. Why not that entity?

CtC

[bdhsheets]

The truth of the matter is, if they truly wanted testing, it would be in place.

Better than a year ago, under great fanfare, they announced there would, at a minimum, be testing of all runners in Graded stakes. What happened? Nada. No closer today than then.

Personally, I\'d favor a 1% increase in the takeout to cover the expenses of testing, but it won\'t happen anytime soon, if ever.



Post Edited (11-04-04 02:05)

[Thehoarsehorseplayer]

Unless you are going to get legal drugs out of Racing it\'s going to be very hard to  eliminate the illegal drugs.
I\'ve been betting first time LSX horses since before this information began appearing in the Form.  But it\'s also been a very long time since I believed it always was simply Lsx that was moving these horses up.  And the science is, Lsx is a diuretic that helps wash other drugs out of the system quickly.
Now, I\'m not saying that trying to symies the proliferation of illegal drugs in racing is a completely wasted effort.  Only that it\'s naive to think the competetive purity of the game can be maintained as long as other \"masking drugs\" can be adminstered legally.