R. Dutrow suspended in KY.

[jack72906]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hejMdzJMAiQZCaMWtl-lOTm8CfugD999RRU00

Salute the Count tested positive for clenbuterol. He also has to return the purse money.

[HP]

Okay, let\'s start the posts where it\'s no big deal, trace amount, whatever...

HP

[Silver Charm]

Has Dutrow been suspended on Maryland yet.

He has already bagged ones in NY and Kentucky.

This would be a Triple Crown.

[jack72906]

I just love how TVG/HRTV refuse to even discuss this stuff on air. Dutrow and Eurton suspended and Asmussen on the brink in Texas. TVG even interviewed Eurton before a race on Sunday and never brought it up. Is it NOT major news in the game when two of the most \"successful\" trainers in the game get caught......CHEATING!?!?!?

The only time this issue will be dealt with the way it should be will be when a horse breaks down in the middle of a race (no one saw Eight Belles break down) on national TV.

Sick of the b.s.

[imallin]

Great points Jack. TVG is a rug sweeping channel no doubt. Same thing with DRF, they try like heck not to publish stuff like  this.I guess that the trainer would not agree to an interview if he knew they would ask about the drug issue. TVG could \'ambush\' them, but that would probably create a sweeping boycott from all trainers and tvg would have zero interviews. Its a slippery slope, TVG is not really a news organization, they just want to make money, letting the public in on drugs does no good for their bottom line. They act like \'journalists\' when interviewing, but their interviews are no more than infomercials.

[sighthound]

You obviously know how much clenbuterol it takes to affect the horse, so please tell me if the amount found was enough to affect the race outcome or not.

Jerry - Ziadie has long been on your \"move up\" list, right?

[Silver Charm]

if people have a beef about cheating trainers and vets then post a suggestion. Don\'t just bitch about how it is screwing the game but offer a solution.

I did, my buddy Manilla did. Mandown from this Board did. The reforms need to come from parties who have the leverage to force them on people. Since the economy is downsizing the industry a little itself might be a good time to do some cleanup.

[jack72906]

Silver Charm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> if people have a beef about cheating trainers and
> vets then post a suggestion. Don\'t just bitch
> about how it is screwing the game but offer a
> solution.
>
> I did, my buddy Manilla did. Mandown from this
> Board did. The reforms need to come from parties
> who have the leverage to force them on people.
> Since the economy is downsizing the industry a
> little itself might be a good time to do some
> cleanup.

Do I have a beef with trainers who cheat.....uh....yes. I think most do. The intent of the original post was to point out how this nonsense gets swept under the rug by \"the parties who have leverage\". TVG, HRTV, DRF. I guess my \"suggestion\" was to cover the story or at least mention it.

[sighthound]

Reading through many of the comments on the blog, I\'m struck by how much factual inaccuracies or assumptions there are.  Fans suggesting we do something we already do.  Fans that don\'t know what meds are allowed, don\'t know how much we know about meds, and obviously don\'t know where that information is available to them.  

The overwhelming impression I get is not that drugs are a huge problem, but that fans impressions of the sport are often wildly at varience with reality!  Racing obviously needs to work on public education, making information readily available, etc.

[richiebee]

Silver Charm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> if people have a beef about cheating trainers and
> vets then post a suggestion. Don\'t just bitch
> about how it is screwing the game but offer a
> solution.
>
> I did, my buddy Manilla did. Mandown from this
> Board did. The reforms need to come from parties
> who have the leverage to force them on people.
> Since the economy is downsizing the industry a
> little itself might be a good time to do some
> cleanup.


Silver:

Ah, the economy.

With handle down double digits nationwide in June, and tracks petitioning the
various state racing commissions for FEWER racing days, suspending high profile
high volume trainers will probably not help the bottom line.

I will repeat for the ?th time-- Racing had its chance to make a statement-- and
deter further malfeasance -- by coming down hard on Patrick Biancone. The six
month suspension for this trainer (already banned in Asian and European venues
for life) was the slap on the wrist heard round the Racing world. I generally
do not condone making a scapegoat of an individual or group to further an
agenda,but a five year ban might have had a deterrent effect, or at least given
the impression that Racing really was trying to clean itself up.

As to the man they call Tricky, he has had over 70 infractions of various
degrees of severity, some relating to meds, others relating to the rules of
racing, still others relating to his personal demons. I do not know which would
be more aggravating: that the man is ignorant of the Rules of Racing, or that he
is cognizant of them but does not think that they apply to him.

Will be interesting to see what IEAH does from here.

[P-Dub]

You guys are being a little harsh on TVG.

When a manager or coach is interviewed during a baseball or football telecast, do the announcers ask them about drug use by their players?? Do they ask Girardi about A-Rod using steroids or Torre about Manny testing positive?? If they did, how many future interviews do you think they\'ll get?? Furthermore, there is a time and place to discuss these issues. During a game isn\'t one of them, nor is asking a trainer about it as he is getting his horse ready to race.

TVG televises races. They are not a news organization. When doing a pre-race interview, what purpose will it serve to ask a trainer about drug usage... or about a test result?? They don\'t \"act like journalists\". They ask questions that pertain to the horse thats about to race. If they did ask if Horse A was administered X drug, do you really think they would tell you??

Tell me, when is the last time ESPN discussed steroid use in football during Sunday/Monday Countdown?? MLB has dismissed it for years.

I\'m not saying its unimportant, but I tune into TVG to watch races. Just like I tune into ESPN to watch a baseball or football game. Most fans already understand that there is drug use in all of these sports. If I want to watch people discuss drug issues in sports, I\'ll tune in to that particular show. But when I\'m watching a game or race, thats what I want to focus on.

[Silver Charm]

Ritchie an \"I QUIT\" attitude is the last thing the game needs.

You have been holed up in Living Room Downs for so long you are starting to develop an Archie Bunker syndrome. Get a little \"MeatHead\" attitude put some bellbottoms on and go out and protest something.

Things like the Christ(sic) Blog can become useful Forums where the Fans start speaking loud and clear and maybe people wake up and listen a little. There were some changes after Eight Belles so let\'s not just stop there.

But people can\'t just bitch and say \"everything is a mess and it will never get fixed.\"

Guess what, it will never get fixed.......

[HP]

Nice and patronizing.  Thank you Sight.  

Honestly I don\'t know how much clenbute it takes to affect the horse or the race outcome.  Do you?  

I know something you apparently do not.  It doesn\'t matter!  He broke the rules.  The rules are the same for everybody.  You can spend all the time you want analyzing this.  They tested and they suspended him.  That\'s enough information for me.  

Again, if experts like you can have some impact revising these rules according to the latest and best info I\'m all for it.  They still have existing standards and tests today, and that\'s what they go by.  Good luck turning the entire population of horse racing fans into people who understand this on the level of vets.  He flunked, he\'s out.  What\'s wrong with that?  

HP

[richiebee]

Silver Charm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ritchie an \"I QUIT\" attitude is the last thing the
> game needs.
>
> You have been holed up in Living Room Downs for so
> long you are starting to develop an Archie Bunker
> syndrome. Get a little \"MeatHead\" attitude put
> some bellbottoms on and go out and protest
> something.

Gee, my old LaSalle ran great.

Silver, you should read a post before you respond to it. I\'ll paraphrase mine
so you will not have to read it: We all know who the bad guys are, but they are
not being punished seriously enough to deter further cheating.

You want to talk deterrent? Bernie Madoff\'s release date was announced last
week. Given expected time for good behavior, Madoff will be released in November
of 2139.

Lets play a game: Kip Deville, Benny the Bull, Rachalk Alexandra, Curlin. The
first 3 are among the top horses currently in training, the fourth arguably the
best runner so far this Century. The trainers of these animals: Dutrow, Dutrow,
Asmussen, Asmussen.

As to being \"holed up\" at LRD, nothing can be further from the truth. I leave
my somewhat less than palatial estates at noon on Monday; by the time I come to
rest in front of my TV set on Saturday afternoon, I will have put in a work week
somewhere between 55 - 80 hours for 2 different clients.

I did the meathead/bellbottom thing in the 70s. I marched on Washington to
protest Vietnam. I did my best to aid in the liberation of women. I campaigned
for George McGovern in 1972; despite my efforts, McGovern \"X\"d rather
dramatically.

Here\'s part of the problem: The only way things will change quickly in this game
is if horseplayers vote with their wallets. By walking away from the game
totally, or by letting the powers that be know where we stand on certain issues
and supporting the game selectively. As you have pointed out, these strategies
may be most effective in a challenging economic climate.

An example: A coalition of whales and minnows gets together and informs NYRA
that they will not be wagering on NY bred races. Or turf sprints. Or trifectas.
Or races where one of the \"usual suspects\" has a runner entered.

The problem with this approach, which I guarantee would be effective given the
right level of participation, is that most horseplayers suffer from what a wise
fellow from my old neighborhood called \"equihippicitis\", the main symptom of
which is the inability to refrain from wagering.

A final word on Steven Crist, and I hate to repeat myself ad infinauseum:
Mr. Crist is probably the one person who has the knowledge, influence,
connections and passion for the sport to initiate the necessary consolidation
of the sport\'s major fiefdoms (and the elimination of the inefficient ones), a
consolidation which almost everyone agrees is the first step towards solving
all of Racing\'s problems. Addressing the Jockey Club, 2/3rds of whom will be
asleep 5 minutes into his oration, is not enough.

Mr. Crist: Grab a glove, get in the game.

And Silver, I\'m not finished with you. Please next time before posting an unpaid
endorsement of Unsound\'s Song, do a side by side comparison of US and Smart Strike.

[analizethis]

How about this? In addition to really coming down hard on trainers,what if owners and their horses got penalized?
In that case if a horse owned by Sheik Mo or Coolmore or Bill Farish or the Phipps family had a positive test their stable would be banned.
Also we believe that there are effective programs in some regions ( California or an even better example Europe). How come California can, as our host says, have one of the cleanest programs around? And why across the pond no one even uses race day lasix whereas in some Mid Atlantic venues, again to quote our host, it is the wild wild west.
There are models out there of how to get it done but until jursidictions decide that they are committed to clean racing before it will happen.