Originally Posted by
Showgrounds
Might as well shut up shop, then. Those of us who have been actively involved with horses for decades know that if they have never been caught doing anything illegal then the odds are shortening that they soon will. Put this down to the crusade of Dr Phillip Swann back in the 1980's which resulted in rules being changed to reflect it is the trainers' duty to present the horse for racing drug free. That was all drug, including therapeutic ones. Why is betting allowed of football when their would rarely being a player in the AFL not on some sort of painkiller or anti-inflammatory. At least a footballer can tell the club doctor where it hurts. Horses can't do that (unless it's name is Mr ED - of course, of course).
We have poor older horses running in open class races and claimers all over the country just to make up the numbers. Is that good for the punting public, or the image of the sport when they invariably start to tire and drop out when crunch time hits in the last lap of a race?
The widespread use of Swann's simplistic rule has, in my honest opinion, must partially take the blame for the loss of many industry participants over the years. The speed of horses has increased dramatically over the past four decades; nobody gets a warm feeling any more in their nether regions when their horse breaks 2 minutes. Unfortunately, the rules have stagnated for much of this time. The practice of milkshaking was pretty widespread among our old friends, the needy and the greedy, during the late '80's / early '90's especially in states like SA. It wasn't so much the bicarb soda (it is no wonder drug), it was what was added to it that mattered. Unfortunately, swabbing could not detect the additives only the bicarb that masked the true culprit. So, they introduced an acceptable level of bicarb detectable in the blood. A very smart filly of mine was always just below the limit through her natural blood levels. Prior to then, we used to use off the shelf products like Staminade the day before a race and the day after to stop horses from dehydrating. Nobody ever thought of it as "cheating"; we were just looking after the horse. These days, you have to be very careful in how you "look after the horse"!
The real blight on the game, though, is the failure to recognize most our equine athletes bleed internally. Just like human ones when they perform at extreme levels under stress. Unfortunately, those that police our sport these days are not horsemen of old who understand the stresses horses go through just to get to racing stage let alone win or be competitive. I'd love to hand any steward a horse and a set of harness (without notice) and ask them to gear it up and put it in the cart. Would be great on U-Tube.
The definition of a horse bleeding in Australia is when a steward observes blood coming from either nostril. The official "cure" is a 3 month ban - no recommendation for a course of treatment. If the horse comes back to racing they usually perform below their former self. Usually, they are still bleeding but undetected. In the North America, the horse is notified as a bleeder and can continue to race on Lasix which prevents most bleeding. That has been the case for many decades. Unfortunately, our "substance free" stance protects only the punter but not the horses.
On the other hand, Kev, the needy and the greedy will still try and find that competitive edge. The latest bicarb "scandal" will come and go. The bigger scandals have been the Cobalt and Blue Magic ones. One problem - has a horse EVER produced a positive test to either after WINNING a race? Didn't think so! Perhaps reviewing the current rules re supplements and regulated therapeutic treatments would give EVERY horse, trainer and owner the competitive edge they seek.
And then come down harder on the needy and the greedy! Just sayin'.
Let ye who has committed no sin cast the first stone.
