The current situation with the use of "therapeutic drugs" has been well and truly brought to the surface by the "Smoken Up ID 2011 drama" I don't know where everyone sits on this issue and believe it would be a good thing for people to air their opinions and ideas about.
I certainly don't have a "silver bullet" answer to the improving their controlled use but I do think any policy should be designed around each particular drug rather than any blanket, one size fits all method that will in some cases, make life harder for the connections of the horse than necessary.
Certainly a review of current threshold levels and withholding periods, as has already been suggested, would assist in avoiding small issues escalating.
What are your thoughts?
Anyway, Cessnock trials won't run themselves, so Ive gotta head off over there and do my bit.
Cheers,
Dan
So Dan, ultimately we have arrived at EXACTLY THE SAME POSITION? Fair dinkum.
Onwards & upwards however. I'll try and upload the document I mentioned yesterday.
It's pretty big, maybe it'll go up, maybe not. I'll let you know.
If it does, have a look. It's right on the button.
Dan, I can't work out how to do it so I've sent it to Jules to upload. Maybe he can get it to work.
I could have done it for you in 5 minutes its 2nd grade stuff
http://www.harness.org.au/rules/PRHBSUBS.HTM
Just reading this at the moment.
"therapeutic drugs" is a tough topic, but to have for example BUTE given on race day by the attending vet and the vet decide if the horse is fit
to race prior would be a start IMO.
If levels are set for the amount of certain drugs that can be in the system of a horse then there is no problem, If your horse is
over the limit suck eggs, as I read it the trainer is responsable, again suck eggs, hah trainers are mostly desperado's and will tend to
push the limit on withholding periods,
Last edited by Starship Captain; 01-02-2012 at 02:16 PM. Reason: lunch?
Yes SC therapeutic drugs is a tough topic, we have had some very different points of view around the difference between therapeutic and performance enhancing and it is my hope we don't again go down that road as, to be honest, the differences were more a matter of opinion than anything else.Originally Posted by Starship Captain
When racing horses on certain therapeutic drugs the horse's overall welfare needs to be taken into consideration. IMO it's not the same as a footballer playing on pain killers, as the footy player makes an informed choice for himself, the horse does not get that opportunity.
The consistency of the racing product needs to also be carefully managed, if a horse is say, a bleeder and is racing on lasix then of course everytime it goes around the drug needs to be administered in a consistent fashion. How that is managed is yet another aspect for debate.
Last edited by Danno; 01-02-2012 at 03:44 PM. Reason: spelling
[VVV] No doubt work that you're recently very familiar with Ringman.I could have done it for you in 5 minutes its 2nd grade stuff
Any ideas who'll be your Year 3 Teacher?
[VVV] To my knowledge nobody's suggesting Bute on race day SC. Lasix, yes...Bute, no.
Rather, what those in favour of a re-think are suggesting are a series of thresholds for Bute etc. , below which a pre or post race swab is deemed to be clear.
Exactly the same approach as a TC02 test. Everyone knows the number, everyone knows what's required of them.
The document I asked Jules to upload lists a whole swag of thresholds & withdrawal times and from memory the closest to race time that Oral Bute can be given in any jurisdiction in the US or CAN is 48hrs and that was in California. IV Bute can go as close as 24hrs in New Jersey, Oral is 48hrs. Various others are as far out as 96hrs (Canada).
There in itself is a discrepancy because the ORC is as tight a jurisdiction as you'll see re: treatments and they're operating on 96hrs. The problem here in Oz is that the test we have in place to detect prior use of old mate phenylbutazone picks it up well beyond 96hrs. You really have to ask yourself why Oz Trainers should be under an even harsher anti-therapeutic drug testing regime than that overseen by the ORC. 96 hrs is 4 days. The test being used here in Oz will pick it up out to 7 days post. Nice. It stopped working after 12hrs but as a Trainer as far out as 156hrs beyond that you're still rooted and burned.
Last edited by triplev123; 01-02-2012 at 07:51 PM.
personal experience re: bute, 48 hours from oral administration would have the horse well and truly over any significant effect, the key is proving it/reasonable detectable threshold levels given the individual horses' metabolism, to me that is the key factor with many therapeutic drugs... prove it has been administered (and it's affect on the individual horse) is in a consistent fashion and we get a level type playing field.
While ever there is the opportunity for the arguement, "but I just slipped up a little bit!!" we are left with the cheats pushing the boundaries and, unfortunately, other participants feeling like they've been ripped off!
As we all know the TC02 levels Jamie referred to are being constantly experimented with by some camps... look at all the "inconsistent" form when we had to go to 2 hour on course arrivals, as well as a spike in TC02 infringements.
That alone identifies people who are pushing the boundaries, not for the welfare of the horse they have in their care or for the benefit of producing a consistent racing product , but more for their own benefit.
The very people I despise, those who put there own interests in front of the game.
Last edited by Danno; 01-02-2012 at 10:04 PM. Reason: grammar
Danno, some one did post a comparison to there football playing and that they take pain killers. I did not reply to it, as I could not
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