Quote Originally Posted by Thevoiceofreason View Post
Dot and Trish

Are you two cracking jokes the reason the stewards can not do anything is because the trainer is not in breach of the rules.

They can not say under rule 500B you are charged with using steroids and because Dot and Trish and Mark do not like it you are disqualified for 12 months.

This thread has become so stupid I will not be coerced into commenting again.

The rules are the rules, are the rules, you do not have to like them but if you play in the game you play by the rules.

If you seriously think steroid use should be barred totally .... get off this thread and do some lobbying of the vets who will ultimately make the decision... seeing it took years after the thoroughbreds did it to get ulcer treatments passed I wish you luck.
Bill is that a "flounce"? Actually I wasn't craking a joke at all. Trish wrote that she asked the stewards if they would do "anything" if a horse returned a positive result to an anabolic steroid in an out of competition test to which she advised that they replied "no". And that to me is appaling. I'm not saying that anyone should be charged with a made up rule because I don't like steroids but as a matter of course stewards should police the rules that they have to ensure that they are doing the best job possible for the integrity of the industry. If stewards are not going to bother to even check a trainers records to ensure that a type of drug, that is an anabolic steroid, that is well known in sport for its performance enhancing capabilities and is illegal to have without a prescription, was obtained and administered in accordance with the law/rules when it has been detected in a swab, albeit legally, then when are stewards going to check a trainers records?

Let me put it this way Bill when I'm pulled over for a random breath test the police DO NOT only start checking my bona fides after I blow a positive result. They check my identity, the validity of my licence, any out standing warrants for my arrest, the registration of my vehicle, if it has been reported stolen, if it has been used in the commision of a crime, if it is roadworthy all as a matter of course. And yes if they note the lucerne leaf that is frequently on my passenger seat then they may well ask me to step out of the vehicle and search it for evidence of drugs as well, and when they find the needle and syringe in the console that I've forgotten I guess I could well find myself going down to the station to answer some questions. And guess what Bill I haven't actually committed an offence of any kind.

And yet our stewards, who I believe are paid substantially more then our police, advised an owner upon request that they would do nothing if an out of competition test revealed the presence of an anabolic steroid!

The bottom line Bill is harness racing no longer has years left to get it right, the clock is ticking and it is getting louder all the time. You may believe that post race testing is the ultimate deterrent but my understanding is that that is no longer the case. I don't expect the authorities to use either your or my opinion but to consult the experts in the field and determine the most effective strategy which would I would think would most likely include varying propportions of post and out of competion testing and perhaps a good deal more "leg work" with more stewards in the stables checking the bona fides of the products being administered to our horses.