Goodbye Lance

[aussiebreno]

Is that right ??? so if the horse is only capable of performing at 80% in pain and its given pain relief and performs at 95% that hasnt improved its performance had it run with the pain.

It didn't increase the horses ultimate potential. It did not enhance performance - it only allowed potential to be realised.
If that is a performance enhancer than so is water and food. Without water and food you may only race at say 25% but with it you can race at 100%. So are water and food performance enhancers too?
Something that makes the horse go to 101% is a performance enhancer.
A horse could be given something on the Tuesday, that then allows it to race on Saturday. By the Saturday it is out of its system but do we do midweek testing at stables for drugs that allowed horses to reach potential?
No, there are two different classes of drugs - ones you can have at the stables and ones you can't because they are on different levels of the spectrum.

Brendan why do you think they are banned? if they do not enhance performance. and nobody is saying that it improves a horse or makes them run faster than they normally can , but allowing them to take away everyday pain that is part and parcel with performance horses is ENHANCING its performance.

Enhance
1. To make greater, as in value, beauty, or effectiveness; augment.
2. To provide with improved, advanced, or sophisticated features

Painkillers do not make a horse greater or improve a horse. They merely allow the horses features to be met, not advanced.

Edit: I'm actually knocked up on painkillers right now with Swimmers ear and the flu. I don't think Ian Thorpe is going to be worried about me on my painkillers!