G'day Dot,
I am saying right here, right now, straight up, carved in stone then gold paint applied to the lettering, for all the world to see...that in terms of Harness Racing Punters having confidence and faith that the form for our wagering product is of a consistent, valid, handicappable nature, performance enhancing drugs are most definitely of a secondary concern. Not to me, not to you, no doubt not to most if not all Industry Participants but in the big scheme of things it is not us that drives the bus. The battle against performance enhancing drugs is almost entirely a participant driven one.
By & large the Punters could not give a fat rats arse if each and every horse went out onto the track in a full sweat with their eyes rolling in the heads and tuned up like an F1 car, just so long as they did so each and every time and they raced accordingly, as in they raced the same way, each and every time.
Why do you think that TCO2 testing was instituted?
Despite what Officialdom generally might like the Industry Participants to believe, in reality it was NOT and never had anything whatsoever to do with any performance enhancing aspects.
Rather it was wholly and solely to do with the press button ability to manipulate form a box of good old Arm & Hammer affords someone who might choose to take a walk down that road and that ability to manipulate form threatened the integrity of the wagering product and that in turn threatened turnover and that in turn threatened the rivers of gold flowing into State Government coffers as a result of wagering taxation.
Don't drench for weeks on end then Bi-carb one week and down the road we go at 30/1, then don't do so the next and the arse falls back out of them again. The core reason for TCO2 testing is no more noble than that. The level playing field aspect of it is a convenient and no doubt a welcome by-product but it was always PUNT driven.
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