Quote Originally Posted by broncobrad View Post
Haven't we been down this road before? http://hl-app1.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=88749

By hook or by crook a substance that shouldn't have been in the horses system was found.

Just to what level of scrutiny is required by trainers that would satisfy stewards, I just don't know. But let us assume that even if Barry is not complicit in the least he still has to prove his case of innocence. Under the rules as they stand he doesn't have much room to move.
[VVV] That's the problem right there Brad. In a nutshell. The implications of the rules as they stand are absolutely absurd.
These are high performance horses that from time to time will need to be treated with a very wide range of therapeutic substances, substances which for the most part there are currently no thresholds in place.
Furthermore said rules remain in place not because it is a best practice style approach but rather because of the severe shortcomings in the current testing regime.
The fact that we as an Industry continue to test for & hang Trainers on the basis of minute non pharmacologically active levels of the metabolites of parent drugs in urine samples instead of testing for the actual presence of & getting a definitive level on parent drugs themselves in blood samples (thereby being in an infinitely more informed position insofar as determining an either pharmacologically active or inactive presence) serves to underline just how far we have to go. Under the present system Trainers are damned no matter what & that is just straight up wrong.