Originally Posted by
Viv Strangman
I hate cheats as much as anyone else but the way the harness racing authorities approach positives to drugs is a major part of the problem.
They start from a default position that they don't have to prove that the drugs were knowingly given by the accused.
Their mantra is a horse must be presented to race free from a list of drugs they have deemed to be performance enhancing.
Circumstances play no part in determining guilt which is all good and fine in a harness racing tribunal but won't last two minutes in court.
So the harness racing stewards find them guilty but then hit them with a wet bus ticket because they know if they come down too hard they are all off to the courts and there they have to prove that it was deliberate, not accidental.
I would love them to take some of these repeat offenders on if only to send a message to everybody in the industry but it appears that the harness racing authorities have accepted the current position as the best that they can do and have no inclination to change their current stance on this matter.
So as everyone can see, harness racing continues to slowly wither and die and the integrity issue is a big part of that.