cobalt

[Messenger]

I think that Cobalt in general sheds some light on the racing industry as a whole. Firstly I believe both codes should have done substantially more testing on the use of legitimate supplements and both there side effects, withholding period and whether the products do actually have any benefits.
Firstly, I refer to the testing conducted by HRNSW. The tests were done on 5 horses over 4 days. The testing on the horses was primarily conducted on blood samples as obviously urine cannot be taken at as regular intervals however the limits have been set on urine. If you have an alcoholic drink the effect on the blood and what comes out at the bottom end are surely not compatible so how is this information in anyway useful to setting a threshold with relation to retention periods. Despite this the urine tests after just 3 days of administration of 10ml Hemo 15 (Relatively small dose and a totally legal supplement) on two horses were over 200ug/L on the third day, but the raw data with levels in urine and time of sample have never been released. It appears that if treated regularly with a cobalt containing product there is definitely build up in cobalt retention over time and how substantial this has never been tested or proven.

http://www.harnessracingupdate.com/r.../hru011715.pdf

The article above about cobalt states some interesting information. A couple of interesting quotes from the article.

"Cobalt's reputation as a performance enhancer is likely over-exaggerated and is not supported by evidence."

"Currently, the California rule for Standardbreds testing higher than 25 ppb calls for the horse to be put on the vet's list until the animal clears its system of cobalt. Because the half-life of cobalt in the equine bloodstream is one week, a horse might not be able to race for up to two months."

The above comments do not in my opinion support information we are being given here in Australia, with firstly the drug being a Category 1 as well as the withholding period of Cobalt and there supplements. There is no doubt that some of the information in the article appears distressing but how can you tell the difference between Cobaly Chloride being directly injected and normal approved Cobalt containing supplements if they too can get over the threshold.

Lastly the article Controlling the Misuse of Cobalt in Horses and the associated research, recommends an out of raceday limit of 2000ug/Litre so it does not seem that levels of 2000ug/Litre are anywhere near dangerous or fatal so this is just hysteria. Also the research and paper in the Introduction states that the administering of these cobalt containg supplements should be banned not just on race day but the day prior to race day also, so perhaps this should be given as information and also included in be made into a local rule of harness racing.

What do you make of this then, when you claim there can be a build up

The results showed that oral supplements had virtually no effect on cobalt levels. Whilst injectable cobalt supplements did have the potential to elevate urine cobalt levels over the Hong Kong threshold, this excess over the threshold was very short-lived, lasting only six to 11 hours.

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/horse...18-12sr08.html



As far as doubts about Cobalt being a performance enhancer

I am happy with the anecdotal evidence that NSW's highest readings were taken from winners

There is nothing positive to be said about cobalt in that link Boydy but somehow you sound like you think there is