Another Soft Penalty for a Cheater

[DickHertz]

Terry Vance gets only six months for using a drug that grows muscle instead of fat in PIGS. He obviously sought this cheating drug yet only gets six months. What a wonderful sport. He’ll have six months to search the world wide web for another drug that allows him to win an inordinate amount of races.

Ractopamine is a drug that is used as a feed additive to promote leanness in pigs raised for their meat.

Ractopamine

[horselover61]

hmmmm… wonder why this was picked up on? Not sure if I completely agree Dick… from the link you gave it’s a muscle mas building drug. NOT a steroid or hormone but a feed additive – such as feeding body builder. Yes, I agree stronger than the regular gamma ory.,…guess I’ll have to research it more. But you have to admit it’s far less ‘hurtful’ to the horse than injecting venom, EPO, etc… Are there side effects once the animal is no longer fed the supplement like there are with steroids & the EPO?

[DickHertz]

[QUOTE=horselover61;4705145]
hmmmm… wonder why this was picked up on? Not sure if I completely agree Dick… from the link you gave it’s a muscle mas building drug. NOT a steroid or hormone but a feed additive – such as feeding body builder. Yes, I agree stronger than the regular gamma ory.,…guess I’ll have to research it more. But you have to admit it’s far less ‘hurtful’ to the horse than injecting venom, EPO, etc… Are there side effects once the animal is no longer fed the supplement like there are with steroids & the EPO?[/QUOTE]

It’s a Class II drug along with EPO. From the ARCI

Drugs in this category have a high potential for affecting the outcome of a race. Most are not generally accepted as therapeutic agents in the racehorse. Many are products intended to alter consciousness or the psychic state of humans, and have no approved or indicated use in the horse. Some, such as injectable local anesthetics, have legitimate use in equine medicine, but should not be found in a racehorse.

The issue I have is trainers seeking a new drug in order to gain a significant advantage over everyone else which Vance did in this case. Did you ever hear of this medication before reading this thread?

[DickHertz]

Here you go…

Great drug. Looks to me like it can cause a heart attack because it increases heart rate. Also, causes muscle tremors and behavior changes. Kudos to Mr. Vance for possessing a computer and finding a drug that lead to many fraudulent wins.

http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v53je08.htm#ca2

[DickHertz]

Looking further at Vance, he was 5 for 95 from May 14 - October 29 in 2009. (5%)

Then he went 10 for 60 from October 29-February (16.6%)

Time to transfer the horse to a friend/assistant. Too bad Mardi Gras was last week or he would have started his paid vacation with a bang.

[Bacchus]

I agree that if you are obviously going out of your way to find something that enhances performance, is not meant for horses, and is a Class II, your fine should be pretty severe. There is no reason for it. The industry really needs to crack down on these guys.