Do these guys not understand that they could kill racing if they keep this up?
I hope there is some explanation for this, though I can’t imagine what it would be.
It will be interesting to see how this case is fudged by the racing authorities. Diodoro had already been “given a second chance” according to the article, after being caught “milkshaking” a horse. So, says me cynically, the authorities will back down again and it will just be a trivial slap on the wrist.
After all, everyone does it and it would be so unfair to pick out just one trainer. /S
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As the article points out in several places, last year Diodoro was racing under the rules of the Arkansas Racing Commission. This is year, it’s HISA and HIWU. He’s already been suspended and told to remove his horses from the track (by today). There are no more slaps on the wrist anymore.
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The article states that he has a lot of horses at that track, so it’s a pretty big deal to have to move them all off the premises.
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@skydy @LaurieB Good points. I really do hope that sanctions are both imposed and sustained. I really hope this does not go off to the courts, for lawyers to dance on pin heads for years at a time. But given the Baffert fiasco… This is so important for the wider health of American TB racing. It is also important for racing worldwide because it is such an international business.
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HISA has changed things. It’s crazy to think that Diodoro would be so stupid as to have that substance in his barn.
Times are changing and racing will have to get with it. Gone are the days when they can look to their buddies for a “slap on the wrist”.
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Apparently Texas is a refuge for trainers that drug their horses.
Trainers get in trouble just because a drug that shouldn’t be found in a horse’s blood after a race is found somewhere in his stable area? Couldn’t be used for a horse that has an injury or something? I understand that some drugs should never be found at the track but thyroid medicine?
@littlebaypony Horse racing and drugging is always controversial. Every other major TB racing jurisdiction has far, far tighter rules than does the US about what meds and when meds can be used. The horses run on “hay and water”. In the UK and Ireland, if a horse requires drug therapy for e.g. an injury, the meds must be reported and the horse tested to be clean before it is permitted to resume racing. I believe this is common practice across multiple jurisdictions. This means having e.g. steroids sitting in the stable medical chest can get get a trainer fined or even warned off because it is black and white: no steroids in the horses at any time, no ifs, no buts. Many horse racing nations provide substantial income to Government from taxes on betting revenues and everyone is happy to protect the betting industry even though gambling often has a poor public image. Betting revenue depends on the betting public being confident that racing is run clean, fair and square. Being otherwise kills the golden goose. The Arab nations don’t permit betting but they stick with the international consensus because they use horse racing as a way to build their international profile. The USA has too many gray areas, far too many lawyers and a declining racing industry.
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Trainers are not even allowed to have syringes in the barn.
Thyroxine was used by Baffert and many others in the past, for horses that did not have thyroid issues.
Baffert had seven horses die “suddenly” in an unusual time frame and while the resulting investigation did not tie Thyroxine to the deaths, it found that Baffert was giving it to all of his horses.
He wasn’t breaking the rules at the time but he stopped using it.
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I liked Phil, but I think all the time with Michael Gill damaged his ability to not want to cheat the system.
Em
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It seemed like he was not doing that here–cheating–and his well documented protocols is what saved him. That article was very interesting as to what protocols he put in place including surprise employee drug testing and cameras…
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Did you even read the article? This is an example of a trainer taking responsibility, following and respecting the rules, trying to do right in a system not yet caught up with its own self, and believing in the changes to make the industry better. As opposed to blaming others, crying about HISA, and moving to Texas, for example.
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And adding, Schoenthal is a good guy who basically lost his job with Gill because he wouldn’t play by his rules. At least that’s my memory as someone who was there.
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Just adding a few things for folks who don’t follow the HISA/HIWU news closely.
Thyroxine is indeed absolutely forbidden on the racetrack now. It used to be standard in some (many?) barns for every horse to get it, not for the typical use in helping treat horses with insulin resistance/obesity but for increasing lean muscle mass and performance. Now you can’t even have it for the fat pony. People who haven’t gotten the memo are outta luck. Diodoro is not the first.
Texas opted out of HISA which means they can’t simulcast to or from other states. I don’t know the financials but it has to be putting a major dent in revenue and hence purses.
Louisiana and West Virginia are not currently covered by HISA due to a case in the federal court. So you will also see banned people pop up in those two states, at least for now.
We claimed back a horse at Charles Town a couple of months ago. He had mostly been in MD so we got all of his medical records from his time there. He spent the last month at CT so there was nothing from that time. It illustrated to me how useful it is to have uniformity.
Here’s an article from the Paulick Report on a case involving a harness trainer and how arbitrary the state racing officials are (since HISA is not involved.) HISA has its issues but clearly we can’t go back to the hodgepodge of rules and regs we had before.
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