Drugs

[Aussie_2020]

This thread isn’t about any particular trainer or drug. (even though the drug and trainer are named here it really is a basic question)

In another report on this trainer it said the clenbuterol was found in an open bottle. So clearly it was added to the bottle. Not on a grooms hand or in the feed mix.

It seems like such an easy way to get caught. Do trainers get away with drugging enough to risk it? I just can’t wrap my head around how prevalent drug abuse seems to be in American racing.

The Bloodhorse said this several years ago and it really made me question “wth are some trainers doing”?

[LaurieB]

@Aussie_2020

Do trainers get away with drugging enough to risk it? I just can’t wrap my head around how prevalent drug abuse seems to be in American racing.

In every racing jurisdiction HISA covers in the U.S. (currently all but LA, TX, and WV) numerous horses are drug tested every day. Win a race, you’re tested. Run well at long odds, you’re tested. Run badly at short odds, you’re tested. Etc.

There are also unannounced spot checks of barns, and both trainer and vet vehicles. So I would answer no to your question.

The reason drug abuse seems to be more prevalent in U.S. racing than other places is because no other countries are drug testing as vigilantly as we currently are, and because HISA makes every bad test result public.

[Texarkana]

Without trying to sound like a total cheating ass, a clenbuterol positive is far from the worst thing you can get. We regulate it because it absolutely is a performance enhancer with all the anabolic effects. But it is also really darn helpful for managing horses post-race. Having it around can be for a non-nefarious reason.

There are two separate problems when it comes to drugs:

1. Lying cheaters who try to exploit the horse with illegal concoctions and procedures.

2. Trainers who know no other way than to over-rely on legal veterinary medicine and will get a positive pushing withdrawal times or just making a mistake. These people aren’t necessarily trying to cheat but rather just make a living.

The people in category #1 just need to go. But it’s category #2 that is the larger issue and is trickier to reform. Driving those people out means ending racing, and many of them are good people who truly love horses and the sport; they have just been forced to play by these unwritten rules. And asking them to change isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially not when the cheaters are still around to get rich while everyone else goes through an adjustment.

I think it will take a good generation of HISA-like enforcement to clean up racing, so that we have time to develop vets and trainers willing to play by new rules. I just hope we can keep up the regulation that long.

[Aussie_2020]

I didn’t know what the drug was for, had never heard of it, so when I saw the old article by Bloodhorse and their “go-to drug for cheat trainers” I was surprised. From their article I got the impression that over using this drug is very common.

It seems every horse sport has some type of drug abuse happening. Some sound a lot worse that others.