I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Baffert got preferential treatment. However, in your travels you must not have passed through Kentucky. I know two people here who have gotten positive tests. One was notified two weeks later, the other heard three weeks later.
I don’t know what the normal protocol would be in California. I’m just pointing out that the system doesn’t work the same way in every state.
And what I was thinking of was the more practical issue of the lab involved. I know the CHRB uses Davis. What I don’t know is their turnaround time.
Like I said, it took a month for Masochistic. The BC was on November 5th. The formal DQ did not happen until December 30th although the announcement occurred in mid December and there had been a lot of talk before then because the BC had withheld payment of places second through fifth. Since Masochistic had finished second, it didn’t take much sleuthing to figure out who they were concerned with.
I had a test years ago that they called “cloudy” months after the race was run and I was paid out for the win. The stewards explained that they found “something” in the sample but couldn’t identify what it was. They eventually figured it out and cleared us from any wrongdoing and the winnings remained the same. I had no idea that tests could be found to be positive retroactively but apparently they could back then. I assume the testing process has improved since then but that too can be troublesome since they can detect such incredibly minute traces of stuff that it practically homeopathy.
Nope, since it’s not located between New York and Virginia. 
But KY is KY. One of the reasons for the prompt notification is that a disqualification potentially affects eligibility for subsequent races for the top two finishers. 'Round here, people are very quick to file a complaint with the stewards when trainers run horses in races they are not eligible for, even though the racing secretary is supposed to catch those things.
That is more the crux of the biscuit to me. I read the NBC article. All the issues about whether that weed is a PED or not, whether it was administered or not, explanations for why the reading could be so high…all that isn’t the issue for everyone, same as it wasn’t an issue that Justify passed all the TC race tests.
The issue is the CHRB did change their rules after-the-fact in the Baffert case, there was no transparency, etc. and they are supposed to be a regulatory board.
The article is not going to change anyone’s thoughts about racing giving preferential treatment to certain people, etc. Many will wonder “what else” has been covered up along the way, and/or that foxes are guarding the hen house. And also wonder if it was Joe Blow’s horse who won the SA Derby would he have been stripped of the purse and DQed…
It appears that Ruiz (Bolt d’Oro) is going to pursue the issue. https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/236554/ruis-attorney-pursues-answers-on-justify-decision
According to an article all the pre-race testing for this year’s BC was done by Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California, Davis.
They got the results in 4 days. ???
I need to start taking screenshots of the articles. The part about 4 days is now missing from the article i “thought” I got it from, unless I looked up the wrong one. But that sounds about right for this year or am I mistaken?
.
Yes, 4 days is fast, but if they contracted with a lab to run XXX samples with a fast turnaround and were willing to pay for it, I’m sure it could be done.
Mick Ruis is now suing the CHRB over the way they handled the 2018 Santa Anita Derby.
https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/trainer-ruis-files-petition-against-chrb/
Think that’s a good thing, they need to be more transparent to avoid the perception closed door decisions present to the public.
Racing is a private industry with state oversight due to the gambling component. All of their decisions are closed door. Even when they hold a hearing on an issue, it’s not public.
This could be over quickly, or become interesting. Will they take look at what happened with Justify and the scopolamine- and the purse distribution? Or blow it off?
Even before this lawsuit was filed, it was clear that the CHRB was hoping to blow off (or hide) the whole thing.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
And, we’re off!! https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/244139/california-judge-to-allow-justify-hearing-to-go-forward
Somehow I have the feeling that Justify’s connections aren’t going to win this one.
If I were them I would just concede and be done with it. They can handle the loss of the purse redistribution and go on with making money hand over fist in the shed.
I wondered about this year’s Derby, with Thousand Word’s flipping in the paddock and Authentic freaking out after just having run the race, when you’d think he’d be tired. Just super fit, or reacting to something chemical? Anyone else wonder about this?
Nope. Both were perfectly normal reactions to flukey things in my opinion.
Thousand Words has apparently always been hard to handle.
Authentic was high on adrenalin at that point. He’d just had a big blanket of roses thrown at him and he was being crowded on all sides by people who were too busy celebrating to watch where they were going. I thought his reaction was understandable.
Reacting to a chemical is a bizarre take on these horses’ behaviors. Can I ask for my own curiosity why you think “cheating” would manifest as spooky horses?
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