It’s up to the owners and the veterinarians to clean up the sport, if it’s even possible. I have no qualms about picking up the phone and questioning charges on any bill. I’m sure most of the big owners have managers looking at their bills, but usually people with money have money because they manage it well. There is a pretty big difference in a farrier bill for glue on shoes and one for racing plates. I would also question the efficacy of any meds I was being billed for. It adds up.
And what is up with the thyroid medication??? I have fat pony on it for metabolic purposes to help keep her fatness under control. I can’t imagine giving it to a race horse - I’m always more concerned about weight gain with them!!! I prefer to keep them calm and relaxed. Good grief.
[QUOTE=spotted draft x filly;7498219]
Big Brown isn’t the only horse Dutrow had that used glue on shoes.[/QUOTE]
I would have put glue on shoes on every horse in my shedrow if I could have afforded it.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;7498284]
I would have put glue on shoes on every horse in my shedrow if I could have afforded it.[/QUOTE]
Same here.
So I finally got through the video. Yes, Blasi is a jerk. And Nehro’s feet issues were disturbing. Although I also wonder how much is bravado, to impress the present company. I suppose not good, but not necessarily precise information.
Agree with those who think the buzzer comment taken out of context. And the allegations of fraudulently getting SS numbers for the staff were not proven to me in that video. Assume there must be proof in the rest of the video, but if so, why wasn’t it there?
What I was really struck by was the direction towards the PETA site at the end, where, of course, you immediately see the requests for $$$.
This, fed to the NYTimes, 6 weeks before the Derby. Again, if PETA truly cared about the industry, rather than their own parade, they should have reported this last fall, after they had the information. Nope, it’s where they can drum up $$$.
I agree the industry can use a major clean-up, with a single governing body. But am so sorry if PETA gets the credit for it beginning. Oh, and by the way, how many currently in the Racing Hall of Fame would be there without meds? Look at who is/will be excluded from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Joe Drape will seize any opportunity to throw the TB world under the bus. So what if it’s PETA - it fuels his keyboard and gets him attention.
And no doubt he’s getting an expensed trip to Dubai for the World Cup this weekend, just like last year. I deserve that more than he does!
I believe they’re saying that they have more to release but are waiting till right before the Derby.
Exactly. They want to attempt to further cripple the sport by releasing it the one week people actually pay attention. I hope the powers that be are using this time to have some sort of policy changes in place to combat that.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;7499156]
Exactly. They want to attempt to further cripple the sport by releasing it the one week people actually pay attention.[/QUOTE]
THEY? The industry thew the horses under the bus a long time ago.
New Light on Seamy Role of Buzzers in Horse Racing
By JOE DRAPE
March 27, 2014
It is called a buzzer, a battery or a machine: It’s a device the size of a lighter that conducts electrical current and shocks a racehorse into running faster. It is prohibited at American racetracks, but has long been a part of the sport’s seamier lore.
Last week it was brought out of the shadows when the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed multiple complaints to state and federal authorities accusing a prominent thoroughbred trainer, Steve Asmussen, and his top assistant, Scott Blasi, of subjecting their horses to cruel and injurious treatments, including having one of their jockeys use a buzzer on their horses.
Both Blasi and Asmussen, who ranks second in career victories and has won more than $214 million in purses, declined to comment through their lawyer, Clark Brewster.
Asmussen’s name was removed from the Hall of Fame ballot last Friday, a day before he fired Blasi, his assistant of 18 years.
The animal rights group also named three of thoroughbred racing’s biggest stars in the complaints and posted videotape of two of them — jockey Gary Stevens and trainer D. Wayne Lukas — laughing and exchanging stories about their experiences with electrical devices earlier in their careers.
At that same dinner in Louisville in the week before the Kentucky Derby, Blasi discussed how Roman Chapa, another jockey the Asmussen barn has used frequently over the years, hid the buzzer in his mouth.
To authorities, it provided another clip — viewed by The New York Times — of two Asmussen employees speaking about how the Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel frequently employs a buzzer in morning workouts and to condition horses to run close to the rail, including the 2010 Kentucky Derby winner, Super Saver.
Jerry Hissam, the longtime agent for Borel, said the allegations were “ridiculous.”
“It’s absolutely untrue,” Hissam said. “Why would a guy who’s broken 43 bones in his body run a horse into a fence at 35 miles per hour?”
On the videotape, Stevens, 51, discussed using buzzers years ago, and talked about how he managed to shock himself riding a quarterhorse named Rocky Bandit as a teenager.
“It’s extremely embarrassing and humiliating,” Stevens said Wednesday. “Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about the sport, and how much I love it. It was campfire talk about something that happened 35 years ago. I was 16 years old at the time.”
The use of electrical devices in horse racing has been well documented, and allegations have been leveled and investigated in some of America’s prestigious races.
Since 1974 there have been nearly 300 instances in which racing commissions have investigated and taken action against jockeys, trainers, grooms or escort riders for infractions involving the devices, according to documents obtained from the Association of Racing Commissioners International.
In the 2000s alone, there have been 53 buzzer cases at racetracks ranging from Lone Star Park in Texas and Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts to Delaware Park in Delaware and Penn National in Pennsylvania.
On the PETA video, Lukas told of watching an unidentified jockey hiding an electrical device in the blinkers – or eyewear – of a horse before being searched. He also said that the use of the devices at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico was so common that it often sounded “like a full-blown orchestra” behind the starting gate.
Lukas did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The winner of a record 14 Triple Crown races, Lukas is also a commissioner on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which is investigating PETA’s allegations. The commission has the power to suspend or revoke his, or anyone else’s, license to work in the state if they are found guilty of wrongdoing.
PETA’s accusations do not represent the first time Asmussen’s name has come up in an investigation of buzzer use.
On Feb. 17, 2007, Roman Chapa was caught with an electrical device after the sixth race at Sunland Park in New Mexico. The horse, Right Place N Time, was co-owned and trained by Asmussen. Chapa had been suspended 19 months in 1993 for using a buzzer in Texas.
Since 2000, Chapa has ridden 961 races for Asmussen, winning 244 of them and earning more than $4.8 million in purses. Chapa won a race for Asmussen last month at Sam Houston Race Park. He is scheduled to ride another horse trained by Asmussen on Saturday at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans.
Asmussen was not accused of being complicit. Chapa did not respond to messages and could not be reached for comment.
Last fall, the New York Gaming Commission cleared jockey Luis Saez of using a buzzer when riding Will Take Charge to victory in the 2013 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Eric Guillot, the trainer of runner-up Moreno, accused Saez of shocking the colt to the win. Will Take Charge was trained by Lukas.
After Stevens and Thunder Gulch won the 1995 Kentucky Derby, stewards reviewed the race when viewers thought they saw equipment change hands while Pat Day, on Timber Country, reached out to Stevens. They found no evidence of an electrical device changing hands.
In 1999, however, Billy Patin was barred from the sport for five years for using a buzzer to win the Arkansas Derby — an important prep race for the Kentucky Derby — aboard the colt Valhol.
Now, the current leading rider in Arkansas, Ricardo Santana Jr., has been accused of using an electrical device by PETA. In a conversation, recorded Aug. 13, Blasi described Santana as a good “machine rider.”
Blasi recounted a conversation he said he had with Santana. “You got the máquina?” Blasi said he asked, referring to the Spanish word for machine. “Boss, I got the máquina,” was Santana’s reply, according to Blasi.
Santana has denied the allegation through his agent.
Stevens said he had not yet been contacted by racing authorities in Kentucky and New York who have opened investigations into the allegations against Asmussen and Blasi. But he said he intended to cooperate fully with any and all probes.
“I have nothing to hide,” he said.
[QUOTE=ThisTooShallPass;7499265]
THEY? The industry thew the horses under the bus a long time ago.[/QUOTE]
I don’t know what you are talking about.
[QUOTE=caffeinated;7499151]
I believe they’re saying that they have more to release but are waiting till right before the Derby.
:/[/QUOTE]
They must be working on the final touches, editing out the words that don’t fit… Sort of like this,
““Did you see that number 5 horse?”
“No, but there’s quite a buzz about her.”
“I understand Stevens will have the mount.”
“Got to hand it to his agent, signed him up last weekend when he was off.””
Becomes,
“”…see that number 5 horse?"
“…but there’s a buzzher.”…
“I understand Stevens will have "
“…to hand it to his agent, …when he’s off…””
Although I’m sure the PETA marketing gurus are much more creative than I could be…
http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/story/_/id/10684491/peta-makes-case-medication-reforms-touted
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it will “go away” if horse racing addresses its medication issues, and industry officials who have spent countless hours trying to do just that suggest progress is evident but not recognized.
Recent PETA allegations of racehorse abuse and mistreatment have stepped up calls from industry organizations for passage of uniform model rules for equine medication, penalties, and drug testing. But it hasn’t made the endeavor any more urgent, said Alan Foreman, chairman of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.
“I’ve been watching this very closely,” Foreman, who noted the Mid-Atlantic region push for adoption of uniform rules began about a year ago, said March 26. “The Mid-Atlantic covers a large swath of racing in the United States. We’re almost a year into this and only about three or four jurisdictions [nationally] haven’t moved forward [in some manner]. Let’s see where we are at the end of 2014.”
According to The Jockey Club, the number of U.S. racing jurisdictions in which the model rules have either been approved by regulatory agencies, are in the adoption process, or are under discussion account for more than 90% of pari-mutuel handle and about 90% of purses paid. Maryland already operates under the uniform rule package; Delaware and Massachusetts will do so when live racing begins in May; and Kentucky expects to have the regulations in place sometime this spring.
Of the four segments of the National Uniform Medication Program, the therapeutic medication schedule and laboratory accreditation have made the most progress. Administration of race-day furosemide, also called Salix or Lasix, is next, followed by the multiple medication violation penalty system, which is the final piece.
For maximum results the plan requires full compliance. Delays have generally resulted from individual state laws that require legislative approval, officials said.
“I would hope whatever we are doing is simply the beginning of a continual process,” said Matt Iuliano, executive vice president and executive director for The Jockey Club. "In any sport you can’t sit back and proclaim victory. These are significant and terrific reforms, but our job is to continue to look into and probe, and find areas of continued improvement.
“We spend a great deal of time on the phone on or in person with racing commissioners. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. The thing that always makes us nervous is the ‘in-process’ component of this. This has a lot of peril in it.”
The national drug reform program got off the ground when the industry struck a compromise on the anti-bleeding drug Salix. There are, however, racing participants – members of the Water Hay Oats Alliance, for example – who believe all medication should be banned on race day and that only federal oversight can move horse racing forward.
PETA, which released video of activity in trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn as part of an undercover investigation, has stated its support for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, which calls for federal governance of equine medication by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. But the group also urges people to stay away from, and not wager on, horse races, including the Triple Crown events.
In light of that, PETA senior vice president Kathy Guillermo was asked if the group is anti-horse racing.
“Overall, we’re opposed to any kind of activity that exploits animals, so we certainly come down on the abolitionist side,” Guillermo said March 26. "That being said, what I feel what we’ve very reasonably advocated for ever since we became involved in this in 2008 is for the industry to clean up its problems.
"We would probably go away if they would do that. I think it’s important for people that oppose the kinds of things we documented to stay away from racing until that happens.
“We know Lasix [use] is widespread. We also know it’s considered a performance-enhancer as Dr. [James] Hunt said on the video, in spite of what so many people have claimed over the years. We know from evidence that came out in the New York Times two years ago that muscle relaxants, painkillers, and sedatives are commonly used. I believe what our video did is show what it really means for these animals,” Guillermo said.
Iuliano said a major goal of the National Uniform Medication Program is to address and curtail excessive use of legal therapeutic medications.
“The uniform medication program creates very bright lines for when medication is used and guidance for when it should stop being used,” he said. “For those arguing there is abuse of or overuse of therapeutic medications, this program does speak to that [on the penalty side]. If a pattern is established of [a person] exceeding [limits], it should be telling you something.”
“If the MMV [penalty system] were in place, it would have changed this type of behavior,” Foreman said of trainers perhaps overusing legal drugs and having consistent therapeutic medication violations on their records. “Going forward there will be a structure in place to grab onto this situation.”
PETA released a nine-minute video of activities in the Asmussen barn in 2013 at Churchill Downs and Saratoga Race Course. Based on published reports that said up to seven hours of secret video was taken, Guillermo was asked if would be made public.
“As far as further release of video, there is some additional video, but it is with law enforcement authorities, and we don’t have any plans right now to release that,” she said.
"New York, Kentucky, and New Mexico have opened investigations or are about to. I understand there are some precautions being put in place [for] the Wood Memorial [at Aqueduct Racetrack] for illegal substances. But the problem really is the legal substances from our perspective.
“What I have been told by two or three dozen people over the years is that what we documented is widespread. That doesn’t mean that everybody behaves that way. But the use of thyroid medication – that was one of the issues that came up with [trainer] Bob Baffert when his horses died unexpectedly.”
Foreman was asked if the horse racing industry, despite progress that began with the banning of anabolic steroids on race day more than five years ago, will ever be able to satisfy participants and observers.
“If the federal legislation had passed last year, and USADA had taken over [regulation of equine medication], what you saw happen on that [PETA] video wouldn’t have been any different,” Foreman said. "They don’t regulate conduct or obscene behavior. The underbelly of any sport is probably not pretty.
"It must all be about Lasix, because we have eliminated race-day medication with the exception of Lasix, and that now is more tightly regulated (under the model rules). We’re still arguing about the past and what could or should have been rather than what we’re doing now.
"We don’t have a single, central voice willing to step up for the industry and tell it like it is. This PETA thing is a little different; we need to wait [until the investigations are completed] and respond forcefully. The problem is we can’t get the industry to respond with one voice.
“You want one message from the industry, but I’m not confident when this is done that there will be one,” Foreman said.
I’ve been hearing for over 20 years now, that as a horse enthusiast, I should hate and fear PETA because they want to abolish all horse ownership and riding. I don’t ever see that happening and while I would not give my $ to PETA, I don’t have a strong opinion about them one way or the other. The problemis that few inside the industry will speak up and no one of any authority will do anything. Personally, the vets disgust me almost more than anyone else. I would think it would be illegal to give meds to an animal with no basis or no exam even. That doesn’t happen in my world. I agree that PETA says a lot of silly stuff (one thing that really struck me as totally absurd was blaming the jockey for Eight Belles breaking down) but unfortunately there are not enough people standing up for the animals in many circumstances.
[QUOTE=CVPeg;7499325]
They must be working on the final touches, editing out the words that don’t fit… Sort of like this,
““Did you see that number 5 horse?”
“No, but there’s quite a buzz about her.”
“I understand Stevens will have the mount.”
“Got to hand it to his agent, signed him up last weekend when he was off.””
Becomes,
“”…see that number 5 horse?"
“…but there’s a buzzher.”…
“I understand Stevens will have "
“…to hand it to his agent, …when he’s off…””
Although I’m sure the PETA marketing gurus are much more creative than I could be…[/QUOTE]
I can’t believe you still think they need to edit, the facts are the facts…I said it a few pages back in this thread, machines are still used, always have been. Nothing “shocking” about this.
PETA doesn’t care about the industry, I think everyone can agree with that. What they are going for is shock value, and will release what they want when the time suits them. As far as asking for donations, once again, that’s what they do, but still doesn’t discredit what’s on the tape (even though they aren’t showing us everything, yet).
I’m sure it took some time to get their facts together, file the complaints, etc. So I can see why they didn’t release this right before the Breeders Cup…that would have been good timing for them also, maybe not as good as Derby week, but you see the point.
The industry absolutely needs to clean up, we’ve all seen it coming, just a shame PETA has to be the one beating the drum. It should have been the real horsemen that are out there that care about the welfare of horses and racing.
I’m surprised this topic is not on the Off Course forum. I’d like to read the opinions on the video from the general horsey public here on COTH. Has it changed their opinion of the racing industry?
[QUOTE=Laurierace;7498126]
Of course there is a difference. She asked to see my pictures so I posted them.[/QUOTE]
Lighten up, Acertainsmile! Why so prickly?
No one said the horses’ hoof problems were of the same nature. Only that they had problems…
Thank you Laurierace ,and thank you caffeinated , for the photos.
I did ask, and you were kind to oblige. I appreciate it. 
Didn’t mean to come “prickly”, just added that there is a difference in sore feet and horses with quarter cracks that need patches/special shoeing. Many people read this forum, just wanted to put that out there.
[QUOTE=Acertainsmile;7499679]
I can’t believe you still think they need to edit, the facts are the facts…I said it a few pages back in this thread, machines are still used, always have been. Nothing “shocking” about this.
PETA doesn’t care about the industry, I think everyone can agree with that. What they are going for is shock value, and will release what they want when the time suits them. As far as asking for donations, once again, that’s what they do, but still doesn’t discredit what’s on the tape (even though they aren’t showing us everything, yet).
I’m sure it took some time to get their facts together, file the complaints, etc. So I can see why they didn’t release this right before the Breeders Cup…that would have been good timing for them also, maybe not as good as Derby week, but you see the point.
The industry absolutely needs to clean up, we’ve all seen it coming, just a shame PETA has to be the one beating the drum. It should have been the real horsemen that are out there that care about the welfare of horses and racing.[/QUOTE]
The problem is that any time real horsemen have come out and suggested changes they’ve been pooh poohed and ignored.
Back in the 60s, Louis Wolfson (owner of Affirmed) was suggesting exactly the kinds of reforms that people are once again suggesting today.
Things have only gotten worse over the years.
[QUOTE=SportArab;7499903]
The problem is that any time real horsemen have come out and suggested changes they’ve been pooh poohed and ignored.
Back in the 60s, Louis Wolfson (owner of Affirmed) was suggesting exactly the kinds of reforms that people are once again suggesting today.
Things have only gotten worse over the years.[/QUOTE]
See, that isn’t the slightest bit true. I don’t go back anywhere near the 60’s as far as racing goes but I have seen things get tremendously better for the horses. I stated when I started training that it was the norm for every horses to get bute, banamine and dex 24 hours out. There isn’t a track in the country that you can do that today. Some tracks took urine but not blood which means they could test for the presence of certain drugs like bute but not the quantity. Some people were giving 10ccs of bute when they hung the bridle. You can’t do that today.
I am not saying there isn’t still changes that need to be made but to say things have gotten worse is simply untrue.
