My point was in regard to someone posting that a mild bleed was no big deal. It is, and always will be, a big deal regardless of class and venue.
Apologies if this has been posted already upthread.
Bramlage, McIlwraith on Santa Anita: A Combination of Factors to Blame
Renowned veterinarians talk catastrophic injury prevention, uniform medication policies, and more in a Translational Medicine Institute video.
A collection of factors ranging from racing surface to perception of soundness could have contributed to the 30 horse fatalities at California’s Santa Anita Park, say two world-renowned racehorse health experts.
But, they suggest, there are ways the industry can combat such issues—from canceling racing when conditions dictate to more frequent and detailed lameness examinations.
In June 2019 the Colorado State University (CSU) Translational Medicine Institute posted a video featuring a discussion between Larry Bramlage, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, an equine orthopedic surgeon and shareholder at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, and C. Wayne McIlwraith, BVSc, PhD, DSc, FRCVS, Dipl. ACVS, an equine orthopedic surgeon and a University Distinguished Professor and Barbara Cox Anthony University Chair in Orthopaedics at CSU—on its YouTube channel. The two talked about the Santa Anita catastrophic injuries and other industry controversies such as race-day medications and uniform drug rules. <article continues from there>
The HBPA and the THA issued a statement about Jerry Hollendorfer’s ban: www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/tha-hbpa-issue-statement-on-hollendorfer-ban/
Of course they’re scoped. 
It’s probably the most technologically advanced system in the world. .
(HK is generally recognized as having the highest level of veterinary scrutiny of any racing jurisdiction on the planet.)
As for bleeding, there is compulsory reporting. Unexplained poor performance and a horse is scoped directly after racing. Substantial bleeding is Flagged at ‘3+/4+’ of blood in trachea found on scope within 5 minutes of racing, etc.
!st incident = 3 month ban from racing
2nd incident = regulatory assessment i.e. retirement or another 3 month ban
3rd incident = compulsory retirement
(these are pretty much the same for Australia, New Zealand, Maylayan and South Africa tracks.
Japan has similar escalating type measures but not as strict in some ways. A horse can revert back to acceptable status if they can put together 3 races after their ban time period with no incident of bleeding.
Bleeders aren’t kept on the racetracks there, nor are they allowed to breed for the racetrack.
In the words of HKJC regulatory body as to why no lasix:
“The perception of attempting to pharmacologically adapt the horse to the demands of industry instead of adapting the demands of the industry to the limitations of ‘flesh and blood’… Race-day medication may be seen to be substitute (a ‘crutch’) for skilful training, veterinary input and horsemanship…”
and “Concerns about dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, esp. in subtropical conditions”
As an occasional bettor, I also have access to complete and full veterinary reports on every horse, so I dont have to “guess” that some pre-existing condition or soundness condition that I don’t know about will affect the perfomance of a horse I put my hard-earned money on. I’m sure you can see how that kind of transparency might be appreciated by people who place even a $2 bet on a horse.
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Thanks for posting this. Spot on with what my thoughts are. If JH has done something wrong, then say what it is… not just waving hands. Feels like a magician who uses misdirection to get everyone focus in one direction while the “magic” is happening someplace else.
IMO, I almost think JH’s career is in shreds and would be very hard to re-build even if TSG and NYRA came out and said the bans were a mistake and there was no issue found with JH and his practices 
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Now Bill Morey has been banned from Stronach tracks.
Lovely… Morey has the option of appealing the suspension through CHRB but TSG… you’re outta here. Yes, I get that TSG can do what they want with their tracks and IMO, and not saying it was deserved or not, Morey maybe “deserved” the ban more than Hollendorfer for no other reason than Morey has the CHRB suspension while Hollendorfer… still crickets.
I gotta wonder how long before a trainer decides they aren’t going to risk their career and livelihood racing at TSG tracks any longer…
Kind of hard to argue against video evidence. He basically got caught red handed. I don’t feel bad for him at all, and don’t understand the sympathy towards a person who is breaking rules - a cheater. There is a reason they put cameras in his barn. Get rid of all of them and let the honest horsemen compete.
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:applause:
I’m not arguing this point at all… other than, at least with respect to the suspension, there is an appeal process. Do I believe in Morey’s ability to appeal, yes. Do I think his suspension should be upheld, yes based on what I’ve seen in the media.
When TSG boots your *ss out, you’re gone, no appeal.
Yep. They are very very clearly preaching no tolerance.
And that’s gutsy, with the lack of horses. The trainers they kicked out are going to run at a competing track.
I’m beginning to question TSG’s endgame, if they’re even capable of concocting one. I wonder, with the support of JH issued by the horsemen’s groups, if a boycott of the entry box is under consideration. Horsemen need certainty and if they get the feeling that decisions about stabling and access are being handed out arbitrarily, then they may have to make a “statement” also.
Here’s an article about Jerry Hollendorfer’s assistant, Don Chatlos, who has taken over Larry Best’s horses: https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/234557/chatlos-returns-to-training-in-unexpected-manner
There is a huge difference between the cases of Jerry Hollendorfer and William Morey.
For Hollendorfer, it was, “You’re out forever and we’re not saying why.”
For Morey, it was “We caught you doing something illegal on surveillance camera, so you’re out for 45 days.”
I can understand why trainers and fans are upset by the former, but not by the latter.
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Definitely a huge difference between the two, but Morey’s ban is window dressing as he had pretty much disbanded his outfit.
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Gutsy or stupid? With all the unrest going on within their organization, I’m leaning towards the latter.
I could get behind the knuckleheads when they made whips and Lasix their red herrings, only because I could appreciate that appeasing the public was of the utmost priority in the moment and those were the only two things the public would understand.
Banning trainers without clear charges is a slippery slope, even if they need to clean house.
The Stronach Group owns Maryland, so I certainly don’t want to see them go down in flames.
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The interesting thing about Morey is not what his assistant gave on race day but how he did it. “Blood Buffer” is not milkshaking. It is an oral supplement.
https://vitaroyalproducts.com/equine/products/blood_buffer.html
Essentially, at least according to Morey’s lawyer, they caught the assistant giving an oral syringe of the substance before a race when you are not supposed to have oral syringes.
Of course, everyone here knows that milkshaking used to be a very acceptable treatment up to about fifteen years ago or so. I’m not commenting one way or another about that except before we get all medieval on Morey, this was never the equivalent of a Class 1 violation.
http://www.chrb.ca.gov/misc_docs/1843_2_penalties-rci%20class_0315__2__CHART.pdf
Come to think of it, where is Hollendorfer’s Class 1 violation?
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Santa Anita has been really high handed for a while about stabling and starts per stalls and the rest. In fact, I would argue that their attitude and the pressure they put on horsemen was a contributory factor to the problems they have had this year and may have even resulted in 1 or more of the 4 that they are pinning on Hollendorfer and his bad ways. After all, what has happened to Hollendorfer is the nightmare scenario they threaten horsemen with to get them to comply. This is just the first time it has really come into fruition.
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Track management has created their own double-edged sword problem with stalls and filling races for decades. My opinion is that in the majority of instances, track management doesn’t really care about welfare; they care about profits. We can all cite plenty of instances of this. It is easy enough to pawn the responsibility of welfare (as well as the blame) onto the horsemen.
Social media has put pressure on track management to pretend to care. That was a step in the right direction. Now we’re ready for reform that requires everyone to actually care.
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