Monday night on the 10pm news. Just heard a commercial for it. It’s Channel 43, the local Fox affiliate.
ETA: from reporter’s FB page:
“Tonight at 10, we’ll have the first in a series of reports on drug use in horse racing. Since a federal grand jury indicted four people last fall at Penn National Race Course, we’ve been digging into the issue. Safety advocates say drug use has become far too pervasive and enforcement has been lax. We’ll show you what some state lawmakers want to do about it.”
Anne, would you post the link? I watched the video, but having a hard time with this iPad tonight. Curious if anyone thinks Mrs. Jackson is strictly an advocate or do you think that was implying that she thought some specific wrong doing with Barbaro?
Here’s the link:
http://fox43.com/2014/02/24/advocates-call-for-improved-safety-reforms-to-pa-horse-racing-industry/
[QUOTE=Toadie’s mom;7448541]
Curious if anyone thinks Mrs. Jackson is strictly an advocate or do you think that was implying that she thought some specific wrong doing with Barbaro?[/QUOTE]
I can assure you it is the former, not the latter. She is an advocate.
Agree with Texarkana.
That was interesting, thanks for sharing. I got my start at Penn National and for the most part I loved it there but I definitely saw some things that I will never forget.
One of the most useful things that could happen i US racing, is a set down in one state would be enforced in all states.
As it is now if someone gets in trouble in California, they Ho Hum off to NY or Illinois or Pa. Or their Aunt Tillie suddenly becomes a trainer, and races their string.
It is like that. If you get days at one track you can’t go anywhere else. It is hard to enforce the program trainer rule but not impossible.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;7449746]
It is like that. If you get days at one track you can’t go anywhere else. It is hard to enforce the program trainer rule but not impossible.[/QUOTE]
This ^
Not to mention in some cases I’ve seen guys accused of program training that weren’t program training. It’s just one more way to hurt the little guy you want off the track without evidence.
[QUOTE=merrygoround;7449731]
One of the most useful things that could happen i US racing, is a set down in one state would be enforced in all states.
As it is now if someone gets in trouble in California, they Ho Hum off to NY or Illinois or Pa. Or their Aunt Tillie suddenly becomes a trainer, and races their string.[/QUOTE]
Or the lovely case at CT where somebody got busted for snake venom and his daughter took over the string. And they managed to make the cover of Mid-Atlantic TB not long after.
Link to Part 2 of the series here: http://fox43.com/2014/02/25/pa-congr…#axzz2uMa87Xg6
"Calling the horse racing industry an “embarrassment,” Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa 16th) is calling for a series of national reforms aimed addressing ongoing issues with the use of drugs in horse racing.
“The industry, frankly, is an embarrassment to the rest of the world. The rest of the world has zero tolerance of race-day medication,” said Pitts."
You can read the proposed bill here: http://democrats.energycommerce.hous…-2013-5-16.pdf
[QUOTE=Anne FS;7450757]
Link to Part 2 of the series here: http://fox43.com/2014/02/25/pa-congr…#axzz2uMa87Xg6
"Calling the horse racing industry an “embarrassment,” Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa 16th) is calling for a series of national reforms aimed addressing ongoing issues with the use of drugs in horse racing.
“The industry, frankly, is an embarrassment to the rest of the world. The rest of the world has zero tolerance of race-day medication,” said Pitts."
You can read the proposed bill here: http://democrats.energycommerce.hous…-2013-5-16.pdf[/QUOTE]
We do not need people without experience telling us what to do. I won’t stand for it. They have no idea why we do things, like Lasix, etc. I’m more than willing to work towards cleaner racing with other educated horseman that work in the industry but I will not tolerate an outsider pushing his agenda.
The story outlined why trainers say Lasix is needed.
Is it true that other countries don’t allow race-day medications? They must have experts, too. What is their reasoning? Do they have more breakdowns?
[QUOTE=Angelico;7451114]
We do not need people without experience telling us what to do. I won’t stand for it.[/QUOTE] I bet they’re grateful for that. Is nothing for horse drugging gyps to fear with Angelo on the job:lol:
They have no idea why we do things, like Lasix, etc.
Actually they do. That’s why they know it needs cleaning up from a federal level.
I’m more than willing to work towards cleaner racing with other educated horseman that work in the industry but I will not tolerate an outsider pushing his agenda.
Nice of you to admit it needs cleaning up. Appreciate your honesty. How would you propose to do this?
Excellent piece. I don’t normally like mainstream media but they really hit a home run with this one. Well done Harrisburg TV!
I truly don’t believe they do. Maybe some do… but these are the same people proposing horses should race on nothing more than “oats, hay, and water.”
Symbolically, I was OK with that… until I realized many of the less horse savvy legislators quite literally meant ONLY oats, hay, and water. No commercial feed mixes. No electrolytes. No omeprazole. No dewormer. And so on and so on. :lol:
There needs to be horsemen involved in any effort-- and there have been at certain points.
[QUOTE=Anne FS;7451630]
The story outlined why trainers say Lasix is needed.
Is it true that other countries don’t allow race-day medications? They must have experts, too. What is their reasoning? Do they have more breakdowns?[/QUOTE]
Yes it is true. It is also true that their climate and races are drastically different from here. No sane person can compare a race in Louisiana to a race in England.
Profidia, you and I will never see eye to eye, so if you plan to keep arguing with me, can you at least learn to spell my screen name correctly? Racing is a SPORT. It needs cleaned up as much as any other sport. I hate cheaters, but I don’t blame any sport for the selfish bastards in it. You will support anything, true or false, that insults racing.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;7451909]
I truly don’t believe they do. Maybe some do… but these are the same people proposing horses should race on nothing more than “oats, hay, and water.”
Symbolically, I was OK with that… until I realized many of the less horse savvy legislators quite literally meant ONLY oats, hay, and water. No commercial feed mixes. No electrolytes. No omeprazole. No dewormer. And so on and so on. :lol:[/QUOTE] Is easily dealt with. Legislative process can sometimes be tedious. BTW here’s a shocker- Any idea how many race horses get routine vaccinations?
There needs to be horsemen involved in any effort-- and there have been at certain points.
Normally I’d tend to agree but we’ve all watched for many years an alphabet soup of groups promising to clean it up from within. It hasn’t happened. Even the Jockey Club’s Health and Safety of the Racehorse Summit was a farce and a sham primarily done for the primary purpose of getting the government off their backs. I’ve found the owners at places like Saratoga, Keeneland etc have no clue what occurs at low level claiming tracks. It’s two different worlds within the same industry like comparing Beverly Hills to Camden. The general public are also led to believe from TV coverage of the Derby and BC that the industry is something it’s not. Is a brilliant Madison avenue lie that the media perpetuates. HBPA for one is an organization that should rightfully have no say in anything. If anything comes of this I’ll hope they’re excluded from it.
[QUOTE=Angelico;7451981]Yes it is true. It is also true that their climate and races are drastically different from here. No sane person can compare a race in Louisiana to a race in England. [/QUOTE] Really? I might agree if you were talking Dubai (although we have deserts in USA too) but Louisiana winters and British winters the climate is pretty comparable.
Profidia, you and I will never see eye to eye, so if you plan to keep arguing with me, can you at least learn to spell my screen name correctly? Racing is a SPORT. It needs cleaned up as much as any other sport. I hate cheaters, but I don’t blame any sport for the selfish bastards in it. You will support anything, true or false, that insults racing.
Demonstrably incorrect. I too would like to see it cleaned up. There are a great many individuals involved in it that shouldn’t be and ought to be run out of it. There are a few tracks that should be shut down. Least common denominators don’t need to be accomodated, they’re not owed a living by anybody, least of all decent hard working horsemen that have rightfully earned their place in the industry. I don’t believe as you appear to of defending it at all costs. I don’t try to defend the indefensible as drug use (including lasix) is. Do I attempt to embarrass those who have some ability to do better at their regulatory and policing functions? I sure do try. Do I shine a light on cockroaches occasionally who ought to be helped into a different industry? Guilty again. I do stop short at providing information to peta and other lunatic fringes of animal rights groups. However, I am getting to the point that I’d rather see it shut down than see it continue as it is.
Now, what did you see as false on the TV piece? If you were referring to Gretchen Jackson as an “outsider” all I can say is you need to ask around a bit and find out who she is. Don’t embarrass yourself like that again.
Profidia, I just have to ask…
Why do you have to constantly act like you are the only single person who understands the plight of the racing world when talking among racing folks?
I don’t believe I’m only speaking for myself when I say we get it. We just disagree with you.
^^ this.
I see no need to argue with someone that thinks racing in Louisiana in the summertime (you know, cause that is when they race, the heat of the summer, not the mild winter) is remotely comparable to racing in Britain, where they wear jackets in June.
I have suffered greatly for this sport, yet I still support it. I’m sour and full of doubt, but I won’t leave or quit. There are people in this sport that I abhor and would give my teeth to have the chance to run over with my truck, but they are just people. They do not represent everybody, and “exposing” these bad apples as you so proudly claim to do, is obviously not helping.
You want to make a difference? Penalize the cheats, and move on. Do NOT dwell. Dutrow, Broeberg, Hoghead, etc. all those guys LOVE the limelight. Any chance to have their name mentioned and they are on it. Racing does not need glory hounds, horses do not need glory hounds.
Generally these sort get a horse that is amazing in spite of them, they get their moment, that horse retires, they fall from “fame”, the world returns to normal, they eventually become discouraged and flame out. However in this day and age, people like Profidia keep them famous. Thanks a lot.
Stop making life harder on the smaller guys. Stop constantly fighting over “race day meds” aka Lasix, and get your other crap lined out. Don’t start one thing and not finish, then start another. You can’t enforce the rules you have, don’t be making more instead of fixing the problems. The horsemen are still following the rules, all you are accomplishing is making life harder on the real horsemen and their stock. Seriously, we are getting whiplash down here.
I would be willing to give up all meds, even threshold levels of bute but I think giving up lasix is stupid. I believe the only reason people talk about lasix is because it is in the program. Stop publishing it or conversely, publish everything the horse has on board at or below threshold level and the argument will disappear. Uniform medication regulations is a must in my opinion however.
Laurieace, I agree with you. I don’t get what the extreme anger is towards LASIX. I think there will be a lot more horses without jobs if it were taken away. It is over used for sure, but it is not even on my radar as a problem. I don’t feel the need to be like Europe. Recent press has shown that they are not just using hay, oats and water like people portray them (nitrotain). People are people.
I would also give up bute etc, as long as it is a level playing field, however, with testing capabilities going down to smaller and smaller levels it sounds dangerous to horseman as we will use it now and then during training.
The public outrage at slight overages of therapeutic drugs and LASIX is totally misguided. Although policing this is necessary, bigger and bigger fines for these things they are mostly accidental doesn’t change things as you already lose the purse so the cost is usually over $10k for these errors that probably don’t even effect the outcome of the race. The real point is being missed… The real cheats are using things that don’t test post race. They need to get on this rather than ruin the reputation of a sport over a horse getting gastro guard too close to a race or electrolytes in July on race day.
We all see the guys with ridiculous stats but we have to be careful because some guys have high win %s because they get horses from tough tracks and run them at easier ones. But we all suspect the others that seem to have an edge. Many of them have no bad tests.
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