Archive for the ‘Medication’ Category
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Some Thoroughbred trainers and veterinarians are giving new meaning to the term “happy hour.” This isn’t the typical late-afternoon or early evening sessions when drinks are discounted at local watering holes but the time, usually two or three hours before a horse race, when an injection (normally 60 cc’s) or oral dose of alcohol—often vodka—may be administered to a Thoroughbred to calm him down.
This alleged practice, which is prohibited as a Class 2 violation in the classifications of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, made headlines a couple of years ago when a racetrack veterinarian in Nebraska was charged in a criminal case with injecting alcohol in horses with the purpose of affecting the outcome of a race. Those charges were eventually dropped when witnesses couldn’t be located for the trial.
Things got quiet on the alcohol in horses front until last fall, when three trainers at Turf Paradise had horses test positive for ethyl glucuronide, a metabolite of ethanol. Ethanol is the alcohol in beer, wine and hard liquor.
One of the horsemen was Keith Bennett, a former leading trainer at the Phoenix, Ariz., track, who is currently second in the standings with 64 wins from 198 starts, a healthy win percentage of 32%. A second is Justin Evans, who is third in the current standings with 37 wins from 113 starts, a 33% win percentage. The third is E. Mark Welch, with nine wins in 82, an 11% win percentage.
Evans had three horses test positive for ethyl glucuronide positives in a 12-day period between Oct. 31-Nov. 11, 2008. The chief veterinarian for the Arizona Department of Racing ordered tests for the substance in late October 2008. A search of Evans’ barn uncovered six or seven 7.5-liter bottles of vodka in a file cabinet. Evans said in a hearing that he used the vodka as an “old trainer’s remedy,” soaking a pad in the alcohol and using under leg wraps on all of his horses.
The testing was conducted by Industrial Laboratories. Tests for ethyl glucuronide had only been developed a few years earlier by the University of Pennsylvania and had not been widely available until recently, an employee of Industrial Laboratories told the Arizona Department of Racing.
As a result of the multiple positives, stewards ruled that Evans should be suspended a total of 18 months. He was also fined $3,150 and the owners were stripped of purse winnings. Evans appealed, and an administrative law judge reduced the suspension to 120 days. Click here to read the adminstrative judge’s ruling.
According to sources, Turf Paradise officials exercised their right to exclude trainer Evans from the premises, though he was told he could apply for stall space in the future. He is currently stabled at Lone Star Park in Texas, where he won with one of his first four starters of the recently opened meeting, with two third-place finishes.
Another trainer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Paulick Report alcohol is also being used in connection with so-called milkshakes, which contain baking soda and electrolytes and are designed to reduce the lactic acid buildup that causes fatigue. The concoction is mixed together as a paste, the trainer said, and can be administered through a dose syringe, though it is more effective when given through a tube into the horse’s stomach.
“You’re getting them carbohydrates at the top of the lane where some horses are running out of gas,” the trainer said. “I tried it, and believe me, it works. But I quit doing it because I couldn’t afford to get caught.”
Scot Waterman, executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, said he is skeptical about the effectiveness of alcohol in milkshakes. It’s his understanding the substance is given to calm horses, not to increase carbohydrates. But he said the use of alcohol in horses has “always been in the rumor mill,” and is something the RMTC takes very seriously. The organization funded a study several years ago to develop the most effective detection methods for ethanol using blood and urine tests and even experimenting with a breathalyzer. “It’s easier to detect when given orally (than intravenously),” Waterman said. “The absorption is slower.”
Turf Paradise steward Ismael Trejo said backstretch security has been employed as an adjunct to testing in hopes of acting as a deterrent to trainer who might otherwise consider giving alcohol or other banned substances to their horses. “We put state investigators on trainers’ barns and have had investigators shadow private veterinary practitioners,” he said. “Maybe we won’t catch them, but we hope we can stop them. The fear of getting caught can be the best deterrent.”
“We do catch cheaters,” said Eugene Joyce, general manager of Turf Paradise. “It might be painful to read the headlines, but we do catch them. We want trainers and $2 bettors to have confidence in the game and to make people believe it’s being contested on a level playing field.”
There are concerns in Arizona and other racing jurisdictions that budget cuts by state government will lead to fewer post-race tests and reduced personnel for backstretch security and investigations. And security is a key to deterrence, said Dr. Rick Arthur, equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board.
“Our security has been specifically alerted to watch for this type of thing (administration of alcohol),” he said. “Investigators know to watch for it, and this is one of the reasons we are adamant about our ‘water only’ rules on raceday. If it’s not water, the investigators can tell the difference.”
Arthur said some “old-time trainers” will say they used to dose horses with alcohol “somewhere in the neighborhood of four ounces. It is something we are concerned with, something we watch for.”
The CHRB regularly confiscates and tests syringes used by veterinarians to ensure raceday injections are Lasix only, Arthur said. “When we confiscate one syringe, everyone on the racetrack knows about it an hour later," the former racetrack practitioner and surgeon said. "If somebody wants to bend the rules, I don’t want them to be comfortable doing it. That’s why we do barn inspections, vet vehicle inspections, to make people say, ‘Hey, this isn’t worth it.’
“We have no problem prosecuting people we catch, but the goal of our program is to stop people from anything illegally.”
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: alcohol in horses, arizona department of racing, association of racing commissioners international, California Horse Racing Board, CHRB, e. mark welch, equine medical director, ethanol, ethyl glucuronide, eugene joyce, industrial laboratories, ismael trejo, justin evans, keith bennett, Paulick Report, racing medication and testing consortium, Ray Paulick, RCI, rick arthur, scot waterman, turf paradise
Posted in Horse Welfare, Medication, Regulatory Issues | 17 Comments »
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Following his alleged violation of detention barn rules in New York, Jeff Mullins may be claiming ignorance of the rules of racing regarding medications or treatments that can be given to horses on raceday. The trainer was allegedly seen by New York Racing Association personnel giving a substance that came in a bottle marked Air Power to Gato Go Win in the Aqueduct detention barn last Saturday, necessitating the late scratch of the horse from the Bay Shore Stakes,
Mullins, who trains likely Kentucky Derby favorite I Want Revenge, was quoted in published reports saying it was a treatment that he routinely gives to his horses before a race. He called it an “honest mistake” (has anyone ever heard of a “dishonest mistake”?), and some apologists are buying his act, saying it wasn’t that big of a deal and the media is blowing it out of proportion.
Mullins has previous rules violations. Click here for a list of rulings against him.
If it’s true that he routinely gives Air Power to his horses on raceday in California, where he is based, then Mullins is routinely violating the rules of the California Horse Racing Board. The raceday rule was specifically communicated to all licensed California trainers in 2007. Presumably, Mullins was one of those trainers who read the memo.
On Sept. 7, 2007, just after the conclusion of the Del Mar meeting, veterinarian Rick Arthur, the Equine Medical Director for the CHRB, sent a memorandum to all trainers reminding them of what can and can’t be given on raceday. The memo’s subject line, which seems relatively easy to understand, read: “WATER ONLY ON RACE DAY.”
The memo was written, widely posted and distributed to trainers after three horses had to be scratched during the Del Mar meeting because several trainers apparently were unclear on what can and can’t be given to a horse on raceday. One of those trainers was Hall of Famer Jack Van Berg, who administered a substance described as a peppermint mouthwash to the filly The Golden Noodle shortly before the Del Mar Debutante. It was something Van Berg said he had been doing for years. The Golden Noodle was scratched after security observed the filly being given the substance.
“This suggests there is considerable misunderstanding as to what is permitted under the rules and what is not,” Arthur wrote in the memo.
“To be clear, this rule prohibits the administration of any drugs or other substances except as provided in the rule. There are few exceptions. Only water may be administered on race day to wash a horse’s mouth. Throat flushes, no matter how innocuous their ingredients, are not excepted. This includes old-time remedies containing menthol, oil of wintergreen, oil of eucalyptus, camphor or any similar products, ‘natural’ or otherwise including peppermint.
“The rule is simple: WATER ONLY. Mixing prohibited products with water does not make them permitted. If this is observed the horse will be scratched.”
Air Power contains honey, apple cider vinegar, aloe vera, menthol, oil of eucalyptus, lemon juice, ethyl alcohol, according to the manufacturer.
Click here to read the entire memo, which includes the applicable CHRB rule, 1843.5: “Medication, Drugs and Other Substances Permitted After Entry in a Race.”
California trainers should have a pretty clear understanding of the rule.
Arthur opted not to comment to the Paulick Report on the Mullins investigation being conducted by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board. In 2005, however, he made the following observations about Mullins to John Scheinman in the Washington Post, saying Mullins was a good trainer who didn’t have a clear sense of ethics: “It’s an attitudinal problem, and those things are hard to overcome,” Arthur said. “It’s basic ethics is what it is. The bottom line is [Mullins] basically lives in his own world, and you can tell by his comments that’s the case. He’s oblivious to everything around him and does things his own way and thinks it’s right.”
It looks like not that much has changed since 2005.
Honest mistake? I don’t think so.
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Tags: Air Power, California Horse Racing Board, CHRB, detention barn violation, gato go win, jeff mullins, new york state racing and wagering board, nysrwb, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, rick arthur, srwb
Posted in Medication, People, Regulatory Issues, Uncategorized | 59 Comments »
Monday, April 6th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
The investigation by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board into possible violations by Jeff Mullins in the detention barn prior to the running of Saturday’s Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct is the latest in a string of controversies involving banned medications by the California-based trainer. Gato Go Win was scratched by the stewards after security personnel alleged Mullins was attempting to give an over-the-counter cough formula, Air Power, to the horse while in the detention barn.
A short time later, Mullins saddled I Want Revenge for an impressive victory in the Wood Memorial, setting him up as the potential favorite for this year’s Kentucky Derby.
Twice in the last 4 ½ years, Mullins-trained horses tested for a higher than permitted level of sodium bicarbonate (commonly called milkshakes) in California, forcing his starters to undergo 24-hour pre-race surveillance for a specified period. Last year, Mullins was also suspended 90 days, with 70 days stayed, after a horse he trained tested positive for mepivacaine at Hollywood Park in 2006.
After Mullins received his first sodium bicarbonate warning in 2005, he created a firestorm when quoted by a Los Angeles Times columnist calling horseplayers “idiots.” He went on TVG a few days later to apologize for the comments, even though he said he was quoted out of context. Earlier that year, Mullins was fined $1,000 for a positive drug for a horse running in a stakes race at Fair Grounds in Louisiana.
According to the Association of Racing Commissioners International, Mullins had his first medication violation at Wyoming Downs in 1986 when RCI shows that he received a one-year ban and $1,500 fine for a positive test for prednisolone.
Mullins is currently ranked 14th among North American trainers by 2009 earnings. He’s won 38 races from 150 starts (25%), with $1,443,330 in purses through April 5.
Following is a list of rulings against Mullins since 1986, compiled from the RCI and California Horse Racing Board databases:
September 2008, necessitated late scratch at Del Mar, $300 fine
August 2008, excessive levels of sodium bicarbonate at Del Mar, horses put under 24-hour pre-race surveillance
June 2008, late to the receiving barn with a horse at Hollywood Park, $100 fine
May 2008, late to the receiving barn with a horse at Hollywood Park, $100 fine
January 2008, mepivacaine positive at Hollywood Park (in 2006), suspended 90 days, ,with 70 days stayed
September 2007, ineligible starter at Los Alamitos, necessitating late scratch, $300 fine
February 2007, prenisolone positive at Santa Anita, $400 fine
June 2005, Bute overage at Hollywood Park, $300 fine
February 2005, ranitidine positive at Fair Grounds, $1,000 fine
January 2005, excessive levels of sodium bicarbonate at Santa Anita, horses put under 24-hour pre-race surveillance
November 2004, failed to deliver horse to receiving barn at Bay Meadows Fair, $200 fine
October 2004, Methocarbamol positive at Oak Tree, $300 fine
October 2004, failed to comply with official veterinary directive at Oak Tree, $100 fine
July 2004, horse improperly shod for turf course at Hollywood Park, $100 fine
April 2003, late to the receiving barn at Santa Anita, $100 fine
December 2000, entered ineligible horse at Turf Paradise, $100 fine
October 2000, entered ineligible horse at Turf Paradise, $100 fine
January 2000, entered ineligible horse at Turf Paradise, $100 fine
January 2000, dimethylsulfoxide(DMSO) positive at Turf Paradise, $250 fine
January 2000, dimethylsulfoxide(DMSO) positive at Turf Paradise, $250 fine
January 2000, failure to appear, $250 fine
March 1999, unlicensed employee at Turf Paradise, $100 fine
November 1994, dimethylsulfoxide(DMSO) positive at Turf Paradise, $250 fine
April 1992, failure to have owner’s license at Turf Paradise, $50 fine
January 1990, failure to take care of business in proper manner (no foal papers in racing office), causing late scratches in two races, $200 fine
August 1988, positive tests for poly-ethylene glycol in two horses at Wyoming Downs (no fine or suspension listed)
September 1986, prednisolone positive at Wyoming Downs, suspended one year and fined $1,500
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Tags: Air Power, association of racing commissioners international, bay shore stakes, California Horse Racing Board, gato go win, I Want Revenge, jeff mullins, New York Racing Association, new york state racing and wagering board, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick
Posted in Medication, People, Regulatory Issues | 40 Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Whenever I think about horse racing’s crazy-quilt regulatory system that has ruling bodies in 38 different states, I recall the time an official at some racetrack asked Hall of Famer Bill Mott to show his trainer’s license before entering a restricted area. Mott reached into his Wrangler’s and pulled out what appeared to be a full deck of laminated playing cards, held together by a rubber band wrapped around the outside.
“It’s in here somewhere,” Mott said, fumbling through individual licenses for Florida, New York, Kentucky, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois, Delaware, Virginia, Louisiana, and maybe even his home state of South Dakota, among others.
Uniform licensing is a concept the industry has been working on for, oh, 50 years or so. They still haven’t got it figured out. In this regard, owners, trainers and other licensees are subjected to some of the most ridiculous regulatory inefficiencies any industry has ever seen. Why?
I thought about this absurdity as I read the racing industry’s latest “white paper,” this one authored by a well-intentioned group of equine veterinarians at the American Association of Equine Practitioners that suggests we all follow their recommendations, pull together, and work in concert for the overall good of the industry.
The average meaningful life of a Thoroughbred industry white paper is about 10 to 14 days – or at least it used to be. That’s about how long it took for the weekly trade magazines to dutifully detail the highlights, and then mail the magazine to their subscribers. The typical reader reaction was a collective yawn. They know how the industry works … or doesn’t. The lifespan of an industry white paper might be shorter today, given the access to the information on various Web sites.
For those who haven’t seen the AAEP treatise, it’s called “Putting the Horse First: Veterinary Recommendations for the Safety and Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse.” Click here to read the entire nine-page report.
For those who want the abbreviated version, here it is: 1) the AAEP believes it is “imperative that the industry urgently demonstrate an ability to affect sweeping change without government intervention”; 2) we need to hold hands and sit around a campfire singing songs until we can reach agreement on issues related to the welfare of the horse 3) horses should not be permitted to race without at least 10 days between starts; 4) some racing secretaries are evil and racetrack management is increasingly clueless about horses; 5) more study is needed in the areas of racing, training and selling 2-year-olds; 6) adopt new whip rules; 7) keep holding hands and singing campfire songs; 8) it’s no longer acceptable for owners to heartlessly discard ex-racehorses, and it’s imperative that all jurisdictions establish and support rehabilitation, retraining and adoption agencies 9) claiming races need reform, with purses no more than 50% higher than the claiming price, drug testing of all claimed horses, and claims for horses that fail to finish a race being voided; 10) develop and adopt uniform rules, penalties, drug testing protocols, violation reporting procedures (stop me if you’ve heard this one before); and 11) keep singing and holding hands, and will someone please throw some more logs on the fire?
This industry is amazing, if for no other reason than for its ability to clear its throat and harrumph when the situation is dire. Since Eight Belles died on the track at Churchill Downs and we celebrated the highs and lows of Big Brown, an anabolic steroid-pumped Kentucky Derby winner (surely not the only one), we have had more task forces, committees, blue-ribbon panels, and alliances than we’ve mustered up before in this short a time. We’ve had the Jockey Club, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and now the American Association of Equine Practitioners sounding off (and I know I’m forgetting some of the other alphabet soup orgs).
And still, Bill Mott has a pocketful of racing licenses. If we can’t do the simple things, what makes the AAEP or any other group think we are going to convince 38 state racing commissions that a $12,500 purse is too high for $8,000 claimers, or that a horse needs 10 days off before racing again?
Let’s look at the first premise of the AAEP’s white paper, that we need to “urgently demonstrate an ability” to make change without government intervention. Haven’t we had enough chances to demonstrate our ability to do so? (I enter Bill Mott’s expired trainer’s licenses into evidence.)
Why and how has the AAEP, a group of veterinarians, taken it upon themselves to state that we must do this without government assistance? I suppose if they were involved in the cattle or poultry or peanut business, they’d suggest we would be better off producing meat and other foodstuffs without interference from the United States Department of Agriculture.
The point is, we need government to help us overcome the dysfunctional regulatory structure that has led us to this mess we are in. We just need to be able to be part of the process, and not be in the adversarial role many in this industry are setting us up to be in. If we repeat the mantra that “government is enemy, government is enemy,” how do you think government is going to respond?
So with all due respect to the AAEP and its veterinarians, please stick to what you know best. In fact, this white paper completely ignores what vets know best, which is the care of horses. Nowhere in the white paper are there recommendations on such procedures as pin firing of shins of young horses, or permitting horses to race just days after receiving joint injections. To be fair, AAEP executive director David Foley said further recommendations will be forthcoming, but should those recommendations have come first, so that their own house is in order?
Tell us what you think about the chances the AAEP’s white paper recommendations will ever be implemented. Read the full report. Take our poll on the left-hand column of the Paulick Report home page, and leave your comments in the space provided below.
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Tags: aaep, AAEP white paper, american association of equine practitioners, anabolic steroids, Big Brown, bill mott, claiming races, david foley, drug testing, drugs in horse racing, eight belles, Horse Racing, Jockey Club, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, NTRA, Paulick Report, putting the horse first: veterinary recommendations for the safety and welfare of the thoroughbred racehorse, racing regulations, racing secretaries, Ray Paulick, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, TOBA, uniform licensing, uniform rules
Posted in Horse Health, Horse Welfare, Industry Organizations, Industry Reform, Medication, Regulatory Issues | 54 Comments »
Friday, February 6th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
I’m wondering if Mark Fenner, general counsel for the Texas Racing Commission, owns a hungry dog. Fenner used just about every excuse in the book except “the dog ate my homework” when he asked racing commission steward Dennis Sidener on Friday to postpone next Tuesday’s hearing regarding a nine-month-old medication charge against Eclipse Award-winning trainer Steve Asmussen
 Sidener, naturally, granted the request, which stunned Asmussen’s attorneys, Maggi Moss of Iowa and Karen Murphy of New York. They received news of the postponement as they were preparing to travel to Texas and after making arrangements for a number of people to testify before the stewards, including Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and Louisiana State University chemist Dr. Steven Barker.
“I am blown away by their cavalier, callous indifference to any of us,” said Moss, who is also a leading Thoroughbred owner. “We are so ready to go. Steve wants the truth, we want the truth. I’ve never dealt with any commission like Texas, which has had seven lawyers involved in this complaint. I’ve handled cases in 10 jurisdictions, and Karen’s counted 15 states where she’s handled cases, and we’ve never, ever run into anything like this.”
Asmussen, who was recently honored with his first Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer of 2008 after setting an all-time single-season mark with 623 wins, was charged in late June with a positive test for lidocaine in Timber Trick, a 2-year-old filly who won a maiden race May 10 at Lone Star Park. Lidocaine, classified as a Class 2 drug, can be used as a pain blocker but also is found in many non-pharmaceutical products, such as creams or lotions. If the stewards ruled against him, Asmussen faces up to a six-month suspension and a fine of $1,500-$2,500. Owner Gainesway Stable would lose the purse money.
Fenner, whom Moss said was the first of six or seven racing commission attorneys she has dealt with on the Asmussen complaint, wrote the following note to stewards on Friday: “I have just been assigned to lead the presentation of this case, and I have pre-existing commitments that prevent me from adequately preparing by that date. These commitments include a Commission Working Group on Funding Meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 11, a Commission Committee on Racetrack Licensing on Feb. 13, and a full Commission meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Each of these meetings requires substantial advance preparation and coordination with individual commissioners, and I must dedicate these next few days to those efforts.”
The delay is just the latest exasperating development in the case for Asmussen’s attorneys. Moss said Texas authorities months ago denied their request to have the plasma tested (which experts told her would be more conclusive than a standard urine test), would not quantitate the amount of the drug detected, and wouldn’t allow a split-sample to be tested at LSU.
“If the plasma says there is a metabolite we’ll accept it,” she said. “Why won’t they quantitate it? Dr. Barker says from what he can tell it’s not lidocaine, it’s some minuscule metabolite of something that contains lidocaine.
“We cannot think of any time that anything like this has happened. There have been 22 lidocaine cases in Texas and they were not handled this way,” Moss said. “In many cases there were mitigating circumstances. In others, the stewards have a hearing and they get their penalty. But the stewards aren’t the bad guys here.
“We’re fighting this,” she continued. “This isn’t just about Steve. Karen and I took this case because we want uniformity in drug laws. This is about Joe Blow at Mountaineer. It’s about tracks and attorney generals taking off and calling everybody cheaters. Texas does not have the same rules the rest of the industry has. We think if you are going to have millions of dollars worth of horses we should have the same kind of testing as the Olympics.
“Steve asked me today, ‘Why do they hate me so much?’ These lawyers have done things that are very questionable. Like today, saying they are going to represent the stewards and also prosecute the case. This is supposed to be a stewards hearing.”
Moss does wonder if the Texas Racing Commission has something against one of Texas racing’s most celebrated families. Steve’s older brother, Cash, was an Eclipse Award-winning apprentice who then went on to enjoy an outstanding career riding in France. His parents, Keith (a former quarter horse jockey) and Marilyn, train horses at their training center in Laredo.
“Six months ago,” Moss said, “investigators from the Texas Racing Commission showed up at the Laredo training center, and say they are there wanting to do an investigation to see if Keith Asmussen’s licensing is in order. They point to some guy and say, ‘Is he legal,’ ‘Is he licensed?’ Keith went into his office and brought out his license and told them where they could stick it.”
According to the Association of Racing Commissioners International database, Steve Asmussen has a total of 74 rulings involving him, including several medication violations, dating back to 1990. He served a six-month suspension in late 2006-early 2007 for a mepivacaine positive in one of his horses racing in Louisiana. Interestingly, the chemist who helped suspend him on that charge was Steven Barker, who was set to testify in Asmussen’s defense on Tuesday.
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Tags: asmussen horse center, bill mott, cash asmussen, dennis sidener, karen murphy, keith asmussen, lidocaine, maggi moss, marilyn asmussen, mark fenner, steve asmussen, steven barker, texas racing commission, timber trick
Posted in Medication, People, Regulatory Issues | 13 Comments »
Friday, January 2nd, 2009
Gina Rarick and I grew up as neighbors of sorts – she on a Wisconsin dairy farm and I amidst the cornfields on the Prairie State side of the Illinois-Wisconsin border. We both gravitated toward journalism and the Thoroughbred industry, though her life’s work carried her across the Atlantic Ocean to Paris, France, while mine only brought me a few hundred miles down the interstate to within a half-hour’s drive of Paris, Kentucky.
 Rarick (pictured, left) began her career in journalism nearly a quarter-century ago at the Milwaukee Journal and she wound up as the turf writer for the International Herald Tribune in Paris, France, covering major race meetings around the world. She never completely lost her rural roots, taking riding lessons while working in Chicago and later in Paris. She got serious about horses in France, getting her jockey’s license and riding into the winner’s circle in her first race in 2001 at the age of 38.
One year later, Rarick took out her trainer’s license, juggling a small stable with her journalism career, finally giving up the latter in 2008 to work full time as a trainer in Maisons-Laffitte. She hasn’t total abandoned writing, however, maintaining a frequently updated blog at her web site, www.gallopfrance.com. You can contact Gina at grarick@gallopfrance.com.
Rarick has been reading about American racing’s problems and offers her international perspective in the following commentary, arguing that the Thoroughbred industry in the U.S. needs a strong central governing body. Let us know your reaction to Rarick’s assertion in the comments section at the end of this article or by taking the Daily Paulick Poll, found on the left-hand column of the Paulick Report home page. – Ray Paulick
By Gina Rarick
There has been endless debate over the past year about how to save racing in the United States, and the focus has turned lately to how to pay for it all and who gets what size piece of an ever-dwindling pie.
For my money, cleaning up the sport and turning the focus back to the well-being of the equine athlete is the first and only way to go forward, but for those who insist on dwelling on the business model, I’d like to offer a little international perspective that may be of use.
In France, where I train, the betting handle has nearly doubled over the past decade. It rose to 9 billion euros in 2007, the most recent year for which figures are available, from 5.5 billion euros in 1997. In the United States, the handle fell to 10 billion euros in 2007 from 13.7 billion in 1997. The figures are from the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, which converts all figures to euros for ease of comparison. The takeout in France fell to 26% in 2007 from 30% in 1997, while in the United States the takeout has been steady at about 21%. Both countries return about 8% to the sport.
In Great Britain, things are far more complicated because of the bookmakers. The overall betting handle rose to 15 billion euros in 2006, the latest numbers available, from 7.5 billion in 1997. But most of that betting was done with betting exchanges or bookmakers, who return just 1% to the sport, compared with the already-paltry 4% from the pari-mutuel Tote system. Overall takeout fell to 16% in 2006 from 22% in 1997.
Lies, damn lies and statistics. What does it all mean? First off, bookmakers and any sort of fragmented market are mortal for the sport.
Racing in Britain is in horrible shape, with breeders producing far more horses than the sport can support, counting on a lucrative export market that is drying up. The average purse in Britain last year was 15,000 euros (and that’s the total purse, not the win prize). But that tops the average 12,000 euro purse in the United States. In France, where the pari-mutuel PMU system has a monopoly on betting, the average purse was 21,000 euros.
One of the big arguments that bettors make is that lowering the takeout will increase the betting handle. But the takeout in the United States has remained constant for the past decade, while the handle has fallen.
True, the takeout in France and England has dropped, and the handle has risen. And it’s also true that big players are cognizant of this sort of thing. I’m a trainer, not a gambler (or at least not a serious one), but it’s my impression that most casual bettors, and certainly new, small players, pay absolutely no attention to the takeout. They’re here for the spectacle and the horses. When the pretty gray filly shatters her ankles and is euthanized on the track, they’re disgusted and they’re not coming back.
And as much as we like to think the whales run the sport, it’s the small players that provide the lifeblood. In France, the average bet last year was 11 euros; 40% of the players were women, and one in four were under 35 years of age. The PMU operation in France has a stunning marketing campaign, and the daily “Quinte Plus” handicap, where the object is to pick the first five past the post in order, has a huge national following. Many people who play don’t know beans about horses – they pick random numbers. That bet alone – offered on one race a day – was responsible for 23% of the handle last year.
The other misconception seems to be that the sport needs to draw fans to the track. Again, as a trainer, I would love to see more people in the stands other than the 10 guys and a cat that show up on any given day here in France. But the numbers in the United States and France show us that most people prefer to bet at home or at off-track facilities. In the United States in 2006, only 11% of the betting was done at the track, compared with 39% in Britain, where people have to show up to get the best odds from the on-course bookies.
In France in 2006, only 2% of the bets were made at the track. I’m not kidding. The only people who show up here are the ones who have to actually saddle the horse or ride it. But advances in technology and ever-better television coverage (at least in France) make it too enticing to curl up on the couch and bet by remote control. Accepting this, rather than trying to change it, seems the only logical way to proceed.
The powers that be in racing – both in France and abroad – seem to be focusing on the top end of the game rather than the bottom, which feeds the top. Your average race-goer (or racing couch potato) doesn’t know the difference between Curlin and a 10,000 euro claimer. These guys want to see full fields to make the betting interesting. Sure, it’s nice to have a good story with a horse running in Group or Grade 1 races to use as a marketing tool. But those stories are few and far between these days, and concentrating on building up only those top races, at the expense of the bottom end, will further eat into the handle.
No one wants to encourage breeding unsuitable horses, but maintaining a good program through all levels will keep people betting. I have rarely seen a card anywhere in America that features seven races with at least 10 runners each. In France, there have been hundreds of horses eliminated from spots during the Deauville winter season this year because of a glut of entries. Rarely is there a race that doesn’t have a full field of 16.
I’m not saying we have a racing Utopia over here. Every jurisdiction has its problems, and ours is the cold north wind blowing from Brussels that is pushing France to open the betting monopoly. If this happens, our purses are likely to go the way of the rest of the Continent, and the sport will begin to die, just as it is in Germany, Belgium and, unfortunately, Great Britain. As it is, runners from all those countries are regular visitors here, trying to earn some money the old-fashioned way – by crossing the line first.
I can’t see how American racing can save itself without some sort of nationwide governing body. I know this idea is anathema to many and downright offensive to some, but I can’t see how the sport can survive with a different set of medication rules and different betting systems for every state. Only with a unified front — and a total ban on race-day medication — can the United States truly participate in the sport on an international level and build confidence at home.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: betting exchange, betting takeout, british bookmakers, drugs in racing, francegallop.com, gina rarick, Horse Racing, international federation of horseracing authorities, international herald tribune, international horse racing, maisons-laffitte, milwaukee journal, off-track betting, pari-mutuel wagering, Paulick Report, pmo, quinte plus, racing medication, Ray Paulick, Simulcasting, turf writing
Posted in Horse Racing, Industry Reform, International Racing, Medication, Racing Media, Thoroughbred Business | 29 Comments »
Friday, December 5th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Procaine, the local anesthetic detected above threshold levels in the Todd Pletcher-trained filly Wait a While when she finished third in the Oct. 24 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita Park, is used in association with penicillin G to prolong the minimum inhibitory concentration of the drug; in other words to keep penicillin in the bloodstream longer.
The California Horse Racing Board filed a complaint against Pletcher for violation of CHRB Rules 1943.2, 1844 (a) (b) (d), and 1887 after the Maddy Laboratory at the University of California-Davis detected an excessive amount of procaine. The Pennsylvania Equine Research Laboratory, a split-sample lab chosen by Pletcher, confirmed the test.
Procaine, which in its pure form can act as a stimulant, is a Class 3 drug in California. The penalty level for its presence is Class B, which calls for redistribution of the purse (Wait a While won $213,000), a minimum 30-day suspension absent mitigating circumstances, and a minimum fine of $500. Hollywood Park stewards will conduct a hearing Dec. 14 on the disqualification of Wait a While. No hearing date has been set for Pletcher.
Because procaine is extremely sensitive in testing, some veterinarians will use intravenous penicillin on a horse that may be close to a race rather than procaine penicillin. That, however, can cause an increase in the incidence of diarrhea, according to one veterinarian. Withdrawal times for procaine can vary, with some horsemen reporting positive tests for the drug for as long as three weeks after its administration. The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium recommends a 15-day withdrawal time for procaine penicillin G. The CHRB has no specific withdrawal times but offers free pre-race testing to determine whether or not procaine has cleared a horse’s system.
According to sources close to the Pletcher stable, Wait a While may have been treated with procaine penicillin for a respiratory infection roughly 18 days before the Breeders’ Cup. She won the Yellow Ribbon Stakes on Sept. 27. Wait a While has been retired with 12 wins in 24 starts and earnings in excess of $2 million. She raced for Alan and Karen Cohen’s Arindel Farm. Alan Cohen is the owner of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League.
Pletcher, the winner of four consecutive Eclipse Awards as North America’s outstanding trainer from 2004-07, could not be reached for comment. He last served a medication suspension in December 2006 and January 2007 when he lost an appeal regarding a 2004 positive test for mepivacaine and was suspended for 45 days.
Pam Blatz-Murff, senior vice president of racing for the Breeders’ Cup, said that organization currently has no sanctions against trainers whose horses test positive for any substance other than anabolic steroids. The Breeders’ Cup instituted penalties that could lead to a lifetime ban for a trainer with multiple anabolic steroid positives in the World Championships races.
"It is being discussed right now to determine what we might or might not do in the future to maybe tighten up the regulations from our side of the fence," Blatz-Murff told the Paulick Report. "This (charge against Pletcher) was just announced and we certainly support all of the actions of the CHRB. It’s a little early for us to make a statement other than our support of their function. How we progress and the improvements that are made is something that will unfold in the next months going forward.
"Obviously, Todd will have representation and he has due process," she added.
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
Tags: alan cohen, arindel farm, California Horse Racing Board, CHRB, class 3 drug, karen cohen, maddy laboratory, Paulick Report, pennsylvania equine research laboratory, procaine, procaine penicillin, procaine penicillin g, racing medication and testing consortium, Ray Paulick, rmtc, split sample, todd pletcher, wait a while, yellow ribbon stakes
Posted in Breeders' Cup, California, California Horse Racing Board, Horse Health, Medication, Regulatory Issues | 13 Comments »
Friday, December 5th, 2008
The California Horse Racing Board has filed a complaint against trainer Todd Pletcher for violation of CHRB Rules 1843.2, 1844 (a) (b) (d), and 1887 after the Maddy Laboratory at the University of California, Davis, reported that a sample taken from a horse in his care, Wait a While, exceeded the regulatory threshold for procaine.
The finding was confirmed by Pennsylvania Equine Research Laboratory. Procaine is a local anesthetic and is found in procaine penicillin G, a commonly administered antibiotic for horses. For this reason procaine is a Class 3 violation rather than a Class 2 violation, as are most other local anesthetics for horses.
Wait a While finished third in the sixth race at Santa Anita Park on October 24, 2008, which was the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. The stewards at Hollywood Park have scheduled a December 14 hearing on the disqualification of Wait a While and forfeiture of her share of the purse ($213,000) for redistribution.
A hearing has not been scheduled for Pletcher.
For additional reporting by Ray Paulick on the complaint against Pletcher, click here . To read Pletcher’s response to the complaint, click here.
Tags: Breeders' Cup, California Horse Racing Board, CHRB, drug positive, filly & mare turf, maddy laboratory, Paulick Report, pennsylvania equine research laboratory, pletcher, procaine, Ray Paulick, todd pletcher, wait a while
Posted in Breeders' Cup, Medication, Regulatory Issues | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Under questioning by an attorney representing Rodney Stewart, the veterinarian appealing a five-year suspension for his possession of cobra venom and other banned substances at Keeneland in June 2007, John Veitch, chief steward for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and a retired Hall of Fame trainer, admitted that his racing star Alydar was treated with cobra venom after suffering an injury in September of his 3-year-old season.Attorney Mike Meuser asked Veitch about the use of the now-banned substance during an appeal of Stewart’s suspension before racing commission hearing officer Bob Layton on Wednesday in Lexington, Ky. “Did Dr. Charles Allen give cobra venom to Alydar during the time you trained him?” Meuser asked.
“On one occasion,” Veitch confirmed, saying it came after Alydar had fractured the coffin bone in a foot while training up to the 1978 Marlboro Cup Handicap. “It wasn’t effective,” Veitch said. “We would not have run him again if it had worked. We treated him at the time. He was not in training. We experimented with Dr. Chuck Allen, who was an expert on venom. At the time, cobra venom was legal for use in the United States for treating Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). We tried it and it didn’t work. We didn’t use it as therapy so he could race, but only to see if we could relieve some pain.”
Technically, cobra venom, a powerful blocking agent, is not an illegal substance. It is not approved for use in humans or animals by the FDA and is prohibited in most racing jurisdictions, including Kentucky, which classifies it as a "Class A" drug, one that can be abused as an illegal performance enhancing substance.
Three vials of venom and other prohibited substances were found during a search of three barns on Keeneland property used by trainer Patrick Biancone and in a vehicle registered to Stewart. Most of the substances were found in a soft-sided cooler kept in a refrigerator in Barn 74, located in the barn area known as the Keeneland training center off Keeneland’s main property across Rice Road. Stewart admitted to officials the substances were his and that he was only using a refrigerator in Biancone’s barn because he and his wife were in the process of moving from Kentucky to New York. Stewart said his wife had packed the bag with medications usually kept in a refrigerator at their rented home, but that he had been living in temporary quarters. He said he wasn’t aware of everything that was in the bag. Biancone was suspended for six months and agreed not to seek reinstatement for another six months. Stewart received a five-year ban. As chief steward of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Veitch was in charge of the investigation involving the banned substances and the hearing that led to the suspensions.
Bob Watt, an attorney representing the racing commission, called several witnesses in addition to Veitch, including one of the investigators who conducted the search, commission veterinarian Mary Scollay and Keeneland executive Harvie Wilkinson.
Scollay called cobra venom an "exceedingly dangerous" substance that could cause a loss of sensation in a horse’s foot and block pain. She said there is no known test to detect cobra venom in urine or blood.
During cross-examination of Wilkinson, who among other things oversees security at Keeneland, Meuser asked whether Keeneland officials ever sought approval from the racing commission to have the Rice Road training facility recognized as part of Keeneland’s racetrack grounds. Wilkinson said he was not aware that they had sought approval.
The purpose of that question came to light later in the day when Stewart himself was testifying and Meuser asked if he believed Barn 74 was part of the racetrack property. "I thought it was a private barn," Stewart replied.
"I thought it was Patrick’s private barn. He’d always referred to it that way."
Records showed that Stewart had purchased four vials of the cobra venom in July 2006 from BioToxins, a Saint Cloud, Fla., company. The veterinarian testified that he had used one of the vials on a former racehorse that had been rescued from a farm and was being used as a stable pony. The other vials remained in their shrinkwrap packaging. The vials contain a powder which is then mixed in a salilne solution before injection.
Among the other substances seized was a container of Carbidopa-Levodopa, a human medication used to treat Parkinson’s disease. Scollay testified that the drug could act as a stimulant and reduce fatigue in humans. In later testimony, Stewart said he did not use the drug on any horses but did not recall why he had it. Another bottle with an unknown honey-like substance inside was labeled "For Mythical Elmo," according to the testimony, but it was more likely meant for the Biancone-trained filly Mythical Echo. Its contents remain unknown.
Another bottle found was labeled with the lettering "R.T.H.." When asked about the "R.T.H." substance, Stewart said "a fellow from South Africa had given it to me. It was used there to treat bleeding." When pressed he said he had no idea what pharmacological agents were contained in the liquid. .Stewart said he has had his license to practice on "competition animals" (including horses, greyhounds and camels) suspended in Australia, where he earned his veterinary degree in 1997. He is banned from racetracks but is allowed to continue his veterinary practice in the United States.
The hearing will continue Dec. 9. Among the issues to be covered area the contents of Stewart’s personal computer, which has been sent to a business that conducts forensic searches on computer hard drives to extract any information related to his veterinary practice for a period of time prior to his suspension.
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Tags: als, alydar, biotoxins, bob watt, carbidopa-Levodopa, cobra venom, cobratoxin, dr. charles allen, dr. churck allen, drugs in racing, harvie wilkinson, john veitch, Keeneland, kentucky horse racing commission, lou gehrig's disease, Mary Scollay, mike meuser, mythical echo, mythical elmo, parkinson's, patrick biancone, Paulick Report, r.t.h., Ray Paulick, rodney stewart
Posted in Medication, Regulatory Issues | 14 Comments »
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Attorneys for Rodney Stewart, the veterinarian suspended for five years by Kentucky racing authorities in the 2007 “cobra venom” case that also implicated trainer Patrick Biancone, said in opening statements in an appellate hearing on Wednesday morning the suspension against their client was excessive and should be lifted.
Mike Meuser and Karen Murphy are representing Stewart, who received a four-year ban for possession of prohibited substances and a one-year suspension for failure to cooperate in the investigation. The appeal is being heard by Bob Layton, a hearing officer for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which is represented by attorney Bob Watt.
Click here to see the original ruling.
In his opening statements, Meuser said Stewart had no intention of using the prohibited substances found in a refrigerator and packed in a soft-sided cooler in one of three barns Biancone occupied and that they had been packed by Stewart’s wife in preparation for the couple’s move to New York. In fact, Meuser contended, Stewart wasn’t even aware of the cooler’s contents, which the attorney said were placed in the refrigerator because it was a “hot June day.”
Meuser said, the three vials of prohibited cobra toxin found in the bag were still shrink-wrapped. Another prohibited substance found, Carbidopa-Levodopa (a human drug to treat Parkinson’s disease), was still in its original container, Meuser said, and its usage date had expired. “There is no evidence there was any attempted use of any of these substances,” said Meuser, who added that the cooler also contained rabies vaccines for dogs and cats.
Watt, in his statement, said the cobra venom, a powerful painkiller, had been purchased from BioToxins, a Florida-based company that specialized in snake venom. Watt referred to other substances discovered in the June 22, 2007, barn searches conducted by investigators with the racing commission (then known as the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority) and Keeneland security, including Ketoconazole, “something called Throat RX, and one injectable honey colored solution marked ‘For Mythical Elmo.’”
Meuser did not address the latter substances in his opening statement.
Watt said Stewart and his attorneys failed to properly respond to requests that were made to Stewart for billing and computer records, which resulted in the one-year suspension for failure to cooperate. Murphy countered that the ban should be lifted because the commission failed to give Stewart a hearing within 48 hours of a request for a stay of the suspension. She also complained that the request for a home computer was unreasonable and that the commission “was fishing for further violations,” even going so far, she said, as conducting tests in Hong Kong.
Biancone, who recently returned to training in California, was out of racing about one year, accepting a six-month suspension and agreeing not to apply for his trainer’s license for another six months.
A number of witnesses are being called in the case. Layton is expected to make a ruling within 60 days of the completion of the hearing.
To read about some of the testimony in the hearing, click here.
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Tags: biotoxins, bob layton, bob watt, carbidopa-Levodopa, cobra venom, karen murphy, Keeneland, kentucky horse racing authority, kentucky horse racing commission, ketokonazole, michael meuser, mike meuser, mythial elmo, mythical elmo, parkinson's, patrick biancone, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, rodney stewart, snake venom, throat rx
Posted in Horse Welfare, Medication, Regulatory Issues | 5 Comments »
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