Note on American Horse racing

I was informed that the famous annual quarter horse showdown at Sam Houston ran into a problem when hair testing was unexpectedly used this year, and eight of the 10 qualifiers for the final came back positive for illegal drugs. The race was delayed, and the administrators decided to run it, but without betting and with the proviso that all horses who ran had to be re-tested. Well, trainers pulled seven of the 10 finalist horses out of the race, and the 700K final, which is big for quarter horses, was split among the three who actually ran the race. Now one of those three had previously tested positive, so that piece of the kitty is pending a re-test result.

And that is the current state of American horse racing.

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Originally Posted by redietz

I was informed that the famous annual quarter horse showdown at Sam Houston ran into a problem when hair testing was unexpectedly used this year, and eight of the 10 qualifiers for the final came back positive for illegal drugs. The race was delayed, and the administrators decided to run it, but without betting and with the proviso that all horses who ran had to be re-tested. Well, trainers pulled seven of the 10 finalist horses out of the race, and the 700K final, which is big for quarter horses, was split among the three who actually ran the race. Now one of those three had previously tested positive, so that piece of the kitty is pending a re-test result.

And that is the current state of American horse racing.

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That is the current state of the world for the last 5000 years.
Wise Up.

I have been betting horses for over 50 years. This is not a new development other than that they actually tried to do something about it. The testing facilities can't keep up with the drugs. look how long we are still waiting for the Ky. derby split sample to come in.

I am reminded of a story that my cousin, Artemis Regnis told me, where for a number of years Artemis had a friend that was in the illegal drug business. This friend of Artemis used to supply certain trainers across the country with the "juice", and he would tell Artemis when he had delivered such juice and to which trainers. Artemis, not realizing the legal issues involved, made quite a bit of money wagering on these trainers' horses for about a month from the delivery date. Artemis even tells a story of seeing one of the trainers at the Barbary Coast hammering his horse, and Artemis following his lead. Interesting that the friend/supplier was on house arrest all during that time.

I of course would never participate in such proceedings.

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Originally Posted by regnis

I have been betting horses for over 50 years. This is not a new development other than that they actually tried to do something about it. The testing facilities can't keep up with the drugs. look how long we are still waiting for the Ky. derby split sample to come in.

I am reminded of a story that my cousin, Artemis Regnis told me, where for a number of years Artemis had a friend that was in the illegal drug business. This friend of Artemis used to supply certain trainers across the country with the "juice", and he would tell Artemis when he had delivered such juice and to which trainers. Artemis, not realizing the legal issues involved, made quite a bit of money wagering on these trainers' horses for about a month from the delivery date. Artemis even tells a story of seeing one of the trainers at the Barbary Coast hammering his horse, and Artemis following his lead. Interesting that the friend/supplier was on house arrest all during that time.

I of course would never participate in such proceedings.

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The first words out of my girlfriend's mouth five seconds after the Derby finished were, "Drugs win again."

I can't imagine what the people who race in Hong Kong think of all this. If your horse does anything on either side of the bell curve in Hong Kong, you have 'splainin' to do. And pharma is a definite no-no.

Perfect example. Baffert has been caught how many times. Lame excuses. Then they get a slap on the wrist.

I have mentioned that, while it is certainly not the main area of my practice, I do handle some gaming law matters, mostly for owners and trainers. Years ago I tried to get the racing board to address the drug issues. They had no interest in doing so as they were afraid that they would piss off the trainers and the entry box would bear the brunt. So it is just status-quo. Nobody wants to shake things up and get rid of the drugs and the cheats. They are afraid of change.

It should be noted that while we read all the stories that the sport is dying, the handle increases every year---just not at the track but rather with ADWs etc.