Horse racing under world drugging?

Question

Horse racing under world drugging?

Answer 1

all sports.....have their....drug problems....

but they all get got sooner or later....or snitched on......

Answer 2

Drugging or doping of horses used to be rife in racing.  I work with a lday who's father was a jumps trainer here in England in the 60s.  She told me a story how one morning, they day of a big race, they went down to the yard to discover that all their horses had been drugged.  Some one had sneaked onto the yard during the night and slipped each horse an ACP (or equivalent) tablet to stop them from running.

These days it is very hard to drug a horse as all winners (and suspicious losers) and placed horses have urine - and sometimes blood - samples taken from them after a race.  This sample is then sent away to be tested.  Once the result comes back clear the prize money is paid to the owner.

There have been numerous stories coming out of the USA about so-called milkshakes (bicarbonates being used to mask drugs in the system of a horse) and even snake venom being used on horses.

My personal thoughts are that the racing authorities in the USA need to come down like a ton of bricks on trainers caught using these substances.  At the moment the trainer gets a ban, but the stable is allowed to continue sending on runners.  How the h**l does that work?!  What they need to do is ban the whole stable from running and give the trainer a huge fine.  That way owners will apply pressure on the trainers to NOT use these substances for fear of not being able to run their horses and the trainer will be hit where it really hurts - his pocket.

Answer 3

Im not sure if you mean someone else drugging another horse so it will not win, or drugging their own horses.  Trainers will 'black bag' their horses, but they do get tested.  They (like any other person trying to foil a p**s test) know how long drugs stay in the horses system. So they will drug the horses up to the entry date for a race.   Now others going to someone elses barn to hurt another horse they will be racing with, no, only on old murder mystery shows.  Too many have barn cameras and security people that sleep with the horses.

Answer 4

I'm not sure what you are asking about. Drugs are a continuous problem in every culture that allows racing as a sport- that's why all the tracks in the USA have rigorous testing programs for both horses and jockeys, and why there are heavy fines, loss of licensure, and sometimes, even prison time imposed on people who get caught drugging horses, or who show up to ride in a race while drunk, hung over, high, or stoned.

Answer 5

Drug use and abuse is found in all sports.  The problem is, the general public does not know the difference, they just hear 'DRUGS.'  I know steroids are all over the news in every sport today.  Steroids often play an important part in health care for the animal. You have to realize there is no magic shot that gives talent where there is none to begin with.  

In horse racing today, drug use is strictly regulated and enforced.  Every winner is tested immediatly after the race, as are random and suspicious runners.  [Every horse and person that is licensed on the track is subject to random drug testing.  If you have anything at all to do with racing a horse, your are licensed.]  They go from the track to the test barn and are not released until samples are taken.  (Sometimes, this takes hours!)  If a horse tests positive for any prohibited substance, the trainer is responsible and can be fined, set down (suspended) revoked, even jailed.  

The big problem in the US is not every state has the same regulations regarding substance and ppm (parts per million.)  In some states, Bute & Salix are permitted and in others they are not.  Although I do believe we are moving closer to uniformity in all states, we ain't there yet.  

Say for example, a horse that runs today in Texas and next week in Louisianna may test positive for Salix, but it is allowed in Texas and banned in Louisianna.  The horse would test positive because it received Salix in Texas the week before.  

Another example, a horse tests positive for caffeine, but someone carelessly left a can of Coke where the horse could get to it and nobody notices.  No one actually gave the horse cafffeine but the horse will test positive none the less.

Another example, a horse tests positive for nicotine.  While grazing, the horse ingests a cigarette butt.  No one actually gave nicotine to the horse but it still tests positive.

"Milkshaking" (a baking soda concoction that is given to the horse to aid in lactic acid build up) is a common form of doping that has been on a rapid decline.  25 years ago, it was not regulated, but it is prohibited today.

I have been around racehorses all of my life.  When I was a kid, doping a horse was much more common than it is today.  The risk for the trainer is just to high.  Besides, a horse that is truly "fit" does not need to be doped.

Answer 6

What exactly is your question?