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02 May 13
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• Federation has concerns over international runners
• Doping and medications guideline on the agenda
Greg Wood The Guardian, Thursday 2 May 2013
The National Trainers' Federation said on Thursday that it will respond to concerns expressed by its members in the wake of the Godolphin doping scandal and seek further assurance from the British Horseracing Authority that horses from overseas do not enjoy an unfair advantage owing to the use of anabolic steroids. It will also seek clarification on possible exceptions to the authority's "zero tolerance" policy on steroids.
The NTF notified its members on Thursday afternoon that it has asked to meet the BHA to discuss "various aspects" of both the case of Mahmood al-Zarooni, who has been banned from racing for eight years for using anabolic steroids on 15 horses at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks stable in Newmarket, and Gerard Butler, who faces a BHA inquiry after using a remedy containing an anabolic steroid on the joints of nine horses in his yard.
The issue of runners from countries that do not ban the use of anabolics outright was "one of the key points of feedback that we got from trainers when the whole story broke and as people digested the implications," Rupert Arnold, the chief executive of the NTF, said on Thursday.
"There are things that we would like to discuss with the BHA about ensuring that the regulations that are in place do genuinely ensure that no overseas-trained horses run here harbouring the effects of treatment with anabolic steroids."
The 15 horses treated with anabolics at Zarooni's stable were banned from racing for six months, which Arnold believes is a possible measure of how long the performance-enhancing benefits of steroids may persist. "The advice I'm given is that the longer-lasting effects come when horses have been administered with these substances and then go through a training regime," Arnold said.
"The six-month period they've set is not something that had a lot of scientific evidence for having arrived at it, but I think it still sets a bit of a benchmark. The whole area needs to be fathomed out so that all trainers know that if they're competing in this country, they are competing on an equal footing."
No date has yet been set for the meeting between trainers' representatives and the sport's regulators but Arnold believes there is much work to do to restore and maintain public confidence in the sport.
"It's easy for us in the industry to see these two cases as being, in different ways, rather exceptional," he said, "but it's less easy to convince the public of the minutiae of what we see as exceptions. From the public's point of view, we've got a job to do to restore racing's reputation."
• Doping and medications guideline on the agenda
Greg Wood The Guardian, Thursday 2 May 2013
The National Trainers' Federation said on Thursday that it will respond to concerns expressed by its members in the wake of the Godolphin doping scandal and seek further assurance from the British Horseracing Authority that horses from overseas do not enjoy an unfair advantage owing to the use of anabolic steroids. It will also seek clarification on possible exceptions to the authority's "zero tolerance" policy on steroids.
The NTF notified its members on Thursday afternoon that it has asked to meet the BHA to discuss "various aspects" of both the case of Mahmood al-Zarooni, who has been banned from racing for eight years for using anabolic steroids on 15 horses at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks stable in Newmarket, and Gerard Butler, who faces a BHA inquiry after using a remedy containing an anabolic steroid on the joints of nine horses in his yard.
The issue of runners from countries that do not ban the use of anabolics outright was "one of the key points of feedback that we got from trainers when the whole story broke and as people digested the implications," Rupert Arnold, the chief executive of the NTF, said on Thursday.
"There are things that we would like to discuss with the BHA about ensuring that the regulations that are in place do genuinely ensure that no overseas-trained horses run here harbouring the effects of treatment with anabolic steroids."
The 15 horses treated with anabolics at Zarooni's stable were banned from racing for six months, which Arnold believes is a possible measure of how long the performance-enhancing benefits of steroids may persist. "The advice I'm given is that the longer-lasting effects come when horses have been administered with these substances and then go through a training regime," Arnold said.
"The six-month period they've set is not something that had a lot of scientific evidence for having arrived at it, but I think it still sets a bit of a benchmark. The whole area needs to be fathomed out so that all trainers know that if they're competing in this country, they are competing on an equal footing."
No date has yet been set for the meeting between trainers' representatives and the sport's regulators but Arnold believes there is much work to do to restore and maintain public confidence in the sport.
"It's easy for us in the industry to see these two cases as being, in different ways, rather exceptional," he said, "but it's less easy to convince the public of the minutiae of what we see as exceptions. From the public's point of view, we've got a job to do to restore racing's reputation."
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^ Too TRUE
When the Al Zarooni story broke - I went out for a Pint that evening .... Sure enough, a couple of people - who know my involvement in racing, and who had merely seen the Evening News - asked ... "What do you think of ALL this DOPING in RACING, then?" |
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Well the statistics are pretty damning. 20 confirmed cases out of around 200 tests so far this year, with one of the caught trainers suggesting he has knowledge of hundreds more in his area alone.
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200 tests ?
Is that figure as accurate as your claim that there are "91,000 racehorses in the UK" ????????  |
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Seems to be a lot of slagging matches and Jingoistic nonsense going on here. The fact is that in Australia trainers are allowed to and do use anabolic steroids as part of their preparation of a horse for a race which allows the horse to build up and have more strenuous methods of training than if this practice was not allowed. Testing on race day will not show up that this practise has been adopted unless the trainer is dumb enough to administer to steroids too close to the race. Clearly allowing this practise under the rules begs to question as to the authorities level of commitment to the horses welfare.
In the UK, Ireland and France the rules forbid the use of AB's during training not just on race days. The problem is that the level of testing and lack of any publication by the authorities to show who has been tested and when they have been tested does not permit the public to draw a conclusion that there the rule is being administered . Sample testing is acceptable but the details of which horses and frequency of testing need to be put in the public domain so that people can see there is uniform testing carried out and that there is no 'favoritism' shown by the authorities to any particular trainers . Surely though as horse lovers we need the practice of giving steroids to horses to be banned globally and to have consistent rules across all the authorities. It's time that a World Authority was created IMO. |
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"It's easy for us in the industry to see these two cases as being, in different ways, rather exceptional," he said, "but it's less easy to convince the public of the minutiae of what we see as exceptions. From the public's point of view, we've got a job to do to restore racing's reputation."
exceptions my backside!, Godolphin and Butler were just unfortunate to get caught not to mention Chemical Nicky been caught twice, tip of the iceberg more like it?. |
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Anyone else puzzled by the gap between the Al Zarooni hearing, Gerard Butler's stated belief that so many other horses in Newmarket may have had steroids administered, and the decision to test horses from other stables in the town? Plenty of time for those yards to ship the nags concerned back to 'pre-training' centres where, as The Guardian pointed out last week, BHA testers have no jurisdiction. Might the authorities otherwise be faced with a lengthy list of other Newmarket trainers who, following the precedent they set with Al Zarooni, they would have little option but to warn off?
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Another thing is, how do we know that the steroid used in Butlers case was actually administered into the joints or just recorded as a joint injection when in fact the steroids might well have been injected directly into the horses blood stream?.
Unless you have them on camera you can only surmise. If Butler is not given a punishment similar to Al Zarooni then surely Al will have grounds to appeal the severity of his sentence in comparison?. Because the use of any steroid in training is strictly prohibited under BHA rules so basically there should be no exceptions. Be probably months before the Butler enquiry even commences?. |
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Well he was caught 2 months prior, and Zarooni was banned inside a fortnight?
Pretty sure the BHA are filthy that Butler came out when he did as now they are pretty much in the position where they have to ban him. If he kept his mouth shut, he could have kept going like the rest of the trainers the BHA have let off. |
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yuup
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They can't police the Maktoum horses. The fact is it is legal to give horses steroids in Dubai if they don't show up in their system. BHA testers turning up in Dubai wanting to test Sheikh Mo`s horses in the winter would probably be thrown in jail ( and be lucky not to get electrodes to the genitals ).
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Somebody needs to come out with evidence about the pros and cons, and what performance gains even happen, and how long the effects last, and the advantage/disadvantage of using them for racing horses.
Seems there is very little knowledge from those making the rules to the point where they had a guess of banning them for 6 months. UK really needs to make a decision. Either disallow any foreign horses from competition, and disallow horses leaving their shores, or come up with solid facts and figures about what it is they are trying to stop. "Drugs are bad" is simply not good enough. |
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They have Bjt,the banned substance list is there for all too see(only fools try to beat it) if you get caught you will get banned is the message,and so they should.
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If anything,they should put more pressure on the owner,at least call them in for a fact finding? instead of giving them it's ok your trainer took the blame,that is not good enough in my opinion.
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I suppose the high number in the yard made a impact on them bjt,it is a staggering stat,they can't all be injured now can they?
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Guess depends on your definition of injured. I suspect that there is more use of steroids in regards to reducing time out of racing, and getting over little niggles.
I don't believe for a second that steroids in horse racing is a bad thing on the whole, in fact quite the opposite. The problem, is the potential for abuse. There are many legitimate reasons to use them and I suspect people abusing it are certainly the minority. And that is most likely what is happening here. Even though they are banned for any use, BHA accept that its use is legitimate or Butler would have been gone. The fact that they did nothing for 2 months before testing Godolphin suggests that they weren't keeping it quiet to make sure others didn't get scared off, or they would have moved much quicker. Either that, or they had it in for Godolphin. |
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The dopes of Fleet Street
Godolphin racing scandal , Issue 1339 http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=street_of_shame&issue=1339 HIS Highness Sheikh Mohammed is not pleased, not pleased at all. With a huge doping scandal at his Newmarket stables, Godolphin, the question being asked by everyone involved in the Sport of Kings (surely Emirs? Ed.) is who knew what and when about his private trainer, Mahmood al-Zarooni, “needling” horses with steroids. Luckily for Godolphin and the sheikh, the racing correspondents are not offering much enlightenment. This of course has nothing to do with the largesse regularly doled out to them by His Highness on their all-expenses-paid trips to witness his grand folly, the Dubai race series, held in the Emirate over which he reigns. Terrified of asking questions It was there that eyebrows were first raised in 2009 about the running of two horses, Gladiatorus and Eastern Anthem. The pair picked up more than £4m in prize money while in Dubai, and Gladiatorus was at one point rated as the top racehorse in the world; but then testing for dope is not at the top of the Dubai Racing Authority’s agenda. Their subsequent careers, when not racing in Dubai, were a flop. It took a non-racing hack, Jonathan McEvoy, to point out this discrepancy in the Daily Mail. Turf correspondents seem terrified of asking questions. For instance, where was Zarooni getting the steroids from? No English vet in his right mind would administer them, so were they perhaps being flown over from Dubai, where they are readily available? And if so, on whose plane? The British Horseracing Authority has said that it is now testing all the horses trained by Zarooni – but what about other Godolphin horses? Was Zarooni really a lone rogue, as claimed by Sheikh Mo’s silver-tongued spokesman Simon Crisford – in an unfortunate echo of the old News International line on phone-hacking – or was he part of a wider conspiracy? Reputation for control-freakery For now Crisford has tried to protect his master by taking the bullets himself. “It shows a remarkable lack of judgement on my part to recommend him to Sheikh Mohammed, which I did do,” he told Channel 4, sounding like a defendant from a Stalinist show-trial. He added that neither he nor the sheikh was involved in “day-to-day management” of Godolphin. Given Sheikh Mo’s reputation for control-freakery, turf experts have been surprised to learn that he’s actually a hands-off employer. As one said: “No horse farts without the boss telling it to.” But not so, apparently. His nags can happily fart all day – and be drugged up to the withers – without His Highness knowing anything about it. |
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It took a non-racing hack, Jonathan McEvoy, to point out this discrepancy in the Daily Mail. Turf correspondents seem terrified of asking questions.
Absolutely!!!. |
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Xerxes(sorry i mean shake mo) influence on the world of racing should not be questioned. Journo beware!
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There is a scene in the movie The Untouchables,where sean connery(playing a cop) tells Elliot Ness we are going on a raid,etc
"Everybody knows where the booze is.The problem isn't finding it.The problem is who wants to cross Capone. Let's go". |
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It was there that eyebrows were first raised in 2009 about the running of two horses, Gladiatorus and Eastern Anthem. The pair picked up more than £4m in prize money while in Dubai, and Gladiatorus was at one point rated as the top racehorse in the world; but then testing for dope is not at the top of the Dubai Racing Authority’s agenda. Their subsequent careers, when not racing in Dubai, were a flop.
So we are seriously supposed to cop all this bullshit about the problems with other nations allowing steroids because of the huge advantage, and you wish to point out how the effects wore off quicker than they could cross the border? I find it amusing at best the contradictions all this brings up. So which is it? Do the drugs not work after a week of taking them? Or do drugs create super life long freaks of nature?  |