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A great read
US-based former trainer Patrick Gilligan recounts his experiences of the dark side of racing in the country
https://www.racingpost.com/news/features/i-was-told-i-wasnt-trying-if-i-wasnt-cheating-and-then-i-realised-it-wasnt-a-joke-aEZdp3H5TMia/ (paywalled)
Or on page 20 of today's Racing Post.
US-based former trainer Patrick Gilligan recounts his experiences of the dark side of racing in the country
https://www.racingpost.com/news/features/i-was-told-i-wasnt-trying-if-i-wasnt-cheating-and-then-i-realised-it-wasnt-a-joke-aEZdp3H5TMia/ (paywalled)
Or on page 20 of today's Racing Post.
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Remarkably, much of what is described is within the rules.
When I learned about medication rules and questioned trainers about the painkiller bute, they told me “it steps them up”. When I pointed out that if every horse in the race runs on bute then no-one really gains anything, they looked at me as if I had grown a second head.
I asked about Lasix, which can aid in reducing the severity of a horse bleeding in a race. I pointed out that statistically a horse is 70 per cent more likely to experience sudden death after treatment with Lasix and suggested I would prefer a nose bleed over sudden death. They looked at me as if I had grown a third head.
When I said everywhere else in the world had banned toe grabs and solid immovable running rails on the grounds of horse and rider safety, they looked at me as if I was crazy.
I asked about Lasix, which can aid in reducing the severity of a horse bleeding in a race. I pointed out that statistically a horse is 70 per cent more likely to experience sudden death after treatment with Lasix and suggested I would prefer a nose bleed over sudden death. They looked at me as if I had grown a third head.
When I said everywhere else in the world had banned toe grabs and solid immovable running rails on the grounds of horse and rider safety, they looked at me as if I was crazy.
One for the punters. Preferential discount rates for big syndicates to rip off ordinary punters is something Harry Findlay has been railing about for ages.
US racing relies to a huge degree for its prize-money on subsidies from casinos and from 'whales' running computer assisted wagering (CAW) algorithms betting huge sums at preferential rates into the pari-mutuel system. They win at the expense of the ordinary punter, so the ordinary punters are leaving, and when the whales find they have eaten all the small fish, they will move on and feed off something else. Without the constant drip feed of money from those sources into the vein of US racing, prize-money would collapse.
US racing relies to a huge degree for its prize-money on subsidies from casinos and from 'whales' running computer assisted wagering (CAW) algorithms betting huge sums at preferential rates into the pari-mutuel system. They win at the expense of the ordinary punter, so the ordinary punters are leaving, and when the whales find they have eaten all the small fish, they will move on and feed off something else. Without the constant drip feed of money from those sources into the vein of US racing, prize-money would collapse.
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