Chief Stipe

@Joe Bloggs and @the galah if you want a better example of how it is easy to dupe large numbers of people and sell them snakeoil that doesn't work...... The Pzifer Vaccine for Covid-19.

But there is no evidence that EPO caused those deaths or in fact is performance enhancing. In my opinion it is shady operators taking advantage of the clearly evident advantages in the human athlete e.g. the Lance Armstrong Marketing Effect. The circulatory physiology of an equine is significantly different to that of a human. If you look at the science if EPO does cause a spike in red blood cell count it wouldn't last long certainly not long enough to increase horse performance. There is evidence that it would do the opposite I.e. cause anaemia. Media reports. But where is the evidence that EPO was performance enhancing? No there are numerous examples of how people are duped. You only have to look at the cosmetic anti-aging industry. Or the Cobalt saga. It doesn't actually do what it is supposed to do. Too much reduces horse performance because it is toxic. Initially the Feds were measuring the wrong type of Cobalt! The latest product a harness trainer has been charged with using as a PED is called BioBleeder. It's extract of common garden variety Dandelion! I can see how the use of Clenbuterol could help a horse as it has a documented proven therapeutic benefit. Navarro and co did exactly what Armstrong did manipulated the testing regime. Getting back to EPO Armstrong didn't return a positive only because he was never tested WHEN he had it in his system. He had a team of people helping him avoid testing when he did.

Not suggesting it - it's a fact. Brauns record doesn't tell me anything. Name one leading trainer in either horse code that hasn't returned a positive to something in their career?

UPDATED: Covid mandate forced shock training split Luke Currie and Trainer Grant Williams with Arcadia Queen after winning the Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington. Picture: Scott Barbour—Racing Photos via Getty Images. By Adam Dobbin 02:02pm • 01 February 2022 28 Comments West Australia’s most celebrated training partnership of Grant and Alana Williams has been dissolved due to the state’s looming vaccination mandate. From Tuesday, Grant Williams will be the sole trainer for the powerhouse stable, with it understood that Alana Williams’ Covid-19 vaccination stance has precluded her from maintaining any official involvement on race day or at their Karnup training base. Late last year, Racing and Wagering Western Australia (RWWA) announced that it was introducing a state-wide mandate for the three racing codes which would require participants to be double vaccinated for Covid-19 from Saturday, February 5. The decision sent shockwaves through the industry with the highest profile casualty leading WA hoop William Pike who has enjoyed immense success for the 11-time group 1 winning Grant and Alana Williams stable. Pike recently announced that as a result of the mandate he was moving to Sydney to continue his riding career given his much publicised vaccination position. As a team, the husband and wife training duo notched up 529 wins from 2054 starts, including 11 Group 1s, 11 Group 2s and 23 Group 3s. Their biggest victory came via Arcadia Queen in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington in 2020, while this season they scooped all three group 1 races in Perth, including the Railway Stakes, Winterbottom Stakes and Kingston Town Classic. Thoroughbred racing isn’t the only code affected by the looming WA vaccination mandate with leading greyhound trainer Dave Hobby poised to hang up the collar and lead following a distinguished career spanning four decades. The multiple premiership winning trainer has been a dominant force in WA greyhound racing winning just about every big race on the calendar. But after citing medical reasons for his decision not to be vaccinated, Hobby is set to walk away from the sport this weekend, leaving a significant void in the WA training ranks. Alana Williams was contacted for comment for this story.

A prominent owner on another channel has openly accused the Dunn's of doping by strong inference. Hence @Gammalite and my facetious comments about the two mares racing on Saturday having improved lengths AFTER leaving the Woodend Beach.

I don't believe much has changed nor are they truly proactive or transparent enough. It doesn't appear the new regime or leadership has changed much at all. INCA has returned ZIP. Kerr's misdemeanour was something better systems at HRNZ should have caught if not prevented. So who are we left with - Alford. Meanwhile we await charges for Wigg and Jones. How long is that going to take? Now if they really wanted to send a message why not publicly say - "In light of the form improvement of Stella's Delight the RIB is reviewing betting records and has taken blood, urine and hair samples. We wish to be clear that there is no evidence of any wrongdoing to substantiate any of the claims made on social media. Results will be published in 14 days." Statement from HRNZ - "We wish to advise licensed stakeholders that the unsubstantiated speculation and rumour mongering does not benefit Harness Racing. We are in constant communication with the RIB and have trust in their integrity monitoring systems." Now that's proactive and positive. The current approach isn't either.

Yep seems to have improved and would have to rate her above I'm Off N Gone. Is there a beach in Melbourne they're training on? St Kilda? Brighton? Mornington?

But what you have written isn't factually or rather technically correct. I might add that from what I've read so far there has been no mention of EPO being found in any of the confiscated bottles of snakeoil. Are you inferring that is what is happening in NZ? What is more fascinating is that there is no new special "Wonder Drug" identified. What's more at any time the Racing Feds could have identified the misuse of any drug by changing their testing regime. For example it would have cost them no more than $100 to take a hair sample from anyone of Navarro's horses and proven that Clenbuterol was being used. Racing Feds in most jurisdictions have a Police like culture. Until that changes then they'll always be behind the 8 ball.

Yes all the best to Gary Woodham, Brent Williams and their partners for their Grp 1 attempt this coming Saturday. Fields out soon. Improved lengths since leaving the Dunn stable at Woodend. Sits three wide for an entire lap and romps in.

SGF-1000 is at best a therapeutic certainly not a PED. About 15 years ago I was involved in a project to sell sheep placenta to China. Their theory was that the placenta cells had a regenerative property that could aid in the repair of damaged tissues. They were adamant that it worked. To the point where rich Chinese were flying to Switzerland to be injected with sheep placenta extract. In my opinion although I understand how it works in theory it still has a bit of snake oil about it. Essentially it is a solution of amino acids (peptides) and probably stem cells that may help to regenerate damaged tissue. That is improve the health of a horse. They won't make a horse run faster but allow them to run to their ability because they are free of injury. It is akin to the blood spinning method that has been used in Harness. Essentially a process of extracting the healing components of blood, concentrating them and injecting into damaged/sore tissue or tendons. Tendons are notoriously hard to heal because they don't have a direct blood supply and it takes a long time for the repair cells to reach the affected areas. In my opinion there needs to be an informed debate around this science to determine what is a PED and what is a Therapeutic.

Now one of the alleged "drugs" was called SGF-1000. It is hardly a drug by definition - more akin to a bio/nutriceutical. SGF-1000 is a product also marketed by an Australian company named Vecta Animal Health, which promotes the drug as an "innovative formulation consisting of Regenerative Placental Proteins, Cytokines (polypeptide regulators of diverse embryological origin), Peptides, potent Growth Factors and Signalling Molecules derived from Ovine Placental Extract." When this description was read to a Central Kentucky equine vet, he said he could not begin to interpret what the drug was meant to do but said it seemed apparent it was an extract of sheep placenta. MediVet also identifies its version of SGF-1000 as a "formulation of amino acids derived from ovine placental extract." In Vecta's product description, it promises that SGF-1000 contains growth factors that will: stimulate the process of sprouting new blood vessels, regenerate damaged livers so a horse is able to produce more energy, accelerate wound healing, and possesses potent anabolic effects on bone growth.

A drug is considered "misbranded" or "adulterated" if it does not have requisite approvals for use in an animal from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; if it is used without a required and valid prescription; if the drug's label is false or misleading regarding the manufacturer, packer, distributor, or directions for use; or, if the facility manufacturing the drug is not FDA registered.

There are strict rules around the use of drugs like Clenbuterol. So although positives were not returned other racing rules were broken as well as Federal laws. Hence Navarro being charged essentially for fraud by the FBI. The laws in the States around the mislabelling of drugs have very heavy punishments. Same with Fishman. He isn't directly charged with doping but is charged with two counts of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. The fact that he is being charged with misbranding indicates that the Feds know what was in the stuff that he was selling.

Probabeel holds her own.

Yes he probably did dilute it but the efficacy would only be diminished if you didn't change the volume administered. For example you put 20ml of whiskey in a glass and drink it straight you are drinking the same amount of whiskey if you put 100ml of water with it. You've just drunk more fluid. You still administered 20ml of whiskey - the active. So if you give the same amount of active in a 10mls or a 50ml injection it is still the same effect. Especially when there is over 54 litres of blood in a horse. Of course it is different if you were using a topical application e.g. an ointment.

Based on time she would have beaten The Chosen One by 2 lengths. Catalyst performed well until he broke down. Elephant did more than OK. Verry Elleegant made the grade.

Who said it was watered down? All Fishman would have to do is take one bottle and cut into five then recommend 50ml instead of 10ml. As for benefits on raceday very little BUT they've been able to train the horse harder and clear of any bronchial problems.

Well I'd be asking them to put up or shut up.

Perhaps attention should be directed towards the RIB. Contrary to some conspiracy theorists modern testing can find any anomaly if you put in the effort.

I'm very surprised a very prominent owner can accuse online the leading trainer of doping their horses without any consequences. Undermines the integrity of the sport.

Powerhouse Williams Training Partnership Dissolved Luke Currie and Trainer Grant Williams with Arcadia Queen after winning the Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington. Picture: Scott Barbour—Racing Photos via Getty Images. By Trenton Akers 04:02pm • 31 January 2022 0 Comments The West Australian training powerhouse of Grant and Alana Williams has been dissolved, effective immediately. The 11-time Group 1 winning combo have been a dominant force in the West, famous for their association with leviathan owner Bob Peters and jockey William Pike. With Alana Williams coming off the training partnership on Monday morning, Grant Williams became the sole trainer for all of their horses. Racing and Wagering West Australian announced all participants will need to be double vaccinated against Covid by Monday in order to attend a race meeting. It comes on the back of Pike’s decision to move to Sydney to ride following his refusal to get the vaccination. In all, the husband and wife duo notched up 529 wins from 2054 starts, including 11 Group 1’s, 11 Group 2’s and 23 Group 3’s. Their biggest win came with superstar mare Arcadia Queen in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington in 2020.

Not surprisingly when you've obviously been reading a mish mash of confusing press reports. The fact is Smith was done on a vague racing rule. Further the Cobalt levels were measured against the threshold retrospectively I.e. the threshold was implemented some months after the initial charge. Now who would have known that tripling the dosage of Hemoplex would have returned a positive in the future? In none of the reports is there any evidence that the levels of Cobalt were performance enhancing or that the horses had elevated red blood cell counts. Plus no distinction between what forms of Cobalt was actually detected. So we now have this arbitrary Cobalt threshold that means zip but will from time to time through environmental contamination catch a Trainer. I guess at the end of the day it makes the incompetent Feds look good as they catch someone. All over something that doesn't actually work as a PED.

But Hemoplex doesn't contain Cobalt Chloride. When do you want your life support turned off?