the galah

The only thing that i should clarify was he was not a vet. There have been vets charged however.The person he got his products from was a pharmacist.Vets knowingly used the products he supplied.

Gobbledygook to you,common sense to me. When. Well my post says when... i said the bloke was sentenced 3 months ago,that means march 2021. Where,the USA.. Who scott robinson. What drugs was he accused of supplying... red cell builders and pain blockers amongst other thing.Note supposed to have done it without detection for almost a decade. You see,i know you find it hard to believe,but some people cheat.These cases are proof of the illegal means some parties go to achieve success. As i stated a few months back,at the time this hit the headlines,the owners of yonkers raceway indicated they may not renew the lease of the track when it comes up for renewal in 4 years time because they were sick of the publicity around the use of performance enhancers being used.whether that happens ,only time will tell.Also you should note it has been noted that there products were distributed to many countries.Also note that there are about 29 defendants,and i have previously referred you to some of them.

gammalite,when betting on harness do you bet on the tote or fixed odds over there?

sounds like the harness punters aren't treated the same as the gallops.Thats poor service by the agenices concerned. As far as your question relating to whether i bet fixed odds or tote. Well i only bet 5 minutes out and bet whatever i think gives best value. You get monthly rebates if you bet on the tote if you spend certain amounts,so i factor that in. I've never had the problem brodie has,as far as ever having any fixed odds restrictions placed on me. I'm guessing i dont bet in the large amounts brodie does,but i do know the tab will take into consideration how much someone puts through the tote when considering whether to impose restrictions for fixed odds betting. I do find sometimes that you can reduce the odds of longer priced horses if you bet solely on the tote,especially for a place,so you have to factor that in. I've actually just very recently expanded my own form research to include queensland harness. I haven't done any betting,and doubt i will be able to spend too much due to the small pools. As long as i think they are all trying i will see how it goes.

Part of the answer is to change the current handicapping system to allow horses to drop as far as a rating 30 level. The current rating 40 still sees too many uncompetitive rating 40's,racing when they realistically don't have much chance.Horses like this are ultimately discarded by connections,particularly the bigger stables. I know some may say to this suggestion that your only catering for a low quality horse. But if you observe the comments from the people that say that,they always say that about the bottom level,no matter where it sits. So there has to be change if you want to increase the numbers. Stake levels for races between R30 and r40 would have to be about $3000 a race. Its an obvious solution. It takes nothing away from those racing at the higher ratings. It will be the current missing incentive for some connections to continue,and it creates an extra race or two at times when full cards can't be run. The down side of my suggestion is some of those who have influence over the implementation of such a change can't relate to why some connections would keep that type of horse going,therefore have a preconceived bias against such a change. Well they need to get with the times. Perhaps the greatest expert on this suggestion would be michael house. He races the most lower grade horses,and i have read that he supports this idea. And finally to those who say who would bet on them. Well i was watching an interview with a professional punter form perth on the gallops. What he said was exactly what brodie and myself have been saying. That is,if you do your homework,there is far greater value to be found at the lower grade meetings than there is at the higher grade metropolitan meetings.

Jones,I've always thought being a little paranoid is a good thing. It encourages you to seek out the truth,and ultimately that can lead you to trust your instincts. The flip side of that is you become more aware that some things,and some people are fake. But better to know the truth than live in ignorance.

while the reports so far make great reading, and give an insight into how many high profilers in both harness and thoroughbreds used illegal performance enhancers to enable their success,theres so much information to digest and so much more to come. You should note that those involved were able to operate mainly without detection. One of the first involved to be dealt with was a vet who was sentenced 3 months ago to 18 months jail,3.8 million in assets confiscated and 3 years supervision once he gets out. He apparently only pleaded guilty to the one charge,and you would guess from that he has co operated with authorities,which could be ominous for many of his co defendants. Amongst the main allegations originally against him were operating a decade long business which involved shipping and sourcing blood builders which increased red cell levels and supplying medications allowing horses to race which suppressed pain.

So you say modern testing techniques would instantly find if performance enhancers have been used. So what do you say about those being prosecuted currently in new york? What about the leading 2 trainers of winners at yonkers,or the leading trainer of winners at freehold raceway,that is prior to them being banned as a result of the indictments. Did testing pick up what they were using? Those cases contradict what you believe,or do you think the 29 trainers ,vets and drug distributors are all innocent?

You refer to alford,mcgrath in this response.I would call their methods as the cheap mans way of using performance enhancers. But thats not who you referred to in the reply i responded to though. I was responding to your comment about spankem and the all stars. The chief assures me that the use of blood doping is easily detectable. Well thats great news if its true,but from what i've read its not true. I'm no expert,but do read the paulick report from the usa which tends to give you the most credible reporting on this subject and quotes experts in the detection of performance enhancers. Now,as i've said in my first reply,have you (or the chief) read the timeframes around treatments given to increase red cell content.And have you read what other treatments go with that and how regular the blood is monitored while red cell numbers are being increased. If you had,you would see that a 48 hour barn retention would NOT stop the administration of performance enhancers that were effective and given prior to the 48 hour period.

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Do you really believe that putting horses in a retention barn stops for 48 hours stops the use of performance enhancers? Maybe go look up how they increase the red cells of racehorses with performance enhancing treatment and the time frames around that,and you will realise the 48 hour retention barn seems ineffective and just for appearances.

Thanks for that.Good to hear the stipes have followed through. Your suggestion re how they could keep the public informed is a good one. Transparency is a must.As i have pointed out,there have been cases in the past which have been adjourned sine die,with no public notification of the result. So how is anyone to know this wasn't going to be the same.

Just watching the races today at timaru and the difference between the in form drivers and the out of form drivers really is quite large. The likes of williamson,close,dunn,orange,willaims and even an in form may, seem to be have a gap over most of the others. That last race just run,was a typical race.You had close and dunn fighting out the finish with dunn pushing out ben hope to get a run,when hope seemed to fall asleep. The easiest way to pick winners is to just limit your selections to the better drivers on days like this.

So on the 13th of may,6 1/2 weeks ago the stewards opened an inquiry into the D Ferguson case. As i have stated earlier,in my opinion his drive on the night was the most obvious case of team driving seen in recent times. So what did the stipes do about it. Well it appears either they have forgotten all about it,or they have deliberately buried it on the assumption that the mugs who bet on harness racing will forget about it. I would go for the later. I have seen this on a handful of occasions before. They adjourn a case sine die,never to see the light of day again. The only way this case will get heard,is if it gets more publicity. So what conclusions have i come to. Well ferguson got 3 days earlier in the year for seemingly not trying on a hot favorite,so while i have started a positive thread about him on this forum,whenever i see him drive i have doubts,irrespective of his talent. And the second conclusion is the north island stipes are just useless. If they are going to hear it,why wait so long???And if they have decided not to proceed,then why has there been no mention in their reports since. Well i know the answer if it is the suspected later. Its because they know it was a dishonest drive,and that by not taking action they would be seen as condoning dishonesty. That of course makes the stipes way more dishonest than ferguson.

Whats happening with albion park?Did the harness industry gain anything from how its played out?

I guess your joking,but having lived in christchurch and a handful of places south thereof,i must say i've never come across any of the racist groups you have referred to.I once did live in a town that got nationwide publicity for having a group equivalent of the kkk. But the problem with those stories was at the time there was actually only a handful of people who were recognised as belonging to that small group,and 2 of the 5 were half maori. I know from speaking to those 2 people they thought the vast media coverage was a joke,but still the media pushed the story for a good 12 months.I have at times had a job where i came across many individuals with prejudicial views based on race,but those times were most evident when media and government pushed the view that one group had been historically oppressed and unfairly treated,and whether that was true or not,the constant messaging stirred racist views,especially from the group whom it was supposed to help. As far as north island racing goes. As i've said before,the disastrous business decisons made by those in charge of the Auckland trotting club will haunt north island racing for many years to come. And i ask again,why do the talking heads we see on trackside continue to ignore the failings. People go on and on about the RIU,yet the Auckland trotting club can blow eye boggling tens of millions of capital they had on a failed project,and the racing media just ignore it.

Yes,american dealer was very average. Looked tired. I know it was its first start over there,but still looked like it needs a spell. Copy that looked the same before he left,so time will tell. Given how much hard racing those 2 horses have had this season,maybe they have decided to earn as much as they can now against their own age group,but the down side to that would be they won't be as competitive in nz in the future.Thats my take on how it will play out. Some may call me a knocker,i just think i'm a realist and horses aren't machines. I thought tommy lincoln ran up to his best nz form when he ran 6th in the jewels after getting the trail throughout,and he hasn't had the relentless number of gut busting runs that the other 2 have had,so maybe he can keep going for a while. Krugs the interesting one. I thought he had a bit over the other 3year olds in nz,and may not have been as taxed as the others,and therefore would last a bit longer,but his jewels run was disappointing. Was it a one off or not.

I think c wigg probably deserves more credit than she gets. She certainly has an amazing record on the horse dreaminsover. I've never thought it would win more than 1 race,but its now won 5 times.. Its had 133 starts and c wigg has driven it 8 times for 4 wins and a placing. Not even blair orange could have got that horse to perform like c wigg has.

gammalite,i quite like k newman as a driver. I'm not entirely sure what he did half way down straight when he lifted his leg,but i assumed he may have been releasing the ear plugs. i think he always tries his best,which is important.

The more reliant trainers become on the vets and their treatments ,the more costly it is to the owners. The more advances "legal theraputics"(not so much referring to joint injections), have on improving horse performance,the greater the gap in results between the 5% of trainers that use them and the 95% of trainers that don't. The less competitive the 95% of trainers become....the smaller the number of owners and trainers there becomes. The smaller the number of owners and trainers participating in the sport,the greater the decline in the industry. You are embracing and actively promoting a practice which will ultimately help the industries decline. Your painting a picture of reality,i just lament the negative side effects of such practices. I also point out one fact you can't deny. Some trainers clearly have become reliant on vets. There was a time when trainers would adjust training routines,now the vet is the first go to person to solve the problem.Thats a negative in my book,but thats just my opinion.

well you asked,so i will reply. Newmarkets pointed out that the injections given by the vet to the 3 Hope horses, were given just prior to the jewels. The jewels are big races. Your saying that such injections can be for preventative reasons. We are saying given the timing of the injections,they were most likely not given for preventative reasons,but given to reduce some possible inflammation which they may have believed was there,and had become apparent in some form when the horses were being trained. Given the likely reason. Some of the conclusions could be.1)Does it not highlight what some stables use to get horses to continue to race.(i'm just pointing that out,not having a go at anyone in particular).2) the cost. 3)does it not highlight that its either a breed issue,or highlights many young horses struggle to cope with the training required to get them to race when so young. 4)that there is a price to pay,and that will be the longevity of their racing careers will be shortened because their bodies were asked to do more than they were able to cope with when they were young. As i've said,you argue that the likes of the all star stables are ahead of the game as far as taking such steps. I argue that the reason so many of their top horses have injuries is because of that very strategy. Just making an observation that i think should be debated more.You have to look at both the positive and negatives surrounding this type of thing.

You seem to have changed your tune,as i remember you complaining about the driving on amateur races in the past. I don't agree with your change to your above stated position though.Reasonable standards of driving should apply no matter what the level. If they don't ,someone will get hurt.I'm sure those competing in the amateur ranks would accept that.

I see they adjourned the inquiry into the interference.I can see why,as while i thought it looked initially like c negus had angled in too quick,a closer look could possibly place some blame on j buckland-stevens,who may have already started to squeeze for room those inside her before negus then moved in on her. Either way that race would give the stipes a headache. I see they suspended our favorite amateur s wigg for 2 months for using the whip wrong,and mrs mcintyre also got a suspension for the same thing. I hope they have enough amateur drivers left for the next race.Just a shame there aren't more amateur drivers with a bit of experience coming through the ranks.

Ran a nice 3rd today. Strange thing was 3 starts ago they put the half hopples on,which it hadn't had on in recent starts, and that seemed to work and it ran 4th. But for its next start(last week)they took the half hopples off again and it went back to its poor manners and broke. Then they put them on again today and it runs 3rd.