Here come the Nutters! Becks Nairn. Thanks Winnie.

[Chief Stipe]

48 minutes ago, MaltedMilkshake said:

Good one Gamma, CS loves the sound of his own voice, the more low pricks outed for cruelty the better both codes will be, and that should be the end game.

You can talk.  You stir from your slumber to post negative shyte.  Did @nomates give you a call?

I doubt you have any active interest in racing now but happy to snipe on the sideline.

[Chief Stipe]

45 minutes ago, MaltedMilkshake said:

Oh grow up and grow a pair, I'm not as courteous and patient as Curious or Gamma, if you can't concede there are cheats and cruel bastards in racing you're off with the pixies, Yule/Weir are only the tip of the iceberg across in AUS, as for NZ, well, the industry is only as good as the people that police it, and that in itself is a fucking joke.....you think?

Where did I say there weren't "cheats and cruel bastards"?  That's another part of your modus operandi attributing statements to someone falsely and then repeating them hoping they are perceived as the truth.  You and Nairn make a great couple.

Then just like her you take isolated examples and tar everyone with the same brush.  "Tip of the iceberg" is absolutely bullshit.  I imagine you are on the 0800 anonymously dob someone in hotline everyday.

Just like the scumbags Racing doesn't need idiots like you either.

Put up or shut up.

[Chief Stipe]

41 minutes ago, the galah said:

i don't follow this lady on facebook,i don't do facebook,but hesi seemed to be saying,hey have a look at what she says on there.

so i did.

and the first thing that came up was where she had done an autopsy on arcano after he died.

People who follow harness racing of course know arcano well.

he was a horse that a lengthy thread on the harness side of this forum was started.

Arcano was an older horse,grey in colour.

he had turned a run of poor performances around with a  win at addington one night for his new trainer. That was what prompted the thread on the harness part.Arcarno then went and fibrillated next start and retired the following start..

anyway,90% of the poeple posting said it was obvious the horse was running on a performance enhancers. Anyone with any idea of analysing form could tell that.

Of course we got the likes of the chief saying,what a load of bullocks,hes never returned a positive and people who linked his performance to the fridge gas thing were just fools and scaremongers.

Arcano of course was trained by M kerr, and driven by m anderson. Both those trainers had several threads about their horses performances ,questioning their honesty and their use of perfromance enhancers. Of course chief always defended them each time saying they had no positives and it was just people who were jealous or shit stirrers,bla,blah. 

 Actaully what ever happened to m kerr and m anderson,.trust worthy blokes that they were.

Perhaps they are mentoring someone in between trips to their probation officers.

of course the chief was their main defender,after all no positives and he hates people slinging mud at pillars of the indutsry.I see your saying that in this topic again chief. i always give you points for consistency chief.

anyways,back to arcano. i see arcano shows as being a deregistered 15 year old on the hrnz website so one could get the impression heshappily  grazing somewhere in a paddock.

which is interesting,as on this nairn ladys website is pictures of his dissected body and a summary of what she found. To be honest,i stopped the goggling of her there,as its all very sad what i read she found.

but hey,therein itself is the actual crux of this woman nairns point.

and its something i have said so often,but i think never gets the traction it should.

if your only going to treat the horses you care for the same as the cows,the bobby calves,the sheep ,the lambs. In other words see them as a commodity based on their abilty to win $,then why,when your training the horse, would you care  much for the horses welfare after it finishes racing.

anyways,its an interesting topic and you can tell by peoples words  how they view their horses.

This is one of your best pieces of bullshit.  Don't let the facts interfere with your fiction.

[MaltedMilkshake]

From where I sit I'm not being negative, just seeing and saying as Becks has copped the worst spray from people like yourself who don't give a fuck about the horse, you must be a lonely old sod to lurk on the other other site, even Hesi has come to help you out.

You won't change your spots you've nailed your colours to the mast, but in closing I'll say it again for you, there are cruel demented turds in racing, looking for an edge is one thing, endangering both jocks and horses lives in the search for that 'edge' is sickening and needs to be stopped, Beck's crusade might be zealous, but many applaud her ambitions, she ain't alone that's for sure.

Remember the champion Jocks old man that 'treated' his horses pre trial? the horse died, the jock maimed? is he in your Icons scrapbook? That bloke should have got life, there are many instances like that, some worse, any low scum that thinks that's ok, get the fuck out of racing.....if you think That's negative on my behalf, so be it.

[hesi]

41 minutes ago, MaltedMilkshake said:

From where I sit I'm not being negative, just seeing and saying as Becks has copped the worst spray from people like yourself who don't give a fuck about the horse, you must be a lonely old sod to lurk on the other other site, even Hesi has come to help you out.

You won't change your spots you've nailed your colours to the mast, but in closing I'll say it again for you, there are cruel demented turds in racing, looking for an edge is one thing, endangering both jocks and horses lives in the search for that 'edge' is sickening and needs to be stopped, Beck's crusade might be zealous, but many applaud her ambitions, she ain't alone that's for sure.

Remember the champion Jocks old man that 'treated' his horses pre trial? the horse died, the jock maimed? is he in your Icons scrapbook? That bloke should have got life, there are many instances like that, some worse, any low scum that thinks that's ok, get the fuck out of racing.....if you think That's negative on my behalf, so be it.

We'll leave the Becks thing to one side, but I think you are grossly mis-reading the Chief.

Probably has more thoroughbred connections than people realise, you don't get welcomed by Te Akau if you are anti-industry, I wonder what they think about Becks Nairn, that would be interesting wouldn't it.  He drives a strong but reasoned line, indicative of his intelligence, well above my pay grade.  I know my limitations when it comes to these chat sites and who not to tangle with lol

He actually came and helped me out with my site, rang me up to tell me what was happening, didn't even realise he had my number as I had never talked to him before.  Now that could have been very awkward, because like many people I thought he was an arrogant, know it all dickhead.  Much to my surprise, he is actually a very decent bloke, totally belying his online persona.

C'est la vie

Edited yesterday at 07:08 AM by hesi

[Gammalite]

Chief , I don't know what you're trying to achieve here. You have the Milkshaked one losing his Malts and not agreeing with anyone saying anything.

I don't see Podcasts , but could read what the Lady Said about a couple of topics from what HESI kindly posted her early in this thread first page. Seems she is just waffling on about personal experiences she has had with her dogs , and horses , and that rather sad Kaikoura incident. like we all do from time to time at BOAY,  as life is full of experiences. most are good with the fine horses. but you get the odd sad/bad occasion that needs ADDressing

There are awkward topics that people address like Curious with his whip stuff , and this lady with re-homing horses and the Malted Milkman wanting to weed out all the cheats. (some of which I pointed out for him have been weeded out and removed from the Industry a penalty term ) so racing is trying hard to stay 'clean' ?

Because we ALL love the racing industry , and What is best for the horse. Just like you want great safe track surfaces , for the Jockeys and horses to race on (but no blinkers though lol😉) and everyone have a good time.

It's gone a bit like Beehive Parliament , with them/everyone taking sides on issues , and bagging across the floor 🤣  . 

Not our fault mate. People are looking for solutions to the problems. INCA had a look for ya. All good !! 

First thing Bec said on that post of Hesi's was she wasn't Anti Racing , nor trying to get racing banned . So I don't know why you've Hackled up . like I said nothing wrong with people advocating Horse welfare. 

They tried hard for us , so we should try hard for them. If they didn't try they're probably at Meramist  😋🙄 

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Gammalite said:

Chief , I don't know what you're trying to achieve here. You have the Milkshaked one losing his Malts and not agreeing with anyone saying anything.

@Rowley Mile aka @MaltedMilkshake aka @Joe Bloggs has history on here.  Sooner or later he'll get pissed off and go back to dreaming about his next Roc de Cambes champion.  You should look him up he lives just down the road from you.

He's only shit stirring and is another bitter anti-racing type.

 

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, MaltedMilkshake said:

From where I sit I'm not being negative, just seeing and saying as Becks has copped the worst spray from people like yourself who don't give a fuck about the horse, you must be a lonely old sod to lurk on the other other site, even Hesi has come to help you out

If I'm a lonely old sod I don't know what that makes you.

You are being negative and your friend Becks deserves a spray for the crap she writes.  You are bitter and twisted about racing for some reason probably because of some past slight that hurt your ego.

2 hours ago, MaltedMilkshake said:

Remember the champion Jocks old man that 'treated' his horses pre trial? the horse died, the jock maimed? is he in your Icons scrapbook? That bloke should have got life, there are many instances like that, some worse, any low scum that thinks that's ok, get the fuck out of racing.....if you think That's negative on my behalf, so be it.

There you go again selecting old isolated incidents and tarrying everyone and racing in general.  Piece of advice get completely out of the game if you haven't already as the acid bitterness you display is eating you from the inside.

[the galah]

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

This is one of your best pieces of bullshit.  Don't let the facts interfere with your fiction.

not sure which bit you say is fiction.

i thought what i said was all fact. just goggle the ladys facebook page with arcano and you can have a look at the pictures she provided of itsdisected insides.

Seems she had a hand in its rehoming so took an interest in why it got so sick after being rehomed.Hence her cutting it up after it died. .

i know we argued over the honesty of matt anderson many, many times times in the past,long before he got all those charges . And mitch kerr as well but not so many times.

i just spent 10 minutes looking for the arcano thread on the harness site 5 years ago.i gave up as not sure what heading it came under.

The only thread i found in the month it won at addington,to be fair,most were saying how wonderful m anderson and m kerr were.. Neither you or i contributed on that particular  thread.

Actually brodie was m andersons greatest chair leader at the time. we need more like himhe said. Not on the money that time was he. 

.Only the likes of newmarket,harewood and even hunterthepunter suggested they were given performance enhancers. neither you or me posted on that particular thread,in fact i seemed to have taken a break from posting around rthat time.

That was around the times the articles in the papers about the fridge gas, were giving the industry bad headlinesi suppose you do remember that don't you. Remember HRNZ publically saying at the time how they were concerned about fridge gas being reportedly used  and working out how to test for it..

i know i've certainly questioned the hionesty of both m kerr and manderson as far as the use of performance enhancers many times.  Have you never noticed,just how accurate i have been over the years in predicting things uncovered later.

anyway,off to watch a reality show with the wife now. hope its not the the fatties and i end up watching a tummy operation.How do those american fatties afford all that food.?

Edited yesterday at 09:01 AM by the galah

[Chief Stipe]

Whatever my dear old china  @MaltedMilkshake @Rowley Mile @Joe Bloggs.  On the one hand you say I can't be trusted with your personal details yet on the other hand you say I have the wrong person.  It's one or the other. 

As for trusting me with your personal details - you haven't.   I took an educated guess based on recognising a pattern of behaviour and posting style.  I then crossed referenced the posts from the various accounts and identified a pattern.  Anyone can do that.  Assuming those three accounts are yours then I've posted nothing personal other than what you have already posted yourself.

As @MaltedMilkshake you didn't post anything for over 18 months until recently and before that about 3 posts since 2019.  No you came here with one intention.  No doubt your mate Bob has been chewing your ear.

 

[Freda]

Take a chill pill,  Chief.   No one on here is anti-racing.  Least of all Malted Milkshake, that I can guarantee.  There are bad eggs in the sport-horse and pony club world as well, and the 1000's of dogs destroyed every year is sickening.   Humans aren't a very nice lot.

All we can do is insist that animals reared and slaughtered for food are treated ethically, and that sporting and pet animals are given the best care possible.  Obviously not all horses - or dogs- are suitable for rehoming, and that's another bucket that needs the leaks stopped.

[Freda]

As a result of the Becs podcast - and a few other matters brought to my attention recently- I made some enquiries with some re-homers of horses.  Gallopers,  not the harnessed variety.

Seems that some owners and/or trainers had the delightful habit of sending broken-down or temperamentally unsuitable horses to these people and expecting them to deal with the problems.

You'd be horrified if you knew some of the names but we won't go there.

That has brought about a necessary shake-up of procedure.   Every horse placed at a rehoming facility has a complete vet overhaul, paid for by NZTR.  Those deemed unsuitable for pleasure riding for  ANY reason gets returned to the owner or trainer.

NZTR has no problem with horses being euthanised,  contrary to what may be thought.  However, they expect owners/ trainers to take that responsibility. 

My beef is that the Welfare arm of NZTR doesn't get off its backside and front foot the concerns of the public.  The greyhound folk now spend thousands in operations and general rehab to ensure as many dogs as possible are able to be passed on as pets.  But they allowed the few arseholes who gave the industry such a bad name to carry on with impunity.   And the rehabbing work was never made public knowledge.  What happened to them is an unfortunate result of sitting on their hands for too long.

You may dismiss Bec's stance as that of a nutter, that's your choice.

But if a nice publicity video/ podcast about the welfare requirements was made available on mainstream TV, it may go a long way to shutting up the vocal naysayers.

[curious]

41 minutes ago, Freda said:

But if a nice publicity video/ podcast about the welfare requirements was made available on mainstream TV, it may go a long way to shutting up the vocal naysayers.

Exactly. And that's exactly what the hounds failed to do during 2 decades of warnings. The thrust of Beck's blog is about the muzzling of constituent voices, not about welfare per se. Attempts to muzzle these voices on welfare concerns is exactly what I have experienced along with many others in recent times. Also, exactly my point in my open letter response to the RIB open letter. Another attempt to shut down instead of listen to critical voices. In the mean time, public perception of racing continues to become more and more negative.

Becks never said that she wanted racing or other equestrian pursuits to be shut down. She said they will be if public perception continues to go in the current direction.  Whether or not her approach is the best way forward with that or not, I don't know, but it absolutely HAS to happen, and sooner rather than later. Other racing jurisdictions like Hong Kong and the BHA recognise and acknowledge this and are taking action. Here a token welfare department.

Talking to a re-homer today I echo what Freda said. Owners and trainers sending horses to re-homers when they are knowingly unsuitable is just not good enough. Everyone has to take responsibility here.

[the galah]

Isn't the biggest problem with rehoming being,there simply isn't much demand for rehoming ex racehorses.

and farmers used to be people brought in eras of when the horse was valued and admired,whereas these days you have all the dairying,forestry..Put simply land use is more concentrated,profit focussed,so many more corporates involved in land ownership.so corporates have no use for horses and the  new generation of farmers are not only smaller in numbers but have diminishing connections with horses,the upshot of all that is horses aren't finding homes on farms like they used to.

then you have urban sprawl which has meant people looking for grazing for their ex racehorses are finding it very very difficult to find anywhere suitable and people who are looking to keep an ex reacehorse and ride it around are finding with urban sprawl they have to travel so much further. Time is important to so many.

then you have ,at least in harness racing,little focus on the small time breeders. As much as you hear hrnz statements about the positivity in the industry,the small time breeders simply feel left out,undervalued.they have no positivity.Hrnz just kidding themselves whey they say that. Thats illustrated by the significant drop in numbers being bred by small time breeders in recent years,and it will happen again this year. So those type of people are making the hard decisions and simply find their mares aren't wanted so they are getting rid of them. I mean,if the people who have bred from families they have nutured and who have treated their horses with more care and love when they have retired for decades, ,well if they are getting rid of them,then things are bad.yet that is what is happening.

i really do believe that if suitable affordable grazing was made available,you would have less horses being put down once their racing careers end. but that type of grazing hardly exists and the industry has never tried to address

i also think ex racehorses are under used as far as being used in programmes assisting peoples mental health and rehabilitation.i've previously suggested funds should be used to set up these type of programmes and they could become self funding,if in populated areas. 

Like i have said before,racing sponsored rehoming places will flatly reject your horse as suitable for rehoming with them just on the basis of age. over 12,no not interested. now i guess thats because they have so many younger horses wanting to get into their rehoming programmes. I find it interesting to hear discussed earlier that they have been asked to rehome horses who may not have the right temperamant or be unsound,yet they reject a 13 year old that could be the perfgect horse,just based on age.

the greyhounds simply have way to many to rehome as well.NSW sends 1000 a year to the USA to keep their numbers looking respectable. Nz send many to the usa.

the industry could so much more than it does in my opinion,having said that,all the negative issues would still exist as thats reality.Its all about mitigating the problem.

the lady on the video has better enforcemnet of the use of perfromance enhancers as sdometing she would like to see done. Well i've always agreed with that,but just look at how large parts of the industry deliberately tyry and undermine the riu when they actively do that. 

Edited yesterday at 10:05 PM by the galah

[Chief Stipe]

2 hours ago, the galah said:

Isn't the biggest problem with rehoming being,there simply isn't much demand for rehoming ex racehorses.

It isn't the biggest problem yet the industry is setting itself for it to be the biggest problem for racing.  The fact is you can't rehome them all.  If you start tracking them ALL from the cradle to the grave and then reporting on those stupid "KPI's" then you open yourself up to the Anti-racing nutters focussing on them.  Just like Greyhounds we'll end up getting hoisted by our own petard!

The more you monitor, the more you rehome the greater the likelihood of finding non-compliance and then the monitoring costs increase and the greater the unaffordability of racing.  

It is a massive shotgun to the feet to start reporting on where these horses go.  One horse going to the abbatoir to end up feeding the woke's obeses handbag dogs is one too many for the damn hypocrites.  Most of them own that naturally unsurvivable breed the French Bulldog!  

2 hours ago, the galah said:

the lady on the video has better enforcemnet of the use of perfromance enhancers as sdometing she would like to see done. Well i've always agreed with that,but just look at how large parts of the industry deliberately tyry and undermine the riu when they actively do that. 

But what does she mean when she says she wants "better enforcement of the use of performance enhancers"?  She like a number of you buy into this myth that the use of illegal PED's is rampant.  IT ISN'T!!!!  
 

My biggest criticism of the RIB, NZTR and HRNZ is that they don't do enough to promote the fact that there ISN'T widespread use of illegal PED's.  Plus standardise their rules and be more pragmatic about environmental contamination.  They also don't do enough to educate their licensees or research the use of approved human therapeutics on horses.  Now that would be a use for those uses that are being "rehome"!  

For example is the injection of the new novel anti-arthritic drugs into the knees and fetlocks to prevent wear and tear and reverse damage "performance enhancing"?  NO it isn't.  But you can imagine what the likes of Becks Nairn will say.   I wish those drugs were around 40 years ago as I know a few horses that would have stayed at the elite level longer.

[Chief Stipe]

6 hours ago, Freda said:

All we can do is insist that animals reared and slaughtered for food are treated ethically, and that sporting and pet animals are given the best care possible.  Obviously not all horses - or dogs- are suitable for rehoming, and that's another bucket that needs the leaks stopped.

@Freda the Anti-racing types don't want ANY horses slaughtered for food.  

[Chief Stipe]

5 hours ago, Freda said:

That has brought about a necessary shake-up of procedure.   Every horse placed at a rehoming facility has a complete vet overhaul, paid for by NZTR.  Those deemed unsuitable for pleasure riding for  ANY reason gets returned to the owner or trainer.

NZTR has no problem with horses being euthanised,  contrary to what may be thought.  However, they expect owners/ trainers to take that responsibility. 

That's fine.  NZTR may have no problem with horses being euthanised but they are happy to pass the buck.  Hopefully they don't create stupid KPI's and report on the ones that get turned back!

[Chief Stipe]

6 hours ago, Freda said:

 No one on here is anti-racing.

Perhaps not deliberately.  But some, mostly old disenfranchised men, are so bitter and cynical that they do nothing but continually attack the industry.  Especially those that are successful.  In my opinion that is Anti-Racing. 

Over the last 3 years I've experienced it more and more and at times it has been embarrasing having introduced a close friend to her first foray into horse ownership.  From the old timers at the local wanting copies of the invoices so they can suck lemons and bang on about how expensive the top trainers are.  Or the "hangers on" that suddenly appeared to live vicariously live off the thrill of a distant relative while all they could do was bitch about how bad the trainer was and that they would never have a horse with them again blah blah.  Then have the gall to tag on to the post race Grp win celebration and smile and congratulate the trainer.  The same person had the gall to tell me I was just a newbie to racing and didn't know anything.  You can imagine my response!

Or the Anti-racing types on social media that promote conspiracies without any evidence especially to negate the consistent sucesss.  Harness is especially bad at it.  When someone is winning - "oh they must be cheating and using PED's".  Well they haven't been caught.   "Must be something that is undectable".  All BS and that's Anti-racing.

So if you want to talk about "dirty little secrets" or make inferences about someone cheating you'd better have your evidence ready.  

Becks Nairn doesn't provide any balance in her presentations nor solid evidence hence she can be labelled yet another unprincipled nutter conspiracist.  For example do you hear her saying that "fridge gas" (whatever that is) has no reported performance enhancing nor therapeutic properties?  NO.  Of course not - no air time in that.

[the galah]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Perhaps not deliberately.  But some, mostly old disenfranchised men, are so bitter and cynical that they do nothing but continually attack the industry.  Especially those that are successful.  In my opinion that is Anti-Racing. 

Over the last 3 years I've experienced it more and more and at times it has been embarrasing having introduced a close friend to her first foray into horse ownership.  From the old timers at the local wanting copies of the invoices so they can suck lemons and bang on about how expensive the top trainers are.  Or the "hangers on" that suddenly appeared to live vicariously live off the thrill of a distant relative while all they could do was bitch about how bad the trainer was and that they would never have a horse with them again blah blah.  Then have the gall to tag on to the post race Grp win celebration and smile and congratulate the trainer.  The same person had the gall to tell me I was just a newbie to racing and didn't know anything.  You can imagine my response!

Or the Anti-racing types on social media that promote conspiracies without any evidence especially to negate the consistent sucesss.  Harness is especially bad at it.  When someone is winning - "oh they must be cheating and using PED's".  Well they haven't been caught.   "Must be something that is undectable".  All BS and that's Anti-racing.

So if you want to talk about "dirty little secrets" or make inferences about someone cheating you'd better have your evidence ready.  

Becks Nairn doesn't provide any balance in her presentations nor solid evidence hence she can be labelled yet another unprincipled nutter conspiracist.  For example do you hear her saying that "fridge gas" (whatever that is) has no reported performance enhancing nor therapeutic properties?  NO.  Of course not - no air time in that.

to quote your first paragraph " old disenfranchised men,who are so bitter and cynical that they do nothing but continually attack the industry. Especially those that are succssful. In my opinion that is anti racing". 

Thats the label,in this thread, you've put on people who not only through their words,but their actions have shown to those who know them,that at least they are trying to do what they think is best for the present and future health and welfare of the racehorses and  ex racehorses, in their care.

Its interesting you also found this nairn womans comments  about the damage that can be done from use of some  performance enhancers,as anti racing. 

Me thinks your words that i quote,somehow seem a bit harsh chief.Your thinking, it sort of reminds me of that kinks song,its a mixed up,muddled up shook up world. 

but hey,at the end of the day,even though i disagree with what you say about this current topic,i'm not silly enough to label you anti racing. Because i know your not. 

Edited 20 hours ago by the galah

[curious]

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

The more you monitor, the more you rehome the greater the likelihood of finding non-compliance and then the monitoring costs increase and the greater the unaffordability of racing.  

I'd say too bad. It is a cost of racing and needs to be attended to or there will be no racing.

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

My biggest criticism of the RIB, NZTR and HRNZ is that they don't do enough to promote the fact that there ISN'T widespread use of illegal PED's.  

Exactly. That's what Freda was saying in her earlier post. Promotion to the public of the welfare measures being taken is paramount. That what greyhounds failed to do. The surveys confirm it. The public wanted them banned but at the same time said they knew little about it or standard practices in the industry.

[Gammalite]

1 hour ago, curious said:

I'd say too bad. It is a cost of racing and needs to be attended to or there will be no racing.

Exactly. That's what Freda was saying in her earlier post. Promotion to the public of the welfare measures being taken is paramount. That what greyhounds failed to do. The surveys confirm it. The public wanted them banned but at the same time said they knew little about it or standard practices in the industry.

Think you're both right. Some horses are Non Compliant to home somewhere. you'd feel awful if they dumped someone off playing up,  and they got hurt. 

The Greyhound numbers were just too many to re-home . same fault in Aus too. Have seen first hand what they do with them, and it's not great. 

I did say earlier in this thread I'd seen several teenage retired racehorses last week given to girls/ladies that do the Show jumping , and they were performing for prizes at the Brisbane Show , and they were magnificent. Horses treated like Kings in their retirement from the racetrack. 👍🏆 

I said to Chief we gave some old Standardbreds to a deer Hunter once in NZ. They would go into the dense forest there and carry out the deer that he hunted which were a pest.  I remember giving one old Pacer who did one race actually , a good pat as he was leaving and then said to 'Captain' (the horse) 

" mate would of been bit easier on ya if ya got going a couple of seconds faster at Alexandra Park and you wouldn't have to go through this. 🤣 Blame Mark Purdon for being too good "  😁😂

[hesi]

Off she goes again

Becks Nairn

23h ·

 

Vodka, fridge gassing, formalin and shock wave use in the racing industry.

Drugs have become insidious in harness racing because only one of the four banned substances above can be tested for in New Zealand. Covert operations have caught trainers red handed with hypodermic needles injecting formalin though. Formalin is a derivative of formaldehyde which I am familiar with from my days in taxidermy, I also use it to preserve tissue samples currently. This article is probably the most distressing aspect to the problems currently facing the industry so I’ll go through them one by one. High purity vodka is available in any bottle store.

Vodka

Alcohol is given as a pain reliever and sedative intravenously, the idea is to get the horse tipsy enough to relax and not feel any niggles that might be affecting their performance. Alcohol is detectable through blood samples. Majority of us will know the feeling of being tipsy so this one’s easily understandable of its effects.

News article

https://www.stuff.co.nz/.../trainer-injected-vodka-to...

R.I.U decision

https://racingintegrityboard.org.nz/.../non-raceday.../

Fridge gassing/argon gas

I first heard about fridge gassing when Ex harness horse Arcano who was well

Known among the industry to have been fridge gassed entered our charity to rehome. Argon gas is commonly used in engineering and a bottle can be easily purchased in multiple locations including Facebook market place. When I approached HRNZ with text messages from his owner admitting he had been fridge gassed they said they would take care of it and that it was shocking. I asked why there was no test for it and they said it was metabolised to quickly by the body to test. However the Australians thought it was enough of a problem that in 2015 they made both a urine and blood tests for it. Argon gas is a prohibited doping agent for horses because inhaling it boosts erythropoietin(EPO) levels, leading to increased red blood cell production and enhanced oxygen transport, which improves stamina and performance. This gas boosts oxygen delivery, providing a competitive advantage. The risk to the horse is heart attacks and pulmonary embolism.

Australian press release on testing for both argon/xenon gases.

https://www.thoroughbrednews.com.au/.../racing-nsw...

Fridge gassing concerns raised in NZ(2019)

https://www.odt.co.nz/.../fridge-gas-doping-concern-horses

Formalin

Formalin is a derivative of Formaldehyde used as a preserving agent commonly in taxidermy, embalming and tissue sample preserving. The reason it’s being used in racing is to prevent very common lung bleeds in race horses. Studies show that lung bleeds are prevalent in numbers ranging from 45% to 75% but that number jumps to 90% when looked at histologically under a microscope.

Why formalin? Formalin injected intravenously would inflame the endothelium(wall of the blood vessel) and reduce the chance of a haemorrhage. BUT formalin is a group 1 carcinogen and the damge it would cause to red blood cells and bone marrow would be horrific. I have dissected a few race horses now where the cervical bones have been blackened inside and I do wonder anout a connection. Formalin would caue mass inflammation through out the body.

Again, australia leading the charge on testing for it. Formalin is not a controlled substance.

Study on lung bleeds in race horses

https://www.msdvetmanual.com/.../exercise-induced... een

Cases of formalin injection

https://www.stuff.co.nz/.../harness-racing-trainer-caught...

https://qric.qld.gov.au/.../qric-warns-racing-industry.../

https://rmtcnet.com/racing-victoria-will-soon-be-able-to.../

https://www.smh.com.au/.../embalming-fluid-used-on-horses...

Shock wave therapy

This device has been bought and utilised by large racing stables and vets for its effective treatment of soft tissue injuries. Shockwave therapy for horses, also known as Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT), is a non-invasive procedure that uses focused sound waves to stimulate the natural healing processes of damaged tissues, bones, and joints. By delivering high-energy pulses to an injured area, the therapy increases blood flow, stimulates the growth of new blood vessels, and encourages the release of natural healing factors, ultimately reducing pain and improving mobility. Common conditions treated include tendon and ligament injuries, arthritis, navicular syndrome, and certain bone injuries.

Another effect is a several-day decrease in inflammation, swelling, and pain, an outcome that could allow a horse to work harder than it should because discomfort from an injury has been blocked. Racehorses running on an injured tendon might easily cause further tissue damage, leading to a longer healing time or even a catastrophic breakdown during exercise. Shockwave therapy stimulates nerves to reduce pain through "hyperstimulation anesthesia," where the nerves are overwhelmed, diminishing their activity and pain signals, and via the "gate-control theory," recalibrating pain perception.

The chances of horses fracturing limbs following treatment is very high, there is currently an 8 day stand down period for race horses. There is currently tests being developed to detect biomarkers of its use within the banned period. This device is being abused currently. If you are a trainer who is doing everything by the book this article should outrage you, these cheats affect you! HRNZ are actively covering these reports up from people reporting these abuses, reports should go directly to the racing integrity unit.

Photos below of the blackened bones from a 6 year old gelding. We will probably never know what caused this but what I can day with certainty is this is not normal.

[hesi]

Any comments?

From my point of view as a person trained in chemistry, she calls formalin a derivative of formaldehyde.  It is not, it is simply a 40% solution.  A derivative is a molecule that has been slightly modified to give different properties.

To call it so immediately suggests she does not know what she is talking about, which casts dispersions over her credibility to comment on matters of science