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All Stars Team Clear of Drugs Before Jewels


Chief Stipe

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Horses in drugs scare get the all-clear

The 10 harness horses at the centre of a drug contamination scare this week have all been cleared to start at today's Jewels meeting.

Precautionary tests requested by trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen (nine horses) and Terry and Glenys Chmiel (Dibaba) and conducted by the Racing Integrity Unit showed no presence of drugs in any horse.

The unusual concerns were raised when two, now former, staff members of the All Stars stables were believed to have used recreational drugs in the last week and had been in contact with all 10 of the horses tested as they were transported from Canterbury to Waikato.

One of the staff members provided a sample to a professional drug tester called in by Purdon and returned a positive while the other refused a test and both were subsequently dismissed.

Purdon and Rasmussen contacted the RIU on Wednesday and asked for all nine of their horses who had been in contact with the two employees be tested to ensure they were drug-free heading into today's $1,275,000 meeting, while Dibaba as also tested as it has come north on the same transporter.

All 10 horses will take their places at today's meeting, which boasts nine group one races.

The TAB, which had been asked by the RIU on Wednesday to suspend betting on six of the Jewels races, re-opened those at 4.30pm yesterday.

"The RIU is very pleased with the result. The integrity system worked as it should," said RIU general manager Mike Godber.

"The trainers were proactive in advising the RIU of the potential contamination."

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28 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

No sane person thought anything else Chief, 

My theory is Purdon works his horses hard and doesn't do endless miles of jogging.  Hence they are race fit when they get to the races while the others are underdone and "need a race or two"...  Bit like Waller's horses.  I did read an article a couple of years back that when Waller works his horses hard he gives them Lasix.  That makes sense to me as a preventative measure and a way of working your horses hard in training without causing too much harm.  Perfectly legal as well as far as I understand.

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Chief, I like these posts you put up, interesting reads. 

Ive noticed your other ex mate, now does same on his site?

Even runs comps , for the harness section! Shows he is struggling, 

Comp that Nimue is running here is fantastic, hats off. ?

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Waller Up Front Following Lasix Positive

 
 

by Rob Burnet, Thoroughbrednews.com.au

As was widely reported last week, Sydney’s leading trainer Chris Waller was fined A$30,000 by a Racing NSW stewards’ panel, chaired by chief steward Ray Murrihy, over a positive sample of the prohibited substance furosemide. The sample was taken from Junoob (GB) (Haafhd {GB}) after the gelding’s win in the G1 The Metropolitan H. at Randwick racecourse Oct. 4. 

The positive test for the diuretic, better known as Lasix, made public the use of the product in horses in training in Waller’s stable, an aid that was not generally known by the racing public. Lasix is generally understood by the Australian racing public to be a drug most commonly used on race day in the U.S., but it is also used–legally–in Australia in horses in training, usually when doing fast work, as a preventative drug and has been for some time. 

Waller, who pleaded guilty to the charge and will not appeal, has been up-front about the use of Lasix in his stable after the stewards’ inquiry last Thursday. 

“I believe it helps with the longevity of horse’s career,” he said. “It reduces the frequency of bleeding and reduces the chances of a horse bleeding. Every time they bleed they get closer to a major bleed.” 

Junoob was tested to be at 440ng/mL of Frusemide, in excess of the Australian 50ng/mL threshold. Any trace of the drug above the threshold must be out of the horse’s system by race day, and it was here that Waller’s stable went afoul of the rules. 

The stewards’ report said that they were satisfied from the scientific evidence that the administration of Furosemide to Junoob most likely occurred at or around 3:30 a.m. the morning of the race. They found that the administration of furosemide was inadvertent on the part of Waller’s experienced stable foreperson, Analise Trollope, whilst conducting scheduled administrations of the drug to eight horses in Barn 1, where Junoob was housed, and prior to those horses completing fast work on the Rosehill training track that morning. 

Racing NSW chief vet Craig Suann said research suggested the treatment be given between 12 and 16 hours before the sample was taken later that day at Randwick races. Suann told the inquiry Furosemide could be a masking agent because it increases urination. It is also a performance-enhancer when given four hours before a race in the absence of water because it increases the power-to-weight ratio of a horse. 

In this case, neither was a factor, Suann said, because the length of time it was given before the race as the effect diminishes in short time. In the meantime, Waller is taking full responsibility. 

“It is embarrassing,” said Waller. “It was a mistake and we have learnt from our mistake and changed our procedures. The rules are clear and I have respect for them and the process the stewards had to go through and they did their job.” 

Waller has been dominant in Sydney racing and he currently leads the Sydney metropolitan trainer championship by a wide margin. The stable has had considerable success with tried horses from the UK allowing them to adapt to the Australian climate, training methods and feed. Junoob, a 6-year-old Haafhd gelding, is an example of the stable taking the UK listed winner to Group 2 heights after his arrival in Australia in 2013. This prominence has also brought with it heavy scrutiny from racing integrity departments. 

“You must be the most-swabbed trainer in Australia, about 50% of runners would be tested (1544 runners in 2013-14),” said Murrihy when handing down the fine. “There has to be a deterrent for this not to happen again,” he added. 

The stewards said that Waller’s good record of having only one sustained charge in 19 years as a trainer was in his favour at the time of assessing the penalty. 

Ironically, the stable provided the quinella (first and second) in the Metropolitan with Opinion (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) promoted from second to first after the disqualification of Junoob.

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  • 2 weeks later...
14 minutes ago, Happy Sunrise said:

Doesn't make any  logical sense?

 

It did smell very fishy from the time it was released.

Lets see the RIU follow this through, in case there has been something not right!

Edited by Brodie
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CrossCodes, Can you confirm that there were 2 stablehands employed by the AllStars that were caught doing  drugs and had been handling all the horses on the float?

Have these 2 stablehands now been sacked?

Where were the stablehands doing the drugs! Was it actually in the back of the horse truck where the horses were or were they sitting alongside the driver of the truck?

Is there sufficient room for people to be in the back of the horse trucks that are used?

I don’t know but it does seem extremely unusual situation you would have to agree, and if there have been lies told then it isn’t good enough is it?

 

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19 minutes ago, Brodie said:

and if there have been lies told then it isn’t good enough is it?

That is the biggest 'if' I have seen in a long time.

Brodie, Neither, Crosscodes or myself are selling this story so certainly not up to either of us to present answers to those questions.

Be great to have some answers.

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4 hours ago, hunterthepunter said:

seems odd story plus his two sons have dun a runner up north and they have gone overseas could not wait to get away from the jjewels that quick

Trust me, nobody can name the 2 x stable reps that were sacked. Made heaps of enquirers, everyone has shut up shop. 

I was one of the first to defend stable in all of this, but now not sure. 

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42 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

Trust me, nobody can name the 2 x stable reps that were sacked. Made heaps of enquirers, everyone has shut up shop. 

I was one of the first to defend stable in all of this, but now not sure. 

I know their names but don't think it's right to post here. All I will say is that the girl has a heap of tattoos and freely admits on her Facebook page they were caught and fired. Think the words were "narked on by a workmate" ( who's name I also know)

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