Horse Doping Update

October 15th, 2008 filed in Animals

There has been a steady influx of Horse Doping news over the last few days. Two more states have decided to ban steroids from the track, Big Brown has retired, Rick Dutrow escaped suspension, and 4 harness racing horses tested positive. Now is your chance to get caught up on the latest news from one of the most despicable forms of cheating, doping horses.

We start with the story of Big Brown. As you may remember Big Brown took the first two legs of the 2008 triple crown, and then performed terribly at the Belmont. The disappointing Belmont performance came after his trainer Rick Dutrow admitted that he took Big Brown off of the anabolic steroid Winstrol, that he has previously been using on the horse. This week, Big Brown’s career came to an end. More from the AP :

Big Brown’s racing career ended Monday when the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner injured his right front foot during a workout at Aqueduct Race Course in New York. Michael Iavarone of IEAH Stables, co-owners of Big Brown, said the 3-year-old colt tore a three-inch piece of flesh off the foot after it collided with his right rear foot while working over Aqueduct’s turf course with stablemate Kip Deville. “This was a complete fluke,” Iavarone said. “He hadn’t had issues with his feet for awhile and to have him come up just like this was a shock to all of us.”

Iavarone said the injury would take around two months to heal, making it impossible for Big Brown to run in The Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita. With the strapping bay due at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky. by the end of the year to begin his stud career, Iavarone said there simply isn’t enough time to get Big Brown back on the track one last time. “We don’t have a choice but to retire him,” Iavarone said. “It’s gut-wrenching.”

With Big Brown retiring, the next step is typically to put the horse out to stud, and his farm negotiated a breeding deal reportedly worth $50 million. However PETA has sent a letter to Big Brown’s owners, urging them to forgo the deal, and end the blood line of a horse who has been plagued by injuries.

Why are more than 700 horses suffering catastrophic injuries resulting in deaths on the race track every year? Some of the problems are attributed to breeding. Stallions with the fewest starts, whose careers are cut short by injury or fear of injury, are more likely to be bred than horses with longer racing careers. Logical people are questioning why unsound horses are being bred. One of the issues is that the use of legal drugs such as phenylbutazone has contributed to keeping unsound horses competing and thus covering up weaknesses. But as important, the desire for speed appears to have trumped common sense.

Next up we have the states of New York and Massachusetts joining Kentucky and Maryland in banning steroids from horse racing. First from New York :

“We have moved to eliminate anabolic steroid use from the horse racing industry in New York State,” said John Sabini, chairman of the racing and wagering board. “Steroids are no better for four-legged athletes than they are for two.”

And from Massachusetts :

The commission’s chief veterinarian, Alexandra Lightbrown, told The Boston Globe the ban is aimed at protecting the horses. She said there’s no evidence of widespread steroid use in horse racing in Massachusetts or conclusive proof that steroids lead to better race times. But she said the ban addresses the issue of perception, particularly given the recent steroids scandals in baseball and other sports.

With all of the recent press and attention that steroids in horse racing is getting, you would think the sport would send a message by getting rid of horse doping poster boy Rick Dutrow. Apparently they have been unsuccessful to date, from the AP:

Kentucky racing officials plan to challenge a recommendation that there’s insufficient evidence to suspend Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, for violating doping rules. The order by hearing officer James Robke indicated the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission was unable to prove Dutrow’s horse, Salute the Count, had an excessive amount of the legal drug Clenbuterol in his blood after finishing second May 2 in the Aegon Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs. That was one day before Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby.

Dutrow has been the target of public scrutiny because of his acknowledgment that Big Brown competed in the Derby and Preakness with the steroid stanozolol in his bloodstream. The horse did not get a dose before the Belmont, in which he was pulled up and finished last.The drug, which Dutrow says brightens his horses’ coats and increases appetite, was not illegal in the Triple Crown states this year. However, it has since been banned in Kentucky and several other states.

Dutrow said he will abide by the new drug rules and doesn’t intentionally send his horses out with illegal substances. He says if there are occasional overages for legal drugs, it’s because he doesn’t have day-to-day oversight of all his horses. “I think we run a pretty clean outfit,” Dutrow said. “I don’t use stuff you’re not allowed to use.”

As ESPN.com reported before the Kentucky Derby, and Dutrow seemingly admits himself, he doesn’t run the cleanest of stables :

“I’ve had so many different suspensions — half of them I deserved, half of them I didn’t,” Dutrow said. “I don’t think I’m a person you’d look to for guidance. So the only thing I need is to be allowed to work around the horses, so when they give me back my license after a suspension, man, I’m good to go. And even when I’m on my suspension, I’m going to try and sneak in there and look at my horses. What am I going to tell you, man? I’m a horseman.”

If Dutrow was getting suspended in the past, how is he going to deal with the recent crackdown in states across the country? As an example, Kentucky recently busted 4 harness racing horses, as reported by Kentucky.com :

Four harness horses at The Red Mile to race in the Grand Circuit meet have tested positive for illegal blood-doping agents, EPO. This is thought to be the first time the dangerous drugs have been detected in racehorses in Kentucky. The horses were among dozens tested by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission at the request of the track, which instituted out-of-competition testing for the performance-enhancing drugs last week. George Segal, one of the racetrack’s owners, said if the epo positives are confirmed, the results will be made public. “These guys will be punished, and the jurisdiction where they operated will be notified,” Segal said. “We are serious about this.”