Superfectablog v3.0 » Drugs

This Year’s Modest Proposal

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:57:00 +0000

In a discussion inspired by Joe Drape’s very interesting article about drugs in racing (legal and otherwise), Mr. Superfecta came up with a novel idea – why not create an event to showcase horses who can prove they are running drug-free? While we initially kicked around the notion of a nice mid-size track (for our own convenience, we liked Delaware Park as the first home for the event) hosting a day or series of races restricted to ‘certified organic’ horses. The long-term goal would be to have a major organization (e.g. the Breeders’ Cup) take the notion of drug-free runners and run with it. Here is how I propose to roll out the concept:

1) Local Certified Drug-free Races
In a pilot project, one track would modify their condition book to create races restricted to horses running entirely on hay, oats and water (or hay, oats, water and Guinness, if you prefer). Best practices for drug testing and initial incentives for owners and breeders would be developed at this time. Such incentives could be structured like something akin to a state-bred bonus system – beyond the official series of drug-free races, purses in other races could be augmented for ‘certified drug-free’ (or ’100% organic’ if you require a catchy marketing name) horses.

2) Expansion of Incentives
After working out any initial kinks on the local level, the drug-free series could be rolled out to other tracks and with a larger pool of participants, incentives for breeders would also be built into the system. In addition to the cachet of having a stallion or mare who could be marketed as a success on the track without drugs, reduced stud fees could be offered to participating mares – with a higher rate for mares who did not take part in the program.

3) International Options
As the program continues to expand, closer links with other racing jurisdictions could be forged by creating win-and-you’re-in races for major races in Europe, the UAE, Japan – perhaps even Australia and New Zealand – places where drug-free racing is already the norm. High profile international horses could also be lured over for the drug-free race offerings, so that the US racing public could get a chance to see some of those stars outside the Breeders’ Cup.

4) Full Co-operation
The long-term goal is that the Breeders’ Cup and Triple Crown series would adopt the drug-free system, with the further intent that daily racing throughout the the US would follow the same guidelines. Given the lack of centralized control in American races, a piecemeal approach seems to be the only way to get such a system in place.

There is plenty of scope for revision and modification within this proposal and it is expected that there would be problems at the beginning as well as Brass Hat-style drug positives from previous therapeutic treatments (and drug withdrawal times for such treatments would need to be standardized to avoid such issues wherever possible), but it’s clear that the current system of vague, inconsistent penalties for illegal drugs doesn’t deter their use – the notion getting rid of currently-legal drugs like Lasix doesn’t have a chance in that climate. But it can be done – enough administrators, trainers, breeders and owners need to decide they want to make it happen.

Who wants to take the first step?

Recession Special

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:16:00 +0000

While the Derby Trial has become something of a Preakness prep, there is still some interesting older horse action this weekend to while away the time until May. The Elkhorn Stakes features Champs Elysees (pictured – and who is still in training as a result of the global downturn – so it’s not all bad) and A Bunch of Old Guys – Better Talk Now, Brass Hat and Transduction Gold, as well as German interloper Musketier and British-born Always First. Although I remain a fan of both Brass Hat and Better Talk Now, I suspect they are both almost ready to move on to Kentucky Horse Park (or a similar retirement). In any event, it should be a good race.

But back to the Derby Trial for a moment – while Silver City with Julien Leparoux will be the likely favorite, the race is also notable for featuring Gato Go Win, the horse at the center of the Jeff Mullins/Air Power controversy. One imagines things will be a little tighter around the detention barn this time around. I also like Tintim Por Tintim.

The Withers is also this weekend; while the race is now essentially a Preakness prep, check out Teresa’s great article on its history. This year’s Withers does have an interesting field, however; This One’s For Phil is coming into the race with a good record, but I will have my eye on Gone Astray. You never know who may show up to be a threat in Maryland, even if recent history does not smile upon new shooters in the Preakness.

In actual Derby news, you’ve likely heard about Quality Road’s second quarter crack by now as it’s all over the Twitterverse; all systems are reported to be go at this point, but it’s certainly a worry. It was also announced that Alan Garcia will retain the mount on Regal Ransom with Ramon Dominguez taking Desert Party. Only eight more days…

There Was Some Racing, Too

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:49:00 +0000

Last weekend’s Derby preps may, unfortunately, become more remembered for what happened off the track (and not even to horses pointed toward Kentucky) – all thanks to Jeff Mullins, conditioner for I Want Revenge. But let’s set him aside for the moment to recall how things went in California.

Naturally, hearing that The Pamplemousse was scratched from the Santa Anita Derby (and the subsequent news that he will be out at least six months) was a disappointment, but otherwise the Santa Anita Derby went off according to the script. Pioneerof the Nile won as expected in the absence of his on-paper rival, with a fine second-place finish by Chocolate Candy (who seemed to me like he might have caught the favorite in a slightly longer race). While I’m still not entirely convinced how his form will translate to real dirt (although I’m not a total synthetic/dirt unbeliever), I’m keeping him quite high up on the Top Ten list (and bumping up Chocolate Candy):

1) I Want Revenge
2) Quality Road
3) Pioneerof the Nile
4) Friesan Fire
5) Chocolate Candy
6) Old Fashioned
7) Regal Ransom
Papa Clem
9) Mafaaz
10) Dunkirk

Regardless of the shady shenanigans going on around I Want Revenge (who, like jockey Joe Talamo, is on Twitter now – hat tip to Green But Game), a performance like the one he turned in in the Wood Memorial rocketed him to the top of the list. It’s really a shame that rumors of doping will be hanging around the horse who overcame every unfortunate thing (including the break, pictured) that happened to him in Saturday’s race to win impressively – even at that level, most horses would have been effectively taken out of their race a number of times, yet he prevailed (thanks in no small part to a very smart ride by the aforementioned young Mr. Talamo). I’d love to at least see a switch to a different trainer, but I also live in the real world and know that is unlikely at this point – but it would save the sport (not to mention the horse) a lot of unpleasantness in the coming weeks.

The news of Quality Road’s quarter crack came after I submitted this week’s list for the Paulick Derby Index, but if recent reports are to be believed, it’s not a bad one – we’ll see how it goes. I’m not thrilled that Friesan Fire isn’t racing again before the Derby and I’m on the fence about his fellow Larry Jones trainee, Old Fashioned, but both remain very much on the list (along with the foreign horses). Papa Clem and Dunkirk are the two I really can’t decide about – but Papa Clem will at least get the chance to face Old Fashioned in Hot Springs next weekend.

Check back later in the week for more on both the Arkansas Derby, the Blue Grass and the sure-to-be ongoing saga of Jeff Mullins and the non-war on drugs…

Keeping It Classy

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:53:00 +0000

Much has already been said about Jeff ‘Milkshake’ Mullins getting caught in the detention barn with a syringe (it’s like horse-drugging Clue!) and while this time it isn’t entirely IEAH’s fault that they’re associated with another trainer with a long list of drug (and, let’s be honest, fashion) misdeeds, one hopes it may motivate them to change their hiring practices going forward.

While I’m no fan of the trainer or organization, it is a shame that I Want Revenge is associated by proxy with this mess after putting in the sort of performance in the Wood that could only have come from the horse and jockey working together – drugs can improve a performance, but they can’t create that sort of killer instinct that was very much in evidence on Saturday.

Weekend Preview I: The Wood Memorial

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:01:00 +0000

All eyes will be on I Want Revenge on Saturday in the Wood Memorial; it goes without saying that the colt looks very tough to beat. Hopefully the focus will remain on him for all the right reasons, but he’s been saddled (as it were) with some baggage – a trainer with a taste for milkshakes and bling, and an expanded ownership group now including IEAH, who are apparently operating in Must Buy Derby Horse mode (although it would have been cheaper to simply get a luxury box for the day if they simply wanted to go to the race – I’m sure Churchill Downs would have been happy to put together a deal, since they still have Stardom Bound in the Oaks).

Given this group of shady connections, it could be difficult to root for I Want Revenge – however, I don’t have the aversion for him I had for Big Brown for two major reasons: first, he’s had reasonably solid foundation (seven starts – which nowadays seems remarkable for a high-level 3-year-old) showing improvement over time; secondly, he’s got an interesting pedigree, with a lot of Argentine blood on his dam’s side. (One would hope he puts in a better performance on Saturday than Argentina’s amusingly lamentable World Cup qualifier yesterday, in which the Hand of God apparently allowed Diego Maradona’s side to get hammered 6-1 by Bolivia).

However, he should have some good competition from horses who seem to be maturing just at the right time – notably from Imperial Council. But this race may or may not be a Derby prep for the lightly-raced son of Empire Maker – it all depends on where and how he finishes. West Side Bernie is hoping to rebound from his disappointing Lane’s End effort and the switch back to real dirt could do the trick for him. Some are excited about Atomic Rain and Lime Rickey, but this race is I Want Revenge’s to lose – on paper.

We’ll see what happens on the day!

Fantasy Horse Racing?

admin — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:37:00 +0000

I enjoyed Joe Drape’s column in the Times regarding the ongoing medication and safety issues in American racing and would love to see some of these ideas taken much further. However, I do wonder about his suggestion that should British-based Mafaaz win the Derby on hay, oats and water we’d see a collective return to basics – it didn’t happen after Raven’s Pass won the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but perhaps we’re just slow over here and need repeated reminders. It’s an interesting notion.

There will be plenty of drug-free horses running in Dubai this weekend; the World Cup is almost upon us. It’s something of a quiet US contingent this year (at least compared to Curlin last year), with Albertus Maximus, Arson Squad and Well Armed heading the American charge in the big race (along with, somewhat oddly, Anak Nakal). Indian Blessing will be taking on the boys in the Golden Shaheen (although one hopes she’ll dress more appropriately for the event than My Little Slave Princess Leia) and Gayego appears in the Godolphin Mile. Post positions will be determined on Wednesday, and we’ll have much more on each race later in the week.

There may also some American horses trying their luck in Britain later this spring – Kenny McPeek’s Dream Empress and Striking Dancer will take aim at the Epsom Oaks (largely, it seems, because we have no equivalent mile-and-a-half turf race for them Stateside). It is possible Theregoesjojo will point to that Derby, rather than its Kentucky counterpart – it sounds almost as though he and Mafaaz may simply switch places.

Check back later this week for more on the Florida Derby and the Dubai World Cup…

On Such a Winter’s Day

admin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:46:00 +0000

The Martin Luther King holiday and Inauguration Day mean that here at Superfecta HQ we are only now looking back over last weekend’s races, but on the whole I feel pretty pleased about having highlighted The Pamplemousse and Nownownow in advance – shame I didn’t bet on either of them.

The Pamplemousse (pictured) is likely to aim for the Sham as his next step toward the Santa Anita Derby and, of course, the other one in Kentucky. Square Eddie hardly embarrassed himself in defeat and seemed to need a race, but if I’m picking a California-based personal favorite at this point, I’ll stick with The Pamplemousse. Whether or not he can run on real dirt is another question and I’m not jumping on any bandwagons yet in that regard, but the upcoming west coast preps should be fun to watch and I’m very much enjoying the coverage at Mary Forney’s blog.

I have mixed feelings about Nownownow’s return to the winner’s circle; while I like the horse, I have no such positive feelings about his return to trainer Patrick ‘King Cobra‘ Biancone’s care. While I suspect (hope?) that it’s simply a coincidence that he’s winning again now that he’s back with Hong Kong’s least-favorite trainer, it doesn’t make the sport look good to have a revolving-door policy for trainers with his sort of history. Here’s hoping it was just the blinkers and the capable ride by Joe Talamo.

There’s news from our favorite older horse – Einstein is working toward his six-year-old debut in the Donn Handicap at the end of the month. Sharp-eyed readers will note that his trainer, Helen Pitts, is now going by Helen Pitts-Blasi; she married Greg Blasi (brother of Steve Asmussen’s right-hand man, Scott Blasi) in September – so belated congratulations!

Check back later in the week for thoughts on the Sunshine Millions…

Odds and Ends

admin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:36:00 +0000

Controversial Aussie jockey Chris Munce officially made his comeback, riding two winners, but the Hong Kong Jockey Club is still aiming to keep him grounded (even in Australia) until next September, as per their ban. Dan Liebman argues in The Blood-Horse that he should not have been allowed to ride (and I agree). However, if we’re going to uphold bans from other jurisdictions, one wonders why Patrick ‘King Cobra‘ Biancone was ever allowed to train in the US – or why trainers with multiple drug violations can train just about anywhere in the US.

One might wonder if the lack of drugs (now that some people notice them) contributed to Kip Deville’s lackluster placing in the Hong Kong Mile – although Good Ba Ba’s record-setting win (pictured) was impressive in its own right. It’s equally possible that current US milers are simply not in the same class as those in the rest of the world – and that’s even in the absence of a powerhouse like Zarkava or Goldikova. In any case, well done to Good Ba Ba – it was another great ride by Christophe Soumillon.

Finally, Jess Jackson has penned a farewell to Curlin’s fans; calling for a league and a commissioner of racing; while he doesn’t specifically highlight the drugs issue, it is implied in his championing ‘pure sport.’ While I cannot say I agree with Jackson in every regard, it’s good to see an owner at least attempting to keep something of an open dialogue.

Bringing Order Out of Chaos

admin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:01:00 +0000

The Paulick Report’s recent suggestion to ban trainers with drug violations from Eclipse Award contention is a very interesting idea, but as many have pointed out, the fact that medication rules (currently) vary from state to state makes it difficult (in some cases) to determine whether something was an honest mistake with a therapeutic medicine versus something rather more sinister.

While other countries may solve the drug problem by simply not allowing them, there is still plenty of inconsistency to go around that can confuse owners, jockeys and trainers at the highest level. Australian racing authorities have found themselves in uncomfortable positions over international rules inconsistencies in the past few weeks: Racing New South Wales Ltd (Racing NSW), the Queensland Racing Board (QRL) and the Hong Kong Jockey Club have been at odds over jockey Chris Munce (more on that below), while Racing Victoria Ltd (RVL) finds itself very awkwardly placed after its ruling over the Melbourne Cup result.

First, the Munce Problem: Chris Munce was the winning jockey aboard Jezabeel in the 1998 Melbourne Cup, but was later caught and sent to jail in a Hong Kong bribery scandal – and one that was specifically racing-related, as he provided betting tips in exchange for cash. He was released from prison in October and the Hong Kong Jockey Club disqualified him for 30 months. QRL followed suit due to its ‘commitment to reciprocate penalties imposed by other racing authorities’ and denied Munce a license to ride there – but Racing NSW gave him one anyway. The Hong Kong Jockey Club was not best pleased, according to executive director of racing Bill Nader:

“It is not so much that relations with Racing NSW are in disrepair but they will certainly be under review,” he told the Herald. “We look at Article 10 of the International Agreement between racing jurisdictions as being one of the 10 commandments and it is unprecedented for reciprocity not to be applied when a penalty is handed down.”

QRL described its neighbor’s license-granting decision as ‘near anarchy.’

Of course, the same characterization could be made of international racing rules in general – which leads us to the Bauer Problem. You may recall British invader Bauer was second to longshot Viewed by a nostril in the Melbourne Cup – but the controversy that has since arisen has not been a big story Stateside. After the race, it emerged that Bauer had undergone extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) five days before the race; this type of ultrasound procedure to treat soreness is allowed in most jurisdictions until the day before a race – but it must be given at least seven days out in Australia.

On the surface, it seems like a clear violation of the rules, albeit an unwitting one – and in that instance the horse should have been disqualified, as Craig Young argues in the Sydney Morning Herald. But it’s not so straightforward – the treatment had be recommended by a vet employed by RVL – one who surely should have known the rules of his own local racing authority. Given that it was quite clear a ruling against trainer Luca Cumani would have led to an entirely justified lawsuit against RVL, the result was allowed to stand.

Back in Britain, Greg Wood suggests that these issues point to the need for a single rule book for worldwide racing:

The mere fact that trainers from Ireland or Britain can now take horses to Melbourne or America and offer serious competition suggests that many of the practical issues involved in travelling horses over long distances have been overcome. Ten years ago, the first question to a European trainer on arrival at the Breeders’ Cup meeting was: how did the horse travel? Now, it is almost taken as read that the trip went well.

The legal issues, though, will be another matter entirely. Football could never have achieved its global dominance and prosperity with a different offside rule on every continent. There seems to be little prospect that there will be even a framework for an international rule book for racing in the foreseeable future (in America, remember, every state has its own rules on everything from medication to the racing surface).

…

Europeans have enjoyed such regular success around the world in recent years, not least at the Breeders’ Cup in California in October, that it is almost taken for granted. What the furore over Bauer demonstrates, though, is that the process of internationalising the sport has, in many important respects, barely begun.

He’s entirely correct that the sport is a long way from where it needs to be and he is also clearly aware of the challenge that would be presented in trying to standardize the rules around the world – but if we could make a start at home by getting the pharmacy in order, it would be a good first step.

Just The Surface?

admin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:43:00 +0000

Much has been written about the effect the synthetic surface had on the Breeders’ Cup (and I believe there are many legitimate arguments to be made in favor and against them in that regard), but I wonder what role the other ‘new’ element played this year — no steroids. While it’s certainly relevant to examine the extent to which turf experience may help on synthetics, I wonder about the experience of running against other top-level steroid-free horses — it’s still something of a novelty to many of the American horses at this point, but it’s business as usual to just about all the others.

Indeed, that’s a handicapping angle many of the commenters at the BBC’s 606 site have been suggesting for months about Curlin– ‘he’s not the same horse off the drugs’ has been a common variant of the ‘Dubai Bounce’ theme. I think it would be difficult to argue that winners like Zenyatta or Stardom Bound were not obviously much the best in their races regardless of surface, but you could also suggest that by starting their careers this year, they are part of the post-steroid era — while Curlin has been stuck in between.

Obviously you would need to have real statistics on which horses had competed on steroids in the past (and that’s not exactly information trainers would want to hand out), but I think it would be an interesting exercise to try to see whether taking out the drugs (a long-overdue initiative) had just as much impact (or more) than the surface.

As far as concerns about how breeding would have to change to equal success on synthetics, just look at Raven’s Pass (pictured) — his pedigree is almost a perfect division between dirt and turf (and here’s hoping we see him run next year). But whether breeding or training might be the key to these new surfaces, I still suspect that the impact of removing drugs from the event has had a larger short-term impact — hopefully with long-term results.