Barry Irwin Calls Bullsh*t
In a letter to the editor in the Thoroughbred Daily News, Team Valor founder Barry Irwin responds to Michael Iavarone’s announcement that IEAH horses will race drug-free (except for Lasix) and his invitation to other owners to make the same committment:
I think almost all of what he proposes makes sense. The problem is that Mr. Iavarone’s headline trainer is a Rick Dutrow. When he received a suspension for violating the rules in Kentucky this month, it marked the 73rd ruling against him since 1976…. I am sure I speak not only for myself when I answer his call to join him in saying no to drugs as follows: only somebody terribly naive is going to sign up as long as Rick Dutrow trains for IEAH. If he really wants to make a statement, he should consider moving his horses … Until then, the proposal looks like an attempt at damage control or a PR stunt.
Iavarone told the New York Post that he wasn’t happy learning of Dutrow’s latest violation, especially with news of it breaking the day after IEAH made public their new policy, but that the stable is standing by the trainer for now:
“We had serious thoughts of taking all the horses out of the barn,” said Iavarone. “But IEAH has won over 400 races since its inception and Rick has won over 200 of them…. We never had a positive with Rick as our trainer.”
I suppose it’s only fair to mention Steve Asmussen as well. (Throw in Jeremy Rose’s suspension for whip use, and this has really been an embarrassing week for racing — time to get things in order, guys, in case last week’s hearings weren’t enough notice that rules reforms were ripe.) The trainer was given official notice on Thursday of a positive for lidocaine in a filly named Timber Trick, winner of a maiden special at Lone Star on May 10. Asmussen’s case has been taken up by prominent owner-lawyer Maggi Moss, who plans a vigorous defense with co-counsel against the charge, based on the contention that the result is due to environmental contamination. A hearing is scheduled for July 18. If the positive stands, the violation would be Asmussen’s 18th or 21st (depending on how you count one entry in his record, which covers three horses) medication overage and could earn him a six month suspension.
Here’s an enterprise assignment for someone, based on all the recent chatter about the records of Asmussen and Dutrow — what’s the average number of all violations for trainers? The average number of medication violations? What are the three most common drugs cited? How does dosage and testing vary across the jurisdictions? (Jennie Rees has some insight on this question in her C-J blog.) Are there any patterns that emerge when looking across all records? I’d be most interested in reading the 2500-3000 word article to come out of such research …
Two Positives
Thanks to Ernie for passing along a link to an article on trainer Rick Dutrow’s latest infraction, a positive for twice the legal level of clenbuterol in a horse named Salute the Count, second place finisher in the G3 Aegon Turf Sprint at Churchill on Kentucky Oaks day. According to chief steward John Veitch, who said the clenbuterol overage was the highest he’d seen in four years, Dutrow waived his right to a formal hearing and “more or less accepted responsibility” (NYT). Paul Moran notes that the positive keeps Dutrow’s dubious streak of being suspended or fined every year since 2000 going, while Ray Paulick is incredulous that Kentucky is treating Dutrow as though it’s his first offense, handing out a 15-day suspension and requiring the return of purse money. Listen to Bozich, babe: “You’re killing the game you say you love.” And IEAH, if you’re really serious about the no-drugs policy and advocating for a zero-tolerance environment, you might want to start looking for a squeaky clean (at least, by current standards) conditioner for your stable.
I’ll grant that might be difficult, when even the sport’s good guys are users, with little separating them from guys like Dutrow other than that they manage to follow the inconsistent, sometimes lax rules of 38 different jurisdictions 99.99% of the time. Clenbuterol, a bronchodilator with steroid-like side effects, is also the drug for which trainer Larry Jones recently received a positive, the first medication violation in his 27-year career if the split sample on Stones River, winner of an allowance on June 8 at Delaware Park, upholds the original test results. Jones, and Stones River owner Jim Squires, contends the positive was sabotage, although the trainer did own there was an “outside shot” the result is legitimate, due to Stones River being injected with clenbuterol the day before Delaware’s 72-hour raceday deadline (Inquirer). The investigation is ongoing, but if the positive is confirmed, Jones could face a $500 fine, seven-day suspension, and purse money forfeiture.
How ludicrous both cases look, especially in the wake of all the discussion and pontificating and committee-organizing that followed poor Eight Belles’ breakdown after the Kentucky Derby. The rule-breaker gets a wrist slap, the rule-follower gets caught on a technicality. No wonder congress held hearings and threatens legislation.
Doped, But Never Failed
A prominent track and field coach is about to go on trial for doping and lawyers on both sides plan to prove that cheaters are steps ahead of sports authorities. Consider:
The I.A.A.F. performed 3,277 drug tests last year and barred only 10 athletes for doping. In her career, [Marion Jones] passed more than 160 drug tests.
You don’t have to be paranoid to wonder if the doping problem is as — or even more — widespread in racing with millions of dollars in purses at stake.
Steroids Once and Forever?
The WSJ reports a small Swedish study suggests the effects of steroids continue after athletes stop using:
Rather than returning to their original proportions, the muscles of the steroid users who’d stopped taking the drug looked remarkably similar to those of the subjects who were still using. They also had larger muscle fibers and more growth-inducing “myonuclei” in their muscle cells than the nonsteroid users.
The study subjects were 26 elite powerlifters, not equines, but I wonder if the same effect would be seen on racehorses previously supplemented …
No Place in the Game
Consider: There are no allowed raceday medications in Dubai, so all 83 starters in the Dubai World Cup ran without the anti-bleeding drug Lasix, including 15 American horses who all raced on the powerful diuretic in the US. Of those 15, three won (Curlin!) and two more finished in the money. “Lasix is a fraud,” Bill Finley declares, and these results prove it. The time has come for American racing to end its dependence:
There is strong evidence that it is detrimental to the long-term well-being of the horse and some of the world’s most respected scientists say it can mask other drugs. Its pervasive use adds to racing’s image as an outlaw sport where drug use is rampant. Besides Canada, no other country in the world allows it. Yet, its usage here is out of control and no one seems to want to do anything about it. That needs to change.
Noted: March 17
– Former California associate steward Gina Powell testified “under penalty of perjury” that she gave information about the late Salix shot the mare Intercontinental received before running in a stakes race at Del Mar last summer to the head of security, who said he forwarded that information to the board of stewards and CHRB director Ingrid Fermin. Intercontinental won the race. Fermin has claimed that neither she nor the stewards knew of the late shot. Tote Board Brad has been covering this story since it broke. Visit his site for more details.
– Once, as many as 10 racetracks dotted Cape Cod. “While the competitive spirit of sea captains with their vessels has been well documented, they didn’t lose this spirit when they came back home. It was only natural that racetracks would be established throughout the upper and mid-Cape region.”
– Bill Finley would like to rename a few stakes races.
This Sounds Bad
“According to Gallagher, the positive test results were relayed from the testing laboratory at Iowa State University to personnel at the racing commission. The commission, Gallagher said, then changed its regulations so that the concentrations of drugs found in the sample would fall below the state’s acceptable threshold levels, negating the need to call them positives” (Daily Racing Form).
More: “Drug positives weren’t called, Kentucky officials say” (Blood-Horse), “Horse racing official: Drug offenses not investigated” (Courier-Journal).
Kentucky Considers Tightening Rules Further
“The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority’s decision last week to tighten drug rules for thoroughbreds may be just the first effort to clamp down harder on state medication practices. A state drug panel is also looking into revamping testing procedures, sanctions for drug violations, security at racetracks and medication research.” The panel is considering increased backstretch security and detention barns, among other things. (Courier-Journal)
A thought: I’ve been impressed by the quick movement of racing authorities in states such as New York, Kentucky, and California to implement stricter medication rules and drug-testing policies, but I’ve been wondering — what’s Massachusetts doing? Current rules allow for bleeder medications and one anti-inflammatory drug to be used on racedays. Is the state racing commission considering adopting the rules developed by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, which allow for bleeder meds only? Is there any kind of milkshake testing program in development? What kind of security measures will there be Suffolk Down’s big race, the Massachusetts Handicap? I’ve tried to contact the commission with these questions and haven’t received a response. I’ll be curious to see if there are any changes when the meet opens in April.
Related: Sherry Ross says Kentucky isn’t going far enough to ensure racing’s integrity. “You would think that Kentucky would be at the head of the line to outlaw illegal drug use or other performance-enhancing substances in thoroughbred racing. You would be wrong.” (New York Daily News)
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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