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Misdeeds & Wrongdoing Archive

Breaking Through

“If the initial reports prove to be true,” writes Andrew Beyer, “the cosmopolitan Biancone could be to horse racing what Floyd Landis, the disgraced Tour de France winner, is to professional cycling: the symbol of the sport’s cancerous drug problem.” Perhaps the one good thing that might come out of this is that with a scandal on that scale we’ll get the vigorous debate about drugs and supplements that the sport sorely needs, as painful as that would be for all, and new regulations and penalties to seriously curb the problem.

Posted in Misdeeds & Wrongdoing on July 10, 2007

Cobra Venom Found

A source close to the investigation told the Daily Racing Form that cobra venom was found in trainer Patrick Biancone’s Keeneland barns during a search by KHRA investigators on June 22:

The cobra venom, which is barred by state regulation from racetrack grounds, was in crystalline form and was found in a refrigerator in one of the tack rooms used for the storage of supplies, said the source, adding the substance was in a small container labeled “Toxin.” Snake venom has been known to be injected to deaden or “block” a horse’s joint or nerve, and in a case settled last week in Saratoga County, N.Y., two Standardbred horsemen pled guilty of doing just that before a race last October at Saratoga Raceway.

The article mentions that the venom was one of the substances confiscated from Biancone’s barns and that the trainer’s veterinarian, Dr. Rod Stewart, is also a subject of the investigation. A hearing is pending.
More from DRF: “Facts about cobra venom that many people in horse racing probably do not know: It’s easy for a veterinarian to obtain. It’s legal to possess. There is very little hope of devising a test to detect its administration any time soon.”

Posted in Misdeeds & Wrongdoing on July 4, 2007

Trouble in Texas

Texas racing has a problem with milkshakes. Out of 266 blood samples taken from horses in randomly selected races at Lone Star Park during two weeks in May and the third weekend in June, five were positive for excess carbon dioxide. The random, blind survey was conducted by the state racing commission, which has directed its chief veterinarian to develop a plan to squelch the problem. (Star-Telegram)
Gary West: “The commission must move quickly and decisively to shut down the soda fountain.”

Posted in Misdeeds & Wrongdoing on June 23, 2005

Canani, Mullins Complaints Dropped

CHRB complaints against trainers Julio Canani and Jeff Mullins were dropped on Wednesday after the board was advised there was not enough evidence to support the cases against either. Both were charged with “conduct detrimental to horseracing” — Canani for his pre- and post-Santa Anita Derby comments on Sweet Catomine’s condition, and Mullins for telling LA Times sports columnist T.J. Simers that bettors were “idiots.” Van driver Dean Kerkhoff remains “on the hook” for his part in the Sweet Catomine affair. (Blood-Horse)

Posted in Misdeeds & Wrongdoing on April 27, 2005

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