JC / Railbird

Racing Archive

Reverberations

Trainer Mahmood al Zarooni’s swift downfall may reverberate beyond Britain:

“We will certainly be using this case as an opportunity to put the consistent use of drugs internationally back on the agenda of the IFHA.”

Pull the Pocket is already contrasting the resolve of the British Horseracing Authority and Godolphin to get to the bottom of what was going on at Moulton Paddocks under Zarooni with the California Horse Racing Board’s response to unexplained sudden cardiac death in racehorses.

More on the Zarooni case collected here.

4/28/13 Addendum: Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, reacting to the Godolphin scandal, also calls for the IFHA to consider a worldwide ban on steroid use. Anabolic steroids are still legal in Australia and some other jurisdictions, a fact taking on more prominence with horses such as Black Caviar’s stakes-winning half-brother All Too Hard expected to ship to Britain for the Royal Ascot meeting in June. “After this past week’s events,” writes Sue Montgomery, “his presence may be an uncomfortable reminder that the drugs playing field for horses is not level worldwide.”

Posted in Racing on April 26, 2013 / Tagged Australia, BHA, Britain, Drugs in Racing, Godolphin, IFHA, International

A Bullish Derby Strategy

First, understand the race, then understand chance:

No. 5, Toro has learned the hard way the immutable, unmerciful truth of superfecta betting:

Only good horses reliably finish first or second, and only decent ones usually run third. But any half-wit critter with a post and a pulse can finish fourth.

This is why I rarely play the super, even for a dime.

Posted in Racing on April 25, 2013 / Tagged Betting, Exotics, Kentucky Derby, Strategy, Superfectas, Wagering

Answers Wanted

Now that the first shock over the news that 11 Godolphin racehorses turned up positive for steroids in out-of-competition testing conducted by the British Horseracing Authority has passed, Greg Wood has questions:

Assuming that Zarooni was not creeping around the yard after midnight with a rucksack full of syringes, who was helping him? Was a vet — who would fall outside the licensing authority of the BHA — involved, as was the case with Nicky Henderson and the Moonlit Path affair in 2009? And who was supplying the steroids for what was, even if it was inadvertent, such a significant doping programme? Where were the drugs stored and who knew that they were there? How many other horses have been given steroids at Moulton Paddocks since Zarooni took charge in 2010?

All the questions are hugely embarrassing for Sheikh Mohammed. “I have made a catastrophic error,” said trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni. You can read his words as an admission of ignorance, or betrayal.

2:30 PM Addendum: “For Sheikh Mohammed, the mortification could not have been greater had they found a fridge full of cobra venom.”

Posted in Racing on April 23, 2013 / Tagged BHA, Britain, Drugs in Racing, Godolphin, International, Steroids, Testing, Trainers