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Yes the vast majority of owners go into it for the love of the game but there are also some to do indeed go into it for other reasons.
Godolphin caught out.
- Thread starter Caledonia
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Now the trainer has confessed to doping four other horses that weren't subject to the testing.
I'm thinking that Godolphin winter their horses in Dubai so they can get round our doping laws.
The whole operation now falls under suspicion.
I'm thinking that Godolphin winter their horses in Dubai so they can get round our doping laws.
The whole operation now falls under suspicion.
This could put a whole new slant on the fatal injury of Rewilding, the long priced winners Blue Bunting & Enke, the sudden improvement in the fortunes of the stable after the employment of Zarooni.
What Happened to Rewilding? Think I Missed That
Thanks
Thanks
Sheik Mohammed has announced his stable is now on lockdown and he wants every horse tested.
I think the trainer will have to fall on his sword.
I think the trainer will have to fall on his sword.
Alec you are making some very interesting points. Apart from the near term fallout and inevitable fudging by the racing media. I suspect that there will be some remarkable results in the coming weeks and months because all and sundry will clean up their act. Thus perceived 'Form' will become irrelevant.
No, it's nothing to do with that. Al Zarooni has had two previous, albeit less serious, doping offences in the last twelve months so will be on the BHA's list to test more frequently.
Re the poster who mentioned the long-priced winners etc - every winning horse is dope-tested as a matter of course, plus horses which run particularly disappointingly and the stewards have the discretion to order a sample from any horse declared to run, and as anabolic steroids are banned outright (i.e. no threshold level) the tests are sensitive and can pick up tiny trace amounts so if there had been any drug still active in any of Godolphin's winners' systems, it would have been detected. I may be wrong but I wonder if it's been part of their pre-UK season Dubai training regime, and the early-season test by the BHA before their horses have really started running in earnest has caught Al Zarooni out.
Re the poster who mentioned the long-priced winners etc - every winning horse is dope-tested as a matter of course, plus horses which run particularly disappointingly and the stewards have the discretion to order a sample from any horse declared to run, and as anabolic steroids are banned outright (i.e. no threshold level) the tests are sensitive and can pick up tiny trace amounts so if there had been any drug still active in any of Godolphin's winners' systems, it would have been detected. I may be wrong but I wonder if it's been part of their pre-UK season Dubai training regime, and the early-season test by the BHA before their horses have really started running in earnest has caught Al Zarooni out.
It seems unlikely though that Al Zarooni would be merrily doping away without the sheikhs knowlegde. The sheikh is not only a rich and powerful man but also Al Zaroonii's monarch, I can't believe he would have risked peeing him off that much by doping off his own back. And how were the steriods charged on the training bill!?
I don't know whether it did or not - I'm not privy to their innermost secrets!
I do know it was a different scenario - it was two horses testing positive within a couple of weeks of each other for traces of the same painkiller, which is not a prohibited substance for use in training, and the disciplinary panel was unable to establish definitively the source of the drug, which means they couldn't rule out accidental administration (being added to the wrong feed buckets for example). Obviously with hindsight it looks rather dodgy but at the time, with no real previous, it was accepted as the sort of thing that can accidentally go wrong from time to time and Al Zarooni received a total fine of £2,000.
I do know it was a different scenario - it was two horses testing positive within a couple of weeks of each other for traces of the same painkiller, which is not a prohibited substance for use in training, and the disciplinary panel was unable to establish definitively the source of the drug, which means they couldn't rule out accidental administration (being added to the wrong feed buckets for example). Obviously with hindsight it looks rather dodgy but at the time, with no real previous, it was accepted as the sort of thing that can accidentally go wrong from time to time and Al Zarooni received a total fine of £2,000.
No surely their CIDER.
Forgot to say keep it in the family
No surely their CIDER.
I doubt he recieves a training bill as such - Al Zarooni is, I believe, a salaried trainer and thus the employee of the Sheikh.
Perhaps all horses coming into the country for competition purposes should be drug tested? Possibly all horses running in a group one too?
Perhaps all horses coming into the country for competition purposes should be drug tested? Possibly all horses running in a group one too?
Whilst you and I can see the sense of what you suggest, I'd very much doubt that it would be tolerated! None the less, it would be an interesting socio-racing experiment.
I may have missed the point, which others may have made, but did he/they honestly think that he/they would actually get away with such blatant disregard for the rules, or was it just stupidity? There's either an ethos based on supreme arrogance within the Godolphin camp, or the collective IQ of three small fish.
I wish that Saturday morning would hurry up and get here.
Alec.
I may have missed the point, which others may have made, but did he/they honestly think that he/they would actually get away with such blatant disregard for the rules, or was it just stupidity? There's either an ethos based on supreme arrogance within the Godolphin camp, or the collective IQ of three small fish.
I wish that Saturday morning would hurry up and get here.
Alec.
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I would not be surprised if the Morning Line just give a simple statement out, along the lines of - an investigation is being carried out and no further comment etc etc.
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All horses entering the country will have had blood tests done for various things but I don't think illeagal sustances would be flagged up on a traveller. Maybe they could also add drugs into the test whilst they are at it.
If you dope/blood tested every horse to run in a Group 1 you would be there all day! I highly doubt that anyone would agree to drawing blood the day before or the day of the race for fear of upsetting the horse. To dope test them after racing on race day would be impossile. Dope testing at the races is done by wee, unless the horse won't go then after 45mins they will draw blood, say you had 15 runners in a Group 1 then you would need to assign 15 vets - one for each horse, plus they have to do it all in the designated vet treatment boxes so the cue would be endless. It would also take too long to go round and draw blood and label each tube from every horse. As nice an idea as it is it's just not feasable.
If you dope/blood tested every horse to run in a Group 1 you would be there all day! I highly doubt that anyone would agree to drawing blood the day before or the day of the race for fear of upsetting the horse. To dope test them after racing on race day would be impossile. Dope testing at the races is done by wee, unless the horse won't go then after 45mins they will draw blood, say you had 15 runners in a Group 1 then you would need to assign 15 vets - one for each horse, plus they have to do it all in the designated vet treatment boxes so the cue would be endless. It would also take too long to go round and draw blood and label each tube from every horse. As nice an idea as it is it's just not feasable.
Doesn't sound very feasible. Maybe it could be worked in with routine bloodwork whilst horses are in training although that doesn't sound very practical either
So glad I popped into the forum. For a while there I thought I was the only one pondering the claims of ignorance (http://www.thestiflejoint.com/1/pos...ainer-claims-ignorance-in-doping-scandal.html)
Whole thing is very, very strange. Whether it is deception, negligence or plain stupidity Godolphin will need a huge overhaul. It'll impact the breeding shed for a while as well.
I must admit, I did have a little thought that maybe last year's St Leger would be taken away from them. I am way too desperate to see a Triple Crown winner in my lifetime. I hang my head in shame.
Whole thing is very, very strange. Whether it is deception, negligence or plain stupidity Godolphin will need a huge overhaul. It'll impact the breeding shed for a while as well.
I must admit, I did have a little thought that maybe last year's St Leger would be taken away from them. I am way too desperate to see a Triple Crown winner in my lifetime. I hang my head in shame.
At the end of the day, it is disappointing that a yard such as this is caught cheating. That unfortunately is what happens throughout the industry. Anyone who thinks that Sheikh Mohammed was not fully aware of everything that was going on will be sadly mistaken. Mahmood Al Zarooni will of course take the rap, but thats what happens.
Unlimited funds to throw at it and they still have to cheat.
Unlimited funds to throw at it and they still have to cheat.
I would have thought at the very least the racing manager would have been party to this, as presumably they will check any itemised bills for medication feed etc. Unless of course the trainer, under increased pressure to succeed, had been obtaining steroids & injecting the horses himself.
As the drug leaves the system after so many weeks, but leaves more muscle, fitness for longer, one has to wonder if the horses that over winter in Dubai have been similarly treated & also how long this has been going on. What ever the outcome of the enquiry there will be a lot of unanswered questions as well as rumours in circulation.
I seem to remember reading a book by a British warned off trainer from the 1970s, who wrote about experimenting with steroids on his horses. I think his name was Payne & he begun life as a stable boy with Atty Persse.
Has any one else read this?
As the drug leaves the system after so many weeks, but leaves more muscle, fitness for longer, one has to wonder if the horses that over winter in Dubai have been similarly treated & also how long this has been going on. What ever the outcome of the enquiry there will be a lot of unanswered questions as well as rumours in circulation.
I seem to remember reading a book by a British warned off trainer from the 1970s, who wrote about experimenting with steroids on his horses. I think his name was Payne & he begun life as a stable boy with Atty Persse.
Has any one else read this?
Very interesting article about what's allowed in the UAE.
Shakey Mo - hypocrite, much?
http://www.thenational.ae/sport/hor...from-colic-or-serious-fractures#ixzz2RQI1xjyW
Shakey Mo - hypocrite, much?
http://www.thenational.ae/sport/hor...from-colic-or-serious-fractures#ixzz2RQI1xjyW