BARN SECURITY

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louis finochio
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BARN SECURITY

Postby louis finochio » Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:21 pm

Santa Anita has hired extra race day security guards. The security gards are placed at each barn that has a TB entered in that days races. This is long overdue as it has been easy for someone to slip a TB a micky. Lets hope the TB run milkshake free and no more positives in the test barn.
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TBLADY
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Postby TBLADY » Mon Oct 04, 2004 4:48 am

you know my better half is new to the whole horse and horse racing world. he was amazed how easy it was last year to walk on the back side at Santa Anita and into the barn area. We were never asked for ID nor was there anyone present to stop passersby (I guess we didn't look like tourists)

Then just a few weeks ago we went to see an old friend at Mountaineer Park. At the time Bill nor I had been licensed for the 2004 season. we walked right in like we owned the place and no one asked a thing. We are not regulars at the track(he isn't at least), so we are not familar with the guards or other employees. Both of us have since gone and had our Licenses renewed...but thats not the point. Two weeks ago I went to look at a gelding for sale. We were to meet the trainer at 1 in the afternoon. A time in which the backside at Mountaineer looks like a Ghost Town. I took a client with me who is not familar with the track or its policies. She and I walked right in...there was no guard at the gate. the one at the Stable entrance only stopped us long enough for me to tell her I was parking in the main lot and If I were to buy the horse I would pull in...she never asked for a license, there was no parking permit in the truck nor the trailer and we just walked right in at a different entrance.

I know years ago at Thistledown you could park between the grandstand and the barn area and just walk right in...no questions asked. (especially in the morning)

Loluis...I agree there needs to be better securty at these tracks. Trainers can only be there so many hours out of the day. Theres too much invested in the horses, training, time, money and effort for something stupid to happen.

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Postby BJ » Mon Oct 04, 2004 5:14 pm

It sure used to be that (at least when entering the owner/trainer parking area) you had to show ID and your name had to have been put on a list by a trainer, owner, track supervisor, etc. Then you got a temporary badge with the barn # and your name. Went last year to the backside and that was the drill. Don't know about walking from the main track area to the backside though.

I'm all for security, but I suspect some of the funny tests were NOT the result of unauthorized access. Great excuse though.

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madelyn
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Postby madelyn » Mon Oct 04, 2004 5:49 pm

Boy, it's NOT like that at Churchill, they won't let you in unless you have your id and/or the trainer has told them you are coming, or they call the trainer and verify. Ditto River Downs. Hoosier Park is a little bit more laid back, but definitely guarded, fenced access. Same at Turfway.

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Postby bcassidy » Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:37 am

Boy, do I have a different view on this one, I used to love going to Saratoga or Keeneland early in the morning and even though I do have my license, it was very refreshing to see the easy access to the backstrech. Many people were out there roaming around and just taking in the sites because both are beautiful places to be in the morning. Our sport needs to find ways to encourage new people to discover the beauty and fun of being in this game. The backstrech is one of our under utilized marketing tools. It would be a shame to make it only available to people already in the game by requiring licenses. I believe the barn guards being discussed are placed at the barn to discourage the trainer and employees working in the barn from giving an animal an ilegal substance on race day, like a milkshake. they are not being placed there to protect the animals from people outside the barn, I believe the alternative being discussed is to have all animals being entered in a race that day to be stabled in a single race barn or two to discourage the same tampering, it appears they are implementing an interim solution. It is a shame our sport needs to do this, but when you look at the facts, there is too much money at stake for some people to not try to take every edge possible. It is happening in every other sport out there, look at the olympics, baseball and football for recent indications of what extremes people will go through to get that edge. I certainly don't think access to the backstrech should be limited. We are going the wrong way with this one. Just my thoughts.
best regards Brendan

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Postby Colinsb » Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:40 am

It's slightly different over here as the horses aren't trained at the track and only travel there on race days. Once there the only people allowed in the stable area other than racecourse workers are the trainer, his staff and the owners. A badge is worn by all concerned and security is pretty tight.

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SEABISCUIT BACKSTRETCH TOURS

Postby louis finochio » Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:18 am

Ever since the movie of Seabiscuit was made the Santa Anita tram tours of the backstretch have been very popular with the fans. Santa Anita even purchased another tram to accomodate the fans. This has been a big positive to create a new fan base with the new generation of fans. Santa Anita security force has now been overhauled to make it difficult for someone to tamper with the TB on race day. After 11:00 AM the barns used to be empty when the morning work was done. But know the stable foreman and the security guards are on guard duty making it safe for all the TB.
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madelyn
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Postby madelyn » Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:26 am

Churchill and all the tracks around here got REALLY tough after all that sponging that went on. As a farm owner I am thrilled to have absolutely no road frontage to my farm so the hapless public can't try to feed my horses things they shouldn't have (and some would try to eat). I think backside tours and escorts are great; having the joe blows of the world wandering down the shedrows... well I don't know about that. You don't get into the football team's dressing room, do you? Illegally parked vehicles, non-horse-savvy people wandering the backside during training hours, these are hazards.

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Postby Sysonby » Tue Oct 05, 2004 7:01 am

I concur with Madelyn. I have a riding horse boarded at a public stable. The stroller crowd tends to treat it like a park--petting the horses, feeding them things etc. Owners have taken to putting up signs "Do not feed", "Sick horse" (I have seen one of those for a year and a half on one stall :D ) "My horse bites" but I've seen them ignore the signs. Never mind what they are trying to feed the horses, they could be spreading something from horse to horse. Or they could get hurt and sue us for getting bit. And when you point that out, a lot of them get indignant and righteous. As one of the horse owners said to an unauthorized horse petter "Can I go to your house, admire your car and then go sit in it? Or how about go into your backyard and play with your dog? You wouldn't mind would you?"

I'm all for public relations but I don't think we can lose sight that these are very unpredictable and valuable animals and that people gamble on them. Security isn't an evil thing.

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Postby BJ » Tue Oct 05, 2004 7:27 am

I concur with Brendan (BCassidy). I think it's the people connected with the horses that are coming up with the funny tests that need watching. Some of them have some pretty big names. Anyway.....if the barn help is trained properly, you can't walk through their shedrow without being asked what your business there is.

I'm for the placement of horses in a separate area prior to race day like the holding barn after races, but that would require a lot of extra barn space, so it probably wouldn't work. Maybe they need to quarantine the trainers 24 hours prior to the race :-) But, all in all, UNTIL they really start punishing connections of horses with bad tests, nothing will stop it. IMO. I like the idea of national licensing so trainers and other track people can't go from state to state committing their bad acts, once disciplined with loss of license.

As for the *visitors* feeding the horses in training, I'm all for stopping that. Some trainers don't even let the owners do it. That won't stop until they fine people for that or put up signs at the barn that say "violators will be prosecuted", etc.

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Postby bcassidy » Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:04 pm

Just to clarify a point, access to the backstretch does not included access to the shedrow. I would only walk in a trainer's shed row with the proper escort or invitation. I have never witnessed anyone walking in a shedrow who was not invited. As far as feeding a horse, absolutely forbidden unless a trainer provides the treats. One of my trainers keeps peppermint candy in his office for just such an occaision. Maybe I give people too much credit, but at Keeneland and Saratoga I never witnessed and inappropriate behavior. Additionally, the trainer and his staff, realizing that the public is walking around definitely take more precautions to avoid the errant tourist but even with the extra precaution it requires of them, they seem to enjoy the attention. I could be wrong, but I have witnessed this for years and they would be hard pressed to get me believe that they don't enjoy the open backstretchs more than the closed ones. This isn't a maximum security prison they are stabled at. Again just my thoughts but I know the backstretchs I enjoy and why I like them. It is ashame when one of our greatest treasures a morning on the backstretch can only be enjoyed by the licensed horseman.
best regards Brendan

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Postby Jessi P » Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:16 pm

BJ wrote:I like the idea of national licensing so trainers and other track people can't go from state to state committing their bad acts, once disciplined with loss of license.



If your license isnt good in one state you CANNOT race in another state. If you have days in one state you cant race in another state. Just as if a horse is on a state vets list or a starters list in one state it cannot race in another state w/o getting off the list.

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Postby madelyn » Tue Oct 05, 2004 6:17 pm

Yes, Brendan, but you are a HORSEMAN who follows rules. Back when I boarded a few horses in a public stable, well all manner of folk showed up and I caught one of my guys choking on a pizza crust.

With regard to racehorses, well these are true athletes without the "free will" to say no to a food thing that could very well foul them up. I wouldn't want the "public" wandering my barns, not because of "what they could see" (happy, friendly horses and no shenanigans) but because of the possible harm they could do. You wouldn't go in the shedrow? I'm sure not, as equally I am sure that the general public doesn't understand, or care to understand, where the line is drawn.

As to the "funny" tests, well I can go with the connections there, but as for the poor horses who were sponged a few years ago here, I cannot believe that the connections would be so heartless as to spoil their own horses' chances by shoving a sponge piece up the horse's nostril on or near race day to kill that horse's chances. That cannot have been done by a groom or a horselover, maybe by a bettor. Keep those folks, please, out of any barn in which I have a horse. While you are at it, stop anyone who would try to feed my horse a bologna sandwich, pizza crust, etc. etc. The problem is, if you allow the public free access, they HAVE free access. They are not all so well educated and well mannered as Brendan.

These horses are mute athletes, albeit with limited personal control. They need to be protected.

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Postby Crystal » Tue Oct 05, 2004 6:29 pm

this may sound silly, but its along the lines of people feeding horses.. Is it true a horse can test positive or have a cloudy test if he is fed chocolate? I'm not sure what the prohibited substance is in chocolate, but it's a old wives tale I have always wondered about.

Our stables fence borders our neighbors backyard. I have always had great communication with them about the horses. They know the horses can only have carrots or apples cut up into little pieces. Even their kids know "the ponies will eat your fingers if you give them to them". They feed them the carrot peels from family dinners.

However the kids have a immunity to the eletric fence. They have rubber soles on their shoes.. So they don't feel the jolt... but they know they can touch the fence,, then touch their brother, and he will get the jolt... LOL

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Postby madelyn » Tue Oct 05, 2004 6:43 pm

well Crystal, chocolate has many mood enhancing qualities, dunno what they do to horses, but the major contents (cocoa, similar on a scope to cocaine), sugar and a big spike of caffeine could probably do odd things... if horses were meant to eat chocolate they would only have survived grazing on pasture founded on chocolate. It is not what a horse WILL eat, it it what he SHOULD eat. I don't feed any candy at all to my horses, I think it will rot their teeth. Ditto husband and child. We are all fine with raw carrots, though.