O'Neill Horse Scratched

[TJ]

Doug O'Neill was fined $1500 and his horse scratched after California safety Steward Juaregui, observed the horse being treated with an oral amino acid paste approximately 1 hour before race time. Article below. TJ
http://www.drf.com/news/oneill-fined-ho ... l-mar-race

[hpkingjr]

Several years ago there was a short field in a feature race at Churchill. One of the four horses starting sweating and pretty much washed out. The owners wanted to scratch. If he was scratched, then no betting. They called Harthill, he ran a tube up the horses nose in from of God and the entire backside, pumped the horse full of electrolytes and fluids. Horse ran but finished last. They then fined Harthill for the tubing. Small fine no time. That would never happen today.

[TJ]

Several years ago there was a short field in a feature race at Churchill. One of the four horses starting sweating and pretty much washed out. The owners wanted to scratch. If he was scratched, then no betting. They called Harthill, he ran a tube up the horses nose in from of God and the entire backside, pumped the horse full of electrolytes and fluids. Horse ran but finished last. They then fined Harthill for the tubing. Small fine no time. That would never happen today.

What a story....that had to be some time back, they have a number of rules against that now:>) TJ

[Whirlaway]

That was the second violation by O’Neill this year, one of thirty-two violations since 2004. His last violation occurred June of this year with a horse named Basmati. O’Neill gave Basmati the Class C drug Flunixin, the threshold is 20 ng/ml, O’Neill gave Basmati 206 ng/mL. The CHRB fined O’Neill $ 1,000.00 for the overage. Basmati won that race; he was not disqualified for the violation and the owners took home $ 34,200.00. Bettors were left up the track – probably didn’t know the violation occurred.

Horse was drugged 10 times over the limit, won the race and the owners were allowed to keep the purse!

MUST BE NICE TO DRUG A HORSE, GET CAUGHT DOING SO, AND STILL BE ALLOWED TO KEEP THE PURSE !

Nothin’ short of a down right shame.

[TJ]

That was the second violation by O’Neill this year, one of thirty-two violations since 2004. His last violation occurred June of this year with a horse named Basmati. O’Neill gave Basmati the Class C drug Flunixin, the threshold is 20 ng/ml, O’Neill gave Basmati 206 ng/mL. The CHRB fined O’Neill $ 1,000.00 for the overage. Basmati won that race; he was not disqualified for the violation and the owners took home $ 34,200.00. Bettors were left up the track – probably didn’t know the violation occurred.

Horse was drugged 10 times over the limit, won the race and the owners were allowed to keep the purse!

MUST BE NICE TO DRUG A HORSE, GET CAUGHT DOING SO, AND STILL BE ALLOWED TO KEEP THE PURSE !

Nothin’ short of a down right shame.

I agree O'Neill isn't a poster boy for racing....but the example you cite received maximum penalty for a 1st offence....losing the purse isn't part of the penalty for an overage of a class 4 drug which flunixin is categorized. TJ

[Whirlaway]

Take another look at the overage 206 ng/ml ! Twenty times the permissible amount. He juiced the horse big time - malice a forethought. The fine in this case, second offense in a 365-day period calls for a minimum fine of $ 1,000 to a maximum fine of $ 2,500, and up to a 15 day suspension absent mitigating circumstances.

He got neither the maximum fine or the 15 day suspension, the fans were left up the track and to just think, the CHRB is allowing him to run a horse in the Cash Call Futurity.

When will it end?

[TJ]

Take another look at the overage 206 ng/ml ! Twenty times the permissible amount. He juiced the horse big time - malice a forethought. The fine in this case, second offense in a 365-day period calls for a minimum fine of $ 1,000 to a maximum fine of $ 2,500, and up to a 15 day suspension absent mitigating circumstances.

He got neither the maximum fine or the 15 day suspension, the fans were left up the track and to just think, the CHRB is allowing him to run a horse in the Cash Call Futurity.

When will it end?

That's what I was thinking. TJ

[Whirlaway]

Hopefully, the CHRB will take another look at this type of violation, amend the rules as necessary, and inclued the owner forfeit the purse.

[hpkingjr]

Nice article on the different tests and sensitivity of them. Some will detect treatment 15 days after administration.

http://jat.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/5/372.full.pdf

[Cree]

I like the excuse of "we mixed up the horses"... sorry, but that excuse is ridiculous. As a barn foreman, you should know these horses, or really, you should be fired!!!
That's terrible. O'Neill is a sleeze bag.

[TJ]

I like the excuse of "we mixed up the horses"... sorry, but that excuse is ridiculous. As a barn foreman, you should know these horses, or really, you should be fired!!!
That's terrible. O'Neill is a sleeze bag.

Hi Cree,
It's sad all right....just don't know how he could be training all these good horses and keeps screwing the pooch? TJ

[hpkingjr]

Illinois has adopted their administrative regulations. Very clear and nicely laid out levels and penalties. If O'Neil had tested 200 nanograms under these regs., the purse would have been redistributed. I like the direction these new rules are heading.

ftp://www.ilga.gov/JCAR/AdminCode/011/0 ... 0600R.html

[madelyn]

Take another look at the overage 206 ng/ml ! Twenty times the permissible amount.

Take another look at your math - it is TEN times the amount, not twenty. Flunixin is Banamine, which is an NSAID, and, as pointed out by others, is a class FOUR medication. It is commonly administered to horses who tie up, show any colic symptoms, etc. It is kind of like aspirin. But to put the "overage" in perspective, 20 ng/ml is there to permit a horse to have a tiny trace amount in the event the withdrawal period is minimally insufficient; 206 ng/ml is what occurs when a horse is given a NORMAL dose of Banamine. It is not a tranquilizer, nor a stimulant, nor a numbing or blocking agent.

Again, to put this in perspective, I think of a first offense banamine overage as the equivalent of a 10mph over the limit speeding ticket.

[hpkingjr]

Madelyn:
Everyone caught the 20 times error, I was just waiting to see if Whirl would catch it himself. Evidently not.

Whirl you stand Madelyn corrected. Please go to the blackboard and run through your multiplication tables five times.


The blood level with normal treatment is 1 microgram per ml, or 1000 nanograms if MY math is correct. O'Neil had 1/5 of a normal treating dose but was clearly in violation of the rules. Don't know that there was any advantage at that level but his history makes one look at things with a jaundiced eye.

They enforced the rule as it was written. The new rules will better enforce the medication rules.

[Whirlaway]

I stand corrected and thank you.

I'm kinda’ new at the micrograms, nanograms, picograms, moles and millimoles - but give me some time, I'm a slow learner.

~

The threshold was 20 ng/ml; trainer gave said horse 206 ng/ml - stretches credulity to think he didn't know the difference. Considering Flunixin is a pain killer, the extra dose probably didn’t “hurt.” Who amongst us would not pay the $ 1,000.00 penalty for the $ 34,200.00 purse? And considering the horse paid $ 13.80 to WIN maybe O’Neill had a win bet to cover his “costs.”

The rule as written encourages corruption and allowing the rule to stand encourages further corruption. The rule is detrimental to the horse, horse racing and horse racing fans and is antithetical to the CHRB mission statement.

With respect to the “new rules,” when Lasix is administered, same threshold - 20 ng/ml. What about the “new rules” and penalty for said violation? At this time, only 4 of 26 states have adopted the Multiple Medication Violations Penalty System, California is not one of them. I believe the penalty remains the same.