that'll show em

[bdw0617]

Biancone fined for medication violation in California

Trainer Patrick Biancone, who is under investigation by Kentucky regulators, was slapped with a $10,000 fine by Del Mar stewards after a horse he trained, Iron Butterfly, tested positive for the breathing medication salmeterol following a race in January.

Biancone is currently serving a 15-day suspension in Kentucky for a medication violation. Del Mar stewards suspended him for the same number of days.

John Gunther’s homebred Iron Butterfly finished second in the second race at Santa Anita Park on January 7. A hearing is pending on the disqualification of the three-year-old Forestry filly, who was later transferred to trainer Wally Dollase.

Use of Salmeterol is a Class 3 medication violation.

Under an agreement between Biancone and the California Horse Racing Board, the stewards stayed the 15-day suspension, provided Biancone has no additional Class 1, 2, or 3 violations for one year.

Kentucky stewards suspended Biancone after L’Aziza, winner of a maiden special weight race at Churchill Downs on May 3, tested positive for theophylline and caffeine.

Biancone’s Kentucky suspension runs from September 5-19.

Kentucky stewards had previously postponed a hearing on a related complaint against veterinarian Rod Stewart.

Biancone and Stewart are under investigation by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority following a search of Biancone’s three barns at Keeneland Race Course on June 22. Racing authority officials said they confiscated “materials” during the search, which also included Stewart’s vehicle, but they have not disclosed further details and did not say if the May 3 positive was related to their investigation. Stewart was suspended on August 16 after he declined to hand over his veterinary records, drug purchase orders, and computer files. He has appealed the suspension

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/nation ... ornia.aspx

how is this man even allowed to pet a horse let alone train one anymore?

This is like a guy that robbed two banks, gets caught robbing another one, and gets probation assuming he can not rob a bank for a full year.

The man has been suspended everywhere he's been. Honk Kong.. TWICE. he can't even race there anymore, he was kicked out.

What could this possibly do to detur him from cheating? His cut for winning the Cash call mile alone was $60k.

[Mac]

Disgusting. Nothing they have done to him qualifies as even a hand-slap.

[docjocoy]

What I really hate, and I have seen this several times, is when a trainer gets suspended or fined repeatedly in one state, they just pick up their tack and go to another state, business as usual, leaving an assistant behind.

[zinn21]

If Patrick Biancone was not considered an outstanding horseman he wouldn't have the clientele and horses he currently trains.

Biancone trains for some of the deepest pockets in the industry. I have no doubt that he knows how to train a horse.

The issue, is his use of illegal medications in his training protocol creating an unfair advantage for his runners. Until racing comes down hard on the illegal use of medications Patrick Biancone and his likes will continue to thrive.

[horsenuts]

If Patrick Biancone was not considered an outstanding horseman he wouldn't have the clientele and horses he currently trains.

Biancone trains for some of the deepest pockets in the industry. I have no doubt that he knows how to train a horse.

The issue, is his use of illegal medications in his training protocol creating an unfair advantage for his runners. Until racing comes down hard on the illegal use of medications Patrick Biancone and his likes will continue to thrive.

Crazy as it sounds racing really can't afford to severely punish PB due to the type of clients he brings to the game. Same holds true for other top trainers as we have all witnessed in recent years. OTOH, I have seen racing "nobodies" receive incredibly harsh penalties for various vialations of 3-5-10 years and longer.


Racing is no different then DC politicians or Wall Street power brokers..... "white collar crime" has always been readily dismissed while the "blue collar criminals" get locked away for lengthy sentences. Total hypocrisy for sure.

[Des]

UMMM....I wonder if he's the only one doing this stuff...

[docjocoy]

Maybe we should bring in Martha Stewart...

[winds]

One thing they are considering is fining and suspending owners. If they employ a trainer that has recieved several fines and suspensions because of drugs and one of their horses is disqualified because of drugs, the owner should also be fined and suspended.

Now, I think the fact that they will lose the purse monies is enough of a fine, but I think the suspension is a good idea. Maybe the tracks should have a list of all the trainers without drug infractions and steer owners that way.................

I do think that stiffer fines and penalties are in order though. Something has to be done.

winds

[bdw0617]

One thing they are considering is fining and suspending owners. If they employ a trainer that has recieved several fines and suspensions because of drugs and one of their horses is disqualified because of drugs, the owner should also be fined and suspended.

Now, I think the fact that they will lose the purse monies is enough of a fine, but I think the suspension is a good idea. Maybe the tracks should have a list of all the trainers without drug infractions and steer owners that way.................

I do think that stiffer fines and penalties are in order though. Something has to be done.

winds

tit's not black and white. there are trainers who can get a runner without using illegal drugs

horse racing is 5x more popular in Australia and they don't use ANY drugs

[winds]

I know. I'm from the old school, you take care of your horses through hard work. You hose them, you graze them, you actually rub them (no need for moussuess etc) you actually rub the linemant into their legs not just squirt it on and then wrap the leg sitll wet!

Trainers actually thought about their horses, got into their minds, looked at a situation or problem and solved it rationally and with common sense, not drugs. We need to clone the Frank Whitely's and Allen Jerkens of the sport (before they pass), so we actually have horsemen on the backside not people who have a stake in vet practices.

winds

[Rokeby Forever]

tit's not black and white.

Um.....

Anyway, back when the NYRA was membered by owner/breeders, it was always the "small guy" that got penalized. Once, a trainer named John Esposito had only three horses. One day, one of them won a claiming race at 50:1 - and the stewards grilled him for three hours about how this horse could have had such a form reversal. But when a "big" stable ever improved a horse, nothing was ever said about it.

The same holds true even today. Even if a "big" barn gets nailed, the tracks don't want negative publicity - they'll handle it behind closed doors.

[winds]

Maybe if they didn't allow the trainers to switch their horses over to their assistants but actually send them to another trainer it would work. Can you imagine the hassle of sending all your stock to different trainers, and what if an owner gets tired of this and decides to keep the horse with that trainer? Maybe if this is done they will take a second to think about the drugs....................

winds

[kezeli]

I think the problem is also that the owners are DRUG owners. They want their horses to win no matter the method and tend to look the other way and even encourage dopeing a horse. Lose the purse AND get a fine AND suspention for owners and trainers, may work for a while, atleast until they find another drug that won't test maybe, or rule everybody off on 2nd offence, that will stop them.

[Worksoplad]

"I think the problem is also that the owners are DRUG owners. They want their horses to win no matter the method and tend to look the other way and even encourage dopeing a horse. Lose the purse AND get a fine AND suspention for owners and trainers, may work for a while, atleast until they find another drug that won't test maybe, or rule everybody off on 2nd offence, that will stop them."

That is total B.S. I have six horses in training, five of them with Paddy Gallagher who has one of the best disciplinary records in the business. Also, Iwould venture to guess that the vast majority of drug positive readings is for things like a slight trace of painkillers/arthritis type drugs such as bute. Sometimes, no matter how careful the vet is with theseotherwise legal drugs, depending on the time before the race it was administered, a trace might appear in the horse's system.

I know when I used to run quite a lot of 10ks and marathons I couldn;t get out of bed in the morning without taking aleve or advil. I don't think that affected my running capabilities one iota.

[bdw0617]

when I played basketball i used to be in so much pain at times my stepmom, who is a doctor, would give me muscle relaxers

when you are an athlete, your body can tolorate alot more than the avg person. once I got up and running I was fine. it's when I stopped that sucked.