Meadowlands Uncovers New Performance Enhancing Drug

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Meadowlands Uncovers New Performance Enhancing Drug

Postby Whirlaway » Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:18 am

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Postby TJ » Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:25 pm

The USTA (trotters), who withdrew from the RMTC, because they wanted the RMTC to allow W/D times for Standardbreds to remain the same...with a 72 hour W/D time for Clenbuterol use and weekly corticosteroids injections citing a difference in the racing breeds. The RMTC said there is no difference in the breeds to allow such a change in the best interest of the horse. Now the USTA trainers are found to be using excessive Cobalt, which is used in the industry, as a remedy for anemic horses. Some of you may know this as blue salt (cobalt and iodine) used mainly in the cattle industry where Cobalt is lacking in certain areas of the countries pastureland. There is injectable forms such as cobalt gluconate as well as daily vitamin supplements know as Red Cell....Farnam's popular hematinic feed supplement. Cobalt does increase B-12 production in the horse, which is used in the horses body, in conjunction with iron and copper to form red blood cells. In excess, it could become an EPO alternative, as it could increase stamina, due to the increase of red blood cells in the blood, which in turn brings more oxygen to the lungs. So as not to confuse where this is currently going on, below is the trotter specific article....with a picture. T:roll:J
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2014/01/10/train ... z2pw6RoAUD

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Postby hpkingjr » Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:50 pm

This forum is one of thoroughbred racing, not standard bred racing. While this article may be spun to possibly include thoroughbreds, unless you have a specific report or connection to thoroughbred racing, please take this kind of an article to the General Discussion or the standard bred forums. I have zero interest in having a trotter article in the middle of the thoroughbred racing forum.

I hate as a moderator to delete topics but in the future unless they are directly related to thoroughbred racing I will delete them.
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Postby JimP » Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:02 pm

but once in Standardbreds soon in Thoroughbreds. To me it is better to be proactive instead of reactive. Just saying.
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Postby valjoe » Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:43 pm

Really, that article is irrelevant? Standardbred and a thoroughbred are different species?

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Postby TJ » Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:47 pm

Cobalt is nothing new, it's been around a long time. Seems it is now being abused by some who prefer to cheat. To think it isn't used by some in the TB industry, would be naive. Yet it is a naturally occurring element in the horses body....without it they couldn't produce red blood cells. The RMTC has been in the process of an administrative study of cobalt to detect its abuse. Once they are satisfied with their study results and testing procedures, it will be added to the new drug reforms. TJ

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Cobalt

Postby hpkingjr » Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:39 pm

valjoe wrote:Really, that article is irrelevant? Standardbred and a thoroughbred are different species?

The TDN also reported this article, quoting those who opined that it may be happening in the thoroughbred. No direct evidence.

http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/me ... =42934094#
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Postby valjoe » Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:35 am

well it's not like they had evidence at the Meadowlands as well, until they started looking for it
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Postby TJ » Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:54 am

valjoe wrote:well it's not like they had evidence at the Meadowlands as well, until they started looking for it

Hi Val,
Cobalt is not something that can easily be tested. You will note this was found through out of competition testing....very few horses are tested out of competition. It's obvious Meadowlands either got lucky, or were tipped off that these trainers were known to abuse Cobalt treatments. You have to do the test at the right time in order to find it.....hard to be detected during regular race day test procedures. So the RMTC has a challenging road ahead in order to determine Cobalt overages on race day. This has been known to go on with trotters since 2009. Both the TB's and Standardbreds have been trying to find a proper test that will be fair considering that it is present in a horses system naturally.....not an easy task. Make no mistake, this is not new as the article says in the Paulick Report. Creating the proper testing time and procedure is a challenge in order to detect Cobalt. It will take some time before a proper and fair test can be created. TJ

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Postby valjoe » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:10 am

hi TJ

exactly my point, and apparently it can be done

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Postby TJ » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:24 am

valjoe wrote:hi TJ

exactly my point, and apparently it can be done

Hi Val,
Not disputing the fact that it can be done...but as I said, the Meadowlands either got lucky (considering only a handful are tested OOC) in picking the right trainers who were abusing it, or they had to be tipped off. I would tend to believe they were tipped off. It is hard to detect Cobalt. What needs to be done is to find the proper time period to test for it, prior to the race the horse is entered in. This is the challenge and it has to be fair and exact...similar to testing for TCO2 levels as that too is present in a horses system naturally. This is why it takes time to determine a level that would point to abuse of an element that is naturally found in the body. TJ

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Postby BenB » Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:08 pm

Hong Kong based lab,s found it, to be detectable, so they will bring their knowledge into the states, no doubt about that, But overuse causes cardio related problems and some more.

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Postby TJ » Fri Jan 10, 2014 4:39 pm

BenB wrote:Hong Kong based lab,s found it, to be detectable, so they will bring their knowledge into the states, no doubt about that, But overuse causes cardio related problems and some more.

Hi Ben,
Tests are available here for Cobalt, but it takes special equipment to test. The problem is to determine what constitutes a cobalt overage. RMTC is working on that and expect to have a proper test prepared by the middle of the year. What they did at Meadowlands was to determine what they thought was a fair Cobalt level and then banned the trainers who were in violation. That is why they were banned at only their three tracks. They did not receive a suspension of their license, they just can't run at those three tracks.
The RMTC must do a study of at least 100 hundred horses to determine the endogenous level of Cobalt in the horse to determine the difference between the norm and intentionally increased cobalt levels. TJ

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Postby BenB » Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:04 am

Later on I read the whole article in TDN.

Jeff Gural as an owner from these tracks, is able to declare houserules. And put them into work.

If someone is cheating, than he just refuses them any stalls. Makes the proces easy and fast, without much fuss.

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Postby TJ » Sat Jan 11, 2014 7:22 am

BenB wrote:Later on I read the whole article in TDN.

Jeff Gural as an owner from these tracks, is able to declare houserules. And put them into work.

If someone is cheating, than he just refuses them any stalls. Makes the proces easy and fast, without much fuss.

Hi Ben,
Might make it easy and fast, but it isn't necessarily legal....without a scientific study being made of naturally occurring cobalt levels in a horses body. You are licensed by the state to have a trainers license and certain rights are associated with state issued licenses...suspensions are set via rules tested and in place under the state racing commission. This is why they were banned only at Meadowlands owned tracks and it is why it could be overturned in a court of law. Take note they refused to name the trainers who they banned (most likely because of legal ramifications)....so Gural is kicking the can down the road, since there is no reciprocal agreements of this "house" suspension without an actual state rule in place by the racing commission. Gural's statement attests to this when he said:

"This threshold of Cobalt being implemented for horses competing at The Meadowlands, Vernon Downs and Tioga Downs is just one step toward achieving what we set out to achieve. If you are found to be giving your horses an excessive amount of this substance, you are not racing at any of our three racetracks, plain and simple. This is not about catching trainers that are cheating, this is about keeping our equine athletes safe and healthy and providing our betting public and all of our participants a product that is on a level playing field.”

Don't get me wrong, Ben....I don't condone the abuse of Cobalt, but the reason this is being done is to take the focus off the truth that the USTA will continue the abuse of Clenbuterol and Corticosteroids....which is far more serious and certainly doesn't bode well for "keeping our athletes safe and healthy". In this way they can say they are in front of the RMTC, who has to conduct legitimate testing before issuing parameters for Cobalt overages. This is necessary because Cobalt occurs naturally in a horses body. It isn't a simple test to locate and determine the amount of a foreign substance in a horses body, such as a particular drug which isn't naturally present in the horses system. TJ