Kellyn Gorder and McLean Robertson

[HalvOnHorseracing]

I've been invited to speak at the national HBPA meeting next week and the issue of drugs and medication in horseracing. A portion of the talk will focus on horseplayer views on drug and medication positives, and I have to thank the people on this forum for giving me a lot of perspective.

As it turns out, I was likely right about Kellyn Gorder's violation. Somebody who had recently used meth had contact with the horses that tested positive.

Recently, esteemed midwestern trainer McLean Robertson was convicted of a methamphetamine violation. He was handed a 90 day suspension and fined $2,000. This is in opposition to Gorder's year suspension imposed by Kentucky.

So one obvious issue is that punishments in jurisdictions can vary widely for the same violation. Gorder's violation was for 48 picograms, Robertson's for 74 picograms. Both are considered de minimis when it comes to any performance enhancing effect, and almost any respectable pharmacologist will tell you that the probability was for an environmental contamination. Robertson is so well respected that even Canterbury Park threw their support behind him.

"Canterbury Park supports and funds drug testing as a deterrent to the use of performance-enhancing substances in horse racing," track officials said in a July 26 statement. "However, Canterbury Park management does not believe Mr. Robertson, an upstanding and respected member of Canterbury Park's racing program for many years, administered a performance-enhancing or prohibited substance to the horse referenced in this case but is a victim of environmental contamination."

"We realize the board of stewards, under direction of the Minnesota Racing Commission, was in a difficult position in this matter based on zero-tolerance and trainer responsibility rules. The integrity of the sport is of utmost importance, but scientific advances in drug testing have made zero-tolerance rules for contaminants impractical.

"When the stewards' ruling is appealed to the MRC, we hope they take into consideration the mitigating circumstances in this case."

Unfortunately, the commissions and their imperial executive directors have painted themselves into a corner. Even if you believe Gorder and Robertson were the victims of environmental contamination, by what part of racing rules do they get to excuse them from punishment? After all, nobody proved anything other than a horse had meth in its system, including environmental contamination, and the absolute insurers rule is, well absolute. And if they do, don't they set a precedent that causes them far more headaches than convicting them would?

Whether or not ARCI will do something remains to be seen, but at least one member of the drug testing committee has seen the light. Constantin Rieger, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Racing Commission sent this to the Scientific Advisory Committee members:

"RCI Scientific Advisory Committee Members, I am a member of the RCI DTSP committee and would like to request that the Advisory Committee consider establishing a contaminant level for the drug Methamphetamine. As you know, Meth has become a popular drug in human use and equine testing may be affected by such use. We have several drugs/compounds which are considered contaminants and I believe Meth could fit into that category. There have been several low level positive confirmations nationally of late and I believe it’s time to give this drug a contaminant distinction. We have a protocol in place that addresses any findings of the drug, although possibly not confirmable (human drug testing), which the lab would report to the Commission. I appreciate your consideration of this matter."

Perhaps they will change the standard to allow for a contamination level, but the question is whether it will be too late to help Robertson and Gorder. Still, I'd like to think my practice has helped stimulate some hard thinking on the part of horsemen and racing commissions when it comes to at least some violations.

[taxicab]

Mclean Robertson has had 11 horses come up with a hot test since 2008(eight ran 1st or 2nd).
Ten times in Minnesota and once in Oklahoma.
That's not counting his most recent.
Maybe Richard Dutrow can apply for a trainers license in Minnesota.

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Mclean Robertson has had 11 horses come up with a hot test since 2008(eight ran 1st or 2nd).
Ten times in Minnesota and once in Oklahoma.
That's not counting his most recent.
Maybe Richard Dutrow can apply for a trainers license in Minnesota.

I'm not sure how Robertson's other tests have anything to do with getting saddled with a Class 1 violation for what was likely an environmental contamination. All his violations were either for naproxen (for humans Aleve) or methylprednisolone. Both are commonly used therapeutics. As for Dutrow, there is usually more to the story than the cheap headlines you get from the "news" sources. Read this and then let me know if Dutrow should remain the poster boy for drug use. http://www.horseraceinsider.com/HRI-Feature/05282015-rick-dutrow-case-revisited/

I had the discussion about drugs in horseracing on this forum a while back and it isn't worth rehashing. I'll just say, read the FACTS then come to a conclusion.

[Robert Fischer]

Hope your speech goes well. :ThmbUp:

[Robert Goren]

As a bettor, I am tired of excuses and trainer sob stories. I might be more sympathetic if there was better effort being put forth by the industry including the horsemen to rid itself of drugs. All I see is now what I consider token efforts and sob stories about what a great guy a trainer is when he is caught violating one of the weakest drug policies in sports. Lead the effort to clean up the sport and when you actually accomplish that goal, I will start to listen. Until then, you are just background noise. Shame on Canterbury for backing Robertson! An honest game has no place for cheaters like him.

[taxicab]

I'm not sure how Robertson's other tests have anything to do with getting saddled with a Class 1 violation for what was likely an environmental contamination. All his violations were either for naproxen (for humans Aleve) or methylprednisolone. Both are commonly used therapeutics. As for Dutrow, there is usually more to the story than the cheap headlines you get from the "news" sources. Read this and then let me know if Dutrow should remain the poster boy for drug use. http://www.horseraceinsider.com/HRI-Feature/05282015-rick-dutrow-case-revisited/

I had the discussion about drugs in horseracing on this forum a while back and it isn't worth rehashing. I'll just say, read the FACTS then come to a conclusion.


Blah.
Blah..
Blah...
Excuses.
Excuses.

I read and posted FACTS from a website that gets their information from The Jockey Club.
Trainer Robertson was caught cheating eleven times.
Eleven times he couldn't follow medication regulations that 99% of all other trainers follow......That's a fact.
Once or twice might be a mistake.......11 times is a cheating pattern.
Hey,if you want to hitch your wagon to the juicers of the game then that's all good and well with me.
But when there's repeated legal/factual evidence that proves certain trainers are taking medication shortcuts your opinions carry no weight.....the proven scientific facts and testing results carry all the weight.

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Blah.
Blah..
Blah...
Excuses.
Excuses.

I read and posted FACTS from a website that gets their information from The Jockey Club.
Trainer Robertson was caught cheating eleven times.
Eleven times he couldn't follow medication regulations that 99% of all other trainers follow......That's a fact.
Once or twice might be a mistake.......11 times is a cheating pattern.
Hey,if you want to hitch your wagon to the juicers of the game then that's all good and well with me.
But when there's repeated legal/factual evidence that proves certain trainers are taking medication shortcuts your opinions carry no weight.....the proven scientific facts and testing results carry all the weight.

You miss the point. It is fine to punish positives for performance enhancing drugs but you have to be thoughtful about how to punish therapeutic medication overages. I'm certainly not defending trainers who cheat, but if you want to throw the book at someone, make sure they did it. The meth positive was almost certainly environmental contamination. That's the point. The system is broken in many areas. Believe it or not my position is to help fix it so that racing is spending real money on catching the real cheats and not the contamination positives. I never have, nor will I ever defend a "cheat." Robertson and Gorder in the case of the meth positives were not cheating.

[HalvOnHorseracing]

As a bettor, I am tired of excuses and trainer sob stories. I might be more sympathetic if there was better effort being put forth by the industry including the horsemen to rid itself of drugs. All I see is now what I consider token efforts and sob stories about what a great guy a trainer is when he is caught violating one of the weakest drug policies in sports. Lead the effort to clean up the sport and when you actually accomplish that goal, I will start to listen. Until then, you are just background noise. Shame on Canterbury for backing Robertson! An honest game has no place for cheaters like him.

We actually agree that the effort being taken by the industry is not what it should be. My position is that racing spends far too much money looking for picogram positives of substances that are not performance enhancing by the definition used by any other sport. If they spent the money looking for trainers who are looking to use chemistry to improve a horse's running time, it would be far better spent. They don't do investigations. In the case of both Julio Cartagena and Chris Grove for nikethamide positives, neither jurisdiction tried to answer the most important question - where did the nikethamide come from. That is what I complain about. Inefficient and incompetent enforcement which results in ridiculous suspensions for contamination. The sob stories are one way to point out the ineptitude of the people charged with keeping the sport clean.

You can suggest I'm background noise, but I've gotten the attention of racing commissions and horsemen. Change doesn't occur because people complain on forums. It occurs when you get the attention of the decision makers and they realize that unless they get better, they will lose their life blood. I've managed to get their attention and I'll continue to work to get a system that punishes the truly guilty and really cleans up the sport. I'm not looking to see cheating trainers let off the hook. On the contrary, I hope to do my part to rid the sport of them. But in this instance, Robertson wasn't a cheat. That should bother you as much as finding a real cheater does.

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Hope your speech goes well. :ThmbUp:

Thank you. As I continue to say, I am looking to find ways to clean the sport up without resorting to enforcement that does little to attack the real problems. That is what I will be talking about.

[TonyK@HSH]

I've been invited to speak at the national HBPA meeting next week and the issue of drugs and medication in horseracing. A portion of the talk will focus on horseplayer views on drug and medication positives, and I have to thank the people on this forum for giving me a lot of perspective.

As it turns out, I was likely right about Kellyn Gorder's violation. Somebody who had recently used meth had contact with the horses that tested positive.

Recently, esteemed midwestern trainer McLean Robertson was convicted of a methamphetamine violation. He was handed a 90 day suspension and fined $2,000. This is in opposition to Gorder's year suspension imposed by Kentucky.

So one obvious issue is that punishments in jurisdictions can vary widely for the same violation. Gorder's violation was for 48 picograms, Robertson's for 74 picograms. Both are considered de minimis when it comes to any performance enhancing effect, and almost any respectable pharmacologist will tell you that the probability was for an environmental contamination. Robertson is so well respected that even Canterbury Park threw their support behind him.

"Canterbury Park supports and funds drug testing as a deterrent to the use of performance-enhancing substances in horse racing," track officials said in a July 26 statement. "However, Canterbury Park management does not believe Mr. Robertson, an upstanding and respected member of Canterbury Park's racing program for many years, administered a performance-enhancing or prohibited substance to the horse referenced in this case but is a victim of environmental contamination."

"We realize the board of stewards, under direction of the Minnesota Racing Commission, was in a difficult position in this matter based on zero-tolerance and trainer responsibility rules. The integrity of the sport is of utmost importance, but scientific advances in drug testing have made zero-tolerance rules for contaminants impractical.

"When the stewards' ruling is appealed to the MRC, we hope they take into consideration the mitigating circumstances in this case."

Unfortunately, the commissions and their imperial executive directors have painted themselves into a corner. Even if you believe Gorder and Robertson were the victims of environmental contamination, by what part of racing rules do they get to excuse them from punishment? After all, nobody proved anything other than a horse had meth in its system, including environmental contamination, and the absolute insurers rule is, well absolute. And if they do, don't they set a precedent that causes them far more headaches than convicting them would?

Whether or not ARCI will do something remains to be seen, but at least one member of the drug testing committee has seen the light. Constantin Rieger, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Racing Commission sent this to the Scientific Advisory Committee members:

"RCI Scientific Advisory Committee Members, I am a member of the RCI DTSP committee and would like to request that the Advisory Committee consider establishing a contaminant level for the drug Methamphetamine. As you know, Meth has become a popular drug in human use and equine testing may be affected by such use. We have several drugs/compounds which are considered contaminants and I believe Meth could fit into that category. There have been several low level positive confirmations nationally of late and I believe it’s time to give this drug a contaminant distinction. We have a protocol in place that addresses any findings of the drug, although possibly not confirmable (human drug testing), which the lab would report to the Commission. I appreciate your consideration of this matter."

Perhaps they will change the standard to allow for a contamination level, but the question is whether it will be too late to help Robertson and Gorder. Still, I'd like to think my practice has helped stimulate some hard thinking on the part of horsemen and racing commissions when it comes to at least some violations.

Halv,

I totally support your position and thank you for presenting it from a horseplayers point of view. Regulating bodies spend far too many resources chasing miniscule overages on therapeutic medications that do not affect the outcome of races. Common sense needs to prevail.
That being said, the use of illegal medications has no place in this business. Please make that point loud and clear.
Good luck and thank you

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Halv,

I totally support your position and thank you for presenting it from a horseplayers point of view. Regulating bodies spend far too many resources chasing miniscule overages on therapeutic medications that do not affect the outcome of races. Common sense needs to prevail.
That being said, the use of illegal medications has no place in this business. Please make that point loud and clear.
Good luck and thank you

You have it exactly right. And you can be sure I will make that point first and foremost.