Sports writer weighs in on Dutrow

[fmhealth]

I wonder how he really feels!!!


http://www.sportsline.com/columns/story/10861931

[46zilzal]

good quote:" But Dutrow is flailing about for a reason for his horse's disastrous showing in the race, and instead of focusing on the hoof or the lack of steroids in the horse's system or the deep grooves of the track or the possibility that, you know, Big Brown simply wasn't that good in the first place, Dutrow is blaming his own jockey."


.... "And Big Brown was potential greatness. But lots of people didn't want him to cash in on greatness because we were sick of the loudmouthed trainer who was so dumb that he talked trash about opposing horses for God's sake, as if he could get inside the head of a dumb -- but beautiful -- animal."

[DeanT]

Trash article for sure, but this part hits home with me. I used to think he was a bright man, but after this episode I agree with the writer. The only way to explain this nonsense for me is that the elevator simply does not reach the top floor.

That's one of the conclusions I've reached about Rick Dutrow: He's just not very smart. He can't be. Nobody smart conducts himself as foolishly as Dutrow did in the weeks leading up to the Belmont, and then conducts himself as cowardly as Dutrow did after the race.

[PaceAdvantage]

How am I supposed to take ignorance masked as journalism seriously?

If you want a true journalist and a man with a solid opinion, try Paul Moran instead:

http://paulmoranattheraces.blogspot.com/2008/06/belmont-denial-of-slicksters.html

Here's Moran's take on the steroid B.S.:

Lack of Winstrol? Absurd. Steroids are not part of race-day procedure and if you believe that Big Brown had been given no steroids since leaving Florida – because Dutrow said so – you probably should not be playing this game because the next trainer who tells you the truth about a horse will be the first.

[ezpace]

but knows dick about what

steroids can do or how they

react in most race horses. Hint: a

shot of Winstrol once a month,

and race day lasix with what ever

else is powerful EDGE...

[46zilzal]

You can't ask a horse, but from the horse's mouth we have the deceased Lyle Alzado's comments:"At the height of his steroid and human growth hormone abuse, Alzado estimated he spent $30,000 a year on the drugs, often buying them at gyms around the country. His second wife, Cindy, blamed the breakup of their marriage on his mood swings caused by steroids. She said she called police at least five times during their marriage because Lyle physically abused her, but Alzado was never arrested.

Alzado also admitted the steroids sometimes made him so crazy that at times he couldn't deal with social stress. "Once in Denver in 1979 a guy sideswiped my car," he said, "and I chased him up and down the hills through the neighborhoods."

High death rate lingers behind fun facade of pro wrestling
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
Mike "Road Warrior Hawk" Hegstrand died from an enlarged heart caused by high blood pressure at 46. Mike "Crash Holly" Lockwood died from what a medical examiner ruled a suicide at 32. A lethal combination of painkillers was found in his system.
Former pro wrestler Del Wilkes shed his mask after a career that lasted 12 years.

Mike Lozanski died from what his family says was a lung infection at 35. His relatives are awaiting an autopsy report.

All died in the last five months. All were professional wrestlers with bulging muscles on sculpted bodies. The deaths received little notice beyond obituaries in small newspapers and on wrestling Web sites, typical of the fringe status of the $500 million industry.

Yet their deaths underscore the troubling fact that despite some attempts to clean up an industry sold on size, stamina and theatrics, wrestlers die young at a staggering rate. Since 1997, about 1,000 wrestlers 45 and younger have worked on pro wrestling circuits worldwide, wrestling officials estimate.

[46zilzal]

The other two most prominent side effects of prolonged steroid abuse: Depression and paranoia.

How can these KNOWN side effects not have some counterpart in the equine athlete??

[sally]

I like Paul Moran's blog--has a good take on things-- but you know, he also says that KD's ride had nothing to do with BB losing the Belmont...

[OTM Al]

The steroid thing is about the most overblown load of garbage that anyone has come up with. Giving an animal one shot a month is going to have much different results than a human who is shooting the stuff every day and not even properly cycling off the drug. There is no comparison. Big Brown is actually a pretty calm horse in comparison to many from what the people I know that have been around him have said. He isn't roid raging. I honestly don't believe the drug did much more for him that to keep him eating, which the drug most definitely does, and thus helped him keep his weight up and stay strong. There is only one reason why he didn't run so well the other day and that is, as the great Bill Lee once said "The sun don't shine on the same dogs ass every day".

[DJofSD]

Look at Eight Belles. One minute she was gallantly trying to run down the steroid monster in front of her, and in the next moment she was suffering a catastrophic breakdown in both front legs, causing her death right there on the track.

When reading these sentences, it reminded me of the fact that when people drive while drunk and get involved in an accident, quiet often the drunk driver is so relaxed he'll survive the accident but the other unfortunates usually don't survive. I'm not saying these two situations are equivalent but, as I said, that's what I thought of when I read it.

So, is toleration of drugs in racing any different that tolerating people going out getting looped then driving while under the influence?

[ryesteve]

I'd be really surprised if Eight Belles' toxicology report was substantially different than the other 19 horses that day.

[DJofSD]

I'd be really surprised if Eight Belles' toxicology report was substantially different than the other 19 horses that day.

I'm not questioning if Eight Belles was using any medication.

All that I am pointing out is use and toleration of drugs does have its consequences. And sometimes those consequences impact the other horses.

If Big Brown was able to perform ever so slightly better while under some medicated regiment perhaps without the enhancement he would not have won, or, won with the margin he did, and then perhaps Eight Belles would have run differently or the outcome of the race would have been different and Eight Belles would not have extended herself or chased Big Brown and not had experienced whatever problem that resulted in two broken ankles during the run out and/or being pulled up.

[ryesteve]

I'm not questioning if Eight Belles was using any medication.
Oh, I thought in your analogy Eight Belles was the driver who wasn't driving drunk.

So are you saying that if Big Brown didn't win the Derby by the margin he did, Eight Belles wouldn't have been running as hard? I don't know... if the stretch run had been more combative, couldn't you argue she'd have been running even harder?

[DJofSD]

Oh, I thought in your analogy Eight Belles was the driver who wasn't driving drunk.

Yes, I was doing that, drawing that analogy. My response was just to clarify the open question raise by your comment that perhaps Eight Belles was a victim of drugs used by her trainer. I was not trying to imply that Eight Belles used drugs nor drugs was a direct cause of her breakdown and subsequent euthanasia.

[DJofSD]

So are you saying that if Big Brown didn't win the Derby by the margin he did, Eight Belles wouldn't have been running as hard? I don't know... if the stretch run had been more combative, couldn't you argue she'd have been running even harder?

Yes, in part, that is what I am saying. I believe it's an open question.

Yes, it could have been a different race with those two running neck and neck, and, Eight Belles still could have broken down with the same catastrophic injuries. But there are other scenarios that could have resulted where Big Brown was not the dominate horse while some other runner in contention at the top of the stretch could have been the ultimate winner. And how would Eight Belles been involved in that "alternate ending"? I don't know.

We'll probably never know beyond any reasonable doubt why Eight Belles suffered the injuires she did. But, what seems reasonable to assert is that as a participant in the race and the effort she made could have been a contributing factor. Change the circumstances of the race and their could have been a different result for Eight Belles after she crossed the finish line. Call it the butterfly effect.

[ryesteve]

My response was just to clarify the open question raise by your comment that perhaps Eight Belles was a victim of drugs used by her trainer. no, no, no.... I wasn't saying that at all... I meant that I didn't think she was a victim of the ABSENCE of drugs, which I thought was the gist of your analogy.

[Wickel]

This guy's partially right about Dutrow. Professing that his horse was better than the others was OK with me. After all, he's the trainer and it was just his opinion. But like Steve Haskins, a senior editor with Bloodhorse, wrote earlier this week, his attack on the training methods of Servis with Smarty Jones was uncalled for. When Dutrow started getting overly obnoxious, then I was turned off. But his comments about rider Kent Desormeaux were right on. It was a horrible ride--from the start right down to the non-finish. He should have been suspended for not riding the horse out to the wire. So what if he's a Hall of Fame rider. What's that supposed to mean: a sense of entitlement not to complete his riding assignment. Although Big Brown was done early, I think he would have beaten half the field. You didn't see the other also-rans easing in the stretch "because my horse wouldn't have hit the board." Poor excuse, poor ride.

[DJofSD]

no, no, no.... I wasn't saying that at all... I meant that I didn't think she was a victim of the ABSENCE of drugs, which I thought was the gist of your analogy.

No, I had not considered the absence of drugs as a part of the situation. But that's a legitimate issue too.

Glad we got all that straightened out! :)