Contessa and a few Other NYRA notes.

[Suff]

Gary Contessa quietly accepted a 20 day suspension for 8 positives in his Aqueduct Barn this winter. Ephidrine was found in all the animals. 8 simaltaneous Postives would be enough to get MANY trainers suspended for a YEAR at NYRA. Contessa gave an interview to the Daily News where he is quoted as saying that the RULING Vindicates him. Because if the Board believed he Intentionally drugged that many of his Horses he shoulda been banned for a year or more. But the fact that he got 20 days (reduced from 40 for forfieting his right to appeal), should tell everyone that the BOARD believed it was just a BIG ACCIDENT!!!

I kid you not.




Aqueduct will not open this Summer for Simalcasting. They've gone ahead and started the Installation of Slot machines. So they plan on staying closed until racing returns to Downstate in September.


Shuman, Pat Reynolds, C. Morales, Scott lake, Dutrow and Jerkens...all shipped in to Suffolk yesterday for todays 200K Mosley Stakes. True direction and My Cousin Matt look like a tough 1-2 to beat today. Has'nt rained in 4 days here. Track will be in the best shape in weeks. Aqueducts INNER 6 furlong RECORD HOLDER, Capt RED, returns home to suffolk and may run a race at 8-1ish.

4 winners yesterday makes JR virtually impossible to catch for the Leading Rider Title for the MEET. He has 13 more wins than anybody. Someone would need to go on a tear to even have a shot.

Kelly Gecewicz , NYRA's Public Handicapper is going at 28.6 for the meet. Pretty amazing Number considering all the OFF TURF's, massive overnight scratches, and weather from hell. Remember...she caps and makes her selections 24-36 Hours before they run so she can meet her Publishing deadline.

Roberto Arroyo.......Fractured his C-7 Vertabrae was realeased from the Hospital on Thursday. He now must have two months of therapy. He has a cast covering his Chest to the Bottom of His neck. His Agent John Kotb told the NYPOST yesterday that Arroyo will try and race again but no sooner than 1/2 way into Saratoga meet. I say he's all done. Unless he's Broke. Then he may risk his life for big Money. I don't think he's Prepared to work on the backside for peanuts and a small piece of the action on horses he works.


A capper from Upstate NY, Brian Vogler, won the spring challenge. 15 grand for his $10.00 entry fee.

[Storm Cadet]

Not only is that pompus ass an average to low level trainer, now he's proving very adept at lying to NYRA Board about his "ephreda" claim of not knowing it was illegal for horses!!! Incredible attitude!

This dumb ass reads everyday, or he should, that this crap not only is illegal in drug testing for humans in NCAA, NFL, NBA and now MLB, but it was deemed illegal last year by NYRA!

Maybe if he showed his face around the barn area at Aqueduct more often than relying on his 2nd and 3rd assistants to run his show, he might be more sucessfull than a claiming trainer. This guy can't win anything higher than allowance races and he's been given some pretty good stock this past year to work with.

He had pretty impressive stats at Saratoga last summer because some owners gave him some good 2 YO'd to work with. But once he had to run against better company, they flattened out, as usual.

And the most glaring item, is that both of his biggest 2 YO from last year, DIED ON THE TRACK AT THE BIG A with "accidents" and both had to be put down, including GREY COMET!!! Now accidents do happen...but BOTH of his prize 2 YO's???

One of the major players in the east have taken their horses away from him and have gone to Klasaris. They won't mention the reason why they did this either... figure it out...they should suspend all his horses for the 20 days, not let one of his lackies enter them and race them...and does this mean only his NYRA horses are suspended or the ones at Monmouth too???

[Tom]

That is a joke.
If they want to investigate anyhting in NY, it is this obviously paid-for decision.
This guy is a cheat. Period. Those that gave out 20 days are less than that.

[Show Me the Wire]

Storm Cadet:

As the saying goes, now really tell us how you feel about Gary Contessa.

BTW the ephidrine positive probabaly came back as a caffeine positive. Ephidrine I believe metabolizes like caffeine and they must have caught him only because he over- dosed the horses.

Regards,
Show Me the Wire

Perception is reality

[Storm Cadet]

SMTW,

Your right he probably did over feed the ephedra to his stable. And he says that it was accidental...just like Sammy accidentally used the corked bat!

Ephendra does metabolize as ephedrine in post race testing. Anybody notice the BIG drop off of his horses since he got initially got caught in the winter. Man, you didn't see any of his horses come in the $$$ for awile.

They are allowing his seconds to run the horse as NYRA allows...so where is the penalty here. Like he's not gonna pocket the % of purse from his owners. By him not being on site...with all due respect to Joe T.'s 8th installment to handicapping nuances, Contessa doesn't make that much difference if he's there or not...and you right...Gary's not on my list of people I'd invite for dinner...

[Figman]

SMTW,
THe Contessa positives did NOT come back as "caffeine." They came back as ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norephedrine or norpseudoephedrive or as a combination of two or three of the above.

[Tom]

A trainer gets suspended, what REALLY is the cost to him?
His seconds saddle the horses, his owners collect purses, he still gets paid somehow.
How about this....a trainer gets a suspension, all thesttables he trainers get the same suspension? Or at least the offending stable. Imagine the justice the owners would convey upon the trainer for that!
Hey, you violate a recruiting rule and the whole college team suffers, even those that didn't do anything wrong.

[Observer]

Originally posted by Storm Cadet
...he's proving very adept at lying to NYRA Board about his "ephreda" claim of not knowing it was illegal for horses!!! ..

I don't recall Contessa being quoted as not knowing it was illegal .. I seem to remember that a seemingly "safe" supplement was used with the feed, and it was through the supplement that his horses all came back with the positives .. sort of like the California incident where there was contaminated hay that lead to positive tests.

As for losing two talented horses .. that's the shame of this game .. fatal injuries / illnesses. But, don't forget, sometimes a barn can be hit severly .. remember Pletcher last summer lost three talented runners all in a very short period of time .. most notably Left Bank, along with Freedom's Daughter and Warners.

[Storm Cadet]

;)

Hey, I'd gurantee one thing...a team physician who gives an athlete a prohibited medication and that athlete then became positive because of testing and then became ineligible for his team to compete...would not be the team physician for long...

a trainer must know exactly what the contents of every vitamin and feed supplament he gives his horses...and you KNOW that the major feed companies ARE NOT going to jeopordize themselves by putting ephedra products in their food products. But if you buy stuff either knowingly or unknowingly from a off brand source...you run the risk...buyer beware...

but I think he knew...at least we now know that the ephedra juice works for the ponies just like the 2 footed athletes, makes em' better to withstand the endurance and fatigue of training...

enough on this...:mad:

[Suff]

Originally posted by Observer
I don't recall Contessa being quoted as not knowing it was illegal .. I seem to remember that a seemingly "safe" supplement was used with the feed, and it was through the supplement that his horses all came back with the positives .. sort of like the California incident where there was contaminated hay that lead to positive tests.



Observer.....You frame it in such a way that it all sounds so innocent. But your pretty sharp....so please, consider that not only is it the MOST OFTEN used defense, but that also it is still no excuse.

I did'nt know is not a good enough reason. Your a trainer on arguably the largest and most succesful racing circuit in North America. You or some one on your staff should know EXACTLY what they are putting in your feed. And if you or someone on your staff does'nt have the knowledge? Contract out to an Equine Dietician, to assist in formatting your feed plan. It is completely unacceptable for any trainer at this level of the game to use the defense of "I'm not aware of exactly what I feed my stock"


Secondly. If I were to concede that in fact it was exactly as Contessa states. You'd have to agree that this excuse is given in virtually 75% of all dirty Urines. And 100% of the time in Multiple simaltaneous dirty urines. So you'd have to understand how some PLayers would see the "Boy who cryed wolf". The excuse is worn out. Trainers or somebody has to be held accountable for bad situations like this.

If I have a Barn full of Juiced animals and I'm making Money hand over fist, and all I am risking is running my stock under my assistants name for three weeks. Wheres the deterent? Wheres the respect for the Bettors, or even more so, THE OTHER TRAINERS that are running a clean barn. What message does it send to me? That I'm wagering into races that are Jaded and NYRA feels no sense of responsibility to tell me they want a CLEAN or CLEANER game.

I don't care if he knew or not. OFF THE GROUNDS for 6 months.

[Observer]

Maybe a fault of mine is that I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt .. and in any scenario that someone is told by trusted individuals that something is "safe" which then turns out not to be .. whether it be hay, feed, supplements or whatever .. that's very unfortunate. I can't convict someone on speculation .. I need concrete evidence.

[Suff]

Originally posted by Observer
Maybe a fault of mine is that I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt ..



Doubt about what? That his horses were dirty or he was ignorant to the fact? Niether are relevant. His horses were dirty. Theres no disagreement here. I'm confused what benefit your giving him....Really. He F'd up BAD. What your really saying is that your willing to overlook it. Thats not a benefit. Thats being irresponsible. The game has rules. He broke them in a grand way. He admitted to that.



and in any scenario that someone is told by trusted individuals that something is "safe" which then turns out not to be .. whether it be hay, feed, supplements or whatever .. that's very unfortunate. [/QUOTE]


What benefit are you giving him. That he risks a Multi Million dollar enterprise by "Trusting" a feed salesman? He should be GONGED for that as well. When you use the word "unfortunate" you make it sound as if SOMETING happened to him. Like his car would'nt start in the morning. It was'nt unfortunate. It was either knowingly or unknowingly racing horses with BANNED and/or Illegal drugs..


I can't convict someone on speculation .. I need concrete evidence. [/QUOTE]

Thats ok. You nor I do the convicting. NYRA does. And they did. He was convicted. They have concrete evidence.

Your not debating his Guilt of having horses with illegal substances are you? Because NYRA convicted him of that this week.. and he plead Guilty and accepted a suspension with no APPEAL.


I suspect...Your not as sharp as you seem....or your just looking to disagree, or you work for Contessa or you work for the feed Company that allegedley he trusted. By the way. Do you have concrete evidence that "he trusted " someone? Or are you speculating?

Or I could maybe understand your position if you worked on the Backside. Because I'm a bettor. And I do my business at The Finsih line. The Frontside. I have a contrary attitude than you.


Let me give it to you this way.

If this was Michael Gill/Shuman instead of Gary Contessa? Gill would be in Rikers Island.


Look at me with a straight face and tell me if this were Shuman they'd have given him 20 days as well. I know you can't.

[Observer]

I wasn't looking for a confrontation, I actually despise them, but I see I've sparked one anyway. That last post I made was done so in a general sense.

On the actual issue of Contessa and his horses ... yes, there is no doubt his horses did in fact test positive. What I doubt is the speculation some have made that it was done intentionally, and I find it wrong to make those accusations.

In general, I do believe in accidental positives ... meaning by some innocent mistake, a horse comes up positive. And I find certain instances unfortunate .. like when a trainer who is in one state is held responsible for a horse that tested positive who was in another state .. but I do understand the rule .. that the trainer is responsible for his horses, despite location or situation.

Still speaking in a general sense ... I also believe in reputations. I would find it harder to believe a repeat offender than someone who has never been in trouble before. And in this game and in life, I think too many people like to believe others are doing "wrong" and there seems to be a driving force these days to want to catch the other person in a crooked moment.

Obviously we're not all saints .. and in general everyone has done things that are wrong .. but I just can't get into the idea that so many seem to have .. that everyone in the game is trying to cheat at it .. if I believed that, why would I bother with it?

[Suff]

And I probably over argued my point a bit there Observer. Sorry about that. Did'nt intend to Jump at you about it. I was thinking about it all day and I dumped my beef on you. My Apologies. Have a good week.

Suff

[Figman]

Suff,
NYRA doesn't do any convicting or suspending for drug violations....the State does! For it is the State, not NYRA, that licenses trainers. THe whole reason for any licensing is "to have a hammer" should the rules not be followed. In the NY rulebook, the Racing and Wagering Board (State) steward is required to CONSULT with the NYRA -appointed steward and the Jockey Club-appointed steward. Luckily for the State in NY, its steward has had experience in every endeavor at the track over decades, including being the exercise rider for the famous horses including DR.FAGER while in the employ of John Nerud. And the NYRA steward has also had decades of experience in a multitude of states. Combining that with a veterinarian that is the Jockey Club steward, NY is quite fortunate!

[kenwoodall]

Can an owner collect horse death insurance if Ephedrine is found in the horse? Do they have to prove it was accidentally in the feed?

[Suff]

Fig.... Good information Thanks. The process is the same at Suffolk. I did'nt know the actual makeup of NYRA's.

I Live two subway stops from the MA State House. I've been going to Racing commision hearings for years.
http://www.state.ma.us/src/
Usually if your not one with business there, they're empty. I know how it works in real life and I know how it works on paper.

For years I have watched them all do the INDIAN dance. O'malley from Suffolk, Carney From Raynham, Sarkis From Wonderland, and most recently Piontkowski from Plainville .

Every single Vote that was ever taken at the Racing Commission was predertimened before they even entered the Chamber. Every single major issue that was ever decided by the commission was and is done in the backrooms. These posistions are generally given to people that are purposley there to carry someone elses water. I've never gone into one nor come out of a hearing not knowing how it would end.

The day Contessa came back with 8 dirtys. The operatives went into action.


Like I said , I know how it works. and it aint never gonna change. Its part of the culture of politics and racing. I'm not into fighting the system. Contessa was in the news and it was current. Now its done and done.

But please....before I mark this thread as read. Someone, anyone,,Please....agree with me that if this were Gill/Shuman under the exact same circumstances..........They'd be off the grounds.

[Pace Cap'n]

I wholeheartedly agree.

[Suff]

Thank you and Good Night.

[Observer]

Originally posted by Sufferindowns
And I probably over argued my point a bit there Observer. Sorry about that. Did'nt intend to Jump at you about it. I was thinking about it all day and I dumped my beef on you. My Apologies. Have a good week.

Suff

No apologies .. everyone's entitled to having opinions.

[jotb]

Originally posted by Storm Cadet
Not only is that pompus ass an average to low level trainer, now he's proving very adept at lying to NYRA Board about his "ephreda" claim of not knowing it was illegal for horses!!! Incredible attitude!

This dumb ass reads everyday, or he should, that this crap not only is illegal in drug testing for humans in NCAA, NFL, NBA and now MLB, but it was deemed illegal last year by NYRA!

Maybe if he showed his face around the barn area at Aqueduct more often than relying on his 2nd and 3rd assistants to run his show, he might be more sucessfull than a claiming trainer. This guy can't win anything higher than allowance races and he's been given some pretty good stock this past year to work with.

He had pretty impressive stats at Saratoga last summer because some owners gave him some good 2 YO'd to work with. But once he had to run against better company, they flattened out, as usual.

And the most glaring item, is that both of his biggest 2 YO from last year, DIED ON THE TRACK AT THE BIG A with "accidents" and both had to be put down, including GREY COMET!!! Now accidents do happen...but BOTH of his prize 2 YO's???

One of the major players in the east have taken their horses away from him and have gone to Klasaris. They won't mention the reason why they did this either... figure it out...they should suspend all his horses for the 20 days, not let one of his lackies enter them and race them...and does this mean only his NYRA horses are suspended or the ones at Monmouth too???

You are certainly on the money when you speak of Contessa. Thank God he does not have as many 2 yo's in training like Lukas. Frank Amonte is his assistant over in NY and Contessa has been running under Amonte's name while under suspension. To my recollection, I believe Jennie Messerbrink runs the show over at Monmouth Park and this is the reason why Contessa is not around in the morning at Aqueduct. He spends a few day's a week at each track. Which major Player took horses away and went to Klesaris? Is this owner a Doctor?

Jotb

[VetScratch]

Pharmaceutically produced ephedrine was once the most efficacious and commonly used drug treatment for symptoms of asthma in humans. Bronchial dilation was its primary medicinal attribute, and metabolic stimulation was its chief side effect.

After other drugs superceded it for the treatment of human asthma, ephedrine became available as an over-the-counter substance that for many years was the primary active ingredient in over-the-counter asthma remedies, and brand names for 20mg-40mg tablets became very popular stimulants, especially among truckers, athletes, students, etc. Every biker magazine used to advertise ephedrine specials for large-quantity purchases.

When it became a primary ingredient for illegal methamphetamine production, ephedrine was reclassified, and possession is now a felony offense in most states. Because of this, I would think many trainers and vets have migrated to less risky alternatives. Where it is used with horses, bronchial dilation is probably equal to metabolic stimulation as an enticement to administer it.

What I don't understand is why horseracing has failed to emulate the ladder of drug testing procedures employed by many corporations and security agencies. If a positive blood/urine test is discovered, all plausible excuses for inadvertent one-time abuse can be challenged by performing hair follicle tests as a secondary procedure.

This is the way many custody battles are fought because each inch of human hair provides about a six-month test sample. Thus, a parent who is a habitual drug user has little chance of winning a custody battle. Many, if not most, state judicial systems now accept evidence based on hair-sample drug testing.

From either the tail or mane, I would think the racing industry should explore the feasibilty of using hair tests after a horse fails the standard tests. I believe the the most sophisticated hair test procedures are now acknowledged to be as accurate as blood/urine tests for a wider range of substances.

[Show Me the Wire]

VetScratch:

Very informative post about pharmaceutically produced ephedrine and interesting thought about using hair samples to conclude if it was habitual use or not. However, as it relates to Contessa’s excuse I do not believe the hair sample test would have been determinative in Contessa’s situation.

Contessa used a herbal product containing natural ephedra and his excuse was I did not know ephedra was an ingredient because it was not listed on the label. Contessa did not try to explain the positive as a one- time use, but an unintentional use of the substance. The residue if any found in the hair follicles of the horse would not prove or disprove the unintentional use of a substance.

As you know, being a veteran of the backstretch many supplements, containing the “Chinese Herb” have been advertised and promoted as safe for use by trainers. However, I believe Contessa decided to use a herbal supplement bought at GNC stores produced for human consumption. I wonder if Contessa used another product created for horses if the test would have come back positive?

Regards,
Show Me the Wire

Perception is reality

[VetScratch]

Show Me The Wire,

I concur with your post, but I don't know any trainers or vets who are not aware of Ephedra, and most willing to take risks should prefer pure clinical-grade Ephedrine because feed-based Ephedra is much more difficult to titrate so that a horse it truly sitting on ready when the gate opens. When you feed a stimulant in quantities sufficient enough to ensure success, you also inherit the problem of trying to keep weight on your horses, especially fillies and mares.

In both cases, you can fail a drug test, so why choose the least effective way to cheat? Since illegal methamphetmine labs have proliferated out of control, access to illegal Ephedrine should not pose a problem to anyone on the backside. If Contessa was cheating, his method makes him look inept. He also looks inept if he went to GNC because the lack of regulatory statutes and controls for the health-food industry has been a national scandal for several years.

About all you can conclude is that Contessa was cheating, was cheating and lying, or simply blundered his way into trouble.