International community backs U.S. drug ban

[comet52]

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2011/04/22/internationa-medication-reaction.aspx

[horses4courses]

Seems like you failed to raise the concerns of a cross-section of U.S.
horseplayers with this post. Hardly surprising..... :rolleyes:

[Dave Schwartz]

So, if medications are banned NOW how do cards get filled without today's must-be-medicated horses?

IMHO, this ban is like 20 years too late. (Seems like I said this somewhere else but I just don't think we can get the manure back into the horse.)

Or is there a plan for this that I am not aware of?



Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[PaceAdvantage]

A common theme from industry leaders pushing for an end to race-day medication in the U.S. is that it would improve the nation’s stature in the eyes of the global horse racing community.I don't really get this fixation with the global racing community, and why we should really care how the global racing community views U.S. racing.

We could eliminate drugs tomorrow and there won't be this huge influx of foreign participants clamoring for stall space at Belmont or Saratoga or Hollywood Park. There just simply won't. You know it, and I know it.

New York was one of the last states in the country to allow race day Lasix back in 1995. Last time I checked, transporting horses across the Atlantic and Pacific by airplane had been invented by about that time. But I don't remember huge throngs of foreign runners filling cards at Belmont and Saratoga back in the early 1990s before the Lasix restriction was lifted. Who is kidding who here?

Have foreign buyers been boycotting U.S. breeding auctions as of late because of our medication policies? Or are they still buying our yearlings as well as whisking our stallions off to stud duty in their foreign lands?

Yeah, I thought so.

So I'll ask again . . . why should we care what the global racing community thinks of the U.S. racing establishment? They have never had a huge impact here, whether there was race day medication or not.

Eliminating race day medications is simply the correct way to go for the betterment of the breed and the game. What the rest of the world thinks (a world which never had much of any influence to begin with when it comes to U.S. racing, drugs or no drugs) is a non-starter in my book.

[CBedo]

So, if medications are banned NOW how do cards get filled without today's must-be-medicated horses?

IMHO, this ban is like 20 years too late. (Seems like I said this somewhere else but I just don't think we can get the manure back into the horse.)

Or is there a plan for this that I am not aware of?



Regards,
Dave SchwartzBuy a bunch of horses from Europe or reimport all the good horses we have lost to Dubai? :lol:

[Dave Schwartz]

Buy a bunch of horses from Europe or reimport all the good horses we have lost to Dubai?

Yeah, that's the ticket! Import a bunch of $5k claimers from Dubai.

:lol:

[gm10]

It is serious issue imo, one that is contributing to a lot of serious issues for American racing.
A ban is like Dave says, way too late, and I wonder if the powers that be have the patience to wait until its benefits would eventually start showing. I don't see a lot of long term thinking there.

[PaceAdvantage]

It is serious issue imo, one that is contributing to a lot of serious issues for American racing.Are you referring to race day medication or the opinion of the Global Racing Community when it comes to U.S racing?

[Mr_Ed]

Sure they support the ban on drugs.

They like to eat the horses........drug free.

[5k-claim]

Sure they support the ban on drugs.

They like to eat the horses........drug free.The question is whether they live drug free, or just have a combination of drug testing procedures and knowledge of necessary withdrawal times that allows them to race "drug free" on the day.

In terms of Public Relations, it probably doesn't matter either way. The key marketing term is "drug free".

.

[Kelso]

Eliminating race day medications is simply the correct way to go for the betterment of the breed and the game. What the rest of the world thinks <snip> is a non-starter in my book.Solidly agree with both points, particularly the importance of strengthing the breed. :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp:

[Track Phantom]

No kidding...agree 100% myself.

I would happily bet with both hands into 4 and 5 horse fields if I felt they were not pre-determined by performance enhancing drugs. If the industry makes this bold step and is able to enforce the drug free game, I will support the game as much as I possibly can.

In addition, I would not complain about the 45 other things that irk the s%$t out of me (for example, same colored saddle cloths, not showing will-pays, high takeout rates, etc etc). My angst for this game really starts and ends with the drug problem. It makes me physically ill to see some of these dirtbags winning races at 45-50% while a guy like Jack Van Berg looks like a clown winning at 3%. Imagine if a Ted Williams started hitting .097 and minor leaguers got called up and were hitting .513. Probably a bad example but it illistrates the current bulls%$t state the game is in.