I think with Wait A While and her Pen. positive they most likely thought they were in the clear but didnt bother to absolutly sure , I know I would have had her tested to make sure.
With the Mepivicane positive I really do think the Asst. screwed up , he and the vet prolly blocked the horse out for whatever reason , found the problem and then perhaps didnt relay the 411 in detail to the boss.

Come now, that's just way to easy an excuse. I'm sure Mr. Pletcher knows exactly what is going on in his stable. From what I have read and heard of him he is a person of immaculate detail.

It is of course frustrating yet I know that what you guys see in the papers about drug positives arent the problem. We all use those meds. It is the same as steroids. Virtually every trainer used them in one form or another. Everyone had access to them. The guys that abused them were pretty obvious just in watching their horses. But those horses rarely lasted long which was the downside of heavy use. The problem is throwing the book at guys for mistakes and trace levels of insignifigence. That distracts everyone from the real drug problem, the one that you wont see coming up in a positive test any time soon. The one that the authorities are barely aware of and seemingly unconcerned about.

Wait a While got a procaine pen positive and they knowingly treated her 18 days out. The CA drug rules supposedly state that 15 days is the reccomended withdrawl time (which is really strange since almost everyone agrees that 21 days is not even a safe day) for PP. The vet assured him and supposedly they have that in writing that the horse would be ok. Why they didnt prerace test her and be safe I dont know. Why anyone would think that PP would be 99% (there is no 100% sure) chance of being clear is unknown. It is a readily known fact that the detectable levels of PP can linger for up to 28 days and considering the Breeders Cup has as complete testing as any race in this country it was a really bad mistake. But I would strongly suggest that there was zero percent chance that the levels found were performance enhancing.

Of course. I have no doubt about that, especially given which specimen the positive was found on (a filly that didn't need any "enhancing".) I'm just trying to grasp what Honu was suggesting.

Question... if they prerace test and find a trace level, is she automatically scratched?

I dont know but in HK they give you the option to scratch or take your chances the drug will be out of the system before the race. of course if it isnt there is hell to pay.

the other positive was pretty close to Honu's explanaation as the story goes. it is entirely plausible considering that these guys have huge outfits and hundreds of horses and the assistants are doing most of the training in some places. That is one of the downsides of having a huge stable

Pletcher vs New York State Racing Board

http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/cases...g/pletcher.htm

Interesting what that may be? There are drugs that are undetectable in the Olympics and I would venture to say that their testing is much more thorough than what Horseracing's is. Androl a household name now was untectable for awhile, like I said before the cheaters always seem a couple of steps ahead of the testers. Plus I am not sure horseracing really has shown an appetite to clean up the game, even with recent improvements in testing.

I think that there are lots of differences in human and horse testing. One is that the scope of the sport of horse racing is so much larger than any comparable human sport. There are hundreds of races a day through out the country with horses training at a wide variety of facilities. There are very few olympic class athletes. Not to mention that humans have control over everything they put into their body and are in control of themselves 24 hours a day. Horses have no control what they ingest and are not under direct supervision 24 hours a day. Among the problems with horse racings testing is that we have different levels allowed of the same meds on a state to state basis, differnt states have varying levels of funding to conduct testing and different labs have similar but often different capabilities. There is no doubt that horseracing wants to clean up the sport but it is a complicated process wherein no one has complete control or authority and different jurisdiction simply havent done much to work together. However dont forget that most of the regulatory control over the drug testing in this country is directed by non racing government appointees. cheaters will always be one step ahead regardless of what they are cheating at.

Its actually 14 to 21 days in cali. depending if it was topical or injectable , for topical its 21 days is the suggestion and for injectable its 14.
Either way , if Tap is so meticulas and into fine detail he would have tested the horse , I would have , we have done it with maidens so why wouldnt you do it with your big horse. If I were your asst, Shell wouldnt you want me to say hey boss I wanted you ask about the Pen. treatment for our mare , do you think we should test her to make sure? Im just asking as a person who is your second command wouldnt you want that compitence.

No question about it. Hell Pletcher knew what they were treating her with and the time frame so really it isnt the assistants responsibility in this case, it is Todds. I dont understand why they didnt test her beforehand like you said. Personally we are very conservative with our withdrawl times as i find it hard to believe that most meds have much effect at the listed withdrawl time so why not give yourself a little more leeway. I had a positive for a med last summer and we stopped 48 hours before the suggested withdrawl time in KY which is 72 hours longer than every other state. Since it was a minor violation we were just fined and no purse change or suspension but the withdrawl times listed dont necessarily mean you are safe.

We are also very safe at our barn , we withdrawl like you at 48 hrs before the suggested time , and like Ive said before Ive had to go into the office with my tail between my legs when I have made a mistake and believe me it isnt easy . But I take pride in my job and I have respect for my boss and our team and the owners and would rather suffer the ass chewin than do something to discredit the barn.
I know its Todd's job to be on top of things but with 250 or more horses in training or at least that many to think about that is when the Asst. is supposed to step up to the pump and help with a reminder or whatever the way is they go about it .