Big Headlines wind up with little sentence
 

What happened to the EPO?

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...20/1001/DWEK01


This was the case that was used by some other jurisdicitons in trying to strengthen their rules. As usual those with the best lawyers get off.

The Asbury Park Press wouldn't know what EPO stands for...I'm not surprised it wasn't mentioned...Lance Armstrong is using Ledford's leftover stash.

It wasn't mentioned because supposedly it wasn't epo

this week...
http://www.ustrotting.com/absolutenm...sp?a=20671&z=1


a year ago...
http://www.ustrotting.com/absolutenm...sp?a=14832&z=1
http://www.ustrotting.com/absolutenm...sp?a=14672&z=1

As far as I know Chuck it was EPO, Procrit or an offshoot. It was blood doping. If this is an attempt to sweep it under the rug I don't see the point as when they were arrested it was called EPO in the papers.

However the EPO part of the case has seemed to disappear. Or worse....that there are very weak laws pertaining to possession of prescription drugs so they nailed them on the equipoise which is a controlled substance

so did the shockwave therapy charge..

I think that you will have a really hard time finding it a criminal act to just have a shockwave machine. Unless you actually catch someone in the act how is it illegal and what possible penatlies could there be?

I think that it is illegal to have one on the grounds of a licensed training or racing facility in NJ, the simple fact that they had on there is the problem.

Sometimes I think the reasons for banning substances should be changed.

Enhancing performance thereby a menace to the betting public is the basic driving force. But EPO is dangerous for the animals. It can have some very serious side effects. I guess this holds little water in the racing world as racing itself is dangerous. I think a little more emphasis on what this does to innocent animals might be helpful. The animals want to run, they are bred to run, I dont think they should have a the human version of an RBC enhancing chemical in their bodies.

But what possible penalties could there be? Maybe a fine. It is not a criminal act.

you're right...just says a lot about the integrity of the operation IMO.

No one does but the problem is that as long as it helps there are going to be a certain segment that is going to try to take advantage of it. The problems in trying these issues in courts are that they are far from serious crimes in the grand scheme of criminal procedings and as such often dismissed as such. The judge in this case thinks that the penalties he handed out are harsh. Do you?

Integrity and harness racing are usually not used in the same sentence....and we are getting to be the same way in the TB business.

LOL... I first learned horses takin care of jug-heads. I love them.

I have serious doubts about how much it helps. I can see it hurting as much as it might help. The few controlled studies I have seen on this brings me to this conclusion.

In this state you can be thrown into jail for abuse of horses. Horses found underfed in fields can result in criminal proceedings against the owners of the land and horses. The racing entities that own the land could theoretically have a lawsuit thrown at them. Its a stretch, but lawyers can work wonders if prompted.

It works. Controlled studies are the same things that tell us that we should eat X then the next week tell us not to eat X and then a third controlled study will tell us that sometime X is good but some X is bad.
And if it did not work why did every biker take it?

So do I. First horse I learned to ride on as a kid was a retired harness racer.

Because it is Human EPO. The stuff injected into horses is not horse EPO. And it may lead to very bad and then very good performances in humans. It causes sludging, illicits immune responses against it in horses... I have seen no evidence that it works in enhancing performance. Lots of stuff was and is used that is legal in horses that may or may not enhance performance. Some of the crazy things I have seen and read about sounds like baseball superstitions. Except I dont think horses are superstitious. So the possible mental effect is negated.

How do you know?

Maybe you have heard of very good performances after injections. Have you heard of very poor performances after injections? Bad performances after taking a substance that is supposed to work are often pawned off on another reason.

Its the same old stuff. In theory it sounds good. So people try herbal remedy or something else. It works on 1 out of every 10 people. It has no effect on 8 out of 10. And ill effects on 1 out of 10. Guess which results get trumpeted... check out the infomercials.

Actually you have but just did not know it

I can think of a few years that were the golden age of EPO.

In many places still are...

Have you seen a race with a horse on EPO that performed poorly? You might have and did not know it.

You can do better than that

I will try some direct questions in order to do better:

1. Have you personally seen a horse injected with what you thought to be EPO?

2. If so, did the horse appear to run better or worse than what was expected, or could you not tell?

3. If you answered #2; Can you attribute the performance or lack thereof, to the drug you thought to be EPO?

4. Who is your head coaching cousin in the NBA?

I tried very hard. I am trying to learn stuff. Always. And I have a nasty habit of telling the truth, and trying to find out the truth. Or what appears to be reasonable.