McLaughlin with 3 positives; Gets 30 day ban..
 

MCLAUGHLIN HORSES ALLEGEDLY TEST FOR BANNED SUBSTANCE IN KY
By Ray Paulick

http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/mc...bstance-in-ky/

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has allegedly had three horses test positive for ipratropium bromide, a short-acting bronchodilator classified by the Association of Racing Commissioners International as a Class 3 drug. The positive test allegations, conducted at the University of Florida testing laboratory, have not been confirmed in split-sample tests.

Oops

I have a bunch of vials sitting right here - it's a common human asthma drug. It is used in horses (nebulized, as for humans) for heaves (bronchodilator), but it's effect is awfully short-acting. Be interesting what the plasma shows. Wonder if he was using it day of race rather than clenbuterol, as it's less likely to test?

You would think it (Atrovent) wouldn't be very good as a race day as it is far better a drying agent than bronchodialtor and takes longer to work. It is not a direct bronchodilator but inhibits or poisons the nervous system responsible for bronchoconstriction. When combined with it's ability to dry out secretions you can see why it is the drug of choice for COPD (bronchitis + emphysema) in humans. Jeff from So Cal uses another product that is very similar for special circumstances....

Could be he had badly heavey horses (it's bad in KY in the fall, even for animals) The withdrawal for clenbuterol in KY is 3 days. Ipatropium is so short-acting (effective 15-20 min, lasts 4-6 hours) I wonder if they just gave it raceday morning as they had to take the clenbuteral away from the horses w/COPD. Interestingly, I couldn't find a withdrawal time for this drug in KY regs. May be there, I couldn't find it.

Hmmm... No spewing or vitriol about McLaughlin based on this? Stunning. Only seems to confirm that there is a demarcation of sorts about who is villainous in the taking of edges...

vitriol? demarcation?

It doesnt surprise me though.. I really dont trust any trainer, especially a "top" trainer. They all cheat... its the nature of the game and I guess it always was.

the mad genious told me and some other RTIP students, "the top ten trainers have the top ten chemists" eventhough he was basically just stating the obvious.

If you want to make money in this game, you have to find an edge. Its pretty sick and its a main reason horse racing will continue to decline like it has been.

Steve-

You'd have to figure that K-Mac's "good guy" image is what keeps him from any negative remarks here or anywhere else. I am no vet but from a minimal amount of research and based on the remarks made here by Riot and the Doc it would seem that the medication in question is somewhat innocuous and its effect marginal.

I hope, as a McLaughlin fan, that it is something minor or that the split-sample will exonerate him. If not, then he simply got caught.

After the fact though, it makes me feel a bit more satisfied that Bluegrass Princess and Eye of Taurus won, if indeed it was that day that they were treated with this alleged medication. I thought both looked impossible.

NT

I don't look at it as villifying anyone anymore, it's simply levelling the playing field to me.

Imagine if you are a 100m sprinter and you had all the god given talent in the world and then you look over to the next lane and you know the guy shouldn't beat you but does, it would be very tempting not to think about leveling the playing field then.

He has MS, he gets a pass.

The only thing that surprised me was it took them so long.

I agree with 95% of this post. It's a fine line between making them feel good and making them not feel. That line is blurred and it depends on your personal definition of cheating, or the current guidelines in the state your horse runs in. One trainers idea of cheating is another trainers idea of quality horsemanship. I suggest most trainers think they are 100% legit. Mostly because they arent doing anything currently which specifically violates the state guidelines were they are racing.

Med's at the "Mountain" are completely different then meds at Belmont. So is the trainer at the 'mountain" a cheater? In NY yes in WV most likely not.. it's a mess leave it at that.

As gamblers we recognize the juice horses immediately we see them on the way up and we see them on the way down.

good to see Todd Pletchers barn heating up again. Warms my heart

Brilliant Son?

If this were Dutrow...

Oh boy.

Dutrow by ALL accounts is an elite horseman, when he is on his game. While is certainly has had substantial issue on and off the track, he will never be just a chemist. That doesnt mean I exclude him as a cheater just that I recognize he could suceed in the industry tomorrow if you couldn't give a horse a vitamin nevermind meds.

Is there a better interview or more open personality in the sport?

I would agree on all counts and yes, he is a very interesting and "real" character in a sport clearly lacking in personalities.

I may be in the minority, but from the interviews you can see a guy who seems to have a big heart for the things he loves...

It also would have been incredibly easy for him to walk away from his daughter when her mother was killed and let her fall into the state system. I really respect that he did the right thing.

To paraphrase Chris Rock, "You're supposed to take care of your kids."

The guy can flat out train horses. So I assume he knows when and where a horse is hurting. Which unfortunately can lead to racing a horse with a "fixed" issue. It's a fine line..One minute you are "House" the next minute you are headed to the Big House..

I am just curious, if drugs weren't in the equation and were wiped off of the earth who would be the best Trainer/horseman today and who would be the best Trainer statswise from a winning % point of view?

seriously how in the world could you know any of this to be true?

Cannon Shell.

Yeah I put that one right on the tape for you to tap in.

Edit: I'm sure Cannon shell's win % would perk up from the fall out. He's had a couple 2nds I think that may have turned out to be wins...

My win % has far more to do with my willingness to actually run horses and the distinct lack of talent of most of said horses than it does about drugs. It has been pretty common knowledge that they were giving something to the horses on the way to the paddock. There are a few on this board who I told this to years ago.

Well when you hear it from HoF quality owners and trainers and ALL are 100% in accord and you respect the opinions as such then I believe it to be true.
You know like when you go to a Dr and he tell you have virus and and not a batercial infection and he has been right 20 times before so you respect his professional opinion. Or when you hire a trainer and he tells you that yearling is well bred and perfectly made you respect his opinion because he has had success in the past.. It's called trust and credibilty.. I trust the people who have sang the praises of Dutrow and is horsemanship. They all have said on his game he is nothing short of ELITE.

BTW this doesn't mean he hasn't been a cheater or won't cheat again.

But as for knowning if the guy can train..I am 100% positive few if any are better..

Steve: I think another big reason for the diminishing lack of interest in response to trainers cheating is the large amount of trainers doing it and getting caught with positives. Its getting to be like baseball where the trainers not using illegal substances are probably in the minority. Its almost become the norm for trainers to use, just to be able to "keep up" with the guys who are notorious for illegal positives and gaudy winning percentages.

Exactly the same thing in baseball. At some point you have to wonder as a professional baseball player, do I stay clean and get penalized for it and lose out on millions of dollars from big performance induced contracts? Or do I do everything I can to "keep up"?

Gary Stevens?

I was thinking Jamie Sanders.

How do you get horses with talent? The HorseTalent Depot?

hall of fame owners? that is new.

Dutrow has been has no track record where he doesnt have medication problems. Any "theory' about his horsemanship is merely speculation often by people who have a biased view of the situation.

Saying that a guy can really train when he chooses not to cheat is hardly a resounding endorsement except in the morally bankrupt world of horseracing.

Trick rich owners into thinking I will cheat if I want to but can really train if i choose not to cheat?

how about same deal, different day

Being able to navigate the drug portion of handicapping has been become a skill itself.

I always wanted to know the answer to this question from a Trainer like yourself Chuck, Trainers that stick within the rules....what goes on in the head of horsemen when you line up against a Aubrey Cody or Brett Calhoun horse before the gates even open? Is it one of exasperation at times...

Chuck: You are like the Derek Jeter of horse racing. Good for you to have morals!

I know one former jock, Mark Guidry is atleast 1 ahead of Stevens at the moment.

On what basis are you inferring that Brett Calhoun is a cheater?

NT

I'm inferring he has had extraordinary win %'s at one or more times during his career. I think you can use common sense to speculate how he does it, at worse raising a Spockian eyebrow is healthy IMO when one pumps money into this game on a regular basis.

Putting BWS and Autrey on the same plateau is ridiculous. Simply a high winning percentage should not earn a trainer allegations of cheating, especially when you deal with the type of stock Calhoun does.

NT

Let's put it this way, with what we have seen recently any Trainer who has gaudy numbers will be looked at with some interest. I agree with you on this point, the few that play fairly shouldn't be penalyzed from a perspective viewpoint, but the reality now is most look at the game with some scepticism.

The term 'juicer' is so mainstream now that everyone who follows the game will probably come up with the same 5 Trainers in their minds right away.