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..