The irony of the general lament that drugs are ruining racing is ironic considering that horses in 2015 are probably running with less in their systems than at anytime in the last 30 years.
When I started training in 1999 in KY you could literally give 15 shots to a horse on race day. While it wouldnt be effective that quickly you could give a massive dose of painkillers and steroids 4 hours before the race. A large percentage of horses running in major races were getting milkshakes. And yet now all we hear is how dirty the game is and how drugged up the horses are despite the last 10 years having the largest overhaul of medication rules in the sports history.
Are things perfect? Of course not. Are there guys who are getting an edge? Absolutely. Do the rules need constant updating? Sure.
But the idea that things are worse than they ever have been just isnt correct. The rules are still not ideal as they are different in a lot of cases from state to state and lab to lab. Trainers and vet still dont have a firm idea of exactly what the rules are in many cases and the industry seems to prefer an adversarial relationship with horsemen as opposed to trying to come up with rules that are good for the horses and clear and easy to follow for the humans.
The biggest difference between now and 20 years ago is the information overload that we are subjected to. 20 years ago no one following NY racing would have paid 2 seconds attention to positive tests in New Mexico. A lot of the time you didnt even know a guy was suspended until a different name appeared in the program. We all act like things are so much worse but they arent. Its just that everything is a big deal now, greed and ignorance has caused the game to be overpriced and on the track the product just is not all that compelling.
I'm not saying that we can just look the other way when situations like this occur. However we need to think a little more critically and less conspiratorial.
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