Look! Hell froze over !

[Riot]

There are different types of steroids - prednisone, prednisolone, etc. are of the anti-inflammatory class, the corticosteroids, and are not of concern here. You take these for asthma, lupus, some allergies, inflammatory arthritis, etc. Because they dampen down some immune system responses, a common side effect is infection when on long-term use.

The anabolic steroids increase cellular protein synthesis, and one of the side effects is muscle mass increase. Good if you have a horse who is older and thin, not doing well, a light-framed horse that was really wrung-out by a race, etc. That's a valid therapeutic use.

But just using them on a regular basis to make you bigger, stronger (like Bonds) should be illegal. These are the "designer" steroids made to escape detection by current testing capabilities.

So we should be clear we are talking only the "anabolic" steroids here, not all steroidal-class drugs.

[deltagulf]

well the u.s. should get up to par with the rest of the racing world.
and ban the use of drugs.

[AeWingnut]

Originally Posted by deltagulf

well the u.s. should get up to par with the rest of the racing world.
and ban the use of drugs.

the rest of the world is toothless and backward

[Riot]

Not if they judge the US by the guy in your avatar .....

[Riot]

Interesting article, about the testing for steroids that will begin next year for graded stakes.

Will be interesting to see what those horses look like.


http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleind...e.asp?id=39990

[Cannon Shell]

Putting a 30 day rule in will most likely lead to false positives and more trouble than its worth. The fact is that anabolic steroids are easily genetically engineered and made undetectable to current testing thus giving the cheaters one more advantage over the non cheaters. It will also give the elite trainers one more excuse to give their horses fewer and more spaced out races. "Cant run because we needed a some Winstrol, got to have another 22 days to clear the system."

[Riot]

Am I also understanding this correctly - that the Graded Stakes Committee will test for these substances, but it is still up to the respective jurisdictions to implement any penalties, if they so desire?

We need national standards.

And yes, I thought about the increased spacing of races, too ...