NYSRWB Installs Strict Protocols for Belmont Stakes Horses

[HaloWishingwell]

Does anyone know the last time NYRA used this stakes barn?

[TouchOfGrey]

Joe Drape strikes again:

Tougher Drug Rules Ordered at Belmont, With Extra Scrutiny on O’Neill

The steps taken by the authorities also include a set of specific safeguards directed at I’ll Have Another’s trainer, Doug O’Neill, who has racked up multiple violations in a handful of states and was suspended for 45 days last week by California regulators for yet another violation. O’Neill will not have to serve the suspension until after the Belmont.

Among the requirements for O’Neill, according to a confidential e-mail obtained by The New York Times, are that his horses cannot in any way be treated “without a board investigator present,” and that he should not allow treatment of any of his horses “by mouth or in feed without conferring with a board investigator, who will first log the treatment and discuss the reason(s) for treatment.”

O’Neill must also provide veterinary records for I’ll Have Another and any other horses he may be running over those days at Belmont “no later than 10 a.m.” each day after any treatment.

Reached late Wednesday afternoon, O’Neill said he had not been notified of the rules that appear to be set out for him, but he said he had no problem with following them.

“I’ll comply,” he said by phone. “I understand they are trying to protect the horse, the betting public and the integrity of the sport.”

[Sightseek]

I've never been a big O'Neil fan but I think his appoach to all of this scrutiny and extra standards being put in place has been really outstanding.

Certain other trainers would have been whining to everyone about being a victim.

[TouchOfGrey]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

I've never been a big O'Neil fan but I think his appoach to all of this scrutiny and extra standards being put in place has been really outstanding.

Certain other trainers would have been whining to everyone about being a victim.

You got that right, babe.

[Honu]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

I've never been a big O'Neil fan but I think his appoach to all of this scrutiny and extra standards being put in place has been really outstanding.

Certain other trainers would have been whining to everyone about being a victim.

How else is Dougie going to respond to the fact that NY wants to make sure that if this horse wins the TC that there is no bad test, given his track record and all. Most other trainers dont have as many infractions as Doug, besides the obvious guys.

[3kings]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

I've never been a big O'Neil fan but I think his appoach to all of this scrutiny and extra standards being put in place has been really outstanding.

Certain other trainers would have been whining to everyone about being a victim.

I agree but I think his disposition is being helped by the fact he thinks he has the best horse.

[TouchOfGrey]

DRF|Belmont Stakes 2012: Security barn irks trainers

ELMONT, N.Y. – The requirement that all horses in the Belmont Stakes reside in a detention barn for 72 hours before the race has angered a number of trainers in the race who say that those staffing the barn lack necessary horse sense and that the atmosphere is not conducive to horses performing at their optimum.

The latest contretemps occurred Wednesday afternoon, when the security staff at the barn told Doug O’Neill, trainer of I’ll Have Another, and Michael Matz, trainer of Union Rags, that they could not cook their oats before feeding their horses. O’Neill, who has outwardly maintained an even keel over all the hoops he has been required to jump through leading up to this race – no nasal strip for his horse, moving to the security barn, exhaustive requirements for licensing for his personnel – finally had enough and threatened to pull his horse from the race, pointing out that I’ll Have Another needs his oats cooked to avoid colic.

Minutes later, permission was granted to cook oats, so Oatgate was averted.

“They yell about Lasix and things like that, but the biggest problem is uniformity,” Matz said Thursday morning. “Why can’t we have the same rules for the Triple Crown races? They didn’t have this for the Derby. They didn’t have this for the Preakness. Why are they making a big deal here?”

[pointman]

What a d'bag Sabini came off as on ATR yesterday. Steve, great job expressing some common sense and asking some tough questions which made Sabini run behind the cloak of he can't comment due to pending investigations.

[ateamstupid]

Watchmaker, of all people, summed this ridiculousness up well the other day.

As a racing fan and bettor, what I find especially ridiculous about all of this is, without taking it all the way up to DEFCON 1, this Belmont Stakes was going to be the cleanest race in New York this year, anyway. Really, outside of the movies, what thief would try to steal when everyone in the world is watching? It’s all the other races, the non-Belmonts, the cheaper races that attract less attention and scrutiny, and thus might crack the door open to wrongdoing, that need the higher level of security. But of course, cheap races don’t get Belmont Stakes-level security because it costs too much. And that is why this all smacks of grandstanding."

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by HaloWishingwell

Does anyone know the last time NYRA used this stakes barn?

There were general detention barns for 5 years -- not a stakes-specific detention barn -- whose use ended after the Belmont meet in July 2010.

There is a stakes horse barn at Saratoga for ship-ins.

[OldDog]

Dale Romans, the trainer of Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Dulluhan, was upset about having to move to the detention barn.

"They're basically saying we're all a bunch of crooks and they're gonna make sure we're not gonna do anything illegal," Romans said. "These decisions are made by people who probably never stepped foot on the backside."

http://www.drf.com/news/belmont-stak...ther-alpha-out

[pmayjr]

If there wasn't so much scrutiny on O'neill maybe there'd be a conspiracy theory about these new rules being put in place and Alpha conveniently coming down with a fever and scratching ;p