Ness busted again at tampa

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis

This will be interesting to watch him explain the drop off over the next 30 days..

There doesn't have to necessarily be a drop off if they're shaking widely. Giving horses milkshake bullets -- essentially antacid tablets -- to lower lactic acid levels has gotten pretty sophisticated to the point where horses test just below the accepted CO2 level. But since they metabolize at different rates, not every horse necessarily will test under.

[Rudeboyelvis]

Originally Posted by Kasept

There doesn't have to necessarily be a drop off if they're shaking widely. Giving horses milkshake bullets -- essentially antacid tablets -- to lower lactic acid levels has gotten pretty sophisticated to the point where horses test just below the accepted CO2 level. But since they metabolize at different rates, not every horse necessarily will test under.

Understand Steve - what's interesting is that apparently the stewards notify the trainer with a warning if they test between 35 - 37 and issue fines above 37. So this horse came back with a 38 after running a well beaten 5th.

And that to me is the troubling aspect

I think the track itself is trying to do the right thing, but much like when the Doug Oneill story came to the surface during the Triple Crown last year, the only reports are of horses that tested positive, but "no worries, the horse wasn't a factor in the race".

I've never seen a story like this come out where one of his horses that wins first off the claim by open lengths, moving up 20 beyer points off a career top in the process, gets a positive. It is always these also-rans.

They've raided his barn on at least two occasions that I know of, so they had to have reason to suspect more than an innocuous 12.5 claimer running 5th barely over the limit to put him under 24 hour pre-race surveillance.

If it came out that these miraculous move ups were actually unreported positives, the bettors would flee in droves.

I've personally just accepted him as part of the landscape. Unfortunately, he affects my ROI because he has to be included (at ridiculously low prices) on a number of occasions where any other trainer would be left off, so in that respect he increases handle which is a positive for the track, hence the toothless attempts to ban him, yet keep up the appearance that they are proactively addressing him.
The bright side is that he is also remarkably human (sub 15%) on a number of angles where he is consistently overbet, and taking advantage of those races can make up for his impact on the game.

[Cannon Shell]

Based upon my experience at Tampa Bay Downs I am doubting that the Secret Service will be envious of Tampa's 24 hour a day surveillance. Unless a guy in a ski mask with neon syringes runs into the barn in a clown suit I'm guessing that things won;t be much different than usual.

The WORST thing tracks can do is repeatedly raid a guys barn. It is usually a waste of time to start with and after you have done it once you have effectively ensured that any illicit substances that may be used are never kept in the barn. The most famous incident of authorities stumbling onto something was the Biancone case and the truth is that the Vet thought that snake venom was legal in KY because it WAS legal in harness racing and still was up until recently. If he thought that it wasn;t legal they would have never found it.

The genius squad once came to my barn at Tampa and went through my office. One of the dolts came upon a bottle of Clenbuterol and oh boy he thought he was onto something. He said to me "I don't think this stuff is legal in the US". I told him if he thinks he has a scoop here he should contact the FDA because according to the box that it was in the clembuterol was manufactured in St. Louis and said "Approved by FDA". It has been legal in the US for about 5 years at that point. They got me for an improperly labeled bottle of bute powder that was prescribed to "Simon stable" as opposed to an individual horse. I actually had to go to a stewards hearing and got fined $100. I said how can I be fined for an improperly labeled medication when I don't have the authority to prescribe or label anything because I am not a licensed vet? Of course they wanted to read me some obscure rule which really didnt even address the situation. I just shook my head, took a $100 out of my pocket, put it on the desk and walked out.

[Seattleallstar]

Mark Shuman, the trainer formerly known as Dick Dutrow now under Rodriguez, there was a time Scott Lake couldnt lose either then he got labeled, juan carlos guerro out of parx