Tom Noonan blog

[cmorioles]

Two things...first, I don't think many really believe the Baffert horses died because of the thyroid stuff. It is just a convenient excuse. Two, I have no doubt horses are being given stuff they don't need way more often than they should. There is plenty of training via chemistry going on, and it is going to blow up in the sport's face eventually.

As for the horses with 17 shots, explained or not, that is never going to sound good to the public. Like it or not we need to worry about image as much as reality, and that image sucks.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

Two things...first, I don't think many really believe the Baffert horses died because of the thyroid stuff. It is just a convenient excuse. Two, I have no doubt horses are being given stuff they don't need way more often than they should. There is plenty of training via chemistry going on, and it is going to blow up in the sport's face eventually.

As for the horses with 17 shots, explained or not, that is never going to sound good to the public. Like it or not we need to worry about image as much as reality, and that image sucks.

The training via chemistry has nothing to do with banamine or vitamin B1 and calcium shots. It is like cracking down on crime by lowering speed limits.

I dont think that the public is ever going to believe the game is on the up and up. We more or less took steroid usage out of the game and it not only didnt make a dent it never even gets a mention. There is never going to be a 100% clean situation and the USADA and its tactics will assure that the perception survives. As long as any horses break down and trainers get positive tests or even short priced favorites lose or longshots come in the public will believe what they believe.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

Two things...first, I don't think many really believe the Baffert horses died because of the thyroid stuff. It is just a convenient excuse. Two, I have no doubt horses are being given stuff they don't need way more often than they should. There is plenty of training via chemistry going on, and it is going to blow up in the sport's face eventually.

As for the horses with 17 shots, explained or not, that is never going to sound good to the public. Like it or not we need to worry about image as much as reality, and that image sucks.

but we don't need to skip treating horses because people with no clue think that shots are a problem.
if racing really wanted to clean up, they'd quit letting repeat offenders stay in the game. change fine structures to percentage of money won, instead of a flat fee. there has to be consequences to make people stop doing what they're doing.
problem is, any time you find a test, someone comes up with a new drug that works til they get a new test.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by Danzig

but we don't need to skip treating horses because people with no clue think that shots are a problem.
if racing really wanted to clean up, they'd quit letting repeat offenders stay in the game. change fine structures to percentage of money won, instead of a flat fee. there has to be consequences to make people stop doing what they're doing.
problem is, any time you find a test, someone comes up with a new drug that works til they get a new test.

Agreed, there are a lot of things that could be done. Perception means a lot, and if the things you mention were done and made very public, people might actually believe the sport is at least trying to be clean.

Right now, most people that support the game don't even think it is clean...why should onlookers?

[cmorioles]

Nothing has a worse history than the Tour de France. But they stepped things up and are testing more often and for more advanced drugs. Cheaters are being severely punished.

Even though the Armstrong circus just closed recently, the Tour did an about face with regards to image. True or not, for now people believe it was a clean Tour in 2013. Horse racing could learn a thing or two from this.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

Nothing has a worse history than the Tour de France. But they stepped things up and are testing more often and for more advanced drugs. Cheaters are being severely punished.

Even though the Armstrong circus just closed recently, the Tour did an about face with regards to image. True or not, for now people believe it was a clean Tour in 2013. Horse racing could learn a thing or two from this.

The 7 people who still follow cycling? Or all the sponsors that bailed out and havent returned?

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

The 7 people who still follow cycling? Or all the sponsors that bailed out and haven't returned?

I'm talking globally, not in the US. You trying to say cracking down hasn't helped? Because it has, image wise. People and sponsors aren't going to flock back overnight.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

I'm talking globally, not in the US. You trying to say cracking down hasn't helped? Because it has, image wise. People and sponsors aren't going to flock back overnight.

I look at sports like the NFL and MLB which have had drug issues but do a great job in controlling the message. We are talking about image and racing has done a horrible job of protecting its image whether its problems are real, imagined, exaggerated or valid. Look at NBA players and ask yourself if they wouldn't benefit from PED's? You know why the NBA has virtually no PED problem? Because the league and players union keeps the entire process confidential.

People dont complain about or be outraged about things that it doesnt know about.

The other sports, when they have an issue, they come up with a answer that sounds good in the publics eyes and move along as fast as they can. Most of the time the public moves on as well. Racing seems stuck in this constant negative cycle and despite the nonsense that is supposedly going to save the sport nothing is going to stop horses from breaking down or requiring modern veterinarian care. There are always going to be people that push the limits.

This idea that we can break the sport down with some great purge and rebuild it again is pie in the sky bs. I'm sick of seeing training geniuses pop up out of nowhere and see the smug look on the owners who create them as they stroll down to the winners circle again. Most of us have no problem ridding the game as best as possible of these types via whatever legal means allowable. However what is being proposed is a blanket condemnation on all trainers, all vets and all modern medicine. It doesnt matter what you do, who regulates the sport or what the rules are if a horse breakdown at the top of the stretch in the Derby and causes a pileup no one is going to believe that anything has changed. Does that mean that changes shouldnt be made and that the "status quo" is fine? Of course not but Tom Noonan and others with no idea what they are proposing except "change" are hardly the right answer.

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

I'm talking globally, not in the US. You trying to say cracking down hasn't helped? Because it has, image wise. People and sponsors aren't going to flock back overnight.

I never knew they cracked down in that sport.