Doping in horse racing?

I don't know how dirty is now but it used to be ridiculous. Those horses were pumped full of more crap than the entire Tour.

The expression "piss like a race horse" refers to drug testing.

Yeah, they got one horse, but he denied everything, answering all questions with "Nay, nay". Ba-doom-boom-dah.

yeah, it's dirty. they test at the big events but, just like in other sports, you can mask or use undetectable stuff. and, in your day to day racing where testing isn't prevalent at all, it's rampant. it's probably even more rampant overseas in europe and the middle east.

the reason you probably haven't heard of a horse failing is because you don't follow the sport and no horse (at least in the US) that was big (i.e., triple crown race contender) has failed. but if you do a google search for doping and horse racing, you'll get quite a few hits.

If you have access to HBO, this week's episode of "Real Sports" has a pretty lengthy segment on doping in horse racing. The penalties for doping horses appear to be remarkably light, and doping of horses in the U.S. (but not Europe) appears rampant.

i don't agree that it's any less rampant in europe. they seem to (generally) test more/better over there but, honestly, that doesn't mean much to me. since we're track people, we are very much aware that there are plenty of drugs that are undetectable or can be masked. europe is, historically, where endurance doping is at its most cutting-edge.

Butte (sp?) and Lasix.

The latter is a dieuretic.

Big issue in the 70s.

Owners are hesitant to dope up their horses because of the investment, ongoing cost, and potential stud fees after retirement.

800 dude wrote:

I don't know how dirty is now but it used to be ridiculous. Those horses were pumped full of more crap than the entire Tour.

The expression "piss like a race horse" refers to drug testing.

I thought it was "piss like a Russian race horse." Get it, Russian - rushin'?

IMHO, I think it's hard for them to hold the needle to inject themselves. I mean, it really doesn't have any fingers or thumbs, the last time I checked. I dunno though.

The bloodhorse website states that all the horses passed the test for Epogen.

There are many drugs used in horse racing but times have changed from the days when heroin and cocaine were common supplements.

Most of the drugs used tend to fall in the performance normalizing range. You can add painkillers to a crippled horse and make him run as if he is sound but it won't actually make his legs move faster.

Bicarbonate loading was the big thing for a while but now a tCO2 test is done on every horse.

Keep in mind that overseas racing is much cleaner. They don't allow anything and routinely test before races as well.

I'm involved in horse racing in Australia and it is very clean.

Stewards will raid stables in the middle of the night. They test at every opportunity and it is illegal to give the horse ANY type of treatment within 24hrs of a race.

Bicarb is the only regular test that produces any positives these days. Even then it is usually just above the allowable limits. Anti inflamms and lasix are no-nos here.

The winner and placegetters are pretty much always tested post race. Any horse who runs poorly will also be tested. Pre race testing also occurs regularly.

Jockeys are also tested regularly even during morning track work.

Horses will be withdrawn from a race based on suspicion of any illegal practises even without proof.

Imagine, big drug loading in horse racing and trainers only serving 3 months suspension and sometimes just a fine. Why so hard on the athletes? when they take drugs just for recovery purposes. is it fair?

Unbelievable how dirty those horses have become. They've no morals, none of them. I'm glad I got out when I did.

If you're ever down Acapulco way, drop by and say hello. I'm the guy with the dark glasses sitting on the beachfront smoking Havanas. The one with the horsey face.

mopak wrote:

I'm involved in horse racing in Australia and it is very clean.

Stewards will raid stables in the middle of the night. They test at every opportunity and it is illegal to give the horse ANY type of treatment within 24hrs of a race.

Bicarb is the only regular test that produces any positives these days. Even then it is usually just above the allowable limits. Anti inflamms and lasix are no-nos here.

The winner and placegetters are pretty much always tested post race. Any horse who runs poorly will also be tested. Pre race testing also occurs regularly.

Jockeys are also tested regularly even during morning track work.

Horses will be withdrawn from a race based on suspicion of any illegal practises even without proof.

Call me dumb but why do they test the jockeys??

Call me dumb but why do they test the jockeys??[/quote]

OK. You're dumb.

I have no idea why they test the jockeys.

There is very regular testing here in Canada. Horses are randomly sent to what is called the retention barn 24 before a race so nothing can be done. Soda laoading was a regular occurance but is easlily caught, though, equally easily masked if you know how. Lasix, which stops bleeding into the lungs, is legal here and has given many horses that could not otherwise run a successful career. It is not thought to be a performance enhancer. Recently, in the standardbred ranks here, modified amphetamines have been noted, but are also easily caught.

Jockeys are tested as are licensed track riders to ensure they are not drunk or drugged while in control of 500kg beasts travelling at 60kmph. Of course in a race any performance enhancer used by the smaller member of the athletic duo is also just plain cheating.

Lasix is banned here in Australia. Bleeders are suspended for 6 months after the first episode and life after the 2d.

Not surprisingly more than a few banned bleeders have found their way to Nth America.