Justify...the beat goes on

Valuist

EOG Master
To be clear, a nanogram is one-billionth of a gram. Is 300 per milliliter excessive? I have no idea. But I'm skeptical of any hatchet job I see from the NY Times, particularly written by Joe Drape, who has done a number of hatchet jobs on racing in the past 7-8 years.
 

BenoitPaire2

EOG Veteran
Are you really so delusional that you don’t think baffert cheats? I wish I was you... it’s clear who the cheaters are in horse racing, and this shows how they continually get away with it... just like NJ did for years with Navarro and now Servis.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
Are you really so delusional that you don’t think baffert cheats? I wish I was you... it’s clear who the cheaters are in horse racing, and this shows how they continually get away with it... just like NJ did for years with Navarro and now Servis.

I think all the top ones cheat. I also believe all the top college football and basketball teams cheat too.

Having said that, Mr. Expert, please enlighten the rest of us how significant a couple hundred nanograms are.
 

mr merlin

EOG Master
They ruled that the drug could have come from a weed growing wild where he trained(and ate), case closed, it's not the trainers fault the horse ate grass/weeds.
 

Foresthill

EOG Addicted
To be clear, a nanogram is one-billionth of a gram. Is 300 per milliliter excessive? I have no idea.

From drf.com: (writer: Matt Hagerty)

"The New York Times stated that the concentration of the substance (scopolamine) found in Justify’s sample was 300 nanograms per milliliter. Racing commissions consider a concentration above 75 nanograms as a positive, so that concentration would have triggered additional testing and a regulatory complaint. (Dr. Rick) Arthur (the equine medical director of the California Horse Racing Board) said that the CHRB followed standard protocols after the test result was returned."

Also from drf.com:

"Scopolamine is among a number of substances in racing and human sports that are regulated with threshold levels. The substance occurs naturally in certain plants but can have performance-enhancing effects if administered deliberately, due to the purported ability of the substance to open airways in the lungs. Routine drug assays performed by racing commissions across the United States include tests to detect the substance, and it would be uncommon for a sample containing the substance to return a negative result."

More from drf.com:

"The regulation of scopolamine has been problematic for decades, beginning in 1994, when five trainers in California, including Hall of Famers Ron McAnally and Richard Mandella, had horses test positive for the substance at the same time. The horses that tested positive were ultimately disqualified from their races, but fines for the positives were waived. The trainers claimed that their feed had been contaminated by jimson weed." (Scopolamine naturally occurs in jimson weed.)

"Cases against trainers for positives of environmental contaminants are extremely costly to litigate because of horsemen’s ability to claim in civil court that they were not at fault and were denied due-process protections during the commission’s adjudication process, where trainers are held to be the “absolute insurer” of a horse’s condition. The “absolute insurer” rule has been weakened over the past five years by several court cases, sapping commissions’ resolve to take the cases to court."
 

blueline

EOG Master
Mick Ruis could make this more interesting
https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...ible-over-justify-santa-anita-win/2303812001/


Owner and trainer of 2018 Santa Anita Derby runner-up Bolt d’Oro, Mick Ruis has a vested interest in Wednesday’s report that Justify tested positive for a banned substance after winning that race by 3 lengths and going on to win the Triple Crown.
Reached by telephone Thursday afternoon, Ruis said he is considering a lawsuit over the Santa Anita Derby result. Justify earned $600,000 as the winner of the Santa Anita Derby. Bolt d’Oro earned $200,000 as the runner-up.
Ruis accused the California Horse Racing Board of protecting Justify trainer Bob Baffert, a two-time Triple Crown winner and Hall of Famer.
“I think it warrants (a lawsuit),” Ruis said. “The rule was if there was any of that (drug) found, you were disqualified and you had to give up the purse money. Then they never tell anybody that they found out about it. …
“It’s just real disappointing how we have different sets of rules for different people there in Santa Anita. The horse tested positive. Why didn’t anybody know about it until now?”


Ruis said as a sign of protest he will scratch a horse of his, C Falls, from a $40,000 maiden special weight race Saturday at Los Alamitos. Baffert also has a horse, Fay Dan, entered in the race.
’It’s like, ‘Why do I want to run against someone who runs against different rules?’” Ruis said.

Ruis said he would “100 percent” support a national governing body to handle situations such as this one.
“It’s got to stop,” Ruis said. “People like to say this isn’t good for horse racing right now. I think it’s the best thing for horse racing right now. We all know things have been going on. We train next to people every day. Some people are afraid to say stuff. …
“We have our California Horse Racing Board, and a couple of them have Bob training for them? What is that? Is that not a conflict of interest or what?”
 

Foresthill

EOG Addicted
Ruis said he would “100 percent” support a national governing body to handle situations such as this one.
“It’s got to stop,” Ruis said. “People like to say this isn’t good for horse racing right now. I think it’s the best thing for horse racing right now. We all know things have been going on. We train next to people every day. Some people are afraid to say stuff. …
“We have our California Horse Racing Board, and a couple of them have Bob training for them? What is that? Is that not a conflict of interest or what?”

Nice post blueline. I thought I'd bold some of the post and underline and italicize some of the bolding.
 

blueline

EOG Master
he loves the teflon good guy family -man image which is why these guys always are parading the kids in front of the camera
 

Valuist

EOG Master
I have stopped. They got my last dollar of action in the Derby. Went to Arlington and Hawthorne for business this summer and refused to bet a dollar.

I can see not betting AP or Haw as the product isn't good. But tell me you aren't going to bet many dollars on Breeders Cup day.
 

blueline

EOG Master
if you want to plays races w/out " supertrainers" today for example in races with a purse of 10K or more there are pre-scratch 80 races w/out a "supertainer"

obviously pool sizes vary
 
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