Irish Racing in chaos !!

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eric c

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The recent doping scandal has left Irish racing in chaos and huge question marks over the credibility of the sport according to esteemed Sunday Times journalist David Walsh [ Nov 30 ].
The Irish Turf Club may have been negligent as it seems to have ignored the fact that commercial quantities of Nitrotain were imported from Australia between 2002 and 2012. The Irish Department of Agriculture established that fact but the Turf Club seems to have had no idea the use of anabolic steroids was commonplace.
 
I know that David Walsh is a serious journalist but unfortunately the Sunday Times is behind a paywall and I prefer not to add to Rupert Murdoch's billions, so I haven't read the article you mention.

As for Irish racing being in chaos, I'm not sure if that is the right word at a time when on the surface things are on the up. I don't remember a time when there has been so many good horses in the country, both flat and jumps, attendances have started growing again and finances will improve next year.

By the time the Fenton case finally came to court the affair was already jaded news, but as a result of it we have moved from believing there was no serious drug problem in Irish racing to one where we know a crooked vet imported enough steroids for 62,000 doses and had the names of 12 trainers on a contact list, including Pat Hughes and Philip Fenton.

We also know that the main drug concerned, nitrotain, leaves the system within days and cannot be detected by standard race day tests. Because of this the Turf Club has had to introduce a programme of testing at trainers' premises but it is probably not enough. First, the number of tests being performed is minor enough. Second, the tests are only carried out on horses registered as being in training, which is a big loophole.

Current practice allows a horse to be out of training until days before it runs in a race, so injured horses, horses on a break and horses which have not yet run might all be under preparation for a race but are not subject to testing.

These are issues for all racing countries, but as a big exporter of horses Ireland needs to deal with them more than most. I don't know if the authorities have yet made the cultural shift needed.
 
I cant help but wonder in retrospect how many of Ireland's 14 winners at Cheltenham in March 2013 had received the benefit of anabolic steroids at some stage in their preparation. We will never know !!
A culture change is indeed needed but surely any ongoing investigation needs to be conducted by an outside agency --- The Turf Club has had blinders on for much too long.
 
Somehow i missed the article but will catch up with it. Its a good thing that Murdochs papers are not afraid to take on these sports issues. Others dont. Their exposure of FIFA is first class and the nailing of the Pakistani cricketers was excellent jounalism. Walsh is a top class journalist who kept on the Armstrong case too. Hes not usually wide of the mark
 
clivex said:
Somehow i missed the article but will catch up with it. Its a good thing that Murdochs papers are not afraid to take on these sports issues. Others dont. Their exposure of FIFA is first class and the nailing of the Pakistani cricketers was excellent jounalism. Walsh is a top class journalist who kept on the Armstrong case too. Hes not usually wide of the mark
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In the same vein - Paul Kimmage is one of the first to speak of the impact of PED's in rugby

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rug...creates-bigger-need-for-answers-30785080.html
 
The world may be in a state of chassis [Juno & Paycock] but the Irish Turf Club has questions to answer !!
They will continue to " Tell em Nothin" -- ignore the obvious because they have - up to now got away with it -- maybe the tide has turned.
The Sunday Times [David Walsh] Irish Field[Kevin Blake] and Brian O'Connor [IT] are on an expose mission -- in Ireland drugs have been rampant for 15 years !!
 
The important point about the "crooked vet " is that he was a Dept of Agriculture State vet not a vet in practice.
As such he operated under the radar as he would not have been listed as a practicing vet who signed passports, prescriptions etc.
That he has a brother a racehorse trainer, one who ran a hugely successful gambling yard is significant also as he could "get" results.
Horse people traditionally made horses perform to and beyond their maximum ability without too much consideration as to how they achieved it.
People are and were judged by their results. That good guys come second is poor consolation when winning is the name of the game.
If in any doubt ask the connections of Youmzain, thrice Arc runner up.
 
Are we saying Dylan Thomas, zarkava and sea the stars were all 'enhanced'? Not saying it couldn't be true but it's a big claim to suggest it's that endemic.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
No BennyB; not at all.
Just saying that winning is the name of the game for jockeys,trainers, punters.
Some punters win by laying to lose and a few of those had no conscience as to how their selected lost by doping or otherwise.
In the same way some, not all have little enough conscience as to how they win.
For Youmzain you could substitute Theatre World, Suny Bay or any other multiple runner up you wish.
 
eric c said:
I cant help but wonder in retrospect how many of Ireland's 14 winners at Cheltenham in March 2013 had received the benefit of anabolic steroids at some stage in their preparation. We will never know !!
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I've suspected that the Irish have always adopted something of a hear no, see no, speak no, attitude towards their cheating and chose not to look for it. It serves all the tangled web of mutual interests rather nicely not to find anything of course. At best this is negligence and at worst its collusion . This is 62,000 fecking doses for crying out loud (hidden) with 12 named trainers on the list. This is potentially on an industrial scale.

I'm curious to know how a thread about Nicky Henderson administering an anti bleeding agent to one modest mare at Huntingdon manages to generate 400 replies and 20 pages, and yet when the integrity of Irish racing is called into question, this one has limped past double figures.

I'll put it down to the forum being quieter these days and trust things will pick up when the jump season starts, as it's nearly a week (December 2nd) since the original post was made
 
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Warbler said:
I'm curious to know how a thread about Nicky Henderson administering an anti bleeding agent to one modest mare at Huntingdon manages to generate 400 replies and 20 pages, and yet when the integrity of Irish racing is called into question, this one has limped past double figures.

I'll put it down to the forum being quieter these days and things will pick up when the jump season starts
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i didn't notice anyone defending Philip Fenton on here.

it is also hard to debate speculation as to who is involved. Anyone guilty of abuse will be rightly punished.
 
I note also that Zarooni managed to bring down the wrath of 223 posts and 12 pages (many from Irish contributors), the opening post on that thread was simply entitled "shocking stuff" linked to a media piece and invited us to be indignant. It contrasts rather neatly with some of the apologies and attempts to deflect and dilute on this page when it's the integrity of Irish racing in the crosshairs. Whether attendances or prize money are on the increase in the context of the substantive detail are frankly immaterial. So too is the ridiculious notion that it's old news. Talk about deflection and selective spin

Just for context, the evidence from Ireland is on a much, much, larger scale, has dire implications for the Irish industry, and potentially shines a light into some very murky areas of collusion and corruption. It suggests that the whole edifice is rotten to the core. It's apparent that the Ministry doesn't trust the sports administrators, if this isn't evidence of a complete breakdown I don't what it is. This is FIFA territory.
 
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granger said:
i didn't notice anyone defending Philip Fenton on here.

it is also hard to debate speculation as to who is involved. Anyone guilty of abuse will be rightly punished.
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I noticed people downplaying it though (pretty difficult to defend someone found guilty) but the next best thing to do is dilute it by suggetsing it's no big issue

"By the time the Fenton case finally came to court the affair was already jaded news"

As regards the idea that you can't speculate for lack of evidence, in the first case it's the very lack of evidence that should have alarm bells ringing as it more than hints that the Irish ministry doesn't trust the racing authorities. I'd also remind you that by running out two threads with a similar lack of information, but where English based trainers were in the eye of the storm, restricted comments to just 627 posts (many from Ireland). As I said, it smacks of 'hear no, see no, speak no,' or selective commentary at best. The evidence from Ireland (62,000 doses) is on an industrial scale

Let's see if we can get to 20 shall we?
 
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Have to agree with all that warbler and fair play that a few Irish posters have brought this up. Whilst the post was fair in may ways, claiming its an issue for "all countries" is obvious but not all countries have a national vet with a tanker full of steroids. This is extraordinary, given his position. What's going on?

anyone have any idea who the trainers on the list are? Too risky to speculate?
 
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Granger. Just re read it but it's behind a pay wall and cannot be copied. There isn't anything which is nit said above but he's very hard with his comments and asks strong questions. The only difference from what is posted here is that there were 20 trainers initials on the list. Also Walsh is clear that he's very unlikely I be he only vet involved. He comes pretty close to saying its right across the board.
 
clivex said:
Granger. Just re read it but it's behind a pay wall and cannot be copied. There isn't anything which is nit said above but he's very hard with his comments and asks strong questions. The only difference from what is posted here is that there were 20 trainers initials on the list. Also Walsh is clear that he's very unlikely I be he only vet involved. He comes pretty close to saying its right across the board.
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My my initial comment was to Warbler Clive. He sounds like he has seen some document that I have not
 
Oh ok

I suppose the real issue is whether this is being pursued in the Irish media and will the authorities do anything? Has it got beyond-the sports pages? Is it too much of a small world where everyone knows each other just a bit too well to do anything about it?

sooner or later that list will be leaked and then that will raise a lot of issues.
 
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