What To Do Here - Davy Russell

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From The Racing Post - this could open up a can of worms.


By racing post staff 3:43PM 16 SEP 2010
DAVY RUSSELL, who has been teetotal for 15 years, failed a breath test at Listowel on Thursday.
Russell was taken in for a random breath test and found to be 40 points over the riding limit of 35 micrograms of ethanol per 100 millimetres of breath.

The jockey, who used mouth wash before leaving Ballybunion for the racecourse, said before going out for his first ride: "I'm not a drinker. I haven't had a drink for 15 years."
Russell is the third jockey to fail a breath test in Ireland since spot checks were introduced in 2007. Paul Carberry was the first and Michael Darcy the second.
More to follow . . .
 
Good to see Sportinglife is ontop of this story - an updated version...

By Nick Robson, Press Association Sport
Davy Russell, who has not had a drink for 15 years, failed a breath test at Listowel on Thursday.
Russell, who principally rides for Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud, was randomly tested and recorded a level twice the allowed amount, registering 75 micrograms of ethanol per 100 millimetres of breath. The limit is 35.
The jockey claims that using mouthwash after brushing his teeth caused him to fail the test but as he arrived at the track early he was able to take a second test - which was negative - and take his two mounts on the card.
"I don't drink, the last time I had a drink was 15 years ago and that was the only time - I have no interest in drink." said Russell.
"Fortunately because I'd arrived here early they allowed me take a second test, half an hour after the first one, and that proved negative.
"It has to bring into question the whole system of breath-testing jockeys.
"So if I'd been a bit later to the track I wouldn't have been allowed to ride because if you fail within half an hour of your ride you can't ride."
 
The Racing Post story is still up as "Russell Failing Breath Test" - when clearly the info is out there that he actually has not.
 
Being pedantic, but Sportinglife weren't actually on top of it - all the Sporting Life stuff is drawn from PA - the Press Association - who filter stuff worldwide, and Sporting Life take their feed. It's pretty handy, it has to be said, because PA are generally on the ball with most things, and are especially good when it comes to filing racing updates, injuries, etc...
 
Granger - hate to frighten anyone who likes swishing the stuff round, but there was a recent, sensible article which said there'd been an upturn in cancer of the mouth due to people swishing the stuff for the prescribed minute, then not rinsing well. There's a lot of alcohol in the washes and unlike drinking, where the stuff goes through the mouth pretty quickly (in some cases, without touching the sides!), mouthwashes are supposed to be swished around for a while, then rinsed out. So, if you use them, rinse out thoroughly after you've swished!
 
There will always be problems with some things. For example, zero tolerance for drink driving doesn't work for diabetics who produce trace elements of something remarkably similar to alcohol.
 
Yes, poor wee soul's been banged up a bit. Perhaps a real wee dram would help now!

Yes, I only just heard that weird thing about diabetics, Cantoris, from one of the many colleagues - all men - I work with who have the condition. The plumber who's working at my flat today also has it and said something about that, too. It's amazed me how very common a complaint it is - particularly, it seems, among men.
 
Davy Russell, who took a fall from Mister Two Fifty in the Kevin McManus Beginners Steeplechase, was taken to Tralee hospital to be treated.According to Dr. Patricia Houlihan Russell had injuries to the right of side of his chest, his right upper limb and right upper back.
The latest word at 6.20 from the hospital was that Russell was being evaluated and undergoing x-rays. He is in a stable condition.
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krizon said:
Yes, I only just heard that weird thing about diabetics, Cantoris, from one of the many colleagues - all men - I work with who have the condition. The plumber who's working at my flat today also has it and said something about that, too. It's amazed me how very common a complaint it is - particularly, it seems, among men.
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Diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, is on the increase in a big way, largely down to the big rise in unhealthy diets and/or the increase in bodyweight. At a family dinner a year or two ago the conversation turned to this as three of my aunts/uncles on my paternal side had developed diabetes within the last couple of years. My eldest uncle is a now retired but former top cardiologist, he was one of those who now suffers from the disease. When I asked him was this a possible family thing (since the three of them have developed it) he laughed himself silly and said I was in very little danger as I was so small and petite - he said the main reason the three of them have it now is down to them having been overweight for years - that said, the three of them aren't really what you'd call largely overweight for people in their 60s/70s, certainly none of them is even remotely close to being obese, or even that large. I doubt a lot of people realise what a risk there is of developing it in later life.
 
Shadow Leader said:
My eldest uncle is a now retired but former top cardiologist, he was one of those who now suffers from the disease. When I asked him was this a possible family thing (since the three of them have developed it) he laughed himself silly and said I was in very little danger as I was so small and petite
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I hope he was a better cardiologist than a dibetic expert. As a type 2 diabetic myself, it is genetic and weight simply brings it on. A diabetic produces a limited supply of insulin. Insulin coats the blood cells and allows sugar to be infused into the cells. tHat sugar is the energy for your body. that's why lethargy is one of the first signs of diabetes. People put it down to the harder working lifestyle. Bollox. 10% of the Irish population is diabetic and only 2% are diagnosed. It is considered an epidemic in Ireland and all meds and testing equipment is free, as are all blood testing and clinic visits. The more weight you have, the more wastage of limited insulin being pumped around your body. So wieght is a key part of fighting it. When the body can't push the sugar through the cells, it dumps it in the kidneys and that's why an undiagnosed diabetic does critical damage to their kidneys. As a specialist said to me, the kidneys are a bunch of pumps. When one breaks, it's gone for good. That means fewer pumps to damage and the more you hurt them the quicker you will have problems. Diabetics also need to be careful because a build up of sugar damages the walls of blood vessels, the smallest of which are in your eyes. Lovely.

My father suffers from it and he's a stick. All his brothers have it and some are like a stick, others a little heavier, none severely overweight. It is genetic, just like heart disease or cancer. It doesn't mean you can't get it if your family doesn't have it. Just helps your chances. Diabetes is the ultimate advertisement for healthy living. You eat heathily and exercise and you come off your meds, like I did. but eventually you will go back on them.
 
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My guess is the statements about diabetes in the last two posts don't contradict each other.
 
I'd better start shifting this blubber, then, and pronto! No diabetes in our family, although we fall off our perch fast enough with almost anything respiratory, dodgy tickers and dicky kiddleys. I am disgracefully overweight, down to greed and sloth, no 'glands' to blame it on.

Thing is, some of the chaps - and by now I'm figuring there must be at least 10 I've found out about in the last couple of years - are not, and never have been, what I'd call overweight. Okay, might need to shift a few pounds, but most people should do that. And many were living what they thought was quite healthily - no smokers among them, very little drinking, and nothing over-naughty about their diets. However, since they've been on their diabetes-friendly diets, they've all lost weight (easily 2st right away) and do look much trimmer. There again, I guess 2st is still quite a bit to lug around, doing nothing, and they'd have been better off without having to get diabetes in order to dump it.

Cantoris, sorry to add you to an ever-increasing list of diabetic chaps! But your explanation is really informative. It's explained why diabetics need to be concerned about their eye health, too. I didn't know what the correlation was, but now I do. Good old forums - we learn something all the time.

Luke - you're not going to say that Davy's been on a bottle-a-day Listerine habit, are you? Shocking!
 
The original headline on the Racing Post read - Teatoatler Davy Russell... This was later changed and the word teatoatler was dropped. Is it in correct to refer to someone as a teatotaler?
 
I think we can take it from Lukes "Hmmmm" that Davy is being a little imaginative with the truth..............which may come as a shock......or not.. hmmmmm. :whistle:
 
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