Hall of Famer Jack Van Berg tells it like it is to Ed Fountaine of the NY Post when it comes to meds, legal or otherwise. Nothing surprising to anyone who follows racing except for the fact that he’s SAYING it.

“These horses, they can’t say no,” Van Berg told The Post from his barn at Hollywood Park. “They’re getting steroids from the time they are babies. They don’t have time to grow and mature like they should.

Just open your eyes and look around. You know how many trainers would still be winning races if they couldn’t use medication? Some of them would starve to death. The veterinary bills are as big as the day money (training bills) for a lot of them. You watch and check how much these veterinarians are making on the backstretch now. They’re becoming wealthy.”

He’s certainly not the first and definitely will not the be the last to speak out on the rampant over medication of race horses, but he’s the first trainer I’ve seen to speak out so strongly.

Posted by dana on Jan 28 2008    
Filed Under: Jack Van Berg, 2008, Greed, Drugs, You Tell 'em!

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Interestingly there was a story in the personal finance section of Market Watch about professional horseplayers. The subject was treated respectfully and within the context of investing.

There’s also a video that features DRF’s Dan Illman explaining how handicapping is just as analytical as researching the market. As always, Illman is a much needed well spoken ambassador for this area of our beloved sport. Well done!

Posted by dana on Dec 08 2007    
Filed Under: Mainstream Media, Dan Ilman, You Tell 'em!, 2007, Handicapping, Gambling

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Sophie’s Salad at Saratoga, can also be found on the menu at Mesa Grill! (Sarah K. Andrew)

The minute I don’t post for a day or two all kinds of things come up that I want to point out, or how to turn several small posts turn into one really long post.

Back in Action:
NTRA has several items of note on those who are back in action, of one kind or another. Great Hunter & Spring at Last are back in training and Rags to Riches is preparing to start training in Cali.

You’ll have one more time to ask yourself “Will He Shine?” as he will retire after his next start in the De Francis Dash.

In a Back in Action two-fer, or perhaps a Back in Action one-fer and a Back in Cali one-fer, one of my favorite turfers, Obrigado, is set come back after a few months off on Saturday at Hollywood Park with Patrick Valenzuela up.

Following-up:
Slew’s Tizzy showed in Commonwealth Turf Stakes. He seemed to like to surface and started to come on in the end. If it were me I would probably run him on the turf again or perhaps send him out to Cali to see how handles the various synthetic tracks.

Around the blogosphere:
Speaking of synthetic tracks, Teresa at Brooklyn Backstretch, one of the only folks I’ve seen to consistently raise this worthy issue, has a post on the “big toxic waste dump” factor.

John at The Race is Not to the Swift has a couple of posts of note. One has two interesting videos of Aqueduct… one that documents some shuddered off areas and one that’s a bit of profile and/or ‘whatever happened to’ as told by those who are there. This post generated some discussion about NYRA that’s worth checking and perhaps chiming in if you’re interested.

His other post that has several video clips of sires being shown off at stallion tours. The one of Giacomo, no doubt preparing for his work day, is somewhat alarming (perhaps impressive?) yet also giggle worthy with ridiculous background music and angle of the video. All in a days work!

Valerie at Foolish Pleasure has a nice homage to Octave, a horse that no doubt didn’t get the respect she deserved being R2R’s stable mate.

This also generated some interesting discussion about how the current graded stakes system fails to recognize horses like Octave, among other things. If you’d like to see the American Graded Stakes Committee do something about that, and I know you would, go here and leave a comment.

I Rarely Disagree:
A few opinion pieces and interviews from 2 folks I rarely disagree with… Steve Haskin does not disappoint in his Talkin’ Horses transcript that’s full of great insight and commentary.

Dan Liebman has 2 nice editorials of note, one suggesting that there are plenty of ways in which tracks can work together to better each other and one that discusses a new heartening direction in marketing for the BC.

Finally, I had a business lunch today at Mesa Grill, owned by noneotherthan Celebrity Grill Master and Horse Owner extroadinare, Bobby Flay. Sophie’s Salad was on the menu but no Catmosphere burger… probably not a bad thing.

Posted by dana on Nov 14 2007    
Filed Under: Dan Liebman, You Can Help, You Tell 'em!, Sarah K. Andrew, De Francis Dash, Steve Haskin, NYRA, Marketing, Rags to Riches, Retirement, Slew's Tizzy, Great Hunter, 2007, Octave, Racing

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Not sure how many of you read either Dan Illman’s or Steve Crist’s blog at DRF, but they’re both pretty great. Not only do each of them have their own distinct blogging style, they both have active comments and and conversations.

Today’s Formblog (Illman) has a particularly great discussion about synthetic track, breakdowns, drugs and the breeding industy. Here are some snippets:

A commentor writes:

It’s hard to buy into the idea that polytrack is saving horses when you review the recent Arlington meet, for example which saw several breakdowns. Also, there were many other horses vanned off after their races at Arlington and Del Mar, who may not factor into the fatality statistics. Polytrack is not the answer. The obvious answer, as we’ve discussed on this blog ad nauseam, is getting tough on the drug problem in the sport… not just on illegal substances, but the levels of approved legal ones. When a horse is loaded up on pain killers (like Cobra venom!!), there is nothing stopping that horse from going all out because they can’t feel the stress being placed on their joints.
…
executives to form a coalition aimed at eliminating drugs on a nationwide scale. Heck, it’s been done in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Why not here?

The answer is simple. The breeding industry won’t allow it to happen, and the racetracks won’t allow it to happen. A national no-tolerance policy would drastically reduce, at least in the short term, the number of racers in the United States. Valuable stallions that pass on bleeding or other unsoundness issues would be rendered worthless. Less racers means less breeding prospects (mares, stallions). Less breeding prospects means less money from public auction. Less racers means smaller fields. Smaller fields means less handle. And, that isn’t acceptable from an industry standpoint.

[he continues on for several more paragraphs with some more good points]

And that’s just part of the conversation… it’s worth it read the entire thing in context.

Over at Equinometrics, a blog you should be reading if your not, in his BC wrap up post Marshall makes this great point:

Hooray for the connections of Hard Spun who took a risk by entering him in the Classic despite the fact that he did not appear to be a 10 furlong horse and seemed to be a cut below the other top 3yos. His $1,000,000 earned for second place was as much as the entire purse for the Dirt Mile.

I know I thought they were idiots for not entering my beloved Hard Spun in the Dirt Mile. Guess who was wrong about that: me! (and a few other folks) Only 3 of my 10 voters thought he should be in the Classic. Hats off to you 3! Wienie note: I have to rig that Poll Archive page up a little better… it’s on my to do list.

And last but not least… are you sick of reading about the BC? What kind of champion are you, weakening in the final furlong… if you can hang on til the wire go read Randy Moss’ BC blog post. His on air charm is 100% transferable to his blog and he’s always got a good insight or two.

Posted by dana on Nov 05 2007    
Filed Under: Greed, Dan Ilman, Randy Moss, You Tell 'em!, Injury, Hard Spun, 2007, Breeding

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Bobby Trussell, co-owner of Walmac farm, has a nice opinion piece at Bloodhorse that I just saw today (it’s been up for about a week).

The piece, entitled Culture Change, highlights changes in the racing culture as it pertains to frequency of racing. One thing he rightfully highlights is the outrageous use of legal drugs.

It is my belief that our horses are over-medicated to the point that they are seriously weakened. Over the last 30 years, horses have received more and more medication and have raced less and less. The drugs not only don’t work; they are counter-­productive. Just look at other countries where they medicate less and race more. All drugs are toxic and our 2- and 3-year-old horses receive dozens of drugs in a given month. My average vet bill here is more than $800 per month.

The trainers are letting the vets run the game. The real problem is not illegal drugs, but the legal ones that they train and race on. Salix and Bute are given out like candy. These drugs have major side effects; just ask the humans who take them. Salix, which is used for works as well as races by many trainers, is a diuretic that depletes minerals and dehydrates a horse. Bute causes ulcers, a common ailment on the backstretch. Horses need more time to recover from their drug “hangover” after a race.

I suppose it’s not surprising given the incredible over use of legal drugs in our culture by humans. I’d love to see a general percentage of what commercials in prime time are for medications (both prescriptions and over the counter). At some point we all have to pay the piper, whether it’s the liver failure that awaits statin takers or the weakening of the bred which is already upon us.

He also goes on to point out issues with shoeing and win percentage conscious trainers as other contributing factors.

Also, check out Valerie’s post about the fire sale at West Point Thoroughbreds. I read the move as the partnerships realizing that they can make a nice profit on their very talented assets, not so much that they we would be being purchased for breeding. Am I being naive? I hope not!!

Posted by dana on Oct 03 2007    
Filed Under: Drugs, West Point Thoroughbreds, You Tell 'em!, 2007, Breeding

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