Big Brown Drugged

[Turn-To Fan]

Wow! Did anybody see this article on ESPN's horseracing page? Ray Paulick, the former editor of Bloodhorse accusses IEAH and Dutrow of drugging Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/ ... id=3380885

[docjocoy]

Wow, again. Thanks for the link. I always respected Ray Paulick when he was with the Blood Horse, this article really is amazing. I wish he still had the broader forum of the industry magazine. He certainly isn't shy about speaking out.

[Turn-To Fan]

I liked Ray Paulick too. Do you know why he is no longer at Bloodhorse? They didn't have any announcement of him leaving.

[choking]

Nice post. Reading some other websites about what Dutrow is saying about the Preakness and he sounds really paranoid about the two weeks of rest. So I mean, two weeks is short, I agree...but it's always been that way! If he was really drugged for the Derby, would he not be able to be drugged again in two weeks?

I'm such a conspiracist.

[Dave C]

The questions are: was BB prerace tested for a milkshake? Will he be tested in Maryland? Although I respect the writing of Paulick and distrust a convicted cheat like Dutrow, casting aspersions on the performance like BB's without offering any evidence other than the character any history of the owner and other trainers they have used, strikes me a little bit funny. It certainly would explain BB outrunning both the other horses and his pedigree but I would really like to see some evidence before I discredit BB's performance.

[xfactor fan]

Shit stirring. He makes an inference that is probably just this side of legal--and most likely had to be vetted by the legal staff of his publication. Note that he doesn't come out and accuse Dutrow of drugging Big Brown, but folks come away from reading the article with that impression.

[horsenuts]

The questions are: was BB prerace tested for a milkshake? Will he be tested in Maryland? Although I respect the writing of Paulick and distrust a convicted cheat like Dutrow, casting aspersions on the performance like BB's without offering any evidence other than the character any history of the owner and other trainers they have used, strikes me a little bit funny. It certainly would explain BB outrunning both the other horses and his pedigree but I would really like to see some evidence before I discredit BB's performance.

BB was freak before he ever ended up in Dutrow's barn. His maiden win put everyone on notice he has a stone runner. I thought the title of this thread was misleading as Paulik never alluded to BB being drugged he simplt stated Dutrow had been caught with a couple of bad tests(as have nearly every leading trainer who is under 50 in recent years). Drugs are part of the culture(see: MLB and NFL).

[Tesio]

I agree horsenuts, BB showed considerable talent pre-Dutrow and IEAH. Mr Paulik's article was clearly written for the reader to draw his own conclusions upon the legitimacy of BB's Derby romp. What I see is a horse of considerable ability who, thus far, clearly outclasses an otherwise ordinary crop of three year olds.

Mr Paulik's article makes me question the character of the human interests involved with BB, not BB himself.

[zinn21]

I totally agree with horsenuts. The title of this thread is very misleading.

[Worksoplad]

Wow! Did anybody see this article on ESPN's horseracing page? Ray Paulick, the former editor of Bloodhorse accusses IEAH and Dutrow of drugging Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/ ... id=3380885

What a grossly false statement you make, and an exceedingly poor choice for a title.

All of the principal finishers in the KD, will have been tested for drugs as well as evidence of "milkshaking" so the results will not lie.

[shatanka]

Read the article again...
it is talking about IEAH..."Instead of Greg Martin, the bulk of their horses are in the care of trainer Rick Dutrow, whose own rapsheet of rules infractions is considerable. Instead of A One Rocket, the stable star is Big Brown, who made winning America's most famous horserace look easy."

but no where in there does the article "accuse" Dutrow of drugging Big Brown. it only says that he has his own rapsheet of rules infractions is considerable. the accusations are aimed at IEAH's previous trainer,Martin, for the "milkshake" to A One Rocket.

and sorry for sounding ignorant on the "milkshake" thing...
"Martin had given A One Rocket a prohibited performance-enhancing procedure known as a "milkshake" in order to win. (At its simplest form, a milkshake is baking soda, water and sugar delivered through a tube into the stomach to reduce lactic acid buildup in horses, which helps prevent fatigue.)"
but with these ingredients being natural..not drugs, why is this prohibited? wouldn't it be like giving an athlete Gatorade per se to prevent fatigue? i don't understand why this is wrong? can someone please explain.

[majxmom]

You are correct in saying that it is really not drugging. The issue in CA is that it is a race-day treatment, which is not allowed. Milkshakes were commonly given an hour or so before the horse left for the receiving barn. Since carbon dioxide is commonly found in the bloodstream anyway, it was difficult to enforce a ban on race-day treatments unless someone was observed giving the treatment. Well, just close the stall door!

The CHRB settled for testing every horse in every race for a few months, and then developing a standard for CO2. No horse is allowed to exceed that standard. So now people who commonly FED their horses sodium bicarbonate every day are now also swept up in the results, so no one can now administer bicarbonate at all safely.

The baking soda buffers out the blood pH and reduces the burning effect on lactic acid that builds up in fatigued muscles.

[shatanka]

thanks majxmom for explaining that ! now..can you tell me, is it just CA that does not allow this "race-day" treatment, or is it and the use of sodium bicarbonate as a daily supplement not allowed anywhere now?

[HR LLC]

That article implies BB on drugs and on the other hand you have the connections of eight belles saying she only got oats and water....

[majxmom]

thanks majxmom for explaining that ! now..can you tell me, is it just CA that does not allow this "race-day" treatment, or is it and the use of sodium bicarbonate as a daily supplement not allowed anywhere now?

Others will have to chime in on that. I haven't made a mental note of what jurisdictions allow it.

I first heard of feeding bicarbonate to racehorses by reading Tom Ivers book on Interval Training, The Fit Racehorse. In moderate doses it doesn't hurt the horse, and to me, it seems like a perfectly ethical edge to take when you give it daily and orally. Of course, once everybody's doing it, it's not going to change anything.

I can tell you that before milkshaking was specifically banned, I personally observed a veterinarian enter a stall of a major trainer at BM and administer one. I thought he was just tubing in some medication for a horse in the barn. I was plenty shocked when they led that horse out for a race an hour later. They didn't even try to hide it from me, and I was pretty much a stranger that was in their barn because the transit barn was full. I think it was a common practice that no one was concerned about until the regulation came down.