BC Samples Come Back Clean or A Clear Present Doping Agent

[Whirlaway]

This article in the Bloodhorse claims all the tests have come back clean. http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/81859/chrb-tested-bc-samples-come-back-clean This article in the New York Times demonstrates horses racing with Lasix show an elevated TCO2 level. http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/alkalinization-lasix-and-milkshaking-a-veterinarians-view/?_r=0

If the horses racing tested clean out of competition and before the race, were administered the doping agent within four hours of the race, the doping agent must be present in the system post race. There must be an elevated TCO2 level. How can it be that the samples came back clean?

[steward]

In the spirit of disclosure, the link cited in the post is a blog, and not a position of the "NY Times" itself. Anyone familiar with blogs on their site knows that they range the gamut of credibility.

A cursory inspection of the blogger's output shows that he is an anti-drug crusader himself, and that it should be taken with a grain of salt. Trying to throw mud on the results of BC tests using this fellow is going to be a hard sell, imo.

[Whirlaway]

Trying to throw mud on the results of BC tests using this fellow is going to be a hard sell, imo.

Gustafson is a Doctor Of Veterinary Medicine, a Professor and prolific writer. In the spirit of disclosure, here is a bit of info on Dr. Gustafson:

Dr. Gustafson graduated from Washington State University with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree to specialize in equine sports medicine. His subsequent concern for the mental and physical health challenges that stabling and confinement created for horses led him to the study of equine behavior. As Equine Studies Program Coordinator for the Natural Horsemanship Program at the University of Montana Western from 2006-2008, Professor Gustafson developed a science-based equine studies curriculum that explored equine behavior and husbandry as well as appropriate contemporary horsemanship. He is currently completing a book on equine behavior and contemporary horse culture to be by published by Eclipse Press entitled The Language of Natural Horsemanship to be released this fall in Lexington, Kentucky. Sid had the good fortune to be raised with horses in Montana just under the Medicine Line of Alberta, Canada, a country he wandered into horseback often riding with the Blackfeet Indians. He developed an early interest in equine behavior through his exposure to his family’s ranching and horse breeding pursuits, where he was witness to feral horses in natural settings on a regular basis. Sid has raised and trained horses all his life, and continues to do so understanding clearly there is much more to know and appreciate about horses. In addition to consulting and teaching Equine Behavior, Dr Gustafson currently is a seasonal regulatory veterinarian at Finger Lakes Racetrack across Lake Ontario from Guelph in Ontario County, New York, where he represents the horses.

I took the time to read most of his articles and found his work particularly compelling, best reading I’ve done on the sport in years. In the third to last paragraph in the article Alkalinization, Lasix and Milkshaking: A Veterinarian’s View, here is what the good Doctor wrote about those managing the drug testing in California:

It should be noted here, as well, that California allows trainers to take horses on and off Lasix without public knowledge. The attending veterinarians are allowed to use the steroidal estrogen hormone Premarin instead of Lasix. The California attending veterinarians are at liberty to switch out established race-day Lasix administration for race-day Premarin without the public disclosure of the change. All the while the horse is listed on the program as a Lasix horse race after race, despite differing medication regimens from race to race. This can result in significant variations in the type and dosage of administered medications from race to race, with associated alterations in performance. A horse listed as a Lasix horse may legally receive Premarin instead of Lasix. Next race the horse may receive Lasix, or Lasix plus Premarin, or only Premarin. The betting public is not made aware of these medication switches. Potential performance variations because of medication changes are hidden from the public by the California Horse Racing Board. Its regulatory veterinarians are forbidden to disclose the information to anyone but the testing laboratory, so the lab knows why certain Lasix horses do not have Lasix in their urine. The race-to-race medication choices are orchestrated and controlled by the racing veterinarians administering the race-day medications.

~

Considering what is now known, how can those managing the doping samples be trusted?