KAL wrote:Sysonby, I clearly said Cali may be lax in their policies and enforcement. You provided a significant factor in why this may be more than a perception. So, in essence, you answered your own question. Labs can only provide info, it is how this info is handled and acted upon which leads to results.
I think if you reread my post you will also see that I took a backhanded swipe at KY and their policies and enforcement. Besides, my initial point had more to do with the irony of the Dutrow statement than anything to do with Lava Man.
As for Lava Man... who knows? As I said, it will be interesting to see how he progresses on the grass and how he does on grass surfaces elsewhere.
KAL,
I definitely agree with your statement regarding enforcement. In some situations over the last few years there have been a few situations where the people involved were also closely involved with officials on some level, and pehaps as a result of their friendships, famillial and business relationships things were allowed to slide... I think the "racetrack" is the same every where, though. And often times it's not what you know but who you know, and thus people will turn a blind eye in some circumstances.
Does LM get meds that no one else does... depends on who uses the same veterinary practice as O Neil... vets aren't that inventive... And
if they were giving something that turned this former claimer into a dominant force, they would certainly use it on others.... Is LM getting a milkshake? Who knows.. If he is, he's not shown a bad test in the public eye... But lets say he did get a bi carb overage, what would the CHRB have to gain from enforcing it as opposed to what they gain by not enforcing it. It would cost California racing greatly in attendance and handle if LM suddenly had this sort of chink in his armour.
The horse is a good horse in California. He proves time after time he (for whatever reason) that he doesn't want to travel. I don't think that medication rules in the US are the cause for his not shipping well. Yes if he were to run in Dubai or Japan or Europe, then there would be cause for blaming the medication rules, but it is, in my mind, ludicris to say that he is successful in California, and he can't be in Kentucky because the medication rules are different.... thay aren't that different, infact KY is more lax. One can use more medication(I'm not talking bute or lasix) closer to race day in KY than most other racing jurisdictions. I have had the pleasure of training in both CA and KY, I do speak from experience.
And while still on the topic of LAva, He has yet to prove that he can run and dominate on an alternative surface. Can he? Maybe. But in California we are also starting a new era of track sufaces that might well throw some horses for a loop. And yes it is possible to train well over it and then run poorly over the same surface trained over... So there are some questions remaining for LM. Maybe he will go down in
California history as a super horse on ANY surface, but that has yet t be proven.
Dutrow, O Neil, Mullins, Amos, and so many more, push the envelope medically and physically... they need to be held accountable for it, period.
