There has been a great deal written on this board about super trainers. At Arlington Park this year, super trainer has taken on a whole new meaning. Currently, Wayne Catalano and his brother-in-law, Rick Slomkowski, train exclusively for a crotchety old man named Frank Calabrese. Catalano\'s record currently stands at 19 wins, 4 places and 1 show from 27 races for a 70% win percentage. It was actually higher than that, at 76%, but he lost two races on Saturday. Looking at his training statistics,in the past 90 days, he is getting 46% new tops from his horses.
I do not have direct evidence that he is using anything illegal. However, the numbers are astounding and last Friday, they won four races, the last with a $6,500 claimer that stepped up to allowance company and won for fun. Catalano uses a vet by the name of Tim Gilman.
I have been told by several trainers that Illinois does not test for Milkshakes. A number of players and trainers have called the Illinois Racing Board to complain. The response from Marc Laino, the head of the board is \"what do you want me to do about it, he\'s passing the drug tests.\" The handle on races where Catalano has a horse in are typically 30% below where a similar race of that type should be. This is because bettors have stopped betting races where Catalano has a horse, since most of them are bet down to between 3/5 and 6/5 and if it were anyone else training,these horses would be 3/1 or greater.
I\'m turning to this board, and particularly Jerry, to find out how expensive TCO2 testing is. I would like to try and get the testing procedures changed in Illinois to test for Milkshakes. This may not be what they are using (if they are using anything at all) but it does explain why many Catalano horses seem to re-break once they are challenged. Any advice would be appreciated!
I do not have direct evidence that he is using anything illegal. However, the numbers are astounding and last Friday, they won four races, the last with a $6,500 claimer that stepped up to allowance company and won for fun. Catalano uses a vet by the name of Tim Gilman.
I have been told by several trainers that Illinois does not test for Milkshakes. A number of players and trainers have called the Illinois Racing Board to complain. The response from Marc Laino, the head of the board is \"what do you want me to do about it, he\'s passing the drug tests.\" The handle on races where Catalano has a horse in are typically 30% below where a similar race of that type should be. This is because bettors have stopped betting races where Catalano has a horse, since most of them are bet down to between 3/5 and 6/5 and if it were anyone else training,these horses would be 3/1 or greater.
I\'m turning to this board, and particularly Jerry, to find out how expensive TCO2 testing is. I would like to try and get the testing procedures changed in Illinois to test for Milkshakes. This may not be what they are using (if they are using anything at all) but it does explain why many Catalano horses seem to re-break once they are challenged. Any advice would be appreciated!