Jerry Brown's Op-Ed piece regarding Lasix and Racing

[TGJB]

Just finished my response, should run tomorrow.

[drbillym]

For a good perspective on lasix use in Australia, see agameofskill.com and read a great article by Andy Kelzenberg.

[nicely nicely]

http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/shared_content.cfm?id=983

[banditbeau]

Accurate analogies JB \"-football is a sport; the NFL is a business. Baseball is a sport; MLB is a business. Golf, the PGA\".  It is possible that the overriding reason why this may never change in the future lies in the fact there is no real reason to do so.  Why? It seems the current analogy has to end with racing is the sport;casino\'s are the business. And their interest in seeing this idea evolve has to them only a small bump on their bottom line. They seem to now be pretty much in control of racing\'s fate. They would need to be the commissioner racing lacks. They have way more influence than someone at the Jockey Club, or anyone else for that matter opining on these topics.  If they handed out an edict, either way, on the medication issue(s) we discuss continually, and tied their \"subsidies\" to compliance, then since money talks, racing\'s fate (and medication rules) would again be decided by them?

 bb

[miff]

\"They(Casinos) seem to now be pretty much in control of racing\'s fate\"


For those who missed it, the National Casino lobby is making loud noise to the States and Feds. They are putting up a good case as to why they should NO LONGER have to subsidize racing given the downward casino trend in places like Atlantic City and even Vegas.

In Albany NY,the Casino lobby is up Cuomo\'s derriere about NOT giving any subsidy guarantees to racing once the casinos open, in spite of legislation on the books. Genting(Aqueduct slots) is already asking for relief from giving NYRA any subsidies once full blown casinos open in NY State and take some of Genting\'s business.

Given the overall state of racing,its future does not lie with the creation of any central body or uniformity of rules on drugs/penalties et al.This will all come down to how the Governors in the major racing States(NY Cali KY FL)decide on future subsidies and I would not bet either way because its that close. Without subsidies there will have to be a major contraction, obviously.Without subsidies there is no guarantee the game survives except for maybe the premier boutique type meets.No certainty of that either as the flow of big investment money into the game may dry up.

Very cloudy racing environment going forward.My guess is the racing lights stay on but, if not, I\'d bet the Clueless Clowns and politically appointed stooges running the game will still be arguing over nonsense like lasix,in the dark.

[JohnTChance]

Thought Irwin\'s writing style sophomoric. That of a high-schooler.

- [Jerry] \"seeks to surround that vessel with his whales.\" Ugh.

- \"The dream of every horseplayer WORTH HIS SALT would be a card of 12 races, all at 6 furlongs on a dirt track...\" Wrong Barry. Are you just stupid?

- \"When all is said and done, and the Fat Lady has indeed sung that last note...\" Ugh.

Telling when Irwin took his horses from trainer Graham Motion. Dumb move. Good plan, Bar! As to the decision to give recent 2 yr. old debut winner SAVOY STOMP to Pletcher instead of his current trainer Mettee at Fair Hill, I suspect that was really a directive of Pletcher\'s vet (who serves both Pletcher and Mettee) who didn\'t want to drive back and forth to Fair Hill all the time. The stuff of legends.