All sorts of nuggets in this indictment

[JR]

Do you really think the use of PEDs is just going to stop? When we reach a point where the punishment is as severe for all as it was for Dutrow, then I will return to the church.

[JR]

I play south Florida. I know about Navarro. There are others. Now that there appears to be evidence of doping, how confident should I feel when I have to decide whether a move up trainer is using today or not? These are usually horses that take a lot of money. There’s just no room in my wagering strategy to accommodate for that variable.

[TGJB]

First of all, the Feds are a whole different story when it comes to penalties.

But second, the problem is not the penalties. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN TAKING SERIOUS STEPS TO CATCH PEOPLE. I have been posting about this for years. Rick Arthur in California is a big exception.

Among other things-- the cheaters are ahead of the testers, and they know it. But they don\'t know if they are ahead of where the testers will be in 3 years. Freezing and retesting samples is a powerful deterrent. If you catch someone by doing that they aren\'t going to have just one positive, and if you tag them for multiple penalties it becomes a lot of time they\'re out of business.

[Caradoc]

Fair points, but none of this came to light as a result of drug testing.  Further, while there may be evidence that the feds have but is not disclosed in the indictment, there is no allegation in the indictment that the doping has been confirmed (yet anyway) by testing.  As they say, the investigation continues, so it is possible that such evidence may be forthcoming.

But speaking of Arthur, he gave an interview to TDN that should be required reading for anyone who is serious about addressing the doping.  Two points should be emphasized. First, his belief is that the best anti-doping technique available is the use of surveillance cameras, such as the ones used at Santa Anita. He called it a \"fallacy\" to completely rely on drug testing, although testing has a role to play. Second, his discussion of SGF-1000, one of the compounds described in the indictment, further illustrates the weaknesses inherent in any testing program. According to Arthur, SGF-1000 is sheep collagen, not a typo. Such a compound may be impossible to detect in any testing regime. His point was, unless you knew to look for sheep genes in the test, you wouldn\'t find it. So, by all means, test, but unless you know what to test and look for and your regulatory scheme is as lengthy and complex as the IRS code, you may not get as far as you hoped.

[TGJB]

My POINT is that none of this was discovered by testing. And yes, surveillance cameras are a good idea to go along with freezing and retesting. A few others include 1) having an accountable vet of record for each horse-- anyone else touches the horse they get ruled off, 2) do what they do in Hong Kong-- all drugs have to be purchased at the on track pharmacy. Anybody who brings anything on the premises is ruled off. That prevents the off-label BS these guys were doing. 3) Publish all test results in detail on a timely basis. That lets the public (and the press) know that horses are actually being tested. I have posted here many times about how it\'s unsafe to make that assumption.

[Michael D.]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My POINT is that none of this was discovered by
> testing. And yes, surveillance cameras are a good
> idea to go along with freezing and resting. A few
> others include 1) having an accountable vet of
> record for each horse-- anyone else touches the
> horse they get ruled off, 2) do what they do in
> Hong Kong-- all drugs have to be purchased at the
> on track pharmacy. Anybody who brings anything on
> the premises is ruled off. That prevents the
> off-label BS these guys were doing. 3) Publish all
> test results in detail on a timely basis. That
> lets the public (and the press) know that horses
> are actually being tested. I have posted here many
> times about how it\'s unsafe to make that
> assumption.


Jerry,

EPO, or \"monkey\" as Navarro calls it, is mentioned a number of times in the indictment. He personally gave it to XY Jet, according to the report.

If this bust has nothing to do with testing, it probably means the industry has no means of detecting the latest EPO tactics. We\'re essentially cycling at the height of Armstrong\'s success.

[rezlegal]

I sent this to NYS Racing and Wagering Board days after 2018 Dwyerâ€" with cc to Panza and Kay!

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: RICHARD RESNIK
Date: Sun, Jul 8, 2018 at 12:12 PM
Subject: Yesterday\'s Dwyer
To:
CC: ,


Mr. Lewandowski- I have been a racing fan for more than 50 years. I also an owner involved in 5  partnerships and an active NYRA Bets user. I am a Saratoga season ticket holder. I am also an attorney with more than 49 years active experience as a litigator, much of it involving fraud based litigation. I take this opportunity to write to you as the NY Gaming Commission Steward to request, indeed, demand, an appropriate investigation into the betting that took place in connection with yesterday\'s Dwyer handicap.

The basic facts are not disputed. Firenze, the winner of the race, trained by Jason Servis, was between 6-1 and 8-1 throughout the betting. Literally, as the horses were being loaded into the gate the horse was bet down to 5-2 and the $1 exacta with a 14-1 shot second paid $25. The horse had a stunning form reversal and won with ease by 9 lengths in a very fast time. Given that NYRA has already touted in the media how much was bet yesterday on a national basis, an enormous bet (not large, but enormous ) had to have been made at the last minute. The post race statements me by the connections of the horseâ€"“We now realize he is a one turn horse” are pablum designed to explain away what happened and to detract from asking “WHY?” and “HOW”. I was in a box seat yesterday, as I was fortunate enough to have a horse in the Belmont Derby and all anyone in ear shot could talk about was the incredible action this horse took.

This email is not prompted by sour grapes as my investment in the race (less than $20) is not worth my time and effort in writing this email.  Like many horseplayers I am frustrated and angry at the apparent like of oversight protecting those who continue to make the existence of this game possible-the bettors. It would be inappropriate and irresponsible to accuse Jason Servis (or any trainer) of wrongdoing through the use of unlawful drugs or otherwise since I am not in possession of any facts to support such a accusation and my training was a litigator has taught me that facts are what count, not suspicion. ( I do note that Mr. Servis has been the subject of many writings of late on racing blogs  regarding his incredible nearly 50% win percentage at Monmouth. He has supplanted Jorge Navarro as the most discussed trainer. This issue also goes far beyond a single trainer.)

As the NY State Steward (I have actually read the regulations) it is fair to state that your primary responsibility is to preserve the integrity of horse racing as conducted by NYRA. I respectfully suggest that you can only fulfill that obligation by conducting an investigation into the betting patterns, interviewing those involved and publishing your findings so your constituency -the betting public-at least has some comfort that their interests are being protected and that we hear something from you or NYRA other than there is nothing to investigate or  â€œthe chemists are ahead of us”. I respectfully suggest that neither NY State nor NYRA should be arrogant enough to believe this is an issue it can ignore. I have spoken to many involved in horse racing and the usual response is something like “ I don’t want to bite the hand the feeds me” or a shrug of the shoulders that says “It is what it is”. One person heavily involved in racing, in a confidential communication to me today on this issue stated “The cheaters have become emboldened and feel no shame in flaunting it.” Again, I am in no position to accuse Mr.. Servis or anyone of cheating. That seems to be your job to investigate.  I do know that horse players are among the most abused persons-and most of the time they deserve it for continuing to play a game that, all to often, they believe is not played on a level playing field. All of us have options---we can stop gambling on horse racing, stop investing in partnerships or switch ADWs. The events of yesterday have made me start to think about some or all of this options. As an attorney I am also aware of the legal options available to compel the performance of your duties and responsibilites.

I am 72 and have choices where I can use my recreational disposable income. The response of you and NYRA to the demand made in this email will strongly suggest my future use of those funds. Since your cell phone is on line I provide you mine in the event you would like to discuss this further. On behalf of horseplayers everywhere, I am outraged at what happened yesterday and request that Mr. Kay and Mr. Panza forward this missive to NYRA’s Board of Directors. Tha

[trackjohn]

Rez:

Over the past 24 hours I\'ve been privately communicating with about a half a dozen people that regularly post on this board... And everyone as mentioned this race...hell I was communicating with four of them the day after the race and we were saying the exact same thing that you said in this letter... Your verbiage was spot on... I just have one question... Did you get any reply because I\'m guessing that you didn\'t...

John (Trackjohn)

[TGJB]

Michael-- there may be no test now (or not, but let\'s stipulate you\'re right). That\'s the argument for freezing, in a nutshell.

[rezlegal]

Six months later I received a call out of the blue from a NYSRWB investigator.,He asked if anyone had responded, I replied in the negative. After apologizing, he advised me 1.re the betting, there was no past posting, a fact that was already common knowledge and 2. he could not discuss matters under investigation and made clear horseplayers were not the only ones aware of the alleged drug use and would not mention names. If my email had the most miniscule impact on the investigation I shall laminate it! P.S.- never heard from NYRA- shocking!

[Strike]

rezlegal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Six months later I received a call out of the blue
> from a NYSRWB investigator.,He asked if anyone had
> responded, I replied in the negative. After
> apologizing, he advised me 1.re the betting, there
> was no past posting, a fact that was already
> common knowledge and 2. he could not discuss
> matters under investigation and made clear
> horseplayers were not the only ones aware of the
> alleged drug use and would not mention names. If
> my email had the most miniscule impact on the
> investigation I shall laminate it! P.S.- never
> heard from NYRA- shocking!

and, that is exactly why the Feds got involved. They didn\'t stumble upon this on their own. Someone (thankfully) decided that this was above the heads of the do-nothing racing commissions and track owners and notified the FBI. It is very possible your timely letter moved the needle a little bit.

[Thedudeabides]

Expecting (hoping?) the fed are a different story when it comes to penalties.  TGJB comment of \"They have not been taking serious steps to catch people\" is exactly spot on regarding most tracks, racing commissions.  Similar to many on this board, more than once I have (either through letters or face to face) tried to address issues (once to track management, three times to the racing commission) in three of four cases, not only were my concerns not addressed, I was told we have the \"best people\" overseeing racing....and that I should not have any concerns.

 As a last resort, I convinced a prominent owner to ask some questions about a barn that was having unbelievable success pointing out to this owner how many times his horses lost to this trainer with significantly improved performances-- at least I knew the racing commission had to reply to this owner and he did get a response -- the response was \"we are looking into that barn\" -- of course nothing happened.  I was told months later the trainer was warned, which was probably the only thing they wanted or could do....

[TGJB]

I don\'t see how racing can have the \"best people\" working on this when everyone knows they are working on the virus.

[Caradoc]

Jerry, even if you have the samples, you still need a comprehensive list of prohibited substances to test against, or testing frozen samples is pointless.
 Meaning that I take Rick Arthur\'s point to be that even if we could test some of the hypothetically frozen Navarro samples now, knew what to look for and found the sheep collagen, if sheep collagen wasn\'t on the prohibited list at the time the sample was taken, we\'ve accomplished nothing.  The testing regime all this conjures is prohibitively expensive and requires a regulatory effort that is enormous.

[Wild Again]

Sheep Collagen was contained in the cocktail Bill Romanowski used to prolong his career in the NFL.

According to Romanowski, sheep collagen has an effect on endurance and strength.

So if Sheep Collagen was the only thing used by Navarro and Servis, where is the crime?  I cannot fathom a law specifically banning this substance.

The problem with enforcement is the criminals if smart enough will always be 2 steps ahead of the regulators.

So other than a horse being under 24 hour surveillance, how do you stop cheating?

If money is involved people will always try to cheat.