Suspended Trainers

[fkach]

Anyone else notice that a few of Todd Pletcher\'s horses haven\'t run up to expectations in NY since he has been suspended?  

Too early to tell anything, but I don\'t think taking a short price based on the expectation of an almost certain solid or improved effort is a very prudent idea right now.  

f.kach

[shanahan]

can someone identify his assistants by name for me?  thank you...

[fkach]

In NY it is Seth Benzel.

f.kach

[Wrongly]

http://www.toddpletcherracing.com/

Anthony Sciametta at Gulfstream (9 2-1-0 22%)

[beyerguy]

http://thoroughbredtimes.net/national-news/2007/January/12/Sadler-Cerin-face-medication-complaints-in-California.aspx

You can add John Sadler and Vladimir Cerin to the list.

[shanahan]

just listened to his radio segment...who would he be treating in New ORleans today?

[fkach]

Story on Pletcher

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=553660&category=SPORTS&BCCode=&newsdate=1/14/2007

[marcus]

very interesting read(s) + thanks for the link(s) everyone . a few questions come to mind though -  do i belive the grain of salt theory  or do i belive the performance-enhancer in racehorse theory  that were addressed in the timesunion article and seem to be in conflict with one another .  also , and i really don\'t have a solid opinion about this , but  the timeframe starting aug \'04 seems long and the process  feels like it move\'s  s-l-o-w  .

[whodoctorwho]

The excuses for positive drug results by trainers and/or their lawyers are getting way out of hand.  Surely, they must think that when they cover their eyes, we will not be able to see.  "Inadvertent exposure to a medication from an unknown source" is as good as it gets.  The trainer and his team are responsible for the amount of drug in the horse's system.

No positive drug result is expressed as the amount of drug present.  It is always expressed as "concentration" - amount of drug per unit volume of either urine or blood.  For example, when a trainer barks that the horse only had 1.6 nanograms of drug present that could not be further from the truth. In fact, the real result was more like 1.6 ng/mL (1.6 nanograms of drug/mL of urine).

This is not an insignificant amount.  Over a 24-hour period a horse probably passes more than 5 liters of urine.  One liter is 1,000 mL.
If one assumes that the excretion of a drug is constant over a 24-hour period, this implies that the horse will pass 8,000 nanograms of the drug.  That is not "a grain of salt in Lake Saratoga".

Remember, we have no clue as to how much drug was originally given. Likewise, we do not know when it was given - how long before the drug test.  

Todd Pletcher is a very good trainer with a talented organization and they are entrusted with talented horseflesh.  When the crew attempts to administer a drug too close to race time in order to get the maximum performance for the race they are responsible for the mistake.  The drug may be legal for training, but not for racing.  The trainer is responsible.

[miff]

Whodoctor,

Not sure I understand.Isn\'t the only relevant issue is how much of the drug was present at race time? Does it alter a horses performance if he HAD a gizillion nanos some time before but not at race time?

Mike

[marcus]

whodoctorwho , the timeunion.com article was a nice public relations ploy as i might have suspected  . i\'m a far cry from a vet - but i\'m guessing that drug excretion rates in horses are  reasonbly contstant \"with-in ranges\" .

we will never know for sure the nanogram levels that may have been present in the horse shortly after the drug is given or even at post time .

one thing for sure  is that trainer will learn the value of having a good reputation and a good name . the  \"inadvertent exposure to a medication from an unknown source\" story really is about as good as it gets ...

[bobphilo]

Right you are Marcus. The article indeed seems like a pr piece consisting of testimonials to Pletcher\'s character by a bunch of people who depend on him for their livelihood, including a jockey who wants to continue riding for him.
It doesn\'t deal at all with the absurd excuse offered up by Pletcher that his horse must have inhaled the substance from the breath of a nearby horse. Very poor journalism indeed.

Bob

[marcus]

hi bob -  the link wrongly posted , the timesunion \"article\" and the poststar.com link that papachach posted today on the \"anybody live near saratoga\" thread ( along w/ all opinions on related subject matter expressed in the media and here on this board ) really has made something click upstairs this afternoon -  either there is  unawareness or indifference  to the present state of racing by many in the racing community .

also , lessons learned by the non-profit org approach to ny racing need to be applied  when a decision is made on the empire group .

[NoCarolinaTony]

So do you think if no one in the racing industry gives a flying flip....then why should anyone outside the industry care? It\'s a sad state of affairs for racing.

NC Tony

[marcus]

yeah nct - it is a sad state of affairs alright , but i belive that most in the industry do care about things . i guess it just isn\'t going  down in ny the way it did in so cal and thats ok - it\'s just needs more time and process ( or rigamoroll ) to go through here i guess , but with the bankruptcy you got to wonder and keep your fingers crossed that good decisions will be made for ny racing - whatever they are  ...