The Tip of the ice berg? - EPO in the Lone Star state

[derby1592]

See article below. Lots of interesting questions and issues.

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Sam Houston horses test positive for doping
02/18/2003

By GARY WEST / The Dallas Morning News


Six horses that raced at Sam Houston Race Park on Jan. 16-17 have tested positive for erythropoietin, commonly known as Epogen or EPO. Paula Flowerday, the executive secretary of the Texas Racing Commission, confirmed the positives Monday.

EPO has been classified as a Class 2 drug, which means, according to the Association of Racing Commissioners International, that it has \"a high potential to affect performance\" and is \"not generally accepted as therapeutic.\" A trainer whose horse tests positive for a Class 2 drug can be suspended for as much as a year and fined as much as $2,500.
 
But in the Houston cases, there will be no fines or suspensions, Flowerday said. The only test for EPO identifies the presence of antibodies produced by the drug, not the drug itself. And if EPO had been administered months ago, perhaps when the horse was in another state or in another trainer\'s care, the antibodies would still be present.

Flowerday said the tests were part of \"a trial\" to determine if Texas racing has a problem with EPO. \"We\'re trying to get a handle on this and let the owners and trainers understand what this is,\" Flowerday said.

EPO is a synthetic hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells, which transport oxygen. In other words, EPO has the potential of increasing stamina.

 There will be no fines or suspensions in the Houston cases, the Texas Racing Commission said.
 
But EPO is a human hormone, and a horse\'s immune system recognizes it as foreign. In horses, EPO might enhance performance, but it can also lead to extreme anemia and even death.

The trainers and owners whose horses tested positive will be notified, Flowerday said. But for the moment the names will not be released.

[bdhsheets]

Chris:

Thanks for the article. Under this message board format, almost missed it.

I wonder when they started testing for EPO? Seeing that not all horses are tested, if these are from initial batches, WOW.  

If the yokels in Texas have this test why aren\'t other jurisdictions using it? What question would there be if the horse has been under the care of a single trainer and owner? This just may be so wide spread that noone has any idea how to control the spin on this. Imagine if most of the top trainers are busted, this could get scary in a hurry. Can you say Federal intervention?

Gvido

[JimP]

At least we can read. The article clearly states that the test isn\'t for the presence of EPO. It is for the presence of antibodies that might be the result of EPO. It\'s not the kind of test that can be used for prosecution. This test was run only as a part of a study.

[mholbert]

new york had positives also

[tread]

I wish I could say I\'m surprised, but I\'m really not.  I will say this, Sam Houston is one of the most predictable tracks out there and if use of this is rampant, it isn\'t yielding many cases of unexplainable results.  With racing at Santa Anita completely falling apart this year (short fields, 6.5 turf races playing completely differently than years past) SH has easily been the track I have done the best at this winter.  Those 12% takeouts on pick3 make for some nice payoffs, even when favorites come in.....