Don't discount a Secretariat like performance Saturday

[jerry]

OK. It does make a difference. Now what?

[TGJB]

Then he shouldn\'t be allowed to use it. For the same reason race day Clenbuterol is banned. And tons of other performance enhancers.

[joemama]

The problem is how they allowed the change to the \"rule\".  In some of the other sports , for example professional football if a rule change is implemented it is done at the beginning of the next season.  Not in the middle of the season.  This rule was changed in the middle of the season .  I would have liked to see if the connections of CC would have skipped the Belmont if the nasal strip was not allowed.  Am not sure who said they would skip the race , but one of CC\'s connections must have said it and that speaks volumes as to how CC\'s connections view the uses of the nasal strip. I can go on and on with this one but....

[joemama]

that rule change wasn\'t made in the middle of the  season either.

[P-Dub]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There\'s another unknown this time, involving a
> nasal strip.
>
> If you take out the pre-strip figures it\'s a
> different sheet.
>
> I think I heard MLB is going to start letting guys
> use aluminum bats.

New jockey, also different shoes.  Many things could have made the difference other than the Nasal Strip.

Not a very good analogy.


TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Then he shouldn\'t be allowed to use it. For the
> same reason race day Clenbuterol is banned. And
> tons of other performance enhancers.

What about Lasix??  Do all horses bleed?? If they don\'t, why do they use it??  Because it improves performance??

Whats the difference??  Have non bleeders stay off Lasix. Why don\'t you rail against that?? Because any horse can use it.  Just like any horse can use a nasal strip.

You are getting hot and bothered over a nasal strip.  Its extraordinary that this is the only horse on earth, or at least running in the Belmont, that this nasal strip anoints such extraordinary powers.  Really??

You have no proof, none, that it is the nasal strip that has caused the improvement. You ignore the jockey, shoes, or any number of things.

[P-Dub]

joemama Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The problem is how they allowed the change to the
> \"rule\".  In some of the other sports , for example
> professional football if a rule change is
> implemented it is done at the beginning of the
> next season.  Not in the middle of the season.
> This rule was changed in the middle of the season
> .  I would have liked to see if the connections of
> CC would have skipped the Belmont if the nasal
> strip was not allowed.  Am not sure who said they
> would skip the race , but one of CC\'s connections
> must have said it and that speaks volumes as to
> how CC\'s connections view the uses of the nasal
> strip. I can go on and on with this one but....

Baseball just changed a rule during the season. The transfer rule from glove to hand. Bad rule, they changed it. In May.

[joemama]

I am not sure what that rule is , Does changing it in the middle of the season make it right.  This leads to another issue that is bigger than horse racing , the general attitude towards rules and regulations, that is that people are paying attention to the ones they want and ignoring the ones they don\'t like.  This goes from simply running a red light to the highest authority in our land.  What\'s the sense in even having rules if we are going to change them at a moments notice to serve the purpose that is at hand at the moment?

[joemama]

IF nasal strip has no influence on performance then why were the connections of CC feel so strongly about skipping the Belmont if the strip wasn\'t allowed?

[miff]

That\'s a young lady who has been id\'ing horses for some years at NYRA. Timing problem to get info from paddock to TV truck to add info to crawl very quickly.

Most NYRA equipment changes listed on their site by 11:OO am, so it would be no different than reporting a blinker change, bar shoe etc. Easily done if they really wanted to.

[miff]

More nonsense.To the extent there is data to support the nasal strip reduces EIPH,NYS Equine Director Dr.Scott Palmer conferred w/KY and Cali equine directors,reviewed the data, made the change, a no brainer.

Palmer a breath of fresh air, early on not even close to the usual politically appointed stooges.Guy is very open minded on transparency issues relative to disclosure of medical records and other player relevant \"stuff\" that were stonewalled by NYSRWB/NYRA.

[moosepalm]

joemama Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The problem is how they allowed the change to the
> \"rule\".  In some of the other sports , for example
> professional football if a rule change is
> implemented it is done at the beginning of the
> next season.  Not in the middle of the season.
> This rule was changed in the middle of the season
> .  I would have liked to see if the connections of
> CC would have skipped the Belmont if the nasal
> strip was not allowed.  Am not sure who said they
> would skip the race , but one of CC\'s connections
> must have said it and that speaks volumes as to
> how CC\'s connections view the uses of the nasal
> strip. I can go on and on with this one but....

No \"rule\" was changed.  The \"rule\" said it was up to the discretion of the stewards.  They used their discretion.  As I said before, it was ridiculous that something like this remained discretionary fifteen years after NY had ruled on its viability in standardbred racing, and that it had been allowed in nearly every other racing jurisdiction.  So, in this instance, the NYS Gaming Commission medical director, Dr. Scott Palmer, said \"Equine nasal strips do not enhance equine performance nor do they pose a risk to equine health or safety and as such do not need to be regulated.\"  This was supported by the director of equine sports medicine at Tufts University, and by Rose Nolen-Watson, a specialist in pulmonary function at Penn\'s School of Veterinary Medicine, who said, \"The data show a small but consistent effect and the risk is nothing.\"  Rick Violette, president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen\'s Association who had tried them on a number of horses, said, \"Frankly they don\'t seem to make a whole lot of difference.\"  He is obviously not without vested interested in the outcome of Saturday\'s race.

So there was no rule prohibiting them, but merely a practice not supported by documentation, and not only contrary to other racing jurisdictions, but also the state\'s own internal regulation regarding its other equine activity.  If there\'s a baseball analogy, it would be akin to allowing a team of umpires in the American League to decide each game whether some form of equipment, for which there was no documented evidence of its beneficial use, could be used or not, while in the National League it had been determined that this form of equipment was absolutely fine.  That would be lunacy, and the only sane move is to establish a rule that is not discretionary, but is uniform and based on existing scientific evidence and opinion.  The fact that it was done now is not the absurdity.  That it took fifteen years for it to happen, is.

[joemama]

An the connections of CC would not run without the nasal strip because?

[Caradoc]

Perhaps they may would have run him regardless, but the threat had some impact.  In any case, I\'m certain the answer would be pretty much the same as it would be if the stewards had discretion whether to allow Lasix but had not yet allowed it and CC needed it.  The strip promotes more effective and efficient breathing, reduces the chances of EIPH, etc.  

Moosepalm has explained the foolishness of NY\'s position before this became an issue.

If nasal strips are \"performance enhancers\" then it\'s hard to know what would not be in the same class -- blinkers, shoes, Lasix, etc. This should be a non-issue.

[jerry]

How about blinkers, turn downs, shadow rolls and tongue ties? Are they \"performance enhancers\"? If not, why bother with them? How about Lasix? Clearly a race day performance enhancer. Are you also opposed to that?

[jerry]

It\'s nothing more than correcting an error when the error becomes evident.