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Not a good idea for a jockey. An even worse idea for a horse.
Until 118 years ago the use of cocaine on racehorses was not explicitly proscribed. It wasn’t a known problem so nobody had given the matter much thought. Hence, while there was no Jockey Club legislation permitting use of the drug, there was no rule banning it either.
In the closing years of the 1800s this began to change. Because of draconian mischief-curbing measures taken by various US racing authorities around that time, many American racing professionals looked east and headed for England. Their jockeys made a great impact on the racing scene and left us a legacy which is still with us today in the form of a more efficient style of riding.
The short legacy left by some American trainers was more pernicious. Several of them brought along industrial quantities of cocaine and by 1900 the application of the drug was widespread among these men. Very moderate horses trained by them and others were transformed into unlikely winners and many coups were landed in the process.
No consideration whatsoever was given to the instruments of these gambles, namely the horses themselves. Any other facet of doping pales into insignificance beside the effect of cocaine on the horses’ health and welfare. English trainer George Lambton notes that:
“…very strange things occurred, and one constantly saw horses who were notorious rogues running and winning as if they were possessed of the devil, with eyes starting out of their heads and the sweat pouring off them…”
Lambton buys the winner of a seller:
“…That evening, when I went to my stables, my head man remarked that the mare I had bought was a wild brute, and had been running round her box like a mad thing ever since she came home. I went to look at her, and she certainly was a miserable object, with eyes starting out of her head and flanks heaving. This was the first doped horse I ever saw…”
Lambton observes this chaotically tragic scene on a racecourse:
“…then there occurred the case when a horse, after winning a race, dashed madly into a stone wall and killed itself…”
In 1903 Lambton decided enough was enough. He had a brother, Lord Durham, who was a member of the Jockey Club. He told Durham that he had five absolute rogues in his stable which he intended to dope in order to demonstrate the effect cocaine had on their performances. Durham agreed, contingent upon Lambton not having a bet on these horses.
Four of the rogues won and the fifth finished second. The experiment persuaded the Jockey Club to ban the drug from 1904 onwards. Saliva tests were introduced in 1910 and technological advances since then have made it next to impossible to run a horse on any kind of illegal drug.
Kudos to George Lambton for setting that process in motion.
(As far as human use is concerned…”in 1916 the army council enacted Defence of the Realm Act regulation (emergency legislation-making powers during wartime), to prohibit the sale of cocaine and opium to troops. The legislation was widened to criminalise civilian possession of those drugs without a medical need…the 1920 Dangerous Drugs Act incorporated the provisions made under the Defence of the Realm Act regulations…”).
I wonder why racecourses don’t have sniffer dogs to identify the charlied-up idiots who seem to be everywhere nowadays?
I was hoping this was a thread about the 1980 Acomb Stakes winner and the part he played in a four-timer for the sire High Line that York day.
Imagine my disappointment….
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"It’s rife in my work and why I don’t go to work do’s …none drinker anyway , I’ve drug dealers pretty much top of my don’t ****** trust list yet they all merrily stick gods knows what up there nose , I found a bag in a car dropped off by a customer last summer , you should have seen the faces in the office when I flushed the lot down the toilet ….I’m sue one had tears in there eyes
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
‘So many youngsters seem to be on the stuff these days,but where do they get it from?
Drug dealers are everywhere. There’s a big demand and therefore good money to be made supplying it.
It’s far from just youngsters either, it’s all ages and classes.
At York sniffer dogs and their burly handlers have been conspicuous amongst the turnstile queues, along with large signs proclaiming ‘York races are a drug free zone’ and strategically placed honesty/amnesty boxes in which to chuck the illicit before entering
Perhaps that’s why the crowds are down
An interesting tale Seasider, thanks
I wonder what happens to the contents of the amnesty/honesty boxes afterwards ….
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
It’s safely disposed of at The Palace Of Westminster.
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysWell they have previously found plenty evidence of it in the Westminster’s toilets …..drugs and drinking tests before the sessions start that’s what I say …
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Did I just hear someone mention coke? halves on a packet anyone? Come on it’s a Thursday night after all can get 3 for £100 banging deals
Those amnesty bins are always just about overflowing each time I pass them on my way into the races.
The first thing someone thinks of when they’ve spent £80 on a gram of coke is throwing it into a bin so they can’t fry high as a kite later on.
Who thinks this **** up?
It does sound somewhat unlikely but I suppose that, if costs are just a cheap bins with signs on them, it’s regarded as a small speculative bet to nothing.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"
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