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With racing in decline, falling attendances, small fields, uncompetitive racing which must be all looked at before racing disappears off the ordinary persons radar what are the powers that be doing about jockeys and drugs.
I see Sean Levey as been stood down for failing a test having tested positive for a prohibited substance. Surely anyone taking drugs and riding must be a danger not only to themselves but to their fellow jockeys.
How rife is it in racing and if it is why so?Well that’s Levey and Ghiani in the space of two weeks which suggests racing has a problem.
But then if you were to test a random selection of 100 members of the public how many would have traces of drugs?
I would prefer to wait until there are official announcements rather than pre-judging what has occurred.
But as a general, not necessarily-related, comment, I would simply say: “drugs in racing is an issue, drugs in sport is an issue, drugs in life is an issue.”
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"It’s not an easy life. Can’t imagine getting up at the crack of dawn to ride out, driving all over the country for rides and, on top of that, hardly eating anything.
Would I be way off in saying it only ever seems to be male jockeys who get into trouble in this department?
I don’t have any stats on it – it’s just an impression.
If my impression is correct, I wonder why this is.
I’ve long thought race-riding is still, broadly speaking, a man’s world so any female who achieves any level of success in it is, apart from being very talented and very dedicated, maybe that bit brighter than your average male jockey and, quite apart from being smarter tactically, is more likely to make better life decisions under pressure?
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I was just about to start the same thread.
It really doesn’t matter how many people of the randomly selected 100 take drugs or not. I want to put my money on someone with a clear mind and even more important are the horses and the owners involved in the game. A high profile athlete taking drugs is not a person you can trust, especially when he’s hiding his addiction. Oisin fully deserved his ban and so does anyone else….
If you struggle with your life as a jockey, which is fully acceptable, you better come out and reach for proper help.
“There aren’t enough female jockeys around for it to be an issue.”
But surely there are enough female jockeys around to be able to make a statistical comparison.
What percentage of female jockeys have ever been stood down due to alcohol or drugs being found in their system upon testing?
What percentage of male jockeys?
I’d be interested to see figures on this.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"‘I think it is just terrible and disgusting how everyone has treated Lance Armstrong, especially after what he achieved, winning seven Tour de France races while on drugs. When I was on drugs, I couldn’t even find my bike.’
Willie Nelson
I’d say there were too few female jockeys to form a legitimate statistical comparison Ian.
However if the BHA were to randomly test stable staff then there would be big enough numbers of men and women to see if there is a difference. And of course these people are also responsible for riding horses on a daily basis so should they be tested?
My point Ruby was that you can’t say racing has a problem with drugs unless the figures are higher than they are in society as a general. Of course I don’t want a jockey riding a horse with drugs in his system but then I wouldn’t want someone driving behind me, fitting my new gas boiler or piloting my holiday flight while on drugs to name a few.
“I’d say there were too few female jockeys to form a legitimate statistical comparison Ian.
However if the BHA were to randomly test stable staff then there would be big enough numbers of men and women to see if there is a difference. And of course these people are also responsible for riding horses on a daily basis so should they be tested?”
All fair comment from you, patriot1, I think.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"“I see Sean Levey as been stood down for failing a test having tested positive for a prohibited substance.”
Turns out it was a false positive:
https://www.racingtv.com/news/sean-levey-it-s-hard-not-to-feel-aggrieved-at-what-has-happened-to-me
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