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Well Lady Aurelia is sticking around for the Nunthorpe Stakes so she will have whatever nefarious substances you folks claim she is on out of her system
Steroids are illegal in the US and the tracks take drug testing very seriously. Believe it or not American turf horses can in fact beat Europeans on their own merits.Wesley Ward IS known as a great trainer of 2yos in the US and the main reason he hasn’t won as many stakes races here recently is that he sends his best horses to run in…England.
Clenbuterol is not a “steroid” as such, Miss Woodford. But used in the right (wrong) way, it does have the same result… Which is why trainers in Europe are banned from using it on horses in training.
As I understand it use of Clenbuterol is widespread where Ward trains, he’s actually on record as saying he uses it on all his USA runners. As I understand the drug is allowed there as long as it is out of the horse’s system (untraceable) on race day. Indeed I believe official advice there is to stop using it at least 21 days before race day. Yes, Clenbuterol may be “out of its system”, but muscle growth/maturity does not suddenly disappear after that 21 days. The advantage a horse trained on Clenuterol has against one that is not trained on the drug is muscle/maturity!
For Ward’s UK runners, all he needs to do is sign a piece of paper saying that his horse/s has/have never been trained on drugs banned in the UK. On the other hand – Uk horses can be tested at any time and if found guilty trainers face the wrath of British authorities. Ward is a multiple offender of even USA rules on Clenuterol, Miss Woodford… And effectively gets a slap on the wrist (short ban) from US authorities. Would you believe this man’s signature when – not just one year but every year – he comes over with overly muscled, overly mature horses?
I wrote this in a post after last year’s Queen Mary, sorry for being lazy but couldn’t be bothered to write it out again so thought I’d copy and paste as pertinent to the discussion!
“Interesting point about the clenbuterol. I’m no equine vet and perhaps they know something I don’t, but I would question the wisdom of using a beta-blocker as a long-term measure in racehorses since it has been shown to worsen pulmonary function in humans and in horses; some researchers suggest using it for no longer than two weeks to avoid these effects.
In studies, clenbuterol has been found to reduce narrowing of the airways in response to histamine in comparison to a placebo, but several treadmill studies have found no improvement in performance with its use. It’s also worth noting that clenbuterol doesn’t seem to have much effect in normal horses (that is, those who do not suffer with allergic airway disease) – but it’s estimated that up to 1/3 of racehorses in training DO suffer with allergic airway disease. In those horses, the use of clenbuterol may be genuinely therapeutic rather than merely performance enhancing.
There ARE anabolic effects reported with clenbuterol in humans and horses – but in horses these effects are only seen at higher doses (2.4ug/kg twice daily), which is significantly higher than the lower doses used by most racehorse trainers. Additionally, the anabolic effects noted at the higher dose also seemed to wane by 2 weeks in one notable study, so I think any benefit it might have in this sense is unclear.
Clenbuterol is, as far as I am aware, banned on racedays in the USA with variable withdrawal periods dependent on state (I think it’s usually less than 72 hours). Obviously frusemide (Lasix/Salix) IS allowed on raceday across the pond and that bothers me more. Although it’s used predominantly for its diuretic effects to reduce blood pressure within the lungs and reduce the severity of EIPH (exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage), I know that frusemide does have some airway-expanding effects in some species. I honestly don’t know if the same applies to horses.
I see it as no coincidence that the States breeds some of the most unsound Thoroughbreds in the world, when they are permitted to race on so many medications. Personally I can’t wait until things move on and there is a greater crackdown on the use of drugs in racehorses for reasons other than bona fide medical treatment.”
Lady aurelia did not win yesterday because of drugs…. end of, these comments are rediculous
How do you know, Ham?
Clenbuterol is not a banned sustance in the USA for horses in training. So even if Ward horses are tested by USA authorities why would they test for Clenbuterol? As far as they are concerned he’d be doing nothing wrong by using it.
Am sure once Ward horses arrive in Britain they are immediately tested by British authorities for all drugs including Clenuterol. However, it’s too late by then. A horse can have Clenbuterol all its life and will only show up if tested within 21 days of use.
Value Is EverythingForget trying to reeducate Ham ginger, he’s the class clown.
A particularly abrasive and unpleasant poster, he’s flung insults at me before, I have no interest in getting into a slanging match with this eejit. He can’t even spell properly, least of all form a coherent argument.
However I will say this. Anyone who can’t see that Ward’s runners have a huge physical advantage over their british counterparts, is either blind or an utter moron (I know which one my money is on in hams case.)
Even francesca cumani was at pains to point out before the race how overdeveloped Happylikeafool was in the parade ring, and described her as looking like a four year old colt.
But apparently according to the insightful Ham, we’re supposed to put this down to the american horses being more “forward”
Well done Ginger, looking at them in the paddock, Happy Like A Fool didn’t have that huge physical presence one might have expected. She could never establish a winning lead but did keep on for second.
The winner is clearly smart.
It looked a two horse race from weeks ago and pretty much panned out like that.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Steroids are illegal in the US and the tracks take drug testing very seriously. Believe it or not American turf horses can in fact beat Europeans on their own merits.
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