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There is 7 of them, and none have been championg jockey.
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The sports press and periodicals were filled with stories like "fixed races", "races of shame" and "only a loudspeaker is missing to say the next race is fixed".
But look what happens afterwards:
One of the national tv channels decides to make a program about it. The racing authority director is invited to attend. We wait outside the studio for our turn to come. But just in time the phone rings "director is n’t coming, show is cancelled".
My personal opinion was that it was not fixed races but very low class races, impossible to make head or tails out of them and in fact those divisions were later disbanded.
But after this I go to the minister of public order with my report and say "this is it. you either begin an investigation or sue for defamation those who wrote the stories – decide".
I get a reply from the ministry that I should n’t talk to them but to justice. I do that. I provide testimony to the public prosecutor plus all the relevent printings I had collected. In addition I submit the British BHA set of rules and say "read this and compare to the mess we have here". The public prosecutor says he will look into everything except for the document writen in English because it is foreign language !Result ?
Everything was buried and went into archive.Subsequent result ?
Racing revenues down by 60%. Sport into disrepute.This is ludicrous. Ir proves that some people enjoy momentary happiness out of diregarding law and order but in the end the ship sinks.
There have been a few small pieces in the RP to be fair and I’ve had some cracking anecdotes from a former colleague of mine who used to work on-course in Australia.
I’m sorry to say that the problem it’s near on impossible to prove a horse has been stopped. Lots of opinions plenty on here for example but it’s just that opinion, unless a jockey comes out and says ‘ I stopped this one’ the authorities are stuffed which of course is why the Fallon trial floundered. I’m also bound to say that most of the opinions are wrong the real ones that are stopped are too difficult to detect- it’s an art form
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I’m sorry to say that the problem it’s near on impossible to prove a horse has been stopped. Lots of opinions plenty on here for example but it’s just that opinion, unless a jockey comes out and says ‘ I stopped this one’ the authorities are stuffed which of course is why the Fallon trial floundered. I’m also bound to say that most of the opinions are wrong the real ones that are stopped are too difficult to detect- it’s an art form
That’s true.
Last summer me + entourage gambled on a particular straight forecast and tricast.
Half way down the stretch it was practically over and done with and we were laughing all the way to the bank.
But the second placed horse stops all of a sudden and it was "goodbye money" of course !
Everybody thought it was a case of serious injury, including an old and very experienced stable foreman who happened to be in our company.
But next day we read this, to our surprise:
Vets found the horse 100% ok, jockey gets 40 day ban.
As the jockey was one of the "good boys" and they would normally be lenient towards him, there is no doubt that the stewards diagnosed something foul and really had to punish him.
But again there is an excuse: "first time I mounted this horse – knew nothing of its behaviours – thought it went lame" !
So it really is difficult to prove foul play.Historically the cases where racing authorities and other sports authorities established foul play and prosecutions were succesful, were cases in which the conspiracy was followed from the start and the conspirators were caught by surprise, exchanging money.
I found Simon Crisford’s comments fascinating.He claimed he could not keep tabs on what medication every horse was getting.
neither can the BRA so they take random sampled. Could Simon not do that? Was he too busy with other matters? Trust but verify.He claims he told the trainer to keep better records after the first violation. Did he not follow up? Was that too much like real work? What kind of an operation was he running? Any wonder Godolphin is in decline.Tough choices await the Sheik.I’ve little idea what the duties expected of a Racing Manager are but it would seem logical that oversight of the trainer(s) employed by his boss would be one of them; a duty that Mr Crisford seems to have neglected somewhat
From Godolphin’s website:
As racing manager since Godolphin’s inception, Simon Crisford has played a key role in the stable’s remarkable development and success.
In addition to working as racing manager, he also carries out duties similar to those of any chief executive of a major company – he ensures the smooth running of the entire Godolphin operation
Given his background in the media I always got the impression that Crisford dealt with PR and media issues rather than looking after the horses?
I do feel for him slightly.
We don’t know what the trainer was telling him or showing him.
If you ask to see stuff and someone shows you something that you beleive is OK you cannot do anymore. I assume that is what the trainer did.
At least they have banned the trainer which is only right and proper.No surprise to me if this particularly smug,bland character who talks without saying anything had to step off the gravy train over this one……a murky looking shambles that shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.
It’s impossible to ascertain Crisford’s shortcomings over this without clear knowledge over what his precise remit was/is.
However, I would comment that there is a clear distinction between not knowing every single piece of medication each horse is given (as Crisford has pointed out in his own defence) and, on the other hand, not knowing that a significant number of the horses under your management are being systematically and illegally doped by one of your two principal trainers.
The first is understandable, the second would suggest complacency, remoteness, poor management methods and procedures and/or plain incompetence.
Would a horse given steroids appear more physically imposing and better conditioned than it did prior to being given the steroids, and in comparison to other horses in the yard? From what read and hear the answer is yes.
Given Certify was ante post favourite for the 1000 gns there would have been a lot of focus on her. Wouldn’t anyone with a trained eye for a racehorse pick up on the fact she appeared better conditioned than previously? I don’t buy the theory it was one man (Al Zarooni) working alone.
He was scrambling to lay all the blame on Al Z and none on himself.
A lot of people have resigned from head of company positions in the banking sector recently. They could not have been expected to know every transaction undertaken by every staff member, but as head of the operation they rightly had responsibility for making sure everything was correct. This is done by putting in place processes and oversight so no-one can act wrongly alone. Crisford should have done this with the operation under his care.
Dear No idea if Simon did his best then he should resign since his beat was not good enough.
Apologies if someone has already stated this. Can’t believe MAZ was administering the drugs alone and that they must have been several other people in the stable who knew what was going on (and I assume knew that it was illegal), but then omitted to tell another member of the Godolfin management.
If Crisford really didn’t know then there must be a few others facing the sack
Would a horse given steroids appear more physically imposing and better conditioned than it did prior to being given the steroids, and in comparison to other horses in the yard? From what read and hear the answer is yes.
Given Certify was ante post favourite for the 1000 gns there would have been a lot of focus on her. Wouldn’t anyone with a trained eye for a racehorse pick up on the fact she appeared better conditioned than previously? I don’t buy the theory it was one man (Al Zarooni) working alone.
Absolutely Oasis,this is a case of Scapegoating an individual,what does the accountant say when he sees on the medication list…
STEROIDS
Ffs? As for Simon Crisford,his position is definitely untenable and without any question he has to resign,his body language is positively uncomfortable.Do you think Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn’t know if certain players were taking illegal substances to enhance their fitness because one of his Trainers were secretly encouraging it?
Apologies if someone has already stated this. Can’t believe MAZ was administering the drugs alone and that they must have been several other people in the stable who knew what was going on (and I assume knew that it was illegal), but then omitted to tell another member of the Godolfin management.
If Crisford really didn’t know then there must be a few others facing the sack
absolutely; there is no way this was a one-person operation. Administering drugs on this kind of systematic basis requires considerable organisation, and must have been widely known inside Godolphin
If they received sufficient doses the racehorse’s appearance would have been more muscular; remember Flo-Jo and the East German women athletes?
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