Was Bittar right to protect Godolphin in the Zarooni case

[ricky lake]

Today’s Sunday forum ….perpetual fawning about Dubai..which led Big Mac (of the whip ban fame) to state that on reflection , he admired Bittar for protecting Shiek Mohammed in the Zarooni affair , to which the panel all nodded adding to lose Godolphin would be unthinkable

Fair enough

Are they right though , was the bigger picture more important than proper justice …Will he be forever remembered as making the right call on this ??

For those of you just looking in , the full facts of the Zarooni doping with steroids , are held within the BHA….the file has never been published or made public , nor is it likely to ever see the light of day

Time will just heal it they hope

Thing is was Bittar right ???

views please

[The Young Fella]

I don’t think we can tell if Bittar was right unless the file is made public. Personally, I’d rather watch and bet on a threadbare sport missing Sheikh Mohammed’s investment if it means that the BHA’s integrity and sense of justice is completely beyond doubt.

[Running Rein]

Commercial interests overcame justice in that case…whether it was in racing’s best interest is a matter of conjecture but what I think is absolutely clear was the message that establishment figures can expect a more forgiving treatment than the rank and file. See Nicky Henderson 12 week suspension (out of season) for systematic race day administration of drugs.
Everything from the unexplained importing of the steroids, the Al Zarooni ‘acted alone’ defence and the suspicious dismissal by MAZ of his own legal counsel during the investigation points to a possible cover-up.
Whatever else went on in 2012 a Godolphin trainer was found guilty of administering a banned substance to a runner in a classic and also may have affected a the outcome of a triple crown bid.
Did Bittar’s approach safeguard jobs and trainer revenue in Newmarket at the expense of integrity? Possibly.

[Steeplechasing]

Might racing have gone the way of Scottish Football when the league did ‘the right thing’ and threw Rangers out? I doubt it would have been that bad, but it would have been interesting to see just how far the ripples would have washed through the sport

[Running Rein]

That’s an interesting analogy Joe but one I think that does not offer an alternative route but rather mimics the decision the BHA took over the Godolphin case.
Rangers, as far as I understand, where liquidated and therefore were not “thrown out” but rather were ‘let in’ at a lower level for commercial reasons.

[ricky lake]

I don’t think we can tell if Bittar was right unless the file is made public. Personally, I’d rather watch and bet on a threadbare sport missing Sheikh Mohammed’s investment if it means that the BHA’s integrity and sense of justice is completely beyond doubt.

I am with young Fella totally on this , its how I felt at the time , and even now I feel the sport has been compromised to a very large degree

It stinks

[apracing]

Resembles the old line that says if you owe the bank ten thousand pounds, you have a problem, but if you owe the bank ten million pouds, then the bank has a problem.

Here, it’s dope one horse and you have a problem, dope hundrds of horses and the sport has a problem.

And just like the banks in 2008, Godolphin is seen as too big to be allowed to fail.

[Author]

Posts