Alternative Ways To "Train" A Race Horse

Some trainers may not really be into the hay, oats and water regimen when it comes to getting the best production out of a race horse. It is highly doubtful that high percentage trainers aren't at least toying with at least something.

Back in the good old days (the 50's and 60's), when a thoroughbred race horse could run 20-35 times a year, performance enhancing drugs weren't discussed much. Were they out there? Yes. But were they used by many? Most likely not.

Testing for drugs using saliva didn't begin until the 1934, and drugs like cocaine were allegedly used prior to that. Sir Barton allegedly raced on it (nicknamed "hop").

Mostly though, horse racing was tainted by rumors of trainers drugging heavy favorites not to run so fast, so that the insiders could cash a ticket on the second choice.

But it seems trainers have always looked for an edge (check out the ads in Horse Trainer Magazine, there is a smorgasbord of legal products that claim to heal horses or make it possible for them to have peak performances).

Using the Google timeline resource, you can see there are quite a few stories from the 60's about drug violations in horse racing. Coramine (a stimulant) seemed popular back then.

In 1968, Bute (phenylbutazone) made headlines when Kentucky Derby winner Dancer's Image was DQed after he tested positive.

Science has changed a lot since then, on the good side, making testing for illegal drugs more precise, but on the bad side, allowing for junior chemists to come up with non testable performance enhancing concoctions and methods, including concoctions that will mask illegal drugs.

The RCI has come up with over 800 illegal substances. Masking some of these, or using some of these that may not be tested for in certain jurisdictions might just be the in thing to do these days, if you are a trainer who may want a higher win percentage.

There are four categories of Performance Enhancing Drugs (from Wikipedia):

Stimulants
Among the equine stimulants are amphetamines, as well as the amphetamine-like drugs such as methylphenidate (Ritalin).

Tranquilizers
Horses can also be medicated to win by relaxing them, and allowing the horse to run its best possible race. The widely used tranquilizer acepromazine, and any number of related or equivalent agents, have been used in this way. Of course, higher doses of tranquilizers can also decrease a horse's performance.

Bronchodilators
Improving a horse's "wind" by opening its airways through the use of bronchodilators may also improve performance, especially in an animal that is sub-clinically broncho-constricted. Some bronchodilators can also have a stimulant effect.

Behavioral modifiers
Veterinarians certify horses as being sound in "wind and limb." Obviously, medications that can affect these parameters and also the "attitude" or "behavior" of a horse have the potential to affect both the presentation of a horse and also, presumably, the outcome of a race.

I did a post a couple of years ago which listed the most likely common drugs being used today illegally:

ANABOLIC STEROIDS
Many states have no laws regarding anabolic steroid use on horses, but there has been an aggressive change in attitude lately with New York and Kentucky leading the way to their banning.
Why ban anabolic steroids? Because they artificially build up a horse's strength and because they have been known to have adverse long term affects, at least on humans.

BICARBS
Using bicarbonates (milk shaking) on horse cleans up the lactic acids that are produced naturally in horses. Less lactic acids help the horses chances to run faster and longer.
As an aside, I was talking to a harness trainer who told me that he complained about the turnaround a horse had to another trainer. He said that the trainer of that improved horse must be milk shaking, to which the other trainer replied "he bought my old bicarb machine, do you need one?"
Many jurisdictions try to test for excess bicarbonates in the blood stream. There are probably still many ways around getting positives.

BLUE MAGIC
Propantheline bromide relaxes muscles and increases blood flow.

COCAINE
Benzoylecgonine is a bi-product of cocaine and results in a horse being less fatigued during a race.

DPO
Darbepoetin-alfa which is a major ingredient in the prescription drug Aranesp® is becoming as notorious in Ontario as EPO (see below). The drug increases blood flow and reduces anemia. Long term side effects are thought to be similar to that of EPO as well.

EPO
Erythropoietin is probably the most talked about illegal drug that is thought to be used in many jurisdictions including Ontario. EPO has a bad rap associated with it besides being an illegal enhancer, it allegedly can cause horrible long term side effects like an immune mediated anaemia and even death.
What EPO does in a nutshell is increase the red blood supply which increases oxygen capacity within the horse's circulation.
For more about the devastation EPO does to the horse read this.

ETORPHINE And MORPHINE
Etorphine (aka elephant juice) has analgesic tendencies that are 1000 times more powerful than morphine. This drug is used to immobilize elephants. For some reason analgesics even in small doses act as stimulants in animals like horses and cats. FYI from Wikipedia: "Veterinary-strength etorphine is fatal to humans; one drop on the skin can cause death within a few minutes."

PROCAINE
This drug is common in dentistry on humans for local anesthesia. In horse racing it used nefariously as a pain killer that also can constrict blood vessels which reduces bleeding.

SILDENAFIL CITRATE
AKA Viagra, yes, Viagra. Viagra opens blood vessels which enriches muscles which is thought to enhance racing performance.

SNAIL AND SNAKE VENOM
In an article over 3 years ago, Andy Beyer mentioned the strong rumour that trainers were using cone snail venom in synthetic form as a pain killer on horses.
It is used to deaden nerves and has been around at least since 1978 when Alydar allegedly was treated with it.

VODKA
Back in 2005 a vet admitted to injecting vodka 75 times at $15 a pop. The vet called this a "pre-race adjustment" on the bill. Using vodka might be more prevalent at tracks with low purses.

NITROTRAIN
I have to add Pig Juice (Nitrotrain) to the list. Ray Paulick wrote a piece about it recently.
It is described as a potent, short acting oral anabolic steroid.

SHOCK WAVE THERAPY
Like many other treatments, shock wave therapy can promote faster healing, but it can numb a sore horse's pain. Many jurisdictions do not allow a horse to be shocked more than 5-7 days prior to a race, but this can be very difficult to enforce. And it can't be tested for.

ITPP
The 2011 Super Trainer's drug of choice (at least according to many rumors) allegedly is Myo-inositol-trispyrophosphate (NormOxys) aka ITPP.
ITPP "makes the hemoglobin in blood release more of its oxygen, enhancing physical performance in a swift and powerful way."


HYPERBARIC OXYGEN TREATMENT

I've saved the best for last. I'm hearing more and more about Hyperbaric Chambers. Yes, these chambers do promote healing in horses, but there seems to be a lot of evidence that trainers are using these chambers to enhance performances of horses. It is legal, by the way, but should it be?

Treatments cost between $200-$400. So don't expect trainers at Fonner Park to be using this method.

It seems to have at least the same effects as milk shaking. Here is a claim on how it helps human athletes:

How Oxygen Therapy Increases Endurance and Relieves Fatigue

Oxygen is essential to athletic endeavors of any sort because it facilitates the production of glycogen, one of the main sources of muscle energy. In a process called glycolysis, a glucose (sugar) molecule is broken into two pyruvic acid molecules. A pyruvic acid molecule enters the muscle cell, where it combines with oxygen to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the source of muscle energy. When insufficient oxygen is present to create ATP, the pyruvic acid becomes lactic acid. This lactic acid naturally diffuses to the bloodstream, where it is carried away. However, during intense exercise, the lactic acid cannot be removed quickly enough, and it collects in the muscle cells, causing fatigue.

Mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides greatly increased oxygen saturation throughout the body, allowing the body to get the oxygen it needs to create ATP for energy and flush out the lactic acid that causes muscle fatigue. The elevated oxygen levels help athletes increase performance and recover more quickly after a workout. In addition, increased oxygen delivery to the brain facilitates brain function and enhances an athlete's ability to make the split-second decisions that can make a difference in the outcome of the game.

Here is a claim made by Equineox Technologies:

Racing Taken to a New Level

New clients in Canada are affording us the opportunity to prove the benefits and value of our hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers to Thoroughbred and Standardbred owners and trainers. The treatments will be used on current in-training thoroughbred and standardbred horses to enhance post race recovery time. By speeding the healing of injury due to the wear and tear of racing (i.e. lung and microcirculation damage), the well being of the horses with allow them to race more frequently, at higher levels.

The jury is out on how many days a treatment is good for, or if the treatment masks other drugs as well.

One human study indicates that maximum power intake as well as maximum oxygen intake improved by 7%, 9 days after using oxygen therapy.

I'm not sure how many lengths that is worth, but maybe just enough to re-break in the stretch and win at 7-5.

NYRA recently put a ban on using hyperbaric chambers less than 7 days prior to a race. There is definite concern.

Lets say this kind of treatment does enhance performance. Wouldn't that give someone working at the backstretch gates of a racetrack a pretty good edge. I'd like the info on which horse gets signed out for a while and comes back to race, or horses racing "off the farm." You know, "swimmers," etc.

When horses are away from the track, it is a lot easier to inject cobra venom too.

Hyperbaric chambers and cobra venom. That might account for some high trainer averages we see.

Are racetracks doing their job and monitoring the sign outs and those horses who come in off the farm? Or are the insiders keeping it hush in order to try to cash a few more bets?

The big question is should hyperbaric oxygen treatment be allowed period?

Here is a video of a horse in a chamber:



A good discussion with a horse racing perspective can be found here. I'm with the guy who wrote that this treatment as well as "tapping" should be public knowledge. Put it in the racing form at least.

The same day drug ban the RCI is looking to achieve within 5 years is only a small step in the right direction. Not even a baby step. More needs to done, and sooner not later.


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The Trainer Must Have Something

The phrase "the trainer must have something" has been around for quite some time. It doesn't mean that there is no significance to it. Apologists and those who benefit from the use of undetectable drugs like to call it sour grapes, and in some cases that may be true, but overall, if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it is a cheating trainer.

Even tracks like Woodbine admit there are undetectable drugs being used. Maybe not in words, but that is what the detention barn is all about.

The reality is that it is expensive to test for everything, and it is difficult to test for something that is successfully masked, or even worse, an unknown substance.

Rats aren't popular, and it is almost impossible to find one amongst the backstretch community. Shane Sellers admitted he used a buzzer, and he was ripped by many as being a possible liar, or just a despicable person for putting it out there. Personally, I'd love to see a former "super trainer" come out one day and expose himself. Might make for a best seller, assuming there are enough horse racing fans left to buy it, when the book finally comes out.


There are only so many ways to legally train a horse, and most trainers know the angles. That is why when you see a 25% plus trainer over a long stretch, it is an insult to one's intelligence to buy into the excuse that it is the trainer's methods that are behind the win rate.

Sure, there are ways for trainers to increase their win percentage without doing anything underhanded, like spotting horses in small fields (like they do in California), or dropping significantly enough, however, with each win comes one less condition, and therefore tougher competition, so the longer a horse runs under a high percentage trainer, the less likely their win rate will remain as high, in a drug free world that is.

Lots has been written about Super Trainer Lou Pena (harness trainer). Andrew Cohen wrote a series of articles questioning Pena's prowess. The most significant is this one which includes many facts:

"Moreover, the average horse improved over five lengths in those starts. And many of these former trainers are well known and respected horsemen."

In another article, Bob Pandolfo left a comment:

"When you run Trackmaster's Statmaster for Cal Expo (it only goes back to 2005), from 2005 through June 17, 2010, Lou Pena sent out over 3438 horses and had a 14% win percentage and he won 10% first off the claim. Again, according to Statmaster, at Harrahs Chester, his win percentage over the past year and a half is 47% and he has won 75% (12 for 16) first off the claim. At the Meadowlands he won 26% and was 33% first off the claim. At Yonkers he has a 32% win percentage, and is 67% first off the claim. At Pocono he has a 40% win, and 62% first off the claim. At Freehold he is at 27%, and 100% (2 for 2) wins first off the claim. So those who reported how great he did at Cal Expo seemed to have exaggerated. There is no doubt that his overall win% and win% first off the claim have skyrocketed since he moved east."

What I find most disturbing are the Pena supporters. Harness racing is dying faster than thoroughbred racing, yet, what I suspect is coming from a certain clique of trainers and owners, there are people going after Cohen and calling Pena criticizers witch hunters.

Between absurdly high track takeouts and insider drug info, how much chance does Joe Bettor have anymore? And with Super Trainers stealing purse monies, lots of incentives to new owners to try to make a buck in the game, is much depleted.

Sure, Pena might just be a great trainer who is getting extra lucky, but I like my chances of winning the Lotto Max jackpot next Friday more.


So what might Super Trainers be using these days?

One commenter, Joe, wrote this:

"The odds are 1 to 9 that the drug Pena is using to dope his horses with is Micera. It is a third-generation drug called CERA (continuous erythropoiesis receptor activator). It that lasts 6 times longer than DPO and 20 times longer than EPO. It requires only a simple ONCE-PER-MONTH subcutaneous injection. It is undetectable by urine-based doping controls. Micera is widely available in Europe, and has been approved in the USA. However, it is not yet commercially available in the USA due to a legal battle between Roche and Amgen. Certainly not a big problem to overcome."

There is a test for CERA, but I'm unaware if it has been implement at any North American tracks yet.

Of course, when it comes to undetectable drugs and blocks, synthetic cobra venom and snail venom always come up. There is a test for cobra venom, but it still hasn't made it to the North American labs. Here is an interesting video on the problem and the new test:



Venom blocks injuries which allows a horse to run through its soreness. This increases the likelihood of serious breakdowns during the race.

EPO/DPO/Micera are blood boosters. The use of these drugs have been known to have adverse long term effects on horses. Probably one of the reasons that if you pick up a Daily Racing Form from 2 years ago, many times, most of the horses entered aren't around today.

Super Trainers are one step ahead of the testing barn, and from recent conversations, I am starting to think that the real good stuff is most likely a narcotic, one that gets horses wound up like a crack addict trying to score more crack. Something that gets the horse so buzzed that they would run through a wall.

And who knows, more than one undetectable drug can be used at once, if undetectable, the more the merrier to the cheater. Bill Finley has been writing about banning Lasix for years, because according to research, Lasix is a very good mask of other drugs.

The other reason that Super Trainers are probably not using something known is the fact that there are many trainers who experiment all the time with concoctions that they hope won't test because of masking, in order to get an edge. Many do get caught. I'm sure the RMTC Recent Rulings section is full of such trainers.

Penalties just aren't high enough. Not high enough to deter many trainers from "taking a shot." I've always maintained that since we are dealing with both purse money and betting money, criminal charges should be laid in many instances. Why isn't illegal drug use on horses defrauding the public?

Of course, some might argue that if it isn't being tested for, it is legal. Obviously not, or there would be no detention barns.

If you have a tip regarding a cheater in Ontario, the Ontario Racing Commission and Crimestoppers have teamed up. To make a completely anonymous call: 1-800-222-TIPS


Now For Something Much Lighter

Funny blog piece at ThatsAmoreStable.net: Seven Racetrack Characters To Avoid

I left the following comment: "I’m Talking To Himself Guy, except all the talking goes on in my head.

Another guy to avoid is Chronic Rooting Guy: He roots for his horse from the far turn right to end even if his horse is backing through the field at the head of the stretch."

A lot more comments on the piece can be found at Pace Advantage.