Rick Dutrow has his suspension doubled from 15 days to 30 days in Kentucky. He says he can accept 15 but not 30. Thankfully, the trainer does not decide on the length of the punishment. It was doubled because Dutrow knows how to play the system in the eyes of the commission.
Steve Asmussen has his request for further testing denied by the Texas commission. What he really should be doing is just accept the results and move on. But of course, he has lawyers who enjoy the fight and will continue to do so even if it is not in the best interests of racing.
I guess the various state commissions are tired of being made fools of by slick trainers and their even slicker lawyers. Who can name a top ten trainer who has not had a positive drug test involving at least one of their horses in the last three years? And racing wants to know why it is losing popularity?
Two things should be done immediately. The vet for each horse should be listed in the pp's along with a list of all medications that have been administered to the horse since its last race. In addition, if a horse receives a positive test then all horses belonging to that trainer are also suspended. They can be restored to racing when the suspension is over or when the horse is transfered permanently to another trainer.
No more excuses for drug positives. Racing must clean up its act immediately.
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