VAN ZYL FINED R110,000 ON DOPE CHARGE

Most trainers administer some sort of drug in the name of 'well being' of our animals. To me it is not cheating or doping but simply sorting out known problems with a horse. It may result in an improved performance of the animal as he/she no longer feels the pain of the problem area but I still need to meet the trainer who can make a horse run faster than its born ability. Some trainers use different methods and drugs (to sort out problems) to get to a horse's true ability and that is why some can improve given a different stable.

Experienced trainers have become experts with regard to withdraw periods etc. and this is where Gavin missed the trick - whether it is him or his vet.

And if stories are true, also Jannie Borman in Kimberly.

But, on this subject, 2 weeks ago, I had a blood positive for pyroplasmosis, a type of sub clinical Billiary, on one of my fillies. My vet treated the filly, with my Assistant in attendance, as I was Racing that day. The side effect of the drug, "foray" is minimal. I would give the filly 3 days light work and carry on as normal. There would be a follow up in 7 days time. When the vet had finished the 2nd treatment a week later, he again wrote in my NHRA Vet book and off he went.

Now, Foray is a non scheduled drug, available over the counter. So, what's the problem ? The filly was already fit and the break of a few days here and there, just cantering, would not harm her at all. RUN HER !

Ah, but the problem with Foray is that it has possible side effects such as symptoms of colic, within an hour or two of injection. So, when a Vet gives a horse Foray, he also adds a dose of Finadyne, an Anti Inflammatory drug, in order to counteract any potential pain from the Foray. The problem is that the Finadyne, unlike the Foray, is highly detectable, for at least 12 days....

There are no handbooks on these, no guidelines. We, as Trainers, must go with what our Vets tell us. I QUICKLY scratched that filly, before final acceptances were due ! But, what if I didnt ask or wasnt experienced or well versed in the whole ? What if my Vet simply assumed that I had no plans to race the filly, so never said a word to my Assistant and what if I never checked up on the treatment and carried on ? POSITIVE ! DOPE ARTIST !

It is so much easier from the outside.....just not as simple as it looks.

Did you know that you can be found positive for Anti biotics ? Or that caffeine, as found in chocolate can result in a positive ? And remember the old days when the likes of Mr Eatwell or my late dad would walk around the yard with a little bottle of Vicks in their pocket, now and again rubbing some onto a horse's nose ? ( Muhti will remember this) Nowadays you will be GONE, old chap, POSITIVE, DOPE ARTIST !

Wonder why I have a S@#*T load of CCTV Cameras in my Yard ....? Wonder why people arent allowed to just "wander" into my yard ? I am , simply put, scared shitless !!

by David Thiselton


Gavin van Zyl feels that he has been unjustly labelled through negative reporting in the media after his charge, Riley’s Star (pictured), tested positive for traces of corticosteroid after winning on June 22 at Scottsville, a finding that eventually landed him a R110 000 fine, while the winning cheque also had to be returned.

“Doping” by the use of prohibited substances in order to enhance a horse’s performance is essentially a thing of the past in horseracing and it has been a bone of contention among many trainers that the general public need to be educated about the difference between “doping” and the case whereby a substance is administered for medical reasons and through human error or negligence is still in the horse’s system at race time.

It is interesting to note that the FEI (the international equestrian federation) have mirrored the approach taken by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who are concerned with human athletes, in that they have given comprehensive clarification as to which substances horses might normally use out of competition, but which are not allowed whilst competing, and which substances are not acceptable for use in the horse at any time.

The former type of substance could be called a “controlled” or “therapeutic” drug while the latter type could be called a “prohibited” or “doping” drug. Riley’s Star, who had a knee chip operation, had two comeback runs and 16 days before her next run was injected with a corticosteroid in both knees. Corticosteroid is commonly administered to equine athletes as a therapeutic medicine in order to treat inflammation in joints by means of intra articular injection.

Van Zyl explained, “The vet told me that the safe period to administer this medication before the race was 14 days, so I allowed two extra days. When she tested positive the vet looked up his records and discovered that a mistake had been made with the dosage administered and he had failed to advise me of this before the race. I believed I was racing the horse within the rules of the National Horseracing Authority (NHRA) as I believed the medication had been administered within the required safe period. Regrettably the media have cast this as the so-called “doping” of a racehorse. I would like to state categorically that nothing can be further from the truth as clearly I was striving to conduct myself within the rules of the NHRA and furthermore this was a necessary medication and not an attempt to enhance the horse’s performance. Horses need to be sound to race at their best and treatments such as the one in Riley’s Star case are common place. In this and most therapeutic cases the treatment could not have enhanced the horse’s natural ability."

It is interesting to note that human athletes are allowed to compete with corticosteroids administered by intra articular means as long as this is declared. The Aga Khan has in fact recently called for the “control of therapeutic substances” as one of six suggestions he advanced to help racing evolve and grow. He called on international regulatory authorities to abide by a common set of raceday drug-testing policies that are “perfectly clear and transparent about what is, or is not tolerated’’. The Aga Khan said his particular concern at present was the spate of positive cases in France for the anti-inflammatory drug betamethasone, which had “highlighted the gulf between racing professionals and the regulatory laboratories’’. The Aga Khan explained: “No laboratory has ever, to my knowledge, advised the thoroughbred world about the safe period for betamethasone use.”

i find it astounding that the most hated proffesion in horseracing, a proffession that does nothing for nothing , did something extra and forgot........


this from a proffesion that have invoiced for the gelding operation on a filly

Absolutely, Easy

Interesting that Gavin's point of defining medication into different categories has been debated on the forums in the past and seperating "doping" from "racing whilst still medicated" is such an obvious one,to avoid bringing racing into unnecessary disrepute.
Who's responsibility should this be .....the board of the NHA?........well just look at the make up of that board.......apart from 1 or 2,the balance either know nothing about racing or nothing about thinking!
Nothing brings our racing into disrepute more than the lack of action by our beloved NHA.......and I am happy to explain that comment at an enquiry!

The heading of this thread is proof of the confusion!!!!!!!!!!!

gregbucks Wrote:

---

> Okay, please explain to me then, WHY IS IT A
> BANNED SUBSTANCE??


I think that the answer to that is because they may not run whilst the substance is in the system but can be treated for ailments with it, ie not banned per-se but banned for racing as it may relieve the pain but not cure the injury which could worsen under the stress of a race . ...so there is a blanket ban and when a horse is found to have raced with the "Banned Substance" in its system no matter how minute the amount, the laws demand that a positive be recorded..in a vast majority of cases like this it is purely due to insufficient time being allowed between the administering of the medicine and the horses first run back and has very little if anything to do with attempted skulduggery, unfortunately the term dope is used very loosely and tends to infer an underhanded attempt to cheat..which in fact is very very seldom the case if at all...

A perfect example was the comrades winner,disqualified for being on the Flu medicine,Degaron.
At the time,Degaron was my medication of choice when I was feeling grim, and whilst it contained a substance,prohibited by athletics,I thought the bloke deserved an extra medal for his performance.....That stuff used to knock me out!

so we must presume that something similar happened on the other 2 occasions...

Why would you dope a horse with a detectable dope when it would be far easier, and safer, to manipulate a 10 point reduction in it's MR.That would effectively "enhance its performance" ,relatively by 5 lengths,in any Handicap, as soon as it was required!

FC Wrote:

---

> so we must presume that something similar happened
> on the other 2 occasions...


Considering that the horse opened up 8/1 and started 12/1 (paid R16 a win and R3.20 a place) even with Felix up its seems safe to say that there was no "insider trading" or betting coup...unless they have a bookie somewhere in outer Mongolia.. so yes I think its safe to assume that something similar happened on the other 2 occasions...

Was it the same vet on all 3 occasions?.... me think Van Zyl needs to rethink who he uses...

gregbucks Wrote:

---

> Was it the same vet on all 3 occasions?.... me
> think Van Zyl needs to rethink who he uses...

to get a vet to admitt liability to save your reputation....methinks they will be bonded for LIFE!!!!