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Sports
Related: About this forumJustify Failed a Drug Test Before Winning the Triple Crown
Related: Baffert: Justifys positive test came from contaminated food (Associated Press)
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Source: New York Times
Justify Failed a Drug Test Before Winning the Triple Crown
Bob Baffert guided Justify to the 2018 Triple Crown, but a month before the Kentucky Derby, the horse failed a drug test that could have ended that campaign before it began.
By Joe Drape
Published Sept. 11, 2019
Updated Sept. 12, 2019, 10:57 a.m. ET
On June 9, 2018, a colt named Justify thundered home to the full-throated cheers of a capacity crowd to win the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes and claim horse racings Triple Crown, one of the most storied achievements in sports.
It was the perfect ending to an improbable journey for a talented horse, his eclectic ownership group, and his Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert.
Only a few people, however, knew the secret that Baffert carried with him into the winners circle that day: Justify had failed a drug test weeks before the first race in the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby. That meant Justify should not have run in the Derby, if the sports rules were followed.
They were not, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times. Instead of the failed drug test causing a speedy disqualification, the California Horse Racing Board took more than a month to confirm the results. Then, instead of filing a public complaint as it usually does, the board made a series of decisions behind closed doors as it moved to drop the case and lighten the penalty for any horse found to have the banned substance that Justify tested positive for in its system.
By then, Justify had become just the 13th Triple Crown winner in the last 100 years, and his owners had sold his breeding rights for $60 million.
-snip-
Bob Baffert guided Justify to the 2018 Triple Crown, but a month before the Kentucky Derby, the horse failed a drug test that could have ended that campaign before it began.
By Joe Drape
Published Sept. 11, 2019
Updated Sept. 12, 2019, 10:57 a.m. ET
On June 9, 2018, a colt named Justify thundered home to the full-throated cheers of a capacity crowd to win the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes and claim horse racings Triple Crown, one of the most storied achievements in sports.
It was the perfect ending to an improbable journey for a talented horse, his eclectic ownership group, and his Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert.
Only a few people, however, knew the secret that Baffert carried with him into the winners circle that day: Justify had failed a drug test weeks before the first race in the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby. That meant Justify should not have run in the Derby, if the sports rules were followed.
They were not, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times. Instead of the failed drug test causing a speedy disqualification, the California Horse Racing Board took more than a month to confirm the results. Then, instead of filing a public complaint as it usually does, the board made a series of decisions behind closed doors as it moved to drop the case and lighten the penalty for any horse found to have the banned substance that Justify tested positive for in its system.
By then, Justify had become just the 13th Triple Crown winner in the last 100 years, and his owners had sold his breeding rights for $60 million.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/sports/horse-racing/justify-drug-test-triple-crown-kentucky-derby.html
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Justify Failed a Drug Test Before Winning the Triple Crown (Original Post)
Eugene
Sep 2019
OP
Mosby
(16,350 posts)1. He failed the second test as well.
Desert Dem
(78 posts)2. They are going to kill racing, take heart PETA.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)3. What will it take to end this disgusting "sport"?
From the article:
Horse racing has a long history of trainers repurposing drugs in pursuit of a performance edge. Frog and cobra venom, Viagra, cocaine, heart medicines and steroids have all been detected in drug tests.
Scopolamine cases have resulted in disqualifications, purse reimbursements, fines and suspensions over the decades.
Dr. Rick Sams, who ran the drug lab for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission from 2011 to 2018, said scopolamine can act as a bronchodilator to clear a horses airway and optimize a horses heart rate, making the horse more efficient. He said the amount of scopolamine found in Justify 300 nanograms per milliliter was excessive, and suggested the drug was intended to enhance performance.
I think it has to come from intentional intervention, he said.
When human athletes take dope it's their choice. The horses have no choice.
El Supremo
(20,365 posts)4. That did it for me.
The Sport of Kings? More like the Sport of Fuckwads.
empedocles
(15,751 posts)5. Then there are the trainers, owners, etc. of Justify
Response to Eugene (Original post)
twogunsid This message was self-deleted by its author.
twogunsid
(1,609 posts)7. Tim Layden's take on the scandal...
...interesting read.
https://sports.nbcsports.com/2019/09/25/story-behind-justify-positive-drug-test/