Dirty Deeds

Steve Asmussen, Rick Dutrow, and Jeremy Rose have really cast a shadow on horse racing this week. Asmussen, and Dutrow are both facing suspension because of illegal drugs that were present in their horses’ systems. In the defense of Dutrow his offense wasn’t nearly as severe as Asmussens. His filly, Timber Trick, had lidocaine present in her system. Lidocaine is a nerve blocker which prevented the filly from feeling pain. Dutrow’s horse had a legal medication which was applied too close to race day. This happened during “Big Brown Mania” so I believe it wasn’t intentional. Jockey Jeremy Rose has been suspended for 6 months for whipping a horse in the face. He is also required to take anger management classes.

All parties involved should really consider how much they care about horse racing. In a time where our sport is desperate for new fans and craving the attention it once had, incidents like these are turning people the other way. If they really believe that this behavior is acceptable then the game is better off without them. Their actions are acting as a catalyst for racings further decline.

I am also concerned with the spotty national media coverage which racing has received. I have seen several headlines on each of the people that I previously mentioned, along with stories on Big Brown’s quarter cracks and accusatory articles concerning Gabriel Saez’s role in the Eight Belles tragedy. What I have not seen is any coverage about Curlin winning the Foster Handicap, or Zenyetta’s rise to the top. Doing this, they are presenting the public with a deceiving image of what horse racing is all about. With the good comes the bad, and all sides of the story must be told.

I’d love to hear what everyone has to say about this.