gubellini 3,923 Report post Posted June 22, 2015 The RIU has just advised Wexford Stables that one of their horses has returned a positive swab.This is the last thing Lance and Andrew need.I hope the matter is resolved swiftly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richie 1,025 Report post Posted June 22, 2015 And maybe another 2 as well New Zealand racing was stunned with news on Tuesday that the leading stable of Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott had returned a positive drug test to cobalt - and two other positives are pending. It is the first time that cobalt, the scourge of racing in Australia, has been detected here. Quintastics, trained at O'Sullivan's Wexford stables in Matamata, returned a positive test after winning at Tauranga on March 11. The Racing Integrity Unit has also advised O'Sullivan and Scott that there are concerns for two other urine samples that have been sent to Perth. One of the samples came from one of New Zealand's most prestigious races, the New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie on February 28, when the O'Sullivan runner Sound Proposition ran third. The other relates to Suffire from a Tauranga race on February 5. Co-trainer Lance O'Sullivan, through the stable's Facebook page, said the irregular samples were "a mystery to us and is highly upsetting. "We will now be conducting a thorough investigation into our feeding and supplement regime." O'Sullivan said he could offer no further comment as the investigation was ongoing. "We imagine this could be a timely process so for now it's business as usual at Wexford Stables." Ad Feedback New Zealand's champion jockey 12 times before he retired in 2003, O'Sullivan rejoined the training roster at Wexford Stables in 2013 after the stable had been run by Scott for five years. More than 70 Group I winners have come from the stable, originally under the rule of now retired master trainer Dave O'Sullivan. The New Zealand racing industry has been testing for cobalt since mid-2014 and has tested samples as far back as February 2014. Cobalt is a prohibited substance at a level of over 200 micrograms per litre in urine as it boosts red blood cell production in much the same way as the banned EPO. It has been at the centre of several major probes in Australia in recent months with a number of leading trainers facing disqualification. Just 12 days ago Racing Victoria stewards laid 49 cobalt charges against four trainers and a vet. The father-and-son partnership of Lee and Shannon Hope face nine charges stemming from three cases. Mark Kavanagh has four charges relating to a reading returned by subsequent Queensland Derby winner Magicool when he won at Flemington last October. Danny O'Brien will have 16 charges over four samples returned by horses during October, November and December. And Flemington vet Dr Tom Brennan, who was employed by O'Brien and Kavanagh, was issued with 20 charges to do with the supply and administration of cobalt. Charges may yet be laid against Peter Moody, high profile trainer of former unbeaten sprint superstar Black Caviar. One of Moody's horses returned a high level of cobalt in a sample last October and stewards are still considering whether to take action. - Stuff gubellini 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBigStuff 387 Report post Posted June 22, 2015 My mind frame in terms of cobolt has not been IF, but WHEN...now here we go! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
horseboy 13 Report post Posted June 22, 2015 http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing/IM38741/Wexford-Stables-under-cobalt-investigation Comment from Lance Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richie 1,025 Report post Posted June 22, 2015 I wonder what the comments on here will be now that one of the Golden boys of NZ racing has been caught,will it be the same as when the Oz trainers got caught.e.g someone said it makes you wonder about Black Caviar after Moody was instigated GONSTA 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GONSTA 1,148 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 This just goes to show the RIU need to publish ALL cobalt swabs so punters can see which trainers are pushing the boundaries. For all we know there could be a stable that has there measurements correct and have their horses running at 190... Perfectly legal according to our rules. henry30, kakama, Belinda and 1 other 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GONSTA 1,148 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Also what the hell has taken so long for these to be released??? 3-4 months for a positive to be released? Oh please henry30 and kakama 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_and_White 37 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 I can think of a couple more that struck me as odd at the time. But like they say, its only a rort when you are not in on it ... GONSTA, richie, kakama and 1 other 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess 1,244 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 The poor old feed merchants! The obvious scape-goat I guess - first port of call it seems when the trainer cops a +ve. That's early on - when the news breaks - but I don't see many follow-up stories along the lines "a-ha! - we told ya so - it was those bloody oats we were feeding - wouldn't you know it - riddled with anabolic steroids/cobalt/blue magic - who'd'a thunk it ....." GONSTA, gubellini, richie and 1 other 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff 2,158 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 I'm amazed it took this long, there's no trust at all now, I doubt very much indeed if this stable is Robinson Crusoe, my circle at least think the police in charge are useless, however the police at HQ in Oz are just as bad, it's a 3 ring circus, blame shifting everywhere, might move to Manilla and bet on the cock fights. Huey and Ashoka 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gubellini 3,923 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Prediction for both sides of The Tasman on the cobalt fiasco. The to big to fail trainers will be dealt with extremely leniently and two obscure battling trainers will have the book thrown at them as an "example". Belinda, inside edge, hizzy and 6 others 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gubellini 3,923 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Jess so young so cynical! jess 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoKnows 791 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 They need to start banning these trainers who test positives, a fine is nothing to these people who have plenty, another nail in the coffin for thoroughbred racing, this industry just seems to be full of cheats and crooks. hsvman, integrity, inside edge and 2 others 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,005 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 The poor old feed merchants! The obvious scape-goat I guess - first port of call it seems when the trainer cops a +ve. That's early on - when the news breaks - but I don't see many follow-up stories along the lines "a-ha! - we told ya so - it was those bloody oats we were feeding - wouldn't you know it - riddled with anabolic steroids/cobalt/blue magic - who'd'a thunk it ....." Ummm..it's inconceivable that contamination could lead to cobalt levels anywhere near the threshold. Unless you were mainly feeding something like this supplemented with a sprinkling of oats. Ashoka, inside edge, Belinda and 2 others 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashoka 1,179 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 gubellini... Shades of how the thoroughbred code dealt with the bicarbonate issue a while back. All the best. Ashoka Belinda 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff 2,158 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Let's see what the readings are......if you follow the massive threads in Australia [thoroughbredvillage for one] re their cobalt fiasco/tragedy you'll see that experts advice is saying that to reach the levels our Ozzie friends have reached it would have to be via IV drip........no feed available will spike to those levels in the high 300's to 700 in Darren Smith's case. It's also highly toxic and cruel, so if the SPCA have any gonads they'll do them all in a court room, premeditated cruelty to any animal brigs potential gaol time, and who in their right mind would give a trainer with a conviction for cruelty a horse to train?.....end of. gubellini, awego, Belinda and 3 others 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gubellini 3,923 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Potential kidney/liver damage of cobalt does not bear thinking about. Black Kirrama, integrity and hedley 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Smallhaussen 3,226 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Also what the hell has taken so long for these to be released??? 3-4 months for a positive to be released? Oh please could the release have been timed to take the spotlight away from another issue currently before the RIU ? Grant R, elbow and ADM 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff 2,158 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Oh yeah. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant R 348 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 could the release have been timed to take the spotlight away from another issue currently before the RIU ? Why would that not surprise Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slam dunk 1,317 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 I'm amazed it took this long, there's no trust at all now, I doubt very much indeed if this stable is Robinson Crusoe, my circle at least think the police in charge are useless, however the police at HQ in Oz are just as bad, it's a 3 ring circus, blame shifting everywhere, might move to Manilla and bet on the cock fights. C'mon Biff tell us straight you never used vitamin B injections in the week leading up to race. I am fairly certain that cobalt comes from using vitamin B12 and I suspect the elevated cobalt readings somehow have come about from overuse or using a bad batch. I just can't accept that any trainer would directly inject cobalt. I recall Tony Cole's whole stable was affected by the misuse of selenium (vitamin E). Surely selenium in this context is same as cobalt. Back in the days when the seven day rule applied Brian Smith (Balmerino fame) was caught out on about forty instances of not notifying vitamin b usage. Then they got rid of the seven day rule because most trainers never bothered to notify anyway. Seems something like the seven day rule needs to return.. Black Kirrama 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,005 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 C'mon Biff tell us straight you never used vitamin B injections in the week leading up to race. I am fairly certain that cobalt comes from using vitamin B12 and I suspect the elevated cobalt readings somehow have come about from overuse or using a bad batch. Complete and utter bs. Even any vets involved would not make such a nonsensical argument. You'd have to be injecting B12 by the bucketful. Belinda and GONSTA 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slam dunk 1,317 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Complete and utter bs. Even any vets involved would not make such a nonsensical argument. You'd have to be injecting B12 by the bucketful. Complete and utter bs. Even any vets involved would not make such a nonsensical argument. You'd have to be injecting B12 by the bucketful. Look I can only go on what research can be found on the internet. B12 injection every 3 days. blood level 7 fold. urine level 50 fold. Thats a pretty high ratio wouldn't you say. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff 2,158 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Of course I used B12, very one did/does, I also used the strongest hormones on the market, they were legal in 1980......I stopped in 89, when my vet told me VRC would begin testing 6 months later. Trace elements and iron tonics were about the limit for me SD, while I was foreman to the most amazing man who ever saddled a horse I learnt many things, he trained so many champions without the need for needling, he beat drug cheats fair and square, I'd like to think I'll go to my grave at least trying to emulate some of his achievements and approach his morality with horses, so please accept if you will, I detest any human being that pumps cobalt into their horse as it's the most toxic shit you can imagine, EPO and elephant juice are almost in the same bracket, the sleaze in NSW that pumped 700mmpl into that poor horse needs castrating.......hope you find some solace in my answer SD. Belinda, gubellini, Huey and 8 others 11 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,005 Report post Posted June 23, 2015 Look I can only go on what research can be found on the internet. B12 injection every 3 days. blood level 7 fold. urine level 50 fold. Thats a pretty high ratio wouldn't you say. Indeed. How much were they injecting? But read this and come back if you think the internet is a reliable source on that. http://www.racing.com/news/2015-01-19/the-cobalt-threshold Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...