Obviously, the recent scandal has been big news, but for me it has confirmed a few things which I had previously suspected. Firstly, European and Japanese racing are the best in the world as they are the fairest. Steroids are conpltely banned for horses in training. However, in places such as dubai, Australia and USA, steroids are not banned for horses in training. And for me, this means these countries lose their credibility. For example, black caviar. Everyone said that when she came over here she ran below par, however I believe this may be parially down to one reason- she had to be clean from steroids when touching down in this country. This would mean a longer break before her race than she would have had in Australia, where being a horse who got 'injured' a lot, she was no doubt frequently administered steroids. This would have had an effect on her performances, making her seem better than she should be, and for me this begs the question- how can we respect the form and rating horses in these countries where steroids are allowed if these horses are getting an unfair advantage? How can it be said australian sprinters are better than uk sprinters when they are being pumped full of drugs and uk sprinters aren't? Yes, black caviar was in no doubt her best form this year. But that is also after what is probably her longest break- nearly 6 months, meaning all that time she could have had steroids being injected. This would no doubt improve her, and again, dents her credibility. It also dents the credibility of the godolphin horses, who no doubt do so well in dubai due to having been on the steroids, becuae out there they can train on them, whereas British horses going over will not h e had the opportunity to use them, and so are disadvantaged. It also possibly offers an explanation as to why they always took horses out there, even if they didn't race over there, so they could train them on the steroids.

Couldn't agree more ubar.. i think it also explains why a lot of godolphin/al zarooni horses start off so well in thier first few runs before the form begins to tail off due to the muscle build up deteriorating. I genuinely believe their breeding operation is done for.. at least for the forseeable, it is after all and i hate to say it... a scam! Shame for racing in general really

It has been a long spoken rumor here that the big trainers/operations get more 'leniency' then they should/deserve when its comes to 'ill practices'.

I have the utmost respect for the BRA in not only going for one the biggest operations (Godolphin) but effectively destroying the 3YO career of an unbeaten filly (yes that sounds bad, but I mean no malice to the horse herself just the fact that it would be her most important time to race and they've basically told Godolphin 'too bad for you').

Taken from an article today 27/4/13: Racing Victoria will push for a re-examination of the Australian rules allowing horses to be treated with anabolic steroids while ''out of competition'' after the shock revelations in England that one of the world's biggest racing stables, Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin, had been using steroids to boost their gallopers' wellbeing and performance.

I hope this happens.


However, and I have to say this, Australasian bred sprinters ARE better than European bred sprinters (of course there are exceptions)

Whether Australasian sprinters are better than European sprinters is irrelevant- there needs to be worldwide consistency on drug use- ie no steroids on training premises. You can't say with certainty if they are better or not becuase you don't know the extent of the drug use or how much effect it's having. The classic Australasian sprinter image is one of a well muscled horse that's powerful, but if they are well muscled due to the use of steroids, then what would try actively be like without. I'm sure black caviar was on steroids, and it gives these horses an advantage coming to the uk because even if they are clean over here as long as they keep training and care properly for te horse the muscle mass will remain and so they retain the benefits, as they are not normally over here long enough for the effect to wear off. This means also that places like dubai etc. which are designed to be the meeting point for te worlds horses are not as its unfair, because all horse bar European and Japanese will have been on steroids most likely, and so they are disadvantaged before the race begins. If I ran the bha and the other countries like Australia refuse a steroids ban, which at the moment looks likely, I would say that if a horse is to run in the uk 6 months worth of clean samples must be provided before the horse is allowed to run, meaning they would be off steroids as long as the zarooni horses have been banned for.

Totally agree with you Ubar to build a horse up using steroids makes that horse a sham, and it isn't the horses fault...it's the owners!! The owners should be made to be pumped full of steroids until they heads explode!!!

"Royal Ascot here I...uh oh"...*BOOM*

thats just unnatural
wanted to be sick when saw his shoulders

Pretty disgusting!
And with Gerard butlers mindless comments to the press in the hope of getting off lightly there goes the bha's leverage over the other countries.

Lol that is so funny.

I think potentially what Gerard Butler has done is the right thing. IF he is being sincere and what he states is true, i.e. he submitted all vet certificates at the appropriate time to the BHA. BUT why didn't he use his judgement and knowledge of the rules because using these substances is against the rules. On the other hand however, when a vet tells you to use something to cure a problem you tend to trust that the vet knows the drug and its consequences on your field of competition. The ultimate responsibility still lies with you though. I can't work it out, but I can see both sides. What I really don't get is why you would inject a steroid like that into a joint... In humans they use catabolic steroids in joint problems, I've had about six of them. But one would expect that an anabolic steroid would have the opposite effect...

He should have waited until the bha had united drug rules and let it be dealt with internally, I'm sure it's purely selfish trying to get off lightly. Bin suroors yard will also be tested just to check it is not a godolphin wide thing, though there is nothing to suggest it will be.