Value Tech Blog

Frog juice? Seriously?

Horse Racing Discovers New Drug Problem, One Linked to Frogs – NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/sports/horse-racing-discovers-new-drug-problem-one-linked-to-frogs.html?_r=1

But for months postrace testing could not find the substance, a painkiller far more powerful than morphine. Then a lab in the Denver area tweaked its testing procedure, and in recent weeks more than 30 horses from four states have tested positive for the substance, dermorphin, which is suspected of helping horses run faster.

No trainer has yet been formally charged, although racing regulators expect that to happen soon. Because of its potency and ability to affect the outcome of a race, the use of dermorphin is considered to be one of the industry’s most serious drug violations.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

This is wonderful news for all racing fans. Secretariat now officially holds the record for all three Triple Crown races. I’m wondering if they wouldn’t mind taking a look at another short film taken 10 years before Secretariat’s Preakness and clearing up another matter…

Secretariat’s ’73 Preakness time is a record, racing commission rules – CNN.com
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/19/sport/secretariat-preakness-record/index.html

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Officials rule that 1973 winner is Preakness record-holder
• The official time of 1:54 2/5 was disputed by independent timers
• Using video evidence commission revises time to 1:53 flat
• Triple Crown winner now owns the official record time in all three races

(CNN) — In 1973, Secretariat won horse racing’s Triple Crown and set records that still stand today at the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. Now, 39 years later, the legend has been recognized as having also set a still-standing record at the Preakness Stakes.

The Maryland Racing Commission unanimously agreed Tuesday that evidence shows Secretariat’s Preakness time was faster than originally recorded, said the commission’s executive director, Mike Hopkins.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

More negative news for the racing industry. 

US Racetrack Denies That Mexican Drug Cartel Fixed Results of a Race – Page 1
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-racetrack-denies-mexican-drug-cartel-fixed-results/t/story?id=16597695

The general manager of a U.S. horseracing track denied allegations Monday that the chief of Mexico’s most violent drug cartel had fixed a $1 million race so his own horse would win.

According to two confidential FBI informants, Zetas leader Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, also known as “40,” bragged that he had paid the gatekeepers at New Mexico’s Ruidoso Downs $10,000 “to hold back the horses” competing against his own horse, Mr. Piloto, in the 2010 All American Futurity Race, which Mr. Piloto won.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Horse Racing Arrests Kick Off Bad Week for the Zetas
http://www.insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/2780-horse-racing-arrests-kick-off-bad-week-for-the-zetas

A string of arrests has rattled the Zetas’ financial network as US and Mexican authorities targeted the group’s money laundering operations, which allegedly included a horse racing business in Oklahoma.

The bad news for the Zetas began on June 12, with the arrest of Jose Treviño Morales in Oklahoma. Treviño (pictured, left), the brother of Zetas boss Miguel Angel Treviño, alias “Z-40”, stands accused of using drug profits to raise thoroughbreds and run a horse racing operation. His son, Juan Francisco Treviño, was arrested in a shopping center in Monterrey on June 15, accompanied by a cousin, two unrelated women, and at least two assault rifles.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Indiana Downs cancels two cards due to track investigation – Thoroughbred Times
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2012/06/15/indiana-downs-cancels-two-cards-due-to-track-investigation.aspx

Indiana Downs has cancelled live racing and training on Friday and Saturday due to an investigation by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) into the safety of the track following complaints by the Indiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

FBI: Ruthless cartel ran horse racing business in Balch Springs …
http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Ruthless-Cartel-Member-Ran-horse-racing-business-in-Balch-Springs–158644315.html

The FBI says Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie — along with several other tracks across the country — were unwitting pawns in a billion dollar drug cartel money-laundering scheme.

Agents claim the cartel tried to hide its money through legitimate horse races in Dallas-Fort Worth and elsewhere. The FBI said the brother of the cartel’s leader ran the ring here in North Texas.

The Justice Department served warrants at a residence in Balch Springs early Tuesday morning. That’s where the government says Jose Trevino ran a horse racing empire.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Hopefully, this will be more understandable to the fans and will answer the question “which hores get into the derby?” in a much simpler fashion

Points-based system will determine Kentucky Derby field – Thoroughbred Times
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2012/06/14/points-based-system-will-determine-kentucky-derby-field.aspx

Churchill Downs has announced that a new, points-based system has been implemented to determine the field for the 2013 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1). Who makes the Kentucky Derby field had been limited to 20 starters, with graded stakes earnings determining the field in the event that more than the maximum are entered. Under the new system, the top 20 points-earners are guaranteed a spot in the Derby starting gate, with earnings in non-restricted stakes serving as a tie-breaker. Churchill Downs said the new system is being implemented to establish a clear and understandable path to the Derby, and to present a compelling storyline for fans to follow.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

If other jurisdictions follow suit, this could bring big changes to horseracing. 

KY Approves Race-Day Salix Ban; Battle Looms | BloodHorse.com
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/70530/ky-approves-race-day-salix-ban-battle-looms

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, by a 7-5 vote with one abstention June 13, approved an administrative regulation that would ban the use of furosemide on race-day in graded and listed stakes over a three-year period beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

Whether it is enacted remains to be seen. Horsemen after the vote said they intend to lobby lawmakers to oppose the regulation, and there were indications from the KHRC that if other major racing states don’t follow suit by next year, the regulation could be re-examined.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Horse Racing Commission to debate ban on Lasix – WDRB
http://www.wdrb.com/story/18777004/horse-racing-commission-to-debate-ban-on-lasix

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) — The debate will continue on Wednesday on whether to ban the anti-bleeding drug for horses most commonly known as Lasix. 

The proposal is expected to come before the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission during its meeting on Wednesday.  It would eventually ban the drug furosemide, which is marketed as Lasix and Salix in graded or listed stakes, including the Kentucky Derby. 

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Drug cartel accused of laundering money through horse racing – latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-cartel-horses-20120612,0,4469210.story

WASHINGTON — The unlikeliest of marriages — the most violent Mexican drug cartel and the world of U.S. quarter horse racing — ended with the arrest Tuesday of one of the top men in the Los Zetas drug trafficking ring after U.S. officials began suspecting an uncanny run of good fortune at the track and the laundering of millions of dollars in drug proceeds.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology