Are the NHRA scared of catching a BIG fish

Last Saturday at the Kenilworth meeting 10 horses were selected for pre race blood tests

How can the selection be correct

Trainer No of Runners Selected

Bass Robinson 7 1 Sands ! 1
Botha 3 1 Snaith 16 Nil
B.Crawford 9 nil Stewart 3 1
Ennion 2 1 Steyn A 1 nil
Kotzen 6 1 Steyn P 9 1
Marcus 3 nil Wrensch 1 NIl
Marshall 3 1
Nel 1 nil Crawford and Snaith NIL yet 25 of the
Prestage 1 1 70 runners from these 2 stables
Ramsden 2 nil
Reeves 2 nil
Robinson 1 1

How do they choose?

One would also have to look at the stats over a period of time....but the first people to throw their toys out of the cot should be the other trainers and owners.

Lionel you are correct but the history is exactly that The small stables are targeted without a doubt
I spoke to a number of trainers yesterday and at least 2 state they have actually walked into the
Board room and complained in the past few months
The same compliant arises with out of competition testing
The NHRA staff pitched up a month ago to take 4 each from 3 of the smallest stables
in Milnerton
One trainer was not available so they took 8 from a single stable of less than 30 horses
If they used a percentage system they should be taking the full 12 from the 100 plus yards
at a single visit
Doubt if that is going to happen
Not sure what happens in other centres

This topic makes it look like the NHRA gives the big yards or "top" trainers a miss.

Another way to look at it is that they took tests from almost everybody except the two Cape trainers that are currently in the top 10 nationally with then about 12 wins apiece, and those yards had been regularly tested.

On that same day, Crawford won 2 races and Snaith won 1. Both Crawford horses were selected to be tested and Snaith winner and some other horse of his that ran 3rd also got selected.

Additionally, on the day Snaith brought a horse to pass through the starting gates, and that filly too had samples taken.

So contrary to the implications here, the 2 trainers "omitted" for pre-race testing had the most horses tested, and have the most horses tested by winning. This is how conspiracies start, but happily, the facts make it implausible.

Tony
The two raceday tests are different. The pre race test is a blood sample and the post race test is a urine sample.

Out of competition testing is a blood sample.

One particular substance which would be detected before a race but not after a race would be bicarb, as in a "milkshake"....

Basically, though, I have never bothered with who is or isn't being tested, so have not spotted any favouritism or such, up in Gauteng or down here.

So, like yourself, I would not see favouritism or glaring omissions, unless one has the data from 6 months or a year. One meeting is not enough to go on. It is obvious that not every horse can be tested at every meeting, so a rotating system is in place.

Tony The difference is that the blood sample is taken before the horse races
and the horse is taken from the back area where they usually stand quietly for a fair amount of time
They are then walked thru to the dope testing box area which is in the same area of the saddling
area in Cape Town
Many horses get uptight because of this and no doubt their performance could suffer
The winners ect are post race and and makes no difference
Louis the stats are there as far as Cape Town is concerned and all the smaller trainers are
getting pissed off about the system

www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/sep/...nt-horse-racing-tips

Talking Horses: BHA defends blood sampling after Harrington complaint
The British Horseracing Authority has issued an unapologetic defence of its policy of taking pre-race blood samples from horses, following a complaint by the trainer Jessica Harrington


Racing’s ruling body has issued an unapologetic defence of its policy of taking pre-race blood samples from horses, following a complaint by the trainer Jessica Harrington. After her Millisle was narrowly beaten in a Group Three race at Salisbury last week, Harrington used her column in the Irish Field to complain that a vet with the British Horseracing Authority had taken a blood sample just 35 minutes before the race.

The County Kildare trainer, who has won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Irish Grand National as well as top-class races on the Flat, said the vet’s intervention was “very disappointing” and suggested it may have affected the outcome. Having consulted her own vet, Harrington said that taking a sample “could raise a horse’s blood pressure, contract the spleen and/or provide an adrenaline rush, all of which you don’t want happening just over half an hour before a Group Three.

“I do not want this to come across as sour grapes but she was beaten a short-head and small margins make the difference.” Harrington noted that her horse had arrived at the track the day before the race and questioned why the test had to be done at such a late stage. Her supporters on social media wondered aloud whether this was a case of an Irish runner being singled out.

But a BHA spokesperson said four British-based runners in the same race also had blood samples taken, two of them after Millisle and therefore even closer to race-time. “Pre-race testing is an important part of our equine anti-doping strategy,” he added.

“Pre-race testing is used in Britain and other racing jurisdictions to detect and deter the use of methods or substances which might be administered prior to racing which might enhance a horse’s performance. For certain methods and substances, it is essential that the sample is taken directly before competition, as they would not be detectable immediately post-race.

“Hundreds of thousands of pre-race blood samples have been taken from horses over decades across the world. This includes runners in virtually all major racing nations contesting the most important races in the international calendar. Over the past two years, runners – and often subsequent winners – of many Group races in Britain have been pre-race tested.”

Asked whether it might not be fairer to test all the runners in a particular race, the spokesperson suggested there might be logistical and practical reasons why that would often prove impractical. He added that BHA samplers are prepared to walk away if a horse responds badly when a pre-race sample is sought.

Pre-race blood samples are not taken in Ireland but officials there hope to introduce the practice, possibly in the first half of next year. Talks have been taking place with trainers’ representatives.