Woodbine: Hollywood Hit, champion of 2010, on suspension after drug positive

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Woodbine has become the organized crime capital of horse racing. Illegal medication is part of the equation that helps betting rings cash huge bets. Incompetent racing stewards, unaccountable racing commission, inflated purses, an accommodating racing secretary’s office and a circle of immoral jockeys and trainers are what is destroying Woodbine racing and the Woodbine management are under an illusion that government hand outs should continue so that everybody runs to the bank with their illicit gains. Every last race run on the Woodbine program this year should come under investigation

I guess I'm showing my age but if you walk into my tack room, you would never find medication like that. My thoughts are - if you have to tranquilize or in some way medicate your horse to get it to do what you ask of it, then something is wrong with YOU! Not the horse. Medications are to heal sickness, not in my mind, a training tool. It takes time and a gentle approach to train a horse for any kind of performance event - racing or the show ring. Trust has to be built between a horse and it's human or all the training aids, feeding programs and time spent in training won't produce the success you desire. .... Thankfully there are some people who actually train with gentle methods, one such person is Meredith Hodges. She trains horses but specializes in training mules and donkeys - known for their high intelligence, they are more difficult to train but she has them performing at levels that are truly amazing! I understand that to get a two year old ready for big races like the Kentucky Derby or B.C. - time is a problem, being there's not much of it. Maybe we should do some rethinking about training methods and trainers, Think more about the health and well being of horses instead of winning at all costs and money. It could possibly be that a few good horses would still be this side of the dirt if we did. ..... On the bright side, Famed Tennessee Walking Horse trainer, Jackie Mc Connell got a little of what he had coming to him. He was fined $75,000 for beating a beautiful horse while it writhed in pain on the stall floor. Also for the horrible act of soring an animal. Other acts too graphic to describe as well. Nightline has the ugly episode on video, it was used to convict him, the only saving grace.

o boy the issues get curioser and curioser,drugs to run faster,drugs to calm them down,drugs to mask whatever.in this case they banned the horse for 90 days altough this seems unfair that the horse not the trainer gets suspended,it makes sense on many levels first the horse doesnt care or know that he is suspended he will get some time off at the farm,but the owners will still have to pay the bills and the trainer will not have the revenue from that horse for a while,they should then fine the trainer heavily,it beats having the trainer hand the horses to his assistant and going on vacation for 2 months and then going back to the same old tricks,if they banned the horse for 6 months trust me owners would stop paying for these drugs and would use trainers that can actually train without the needle.

Well, racing mirrors life people..cant get a horse to cooperative- drug him just like alll the ADHD kids out here.

Should have just used vita-calm.

Acepromazine is a mild tranquilizer which is given to horses of all breeds for all sorts of reasons, such as loading, shipping or clipping legs or ears. It takes the edge off a horse who is un-cooperative and is preferable to trying to manhandle a horse. Giving it to a racehorse is a no-no because of the suspicion that someone is trying to rig a race by dulling performance. Since the horse had a 107 Beyer, obviously the ace had nothing to do with racing.

Always knew that those products coming from China could have anything in them & then they blame the horse. Whoever is responsible for letting those products into this country(in this case Canada) should be held responsible. LOL

I am very familiar with all the rules (ha ha) and cheats here in So Calif. but not in Canada, can anyone tell my honestly who may be "rumored" to medicate or take extra liberties and may have been caught in the last few years? I've been watching and playing WB for about 2 years now and don't really see anyone who has even made me think there was an issue. Thanks much, and I know, this just an opinion, no worry

You think Terry Jordan would be more careful, he was already nailed once. There should be no rules in horse racing. Just a free for all. Then at the end of the year have a Breeders Drug Day. All the top guys should be their, Dutrow , Ness, O neil. it would be a blast, imagine the ratings and payouts.

I agree with this ruling. What typically happens is the trainer gets his days and his assistant takes over until the suspension is over. At least this way the owner takes a hit. The purse should definitely be redistributed. Why it wasnt done is very strange.