ROB'S SHOUT - A POSITIVE THAT LEAVES A SOUR TASTE
By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, December 13, 2012
Robert Heathcote is the leading racehorse trainer in Brisbane. 'Rob's Shout' - the personal blog of the multi-premiership and Group 1 winning trainer will appear every Thursday on HRO.
Hello once again folks for my final blog for 2012.
In fact, I wasn't going to do this one as I have had a pretty frustrating week and yes, it's all to do with the positive swab and the subsequent penalty issued to me and the publicity it generated.
I guess I can't complain about the coverage as I am the current premier trainer so news, whether it's good or bad, has to be reported!
Yes, I know, each and every trainer who is charged with a rule infringement in racing will say they didn't do it and have no idea how it occurred!
Why would I be any different?
Of course they all say they are innocent. Look at the recent offences all around the country and why would Heathcote be any different?
How was it possible for a horse in my care to go to the races and win a race, only to later be found to have an elevated level of hydrocortisone which broke the rule of racing and thus caused the horse to be disqualified from its win and resulted in me being fined heavily?
As I found in the subsequent stewards enquiry, it did not really matter what defence I put forward as I basically had none because I had no knowledge of the offense in the first place, but as the laboratory found the swab sample positive, that's that … GUILTY!
It’s kinda like getting booked for speeding! If you do not think you were and you cannot prove fault with the radar gun … GUILTY.
If you have had two drinks and the breathalyser says you are .06 and you cannot prove the machine at fault … GUILTY.
I know I did not give my horse any hydrocortisone or instruct my staff or the vets to administer anything and yet it returns a positive swab? Found GUILTY!
Hydrocortisone is an endogenous substance which means it exists within the horse. Its primary source is the adrenal gland which secretes the substance as a natural anti-inflammatory against stress.
The international standard for the permissible threshold or the normal concentrations is usually under 1.00 mg/ml of sample fluid and above that will be misuse of the substance in an exogenous manner meaning it's been administered by a human … although it is possible to see one horse in 100,000 exceed this natural level without any further administering of the drug!
Is it possible this one horse was mine?
What is most frustrating for me is the fact that this incident occurred at a difficult time in our industry when there has been a lot of bad publicity.
Of course, I got my share of it as well with headlines in the paper and every racing site running the news about my positive swab.
I was fined heavily, which hurts, but that’s only money and I will quickly recover from that, but my greatest regret is to have my first positive since I started in the racing industry many years ago and have my hard-earned reputation now tarnished.
If my stable practises had led to an error in timing or judgment or animal husbandry, I would accept the penalty, learn from it and move on.
This sometimes happens in this industry and whilst it breaks the rules of racing, it maybe does not go into the 'cheating' file as the use of 'tubing' clearly is!
It's the not knowing how or why this positive has occurred which most irritates and infuriates me.
Strictly on the balance of probabilities in this case, it was a lowly race at Coloundra on a Sunday worth minimum prize money, a horse who was on its final notice to perform or be moved on due to its previous poor form and it was starting at double figures in the betting and unsupported!
Even if a malicious act has occurred I fail to comprehend how or why it was on that particular horse.
Sure, the cynics will say what a load of crap, he gave the horse some illegal help and got caught, and in fact one trainer at Eagle Farm as much said that to me on Wednesday to my face!
That's why this whole incident has left me with such a sour taste.
The sour taste comes from the fact that some people think I tried to win a race by illegal means … which did not happen … but I least I can sleep well in the knowledge I know I did not.
Anyway, I will get over it as time heals all wounds, as it will in this case.
The stewards have a job to do and in this case they had no alternative but to find me guilty and issue a heavy penalty because the Scientific Lab said it was a positive. That's the rules and that’s their job, irrespective of whether I did it or not!
Guilty until proven innocent in this case and yes, unfortunately the owners of Slick Image lose their race and I will no longer train their horse. I do wish them well with him in the future. I will always remember the horse … that's a certainty!
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On a happier note for the week, it was great to see Heza Jetsetter get his just rewards after being denied a win in the previous race, both on the track and in the stewards room in the subsequent race protest.
I will always believe he would have won the race against Hi Son but some consolation for the connections to see him back up with a strong win.
He has now brought himself into Magic Millions calculations and whilst he will still be at double figure odds in the million dollar race, he will be there and some chance!
I was going to take him straight into the race but the five weeks is too long so I have reassessed now and decided on a week to freshen at Washpool in the water-walker, and back for the three-year-old Group 3 Vo Rogue Plate over 1350 at Doomben and then onto the millions race a fortnight later.
That's a better plan and whilst the Vo Rogue will be a real quality race, it's at set weights so he drops weight on top of his good winning form!
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As mentioned, this is my final blog for 2012.
It's been another very busy year and unbelievable how quickly it has flown by. Another year older...scary eh!
I would like to wish everybody all the best for the festive season. Greetings to you all … and good health. It's the most important thing.
A special thank you to Graham Potter who is the host of my blog at horseracing only! A good man passionate about the industry we love!
Cheers,
Robert
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