Has the Worm Turned?

How the worm has turned!!! In yesterday's New York Times, the owners of Big Brown announced that they have decided to become the poster boys for the future of horse racing. Michael Iavaronne, spokesmouth for IEAH said that all the horses in their stable will be "drug free" by October 1.

No comment from Dutrow, who also did not show up for the Congressional hearings last week. Iavarone stressed that Dutrow "backed the self-imposed ban on all medications believed to be performance enhancing." However, Iavarone did say that his horses would run on lasix when necessary.

If you caught Dr. Larry Soma's testimony last week, you would have learned that lasix, perceived to be an anti-bleeding medication, is, in his opinion, "performance enhancing." So the moral of the story is "clean" is a relative term. Steroid free is one things. Drug free in another.

What is interesting is how masterful these guys are at the art of the spin. Perhaps they thought that Dutrow's original admission that he used Winstrol on all his horses would be interpreted as being open and upfront. In other words, yes we use steroids and we aren't ashamed to admit it. Since that backfired, they completely reversed their position, picking up on the buzz generated by the hearings last week and riding that tide. Too little, too late or just another attempt to attract new investors?

Here's my guess at what is really happening. Those horses may be "steroid free" but they will be pumped up with other things that are probably also legal like lasix and bute. There is no way they are going to be racing truly drug free and even if they are, according to the rules as they now stand, that usually means within a 48 hour window of running.

When Mr. Iavarone says he is going to train and race his horses drug free, then I might pay attention. Right now, I think they are just trying to recoup their losses by adding some credibility to their name. According to the Times, Big Brown's last place finish in the Belmont, "cost IEAH at least $50 million in the breeding shed and in future marketing deals."

Of course that is usually what happens when you put the cart before the horse and once you do that, it is hard to go back. What's that they say? What goes around, comes around, and this time its biting pretty hard.