BUREAUCRATIC TERRORISM

[samstar]

When a trainer has a meth positive and beats it in court after spending many thousand dollars defending himself, four more similar positives show up,  The penalty should be 1 year each and $1000+ fine each for a total of 4 years and $4000  plus loss of $30,000 in purse money. 

Why would the OHHA, Judges, executive director and board along with their general counsel agree to a single 60 day suspension and $1000 fine?  It has been presented to the judges that the same person responsible for the first case was involved with the next four and he is a Meth addict.  There is only one answer to this question.  The bureaucrats know that the trainer was not involved in the use of meth and that the trainer wasn't aware that they were in danger having a meth addict caring for their horse.

If the bureaucrats know that there was no administration of the drug by the trainer and that the trainer was not in a position to protect herself from the positive because the commission no longer tests caretakers or grooms for drug use, why are the penalizing the trainer at all?  The commission also knows that the trainer beat them in court on a similar case and that it is likely that the commission would lose in court again if the trainer was in a position to defend herself.  The commission reduced the penalty to make it the only reasonable choice for the trainers because the defense of the 4 additional cases would cost upwards of $75,000.00 and upon acquittal the $75 k would not be recoverable.

This is a clear case of Bureaucratic terrorism.  There has been no justice, the caretaker is still handling horses, and  an innocent person has been humiliated, fined and damaged.  It should always bother you when the judges say "We know you didn't do anything wrong but our hands are tied".  Yes, they are tied by the inefficient terrorists who head these organizations.

Those who pile on the affected trainers should be ashamed of yourselves.  You all know that you would have to be insane to administer Meth to a race horse,

[Parked]

Insane .? Not if you knew you would eventually get caught ( after winning lots of races and $$$$$)  and get just 60 days and 1,000 $.  Fine …..

[The Exporter]

What was the count , how many picograms? This is where some common sense needs to be applied. A gram is equal to; 1,000,000,000,000 picograms. So, a positive test, revealing 3 picograms would lead a reasonable person to believe the contamination was environmental, and not positive for PED.
 This is one of the improvements HISA will need to make in order to be fair and effective.
Destroying a person's business and bankrupting them in order to mount a effective defence for an infraction like this is totally self destructive.  Racing will not survive with this foolishness. And yes, I know HISA has no jurisdiction in harness. Not yet. 

[jupiter]

Testing has always been a mess but now it's ten times worse. No states handle positives the same, the punishments are the same. Pile them up take days at end of the year. Unless you're just the normal guy just trying to get by. There is NO common sense involved in the policing of PEDs in horse racing.

[Harness racer]

Don't hire drug addicts to care for your horses.  If you can't find reliable help do it yourself or downsize.  You are responsible for your employees if this indeed was the case.

[SwankToliverA]

Seems like the common denominator here is the drug addicted caretaker. So why is he or she, still employed?

[samstar]

commissions used to test grooms randomly and they have stopped doing that because of expense.  A trainer at the Meadows employed a groom who the commission knew was on Methadone to help with a heroin addiction and the commission did not tell the addict what he had to do to protect against positives and didn't tell the trainer that they had licensed a groom who was using Methadone.   When a positive test resulted, the commission tried to hold the trainer responsible. Another case of Bureaucratic Terrorism.   

[GETSOME]

" Those who pile on the affected trainers should be ashamed of yourselves.  You all know that you would have to be insane to administer Meth to a race horse, "

I have in mind, an extensive list of sane/insane "trainers" who would prerace a horse with METH, without scruple.

[samstar]

If the same amount of meth was found in the test for a 747 pilot, they wouldn't even call him in never mind  call him out.

[love and light]

  Or just go to Delaware or Maryland  you can dope em  get a slap on the Hand and just Transfer your stable to family members, Because the Commissions dont do shit except get paid off by the supplier.  The whole game is a Joke , Why are there Bylaws why are there Commissions Why are there Judges Why hire Investigators ? they get a fat payday and a salary. You go to any Training Center In Jersey , Delaware and yes some in PA AND ITS like the walking dead of Drug addicts ,or the girls look like slobs talk like slobs  Wonder if these guys fetch em from Kensington . IF Im spending 200,000 On horses I would not let my Animals Stable at a Zombie Training Center where the drugs are Plentiful .  If I wanna Go take my Family to My Trainers Stable on a Sunday morning I want to see a Clean Presentable Operation with Caretakers that at least know how to dress and Talk like they have some knowledge of the Horses .