Howard Taylor Equine advocacy alliance

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Its true and factual-that many of the horses that Howard Taylor owned -trainers of his were using the PEDs from Fishman-notably HOF Ron Burke--BB3-listed on horses he trained-even listed which PED each horses was getting-so if you banish one trainer for using these PEDs -then it should be across the board-remember-no one in USA is above the Law.

I agree, and I have zero problem with that. My position of guilt or innocence is not contingent upon whether Taylor actually received the products and distributed them. Independent of that I have long said, definitively, I feel the sport and business is better off without him. Period. I was thinking if he did NOT take possession, in his world, it opens the door to the "I know nothing" defense. Yes, it's absolutely BS, but I'd rather see the option completely off the table. LO>

As far as Engblom-i believe he was innocent.  The three substances detected in Mon Amour were Oxycodone (a powerful prescription opioid painkiller), Carisoprodol (a prescription muscle relaxant), and Meprobamate (the metabolic byproduct of Carisoprodol).These are common Human prescription drugs-even a human taking these touching a horse can produce these low levels in this day and age--and to top it off the levels were so low a forensic scientist-testified it had no effect on the outcome-4.9pcg.These levels were so low that in PA even HISA threw them out because they are environmental contamination. However NJ wanted a scalp-so Engblom was the scapegoat. Gural heard all the evidence and agreed with the testimony of experts-so he gave Engblom a pass.

I've read a lot about these contamination positives, from human meds, to pain patches, and so on. I can't speak to Engblom's case. I was speaking to Gural's position, and I was not happy that he caved.

[G]

Yes it should be across the board and unbiased. But it isn't. And again that's because the people in power who govern and police are part of the problem. They also compete. And they are also documented in the same files entered into evidence by the FBI. See the real problem? Why do you think I'm blackballed having never had a day or penny suspension or fine? I'm a liability to them. Everyone else is scared and with good reason.

did you look at yourself on that video that you posted? You're pleading and begging for forgiveness was humiliating. Howard hasn't decided what he's going to do with you yet.

[Lockedin with Pace]

did you look at yourself on that video that you posted? You're pleading and begging for forgiveness was humiliating. Howard hasn't decided what he's going to do with you yet.

Mike is shaking in his boots worrying about what Taylor is going to do. NOT!

[Ignorance Is Bliss]

Mike is shaking in his boots worrying about what Taylor is going to do. NOT!

Guess he's unaware that Howard's attorney Tamar Wise called me two nights ago, thanked me and her only concern was who produced the video. Very civil conversation, I have her number now and told her I only deal in truth. It's clear their target is Gural and are looking for anything connecting him to any sort of defamtion they can use in court. Remember G said Howard doesn't know I exist??? 

[bond]

Plopsters are right--Gural picks and chooses who he bans--the FBI was like a smorgasbord-he just picked out which ones he wanted-and which ones he didnt need.

That is also my biggest concern and would never happen with HISA. No matter how big or how many horses you have in Tbred racing you get booted--like BoB Baffert-they don't come much bigger- he was outed--for FAR FAR less what Mr Burke and others were doing in his barn from what Im reading--FACT.

 If that was Baffert and they got him for an EPO mimetic-it would be curtains for him.

 So Plopsters are on the ball with this one--if the top brass running the Sport are corrupt--they need to go first.
Im very surprised the NJ Racing commission( Tom Salerno and sara Ben David) sat on their hands while the evidence of PED use was laid out in front of them. Even blood samples sent to Hong Kong-showed evidence of Blood manipulation from these horses.

In unsealed FBI wiretaps between Fishman and prominent trainers (like Jeff Gillis), they openly discussed how they believed the drug was safely undetectable. Fishman explicitly boasted on the wiretaps that if investigators pulled blood 12 hours after an injection, the horse would test "safe".

The Hong Kong Jockey Club's advanced testing utterly destroyed this theory, proving that the drug's chemical signature left a detectable biological footprint far longer than Fishman realized.

 So in a way- Engblom was a victim because it took the spotlight away from the Fishman and FBI case-so they booted him to make it look like they actually do something. Remember people using EPO or mimetics(same thing)-get a lifetime ban at certain tracks(egHarrahs, Monticello) and here we have trainers buying 50 doses or more-and are walking around like nothing happened. THIS has got to stop-and Im happy to see questions in the Howard Taylor case--OCT 12 is a date I read that Taylor AND Gural their trainers have to submit records--that will be interesting to say the least.

Its interesting that in the Taylor defamation  case-Howard is relying on the fact that EPO and BB3 are chemically and structurally different. He will lose that case if im not mistaken because BB3 Acts as a workaround. Despite having a completely different chemical shape, it is designed to activate the EXACT same EPOR cellular pathway.
 It triggers the SAME BIOLOGICAL result—surges in red blood cells and highly elevated oxygenation—without using the actual EPO molecule-so that is intent to cheat and a PED in my language and most other peoples also.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Many valid points. Do I think Gural is perfect? No, not at all. Do I think he's better than most if not all others? Absolutely. Yet, he still allowed some to slide. There lies the problem. Transparency would help, but that's a discussion for another time, LOL. While Gural funded the original investigation, and was the catalyst, for a lot of what inevitably went down, and I commend him for that-----he is still going to be under everyone's magnifying glass.

As far as HISA, no, it is far from perfect, even far from ideal. But to me, for me, whether it be HISA or a deviation, it's inevitable. It has to be! Status quo was not working and the sport was diminishing, contracting, regressing. This industry, this sport, had self-regulation for the longest time, and failed. Period. HISA may not be everyone's want or solution, but something had to happen. Again, discussion for another time, LOL. Yes, Baffert, and Lou Pena, and OJ Simpson too, they fell victim to the Al Capone conviction theory. That too happens. Yes, whether it be political appointees, elected, I don't care who, track management, all of them, if they are corrupt, not only do they have to go, they should all be indicted as well. The NJRC is nothing more than another state-run, state-governed body that can't get out of their own way. Pre-Gural, whenever any horseman appealed, sued, whatever, the NJRC's win/loss record is abominable. After Jeff Lapoff, they did not do to well, LOL. The NJRC has done a horrible job for fifty years.

As far as Engblom, I am only looking at this from the Gural side, and as I said, I am not happy he caved. The optics are bad, and so is the reality. Gural is in a position to further change and better the sport-----as he already has-----and while I don't expect him to be perfect, I do expect a universal standard. I don't know why he caved on Engblom. I am sure there are substantive reasons, but I can't help wonder what they are, LOL.

[bond]

I agree, and I have zero problem with that. My position of guilt or innocence is not contingent upon whether Taylor actually received the products and distributed them. Independent of that I have long said, definitively, I feel the sport and business is better off without him. Period. I was thinking if he did NOT take possession, in his world, it opens the door to the "I know nothing" defense. Yes, it's absolutely BS, but I'd rather see the option completely off the table. LO>

The Sgt Schultz approach-wont fly in this case in my opinion for the following reason.

"maxim ignorantia juris non excusat"--Ignorance of the Law is no excuse

In a federal defamation trial like Taylor v. Gural, a jury does not look at claims of ignorance in a vacuum; they look at the concrete paper trail.
 
If Gural's legal team introduces the exact itemized training and veterinary bills into evidence from FBI files--showing line-by-line charges for black-market blood builders, Taylor cannot simply argue that he "never checked".

This is what I read---"The Willful Blindness Verdict: The law states that if an owner receives explicit, written notices of illegal activity on invoices they are actively paying month after month, choosing not to read them is willful blindness.

Legally, willful blindness completely satisfies the requirement for "knowledge." You cannot claim your reputation was wrongfully destroyed by an accusation if you were actively signing checks for the exact substance in question.

If the documentation proves Taylor was actively billing and paying for BB3, Gural's public statements are deemed "substantially true." Under US law, truth is an absolute defense to defamation

[G]

Guess he's unaware that Howard's attorney Tamar Wise called me two nights ago, thanked me and her only concern was who produced the video. Very civil conversation, I have her number now and told her I only deal in truth. It's clear their target is Gural and are looking for anything connecting him to any sort of defamtion they can use in court. Remember G said Howard doesn't know I exist??? 

You were getting absolutely no attention from Howard. Then you went over the line to get attention from him,, now you've got problem all created from your narcissistic personality.

[Calhoun]

You were getting absolutely no attention from Howard. Then you went over the line to get attention from him,, now you've got problem all created from your narcissistic personality.

Gural and Howard will resolve their differences.

Howard will give SCM all he can eat.

But SCM is busted out and Howard will have mercy.