Trusting the system and doing our job

Published: August 29, 2017 11:34 am EDT

Yearling sales season started quietly Monday at the famed Delaware County Fairgrounds.

Like most sales over the past two years thestable.ca was in full force, buying five yearlings and spending $41,000. It took only five hours to sell almost all shares of the youngsters purchased to 47 clients, including two of whom are completely new to horse racing.

This brings the total roster of owners involved with thestable.ca to 284 people across six countries.

Although the sun was out in Ohio on Monday, there were clouds above thestable.ca since late last week.

Late Thursday afternoon, my wife Amy (co-founder of thestable.ca), who trains thestable.ca's Ontario-based horses, received the troubling news that one of our Ontario pacing fillies (Book The Bet) had tested positive for an alcohol derivative (ethyl glucuronide) in her maiden race victory at Georgian Downs.

We had never even heard of ethyl glucuronide. She was shocked (as anyone would be) to learn of this positive test. Apparently, this a metabolite of alcohol and shouldn't ever be in a horse's system for any reason, making this infraction a Class II positive test.

News of this positive test has left us angry and obviously upset. The Stable is based on the principles of hard work, transparency and professionalism, making this very hard to digest. I know how meticulous Amy is, and I know our staff. This wasn't an error or sabotage; it could only be a contaminant of some kind.

The split sample of this filly's urine should support that claim.

Between the AGCO investigation and our obvious full cooperation, I fully expect common sense will light the path to a proper conclusion in this matter.

This filly was racing in a maiden at Georgian Downs while I was racing in stake races in the U.S. The race, although important for her growth as a racehorse, was inconsequential in regards to any big picture for thestable.ca. Considering what's at stake for us, what we have achieved in this industry and the earned trust of our owners on the line, I can't imagine anyone would believe that someone would knowingly give alcohol to this horse.

This world tests you. It's easy to dig a hole to put your head in, but that solves nothing. The Stable will continue to push forward and grow. We will branch out and bring other trainers on board this fall just as we planned to do before, and we will expand our client list and buy horses with people at every upcoming sale.

We are not taking this lightly, but we are not taking it lying down either.

We will not abandon the front line of this industry for any reason, and we will not stop moving forward.

Right now, we have no answers about the situation regarding Book The Bet, but we fully expect the AGCO investigation will get to the bottom of this.

We appreciate the support of our clients and will focus on our job of growing the industry.

The next sale is set for September 10 in Middletown, New York.

Best regards,
Anthony & Amy MacDonald


The views presented in Trot Blogs are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Standardbred Canada.

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