Make TCO2 Testing Levels Public

Published: January 23, 2018 09:22 am EST

 

With the recent advent of the Standardbred Racing Integrity and Accountability Initiative, I thought it would be a good time to give some thoughts on TCO2 testing (milkshaking with baking soda) and what can be done to level the playing field for everyone.

Whenever a trainer receives a positive test on TCO2 the suspicion is that this trainer has probably been giving a certain amount of baking soda regularly on race day to get the horses TCO2 levels up as high as they can without quite reaching the level of a positive test. There is an overwhelming consensus in our sport that milkshaking a horse does improve its performance. To the best of my knowledge, a horse has to be tubed (drenched) with baking soda on race day to have an effect (drenching a horse with anything on race day is illegal in Ontario, but that is a subject for another day). The question is, what can we do about it?

My answer would be this. Many horses are tested for TCO2 levels each race night. I would like to see all the results posted for every horse and its trainer so that everyone can see them. The results should be posted at the track and online so that everyone has access. These results would show who if anyone was milkshaking on race day. I think just by posting this publicly would curtail the activity to some degree. The transparency and peer pressure would have some affect but the racetracks themselves can step in and eliminate the problem. If track officials see that a certain horse or trainer has unusually high TCO2 levels, they have the right to call that trainer in and insist that if they want to race at their track, they must have their levels in line with the norm.

I believe that with this policy in place all horsepeople would have the level playing field that we want, at least with regard to TCO2 levels. This policy would also act as a safety net for all trainers and owners as they can see what the natural TCO2 levels are on their horses, as there is a fear among some trainers that certain horses have a naturally high TCO2 level. By seeing these levels posted, we can all feel confident that our horses don't have a naturally high TCO2 count that could push them over the limit.

Jack Darling

 


 

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

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