Hang Em High, Don't Hang Em

There were two big suspensions handed down this week. One in Ontario involved a trainer using EPO. Another in Nebraska involved a trainer using frog juice. EPO is dangerous for horses and also takes money away from hard working honest people racing their horses. Frog Juice is dangerous for horses, is dangerous for participants, and takes money away from hard working honest people racing their horses. Both are considered Class I drugs.

In Ontario the ORC handed down a 14 year suspension and a $60,000 fine.

In Nebraska the commission doled out a 2 year suspension and a $1,000 fine.

I realize there are circumstances and all the rest with suspensions, but that divergence doesn't pass the smell test. This is why today, and for years, participants, fans and bettors have wanted uniform rules and regulations. State houses, commissions and horsemen groups have failed the horses and honest trainers and owners miserably, in my opinion.

Notes:

Woodbine has cancelled Bet Night Live. Bet Night Live was shown Monday's for harness racing, and Wednesday's for the runners on the Score Network, which I think is beamed into 10 million or so homes. This is a response to the loss of slot money. It costs a lot of money to buy airtime; money that is no longer there.

The Montana station that got hacked with a Zombie Alert is kind of funny. It makes me wonder if the maker of the pancake thing is behind it. That looks like a really good pancake maker, and it has over 326,000 views on Youtube.

Interesting study by Pew Research: If you ever wondered why twitter seems like it's made up of a whole lot of kids who live in their parents basement learning about life and politics from Michael Moore and Bill Mahar, it's because, well, there are a whole lot of kids in their parents basement learning about life and politics from Michael Moore and Bill Mahar on twitter. Like most of us, they'll probably change when they have to pay their own hydro bill.

I can't for the life of me understand why Gulfstream race video's cannot be embedded.

There's a nice pick 5 carry at the Big M tonight. Free program pages are available. For those of you who've often said "the chances of me hitting a pick 5 carryover are about equal to a meteor shower causing havoc on Earth" it might be your day.

The Racing Beard is back running for you harness heads.

I paid some stakes payments a couple of days ago. Stakes payments are like buying a penny stock which promises that this new product will take over the world and you'll be rich. What invariably happens is that six months later the stock is in bankruptcy protection.

Have a great Friday everyone!