"As for a dirt track, I always say never say never, but there are a lot of factors that we would have to consider before going back to dirt. You can’t argue with the safety statistics. That means a lot to us. However, there have been some changes since we put it in. One of the reasons we liked it in the first place is that all of the tracks in California were going to be the same. That never happened. With Hollywood gone, now we have one dirt track (Santa Anita) and one synthetic (Del Mar). Does that work best for the horses? I don’t know."

"It’s a bit circular but I cannot recall forgetting another novel entirely—both the contents of the book and the act of reading it. Others may be out there, lurking, waiting to spring up and surprise and dishearten. But, looking at my bookshelves, I am aware of another kind of forgetting—the spines look familiar; the names and titles bring to mind perhaps a character name, a turn of plot, often just a mood or feeling—but for the most part, the assembled books, and the hundreds of others that I’ve read and discarded, given away, or returned to libraries, represent a vast catalog of forgetting."

"I was trying to be politically correct all week, but I thought (Oxbow) was the toughest horse. I thought if there was some adversity or something went wrong, he had the best chance to overcome," Lukas admitted. "Will Take Charge is so big that he has to get a clear run. He can't check, stop, take a bump or anything. The other horse (Titletown Five) we knew was going to need a career quantum leap forward."

"Sure, a hot pace like the Derby it was not, but I think he was galloping out there at a perfectly legitimate clip. I can't imagine for a second that Kevin Krigger was under orders to rate Goldencents in second; he was there because Oxbow flat out outran him to the turn. And he just kept going, and going, from there. After the first quarter in 23.94, he grinded away the next two in 24.66 each, then only a miniscule reduction to 24.88 to the 3/16ths pole. That's a pretty steadily relentless pace into which Orb had little chance of sustaining Rosario's attempted middle move even if he hadn't spun his wheels on the worst part of the track. Oxbow came home from there in 19.40 for the last 3/16ths; that projects out to around 25.86 for a quarter, pretty par for the course these days. But by that point, he had simply run the field off their feet. He was a running fool and bottomed them all out, the way I see it."

"Even though Spawr ended up keeping a horse who won on Sunday by 2 1/4 lengths as the 2-1 favorite, he said he is not in favor of the new rule. 'The rule stinks,' he said. 'It won’t last. I don’t see it working out. Horses can get banged up in a race and it might last two days or six months.' ... West said he was 'surprised' when he was informed that the claim had been rescinded. 'It’s an interesting rule,' West said. 'I’m of the camp that the claiming game is self-monitoring, and didn’t need a lot of rules attached to it.'"

"Claims that Al Zarooni’s ban had cast a shadow over Encke’s defeat of Camelot in the St Leger and raised doubts over the validity of the performance by implication seem groundless, unless the efficiency of the testing system is in question." Isn't it?

"Mounsey added that BHA testing procedures have not changed since the autumn and any banned substance in Encke's system at the time would certainly have been detected. 'He didn't have steroids in his system when he won that race,' Mounsey insisted, though he accepted that the tests in August and September would not have discovered stanozolol if Zarooni had administered the drug to Encke in spring of last year. The evidence of the BHA's vet at Zarooni's hearing was that the drug cannot be detected after about a month but that a horse continues to derive benefit from it for six months."

"It is a performance disadvantage not to use Salix, but not because it solely reduces EIPH. In an era where anything related to performance enhancement is seen as a negative for a sport, framing a response to the performance enhancing capabilities of Salix is a challenge, especially when weighed with our responsibility to the welfare of the horse and the high heritability of EIPH in the breed."

"... we knew all those questions existed before the Preakness, didn’t we? The outcome reveals more about us, and our flaws, our weaknesses, than it does about the horse."

"Encke’s positive result, though, is a disaster all by itself. It casts doubt on a whole season of Flat racing and requires an asterisk to be placed next to the final Classic of 2012."

"Even when the final reports have been published and racing starts to try to move on, however, the question about Encke and whether he was doped before winning the St Leger is likely to remain. And, thanks to the poisonous nature of anabolic steroids, which leave suspicions lingering when all traces of the drug have gone, it is a question that will probably never have an answer." Re: BHA report of seven additional positives at Moulton Paddocks: http://www.britishhorseracing.presscentre.com/Press-Releases/BHA-announces-Godolphin-test-results-3d2.aspx

"If the horse is healthy and has even the slightest chance, he's going to run him or her in a big race. In some ways, that has cost him. He came into the Preakness having won with only 13 percent of his starters this year, and that's a number that turns off a lot of major owners. Despite all of Lukas' past accomplishments, clients have not exactly been beating his door down lately."

"Lukas coming back, with plenty left in the tank, should have his sport counting its lucky stars. Celebrity best boosts a sport. Media embraces it, dotes on it. Horses don't talk, but Lukas sure does, and it's seldom boring. He is a Hall of Fame trainer with a wit to match."

“I’m disappointed,” McGaughey said. “It was a great opportunity. We were 3-to-5 in the race and finished fourth. I would be disappointed anytime you had this kind of opportunity and didn’t get it done, but this was quite a run for a couple of weeks.” More quotes, plus post-race press conference transcript: http://www.pimlico.com/race-info/news/oxbow-makes-history-connections-preakness-victory

"In his heyday, Lukas was often criticized for running his horses too much, for thrusting them recklessly into the Triple Crown series; the trainer’s ambitions took a physical toll on many of his animals. Today’s trainers are different — cautious to the point that they sometimes seem afraid to run their horses. The trainers of the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers in the Derby — including Normandy Invasion, who had a tougher Derby trip than Oxbow — all declined to run in the Preakness. They probably made a mistake. The race was run in a terribly slow 1:57.54 for 13 / 16 miles, one of the weakest runnings of the race ever. It was a prize for the taking — and Lukas was here to take it."

"I was a little surprised. I thought he'd run his race today," McGaughey said. "I don't really know why he didn't run better except that he was sort of cramped down on the inside the whole way. I saw Joel kind of go around the turn and try to ease him out, but obviously he never could get him there. Then when he started making that run I thought, 'Well, he must be a little more comfortable down in there than he looks to me.' But obviously he wasn't."

"This being the last Railbird, we’ll pause for a moment of reflection as Sunday’s field of six goes postward. John Sadler can’t be blamed if he thinks he has the favorite in Iotapa, last seen finishing second to champion Beholder in the Santa Anita Oaks, while Ciao Bella Luna, who began her career in style with the late Dennis Patterson, has found a happy place with Jerry Hollendorfer and won the Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland to show it."

"Rachel's doctors said it was too soon to tell if she could be bred again; she would have to go through a reproductive examination. 'I don’t know whether she can take it,' Banke said. 'I'm not sure if I can take it either. It's too nerve-racking.'"

"Come on, you gotta root for Orb."

"California has a new rule going into effect this week, and it is superior to a rule that went into effect in New York last year allowing a claim to be voided if a horse is vanned off the track after a race or is euthanized as the result of an injury sustained in a race. The rule adopted by the California Horse Racing Board goes one step further. If a horse is placed on the vet’s list immediately after a race because it is lame or unsound, that claim may be rescinded. It does not rescind claims of horses put on the vet’s list because of heat stroke or exercise-inducted pulmonary hemorrhage."

"Well Well was a weird little horse, recalls his longtime rider Priscilla Godsoe."

"For a few precious moments, the world is celebrating all things good and right in the industry. The very fact, though, it’s so rare these moments happen that they are notable and exceptional—that makes me worry for when Orb is no longer around."

"The truth is, Shug McGaughey and his big horse belong in another time.... A time back when horses were bred to race classic distances by men of great means and trainers with great patience (and names like 'Shug'). When the entire enterprise was somehow dignified." See also: http://www.drf.com/news/andrew-beyer-orbs-kentucky-derby-win-another-phipps-family-success-story "Over the years, the aristocratic families have faded from prominence and Thoroughbred racing has become democratized."

"When the users know more than the journalists, what are good journalists supposed to do?"

"We decided to experiment with a new, super-long article format akin to "slow live blogging." When we looked at the traffic charts below, our jaws dropped. Here's what we learned about long form stories--and why quality, not velocity, is the future of online news."

"The explanations are varied and often conflicting. Some analysts say American breeding has focused too much on producing precociously fast 2-year-olds rather than durable racehorses built for the duress of the Triple Crown. In a related issue, some say the genetic pool has become too narrow, with too much emphasis on a few prominent sires. Others blame modern training, saying the best horses are underworked and too many mediocre horses are pointed toward the Kentucky Derby. And then there are those who say the whole issue is overblown. These defenders of the modern horse say thoroughbreds are trained to win races, not set time records. Besides, they add, the tracks themselves are kept slower these days because safety, not raw speed, is the chief concern."

"... that’s a point I try to make when the topic of horse welfare arises. The North American Thoroughbred racing/breeding industry produces roughly 25,000 foals each year. Oh sure, people like horses and might have some Thoroughbreds around for trail riding, fox hunting (unless we shut that down, too), horse shows, whatever, but the number won’t be anywhere near 25,000. Thoroughbreds are created to race. It’s what they do. Banning racing won’t help the horses."

"There will be simulcast wagering on the property, but details have not been finalized."

"Swale possessed the undeniable appeal of the underdog; he was Claiborne’s stand-in for their star, Devil’s Bag, and he shocked many fans with his Kentucky Derby upset over horses like Althea."

"An editor or writer who gets to file her copy into the system and forget about is an editor who is being alienated, in the most Marxist possible way, from the fruits of their labor. That journalist has lost contact with his or her consumer. Editors need to help craft the way their content gets presented to their readers. They themselves don’t have to be designers, coders or even, strictly speaking, ticket-moving product managers. They do need to have a seat at the same table as those other people, and explain the way their content will be most valuable, come to consensus, and then work with those other colleagues to help spec out, design, build and release the code that can bring that value to the reader."

"They were attacking me as if I was constantly leaking information," Sanan said. "I don't leak information. I'm just open and transparent. Ever since I've been on the board, I've tried to be open, tried to be transparent, tried to look at the industry issues."

"From its opening in June 1938 under the direction of motion picture moguls Jack and Harry Warner, Hollywood Park has been the home of unforgettable achievements from legendary performers -- both human and equine -- and innovations that continue to be important parts of the racing experience."

"We have informed Saeed bin Suroor and Godolphin that the BHA will not be relicensing the yard until the test results are known for all the Godolphin-owned horses stabled in Newmarket," Adam Brickell, the BHA's director of integrity, legal and risk, said in a statement on Thursday morning. The BHA's statement also stressed that "under the Rules of Racing, upon the approval of any licence for the establishment, no horses at Moulton Paddocks will be permitted to run for a period of 14 days."

"This is the first of a few posts as I analyze and extract key take-aways and concrete lessons from the collection of articles."

"Of course we can do it; nothing is impossible," Rosario said. "Nothing is decided yet, but I'm pretty sure I will ride Orb in the last two legs of the Triple Crown."

“It was no trouble picking the winner this year,” Nerud said. “Something had to happen for him not to win. If you watched his last work before the race he worked in 47, and the little girl was just sitting on him, holding him, and she’s laughing and grinning, and the horse has his ears pricked and he’s grinning. I said when I saw that, this horse will not be denied.”

"But if anybody can ride this out, it's Bob. None of his owners have left him. That says a lot."

"Williams noted that he doesn’t think professional writers will be the majority of Medium’s users — 'we’re going to be a great place for everyone' — and that he wants to be 'careful' about using the word 'quality,' since 'Medium is actually easier than blogging if you want to write something short.' Nonetheless, Medium is still not open to everybody."

"Orb has a consistent grinding style, and it is, essentially, pace neutral." Orbasor!

"Breeders who have watched their own stock being led into the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle are not as rare as you might think in this era of instant gratification. In fact, seven of the last 10 Derby winners were bred by their owners."

"The old school believes a trainer should not manage a horse to fulfill the personal ambitions of the owner or trainer. The old school believes a trainer should be guided by the development and the capabilities of the animal. The old school believes judicious handling will eventually bring rewards."

"As had always seemed likely, the remarkable haste with which Zarooni was charged, tried and then expelled from racing meant that the account of the case which emerged from the BHA, while plausible enough as far as it went, was hopelessly incomplete. The whiff of Dick Francis about Zarooni's habit of passing syringes of steroids to stable staff through a car window attracted much attention – though he was hardly going to walk around the boxes yelling 'juice time' – but the gaps in the account were painfully obvious too." For example, why?

"As fewer gamblers turn out for horse races and the business of horse racing continues its long decline, Churchill Downs has transformed itself into a full-blown gambling company with interests in casinos and Internet sites. While financial analysts have applauded the shift — its stock has risen 51 percent in the past five years — the horse racing world feels abandoned by Churchill Downs."

“It’s robbery here,” said Repole, a horse owner and co-founder of Vitaminwater, which was sold to Coca-Cola in 2007 for $4.1 billion. “It’s just ridiculous. I’ve got to win the ($1 million) Oaks and the ($2 million) Derby to break even. I need both. I can’t win just one. I don’t want to see the bill.”

BHA spokesman, Robin Mounsey, said on Thursday night: "We can confirm that, for the sake of completeness, we are conducting testing in training at the yard of Saeed Bin Suroor, although there was no reason to link the two yards because of the common ownership by Godolphin."

"She continues, 'There is a lot of crap journalism out there, so sometimes it bothers me when people get all high and mighty about branded content. I really think it’s the story, not where it comes from.' But it’s increasingly difficult to figure out where a story comes from. As sponsored journalistic content and branded advertorial and brand-affiliated independent publications proliferate, the lines are getting blurrier and blurrier. It might be helpful for media consumers to demand more up-front information on how a story was produced—who paid for it? And who signed off on its publication? The Storyboard editors never published a statement explaining their editorial independence or decision-making process, though Bennett says, 'we probably should have.' Maybe all of this is moot. Many non-media companies tire quickly of their experiment in paying for independent journalism."

"The media has been moved from The Mansion to the servant's quarters."

"My guess would be that if we weren't, for instance, paying a travel allowance, they would come anyway," Smith said. "It's now an established fact in international racing that that happens. No one comes because of the travel allowance, it doesn't even cover the trip, or half the trip. It's not it's all of a sudden that it's been found out that steroids are sometimes used in Australia, it's common knowledge. I understand that it's in the public eye now, but nothing has changed, our policies haven't changed."

"Unlike previous bills, which were not enacted, the new one would enable Usada to act as the antidoping body without amending the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 or involve any federal agency or regulation, increasing hopes for its passage. It would be financed by the industry -- racetracks, horsemen groups, breeders and owners -- through either a percentage of the betting handle or ... fees."

"Al Zarooni's assertion at the hearing that he did not know that such administration was not permitted in the UK was simply not truthful. He asserted that he was only trying to do the best for his horses who were unwell. He did not have a credible explanation as to why he had not discussed the matter with the stable's veterinary surgeons or entered a record of the administration of the drugs in the stable's Medication Books. The Panel concluded that Al Zarooni sought to confer an unfair advantage on his horses by the underhand administration of illegal medication. His attempt at cheating was uncovered by the regulatory inspection and he had no justifiable excuse for his behaviour."

"... used his Facebook page to gauge views on the question of challenging the panel's decision."

"O’Neill acknowledged that his critics were right about the high injury record of his horses. 'We had a period when we had a rash of injuries and I had to look in the mirror,' he said. 'I was running horses too often; I was a little sloppy there. I'm learning to run horses less frequently and being more diligent about that.' He was stung by some of the other criticism ..."

"British-based trainers are prohibited from using such steroids on horses in training, which is why Mahmood al-Zarooni was banned for eight years last week, but there is no such rule in Australia, where the requirement is simply that any steroids be out of their system on the day of any race in which they take part. Some British trainers now have concerns over allowing Australian runners here, since the benefits of steroid use can last much longer than the drug itself."

"Between them, with breathless haste, the British Horseracing Authority and his former employers last week depicted and dismissed Mahmood al-Zarooni as such a flagrant aberration that he could barely be sane. One way or another, however, a genie is now out of the bottle. People have begun to take a closer look at those grey areas. BHA rules, for instance, apply only to licensed premises. Horses taken out of training, perhaps for a spell of rest on an owner’s stud farm, could be pumped full of steroids three times a day after meals and nobody would be any the wiser, so long as the medication had cleared the system before the BHA was able to test them."

"Still, some in racing don't think women belong on their horses. 'There are still owners and trainers that don't want to ride a female. The only way that I deal with that is ... to try to beat that person in a race,' she tells Simon. And she has." Full script of the segment: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57581712/rosies-run-for-the-roses/ Equibase profile: http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=People&searchType=J&eID=116189

"Butler does admit to 'a terrible mistake' in self-administering the same treatment to other horses, something that in itself invites a severe penalty. But he insists that Sungate had first been recommended by his vets, who assured him that it had been widely prescribed in Newmarket when they administered it to Little Black Book last June. As such, he was unconcerned when he sent his medical records to the BHA the following month, during investigation of a minor irregularity."

"Australia's tolerance of anabolic steroids in training is not news but the fact of it reaching the outside world certainly is, along with the willingness of top trainers such as Peter Moody not so much to defend what they do as to preach its benefits. As a result, it was not long before Ascot's formidable PR machine stirred into life. Nick Smith, the track's head of international racing, told Saturday's Racing Post that the last thing racing needed was a 'witch-hunt against prior champions who have come here or horses who come here in the future.' Describing the Zarooni case as 'unfortunate,' Smith almost acknowledged the elephant in the room, the one in the space-age Lycra travelling suit to keep her in condition ..."

"Speaking at his yard in Newmarket's Exeter Road, John Berry is not quite so confident about the existing system. 'There's so many things about the affair that just defy belief but one of them is that he's stupid enough to get caught,' Berry says."

"All Too Hard will add welcome international spice to one of Britain's showcase occasions. But after this past week's events, his presence may be an uncomfortable reminder that the drugs playing field for horses is not level worldwide."

"Clearly no complicity in doping is implied but the owner’s evidence on how Al Zarooni’s yard was run would be valuable. The Shiekh’s official expression of anger and disgust at the nefarious deeds of an employee he elevated to the big time has not solved the mystery of why Al Zarooni resorted to cheating with such blue-blooded thoroughbreds, how long the injections were going on for, or who else in the Godolphin operation knew Britain’s 'zero tolerance' rules were being flouted."

"The continued patronage of the aggrieved sheikh also has to be a matter of doubt for some time."

"The blog was the right form for the right time, but it was also just plain right, and remains so. Sometimes the pace of technology leads us to do something that is substantially superior, and sometimes the pace of technology leads us to do something that is substantially inferior. It would be nice if we could step in when the mutation selected is a good one, and identify it as something worth saving. But I'm guessing there isn't as much money in that."

"For Godolphin stable staff, expect a quick clearout of trainers and other personnel as he deals with this crisis. Behind the high walls of Fortress Godolphin, it is already happening. Speaking via a racing industry friend last night, an employee at its base in France says: 'I can assure you that the actions taking place right now are both severe and at the personal command of Sheikh Moh.' If the sport is to survive its Lance Armstrong moment, the Sheikh must not put a foot wrong in this clean-up."

"The sport's governing body also said it was unrealistic to expect the winner of every race to be tested -- hence it was inevitable that not every Godolphin winner would have been tested during the past two years. 'We test horses from every race but not always the winner,' said a BHA spokesman."

"Crisford was then asked if he was concerned that it now appeared Godolphin has had an unfair advantage in Great Britain because it was able to ship in horses from other parts of the world where medication rules were more tolerant. Anabolic steroids under the British Rules of Racing are prohibited at any time, in racing or training." Paul Bittar's full statement: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/10021995/We-had-to-get-Mahmood-Al-Zarooni-out-of-Godolphion-stable-and-fast-says-British-Horseracing-Authority-chief.html

"We are in the process of undertaking a complete internal inquiry, and obviously we're having the external inquiry from the BHA as well and working alongside them. We will not have any more horses racing from that stable until we are completely satisfied that we have got to the bottom of this and that if there is anything else that we're not aware of at the present time that we flush out any, any bit of corruption from the core. It has to go, we have to know the truth and we will get to the bottom of it."

"The British Horseracing Authority has actual authority to regulate the sport, to make the rules and to enforce them. Its leadership consists of people who take their jobs and the sport of horse racing quite seriously. The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering is run by a lifetime bureaucrat who knows nothing about horseracing and likely cares less. And even if DPMW director Leon Biegalski did know or care, he is limited by law as to what he can do. And that is the inherent flaw, not just in Florida but throughout American horse racing’s regulatory structure. The sport does not control its own destiny and is regulated by too many people who just don’t care."

"In sixteen days, this whole mess has been completed. The largest stable in the world has been penalized, without any delay, or legal teams, or obfuscation. The trainer is likely out of racing forever. The owner is penalized and takes part in this mess by having his stock -- worth millions -- on the sidelines for a half a year. What might even be more interesting is that the shame they (and others in the spotlight) embrace for committing this wrong against the sport was palpable and real. And it is something rarely seen anywhere else in the horse racing world."

"The Al Zarooni inquiry has made the issue of international drug use incredibly pertinent as each jurisdiction has their own set of rules."

"... the news industry has the ability to offer people exactly what they want, but they won't do it. Their view of the world is that we're out there and they're inside. They talk, we listen. They are relevant, their lives have meaning. The meaning of our lives is not important to them. As long as they view it that way, people will continue to be frustrated by them, as long as they pay any attention. And more and more they're choosing to not pay attention." Response: http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/2013/04/27/why-we-stayed-inside/

"It should be pointed out, though, that while many of this year’s Derby contenders have had relatively busy campaigns at three, this is not the kind of prep schedule that has been winning the race in recent years. In fact, as was mentioned here in a recent column, the last six Derbies have been won by horses who had made just two prior starts at three. (Horses with two prior 3-year-old starts made up approximately one-third of all Derby starters during this six-year period.)"

"The only other 3-year-old to turn in a Barbaro-like work at Churchill a week before Derby Day − although Street Sense came close a year later − was a horse who didn’t actually run in the Derby. I’m talking about Rachel Alexandra, whose jaw-dropping final trial before her unprecedented 20-length Oaks victory was not only a privilege to witness but a clear statement that she’d have been a handful for the boys if given the opportunity to compete in the Derby that spring. That theory was borne out two weeks later, when she defeated Derby winner Mine That Bird in the Preakness."

"Racing’s greatest doping scandal is being presented as a bad case of skulduggery, and an embarrassment to the sheikh, the sport’s foremost owner. It is both those things and more, which is why those who questioned the speed of yesterday’s disciplinary process are right to say there should have been a full investigation to identify all the culprits. Instead, the impression is of all parties uniting to nail Al Zarooni as fast as they can before normal business is resumed."

"The British Horseracing Authority has completed the astounding, headlong fall from grace of Mahmood al-Zarooni by banning him for eight years. On Monday evening, the BHA had shocked the racing world by announcing that 11 of the Godolphin trainer's horses had tested positive for anabolic steroids in random testing of 45 horses at his Newmarket stable on 9 April. It took only 72 hours to convene a disciplinary panel and pronounce a verdict on Zarooni – leaving observers divided as to whether the regulators had been merely ruthless, or reckless."

"There was a distinct sense of a line being drawn under the affair on Thursday, as Crisford, who recommended Zarooni as a potential employee in March 2010, and three of the most senior executives at the BHA sat side-by-side. Bittar, though, insisted that the Authority's investigation of the case is not over and that inquiries will continue. 'All of the evidence suggests that what the trainer has told us is true and correct,' Bittar said. 'We are clear that there are further steps for us to take in terms of Godolphin's procedures, processes and controls, but as far as charges and liability go, that liability is with the licence holder. I'm certainly not saying it's the end of it – I would term it the end of the beginning in a way. It deals with the issues at hand and the 11 positive tests we had and where the liability sits, and it sits with the trainer. It's not fair to say end of it, far from it.' One issue that the Zarooni case has laid bare is the significant differences between the doping rules in major racing jurisdictions, and that Britain's zero-tolerance approach is far from being the global standard."

"The fact that there have only been two cases of anabolic steroids being detected in recent years supports our view that this was an isolated incident. The BHA deserves credit for detecting the use of these substances and for dealing with this matter so decisively and expeditiously."

"Crisford played down the significance of Shafya in Zarooni's racing education, saying that the latter had served 10 years under another trainer, Ali al-Raihe, compared with just one under Shafya. He pointed out that Shafya's case came after Zarooni had been hired ..."

"It was revealed at yesterday’s lengthy hearing that Al Zarooni had sourced two separate anabolic steroids in Dubai and had illegally imported them into Britain. He admitted having three accomplices in committing the breaches, two foremen employed by Godolphn and a vet’s assistant. They will be caught up in a major BHA inquiry that will be launched into the Godolphin stable ..."

Crisford said: "The vet's assistant had no idea what he was injecting. He had a direct order from the trainer. Everybody knows that you can't use steroids in England."

"Al-Zarooni was called before the BHA at a hastily arranged hearing on Thursday afternoon after 11 horses returned positive samples for ethylestranol and stanozolol following a random testing at his Newmarket yard earlier this month. Further admissions were made by Al Zarooni to the BHA this week surrounding four other horses that had not been tested."

"They decided to take the horse away from me. This was the best horse I ever trained, but in a roundabout way, it turned out well. (Wife) Cathy and Mr. Young got to be pretty good friends. When all this was going on she said, ‘If you insist on this, I want it known that this horse will never make it back to the races. The only reason he made it to the races was because Jonathan is a good horseman and knows how to keep him sound. On top of that, the least you can do is make sure Jonathan has a breeding right because I know this horse is going to be a great stallion.’ When he took the horse away, he sent me a signed letter saying I would have a breeding right."