Seven scratchings at Kenilworth throw SA horse racing into turmoil

If you drew up a list of trainers least likely to be doping their horses, Vaughan Marshall might well be at the bottom.

So commented an irate racing fan this week in the wake of a rash of seven scratchings at Saturday’s race meeting at Kenilworth racecourse due to TCO2 pre-race testing.

Three Marshall-trained horses were found to have more carbon dioxide in their blood than the upper limit of 37 mmol L and were removed from their races. Two horses from Brett Crawford’s stable and one each from Candice Bass-Robinson and Piet Botha, likewise, fell foul of the new TCO2 testing regime.

Over many years, none of these names have been darkened by clouds of cheating.

What’s going on? What new horrors have been visited on the sport of kings?

Meeting called

The nation’s trainers want to know the answer to that question and have called a meeting to seek clarity on why fit and healthy – and undrugged – horses are being denied the chance to earn prize money for their connections.

Punters are livid – especially those that bankered in Pick 6s Marshall’s hotpot favourite One Stripe in the Grade 3 Langerman on Saturday. This up-and-coming juvenile was scratched by the stipes and vets at the last minute, with tickets transferred to second favourite, aptly named All Out For Six (who finished second), and bettors saw their wagers blown away.

They, too, want answers and the 6,000-member SA Punters Forum is asking for rules to be changed and last-minute scratchings declared the equivalent of winners.

The Kenilworth “bust”, described as a “bloodbath” in one publication, is the highest number of positives recorded at a South African race meeting since a new regime of pre-race testing was introduced in March this year. It might well be the highest number recorded anywhere in the world.

Eighteen years of TCO2 testing in Singapore has yielded just one case over the limit. And we didn’t hear of such numbers being booted out of last week’s Royal Ascot meeting in the UK.

Artificial boosting

Testing for TCO2 (total carbon dioxide) is considered to be a good thing as the intention is to stop excessive artificial boosting of a thoroughbred’s blood alkalinity. Heightened alkalinity helps muscles eliminate lactic acid, which is produced by strenuous exercise and causes weakness and pain.

Very high TCO2 is therefore in the “doping” category. Yonks ago, it was legal to give horses baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, mixed with water in a solution, to help them cope with exercise – a practice called “milkshaking”.

But milkshaking has been banned around the world for decades, with the FEI, the world body for equine sport, setting 36 mmol L as the upper limit on the PH acidity/alkalinity scale.

Some degree of alkalinity boost is essential in racehorses, as their specialised feed and exercise regimes increase acidity. Supplements are necessary, but moderation is the watchword. It is known, too, that stress – and even the weather – can elevate TCO2.

Pre-race testing is done in most racing jurisdictions and South Africa was something of a latecomer to the party – prompted it seems by the acquisition of modern handheld testing devices. It turned out to be anything but a jolly party in this neck of the woods.

When trainers with spotless reputations for probity started having their horses yanked from races minutes from the off, there were mutterings. So, the racing police, the National Horseracing Authority (NHA), upped the limit to 37 mmol l.

But the “good guys” are still getting done. Something is amiss and racing is wandering around in perilous territory.

Potentially financially disastrous

South Africa’s major races are included in the Hong Kong World Pool system – bringing revenue and prestige to the local game. If, say, the upcoming Hollywoodbets Durban July meeting were to throw up a handful of scratched favourites in front of a global betting audience it would not only be a big black, embarrassing, mark, but potentially financially disastrous.

Dr Ralph Kratzwinkel, the top equine vet in KwaZulu-Natal, has written a critique of the TCO2 issue in which he calls into question the science and tech behind current testing methods and asks why so little information about the regime’s rationale has been made public.

Kratzwinkel also suggests not enough research has been done on the acidosis issue and data being used might be out of date.

He recommends raising the maximum level to 38 mmol L until we are better informed.

What we do know is that the present situation is unacceptable.