The Tradition of Cheating at the Sport of Kings
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About this ebook
Most race horses, despite strict regulations prohibiting it, are given illegal drugs on race day. Many of these are performance enhancement drugs that affect not only the race, but the thousands of dollars at stake. Glenn Thompson, a race horse trainer with over 30 years of experience, reveals the darkest secrets behind the scenes of the Sport of Kings. By shining a light on these secrets, he hopes to change the pattern and return decency and honor to horse racing. Learn how over 85% of thoroughbred trainers give illegal drugs and how top racing officials turn a blind eye. Learn how jockeys are seriously injured and the champion horse George Washington was put down when safety protocols were not followed. The secrets behind the tradition of cheating will both shock and amaze you.
Glenn Thompson
Glenn Thompson was born in May of 1961 and was raised in Aiken,South Carolina.While in Aiken, he attended the Aiken Preparatory School.When he graduated high school he went right into training race horses and has been training for over thiry years.He is trying to make a stand for the horses and the industry and change the cheating that has gone on far too long and is pointing out that if you have weak management at the top of the tracks the whole industry suffers.
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Book preview
The Tradition of Cheating at the Sport of Kings - Glenn Thompson
The Tradition of Cheating at the Sport of Kings
Glenn Thompson
Copyright 2011 Glenn Thompson
All rights reserved.
Smashwords Edition
Cover photo by Mike Kleiman.
Cathy Ball helped with technical writing.
Editing and ebook conversion by Chris O’Byrne at www.ebook-editor.com.
Visit my website at www.thesportofkingsnovel.com to see photos and get more information.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Beginning
Saratoga
Cheating
Banning Lasix
Temptation
To Sell Or Not To Sell
The Virginia Derby
The Jersey Derby
Universal Rules
Do The Veterinarians Have a Choice About Cheating?
Who Else is to Blame?
A Bad Vision
How To Stop The Cheating
Trainer Records
How To Tell If Your Trainer is Cheating
Management
The Tragic Breeders Cup Classic
Why Did I Wait So Long?
Conclusion
Introduction
My name is Glenn Thompson and I train thoroughbred racehorses for a living. I’m 50 years old and have been training for 32 years. Today is September 2, 2011 and I had to put one of my favorite horses to sleep today and I can’t help but think it was my fault he had to die. His name was Mixed Up Money and he was a very smart and animated two year old. I had him in training in Aiken, SC this past winter. I’ve been taking horses down to Aiken for the last ten years. My mother was diagnosed with liver cancer in the year 2000 and that year I took the winter off to spend time with her and went down to Aiken. Sadly we lost my mom in 2001, but I’ve been going back to Aiken every winter since to train my horses. Aiken is one of the best places to start up the two year olds and give the older horses a little break. Some of the best horses in the world have come out of Aiken, including Kelso, Hawaii, Assagai, Pleasant Colony, Forty Niner, Summer Squall, Conquistador Cielo and many, many more.
In the old days, it was the norm to race six months and then give the horses a break before starting back up again for the next season. Unfortunately, with a lot of the tracks racing during the winter and the financial pressures of owning and training racehorses, most of them keep running all year and only get a break when they absolutely need one. It’s difficult to explain to a client how much better off they are giving a horse a break during the winter when their horse could be running and making thousands of dollars. The owners also really enjoy the thrill of racing and to shut that down for six months is a big let down. I truly believe, however, that the horses need a break and if an owner can afford it and loves his horses, it’s the way to go. I feel very lucky to have clients that let me take their horses down to Aiken in the winter. They say the number of starts per horse per year has gone down quite a bit and that the horses are not near as strong as they used to be. I believe the number one reason for this is that they don’t get a break.
Let’s get back to Mixed Up Money. While training in Aiken he always seemed like he had done everything before, kind of an old soul. The first time we took him to the gate he acted like he had been in it a hundred times and he actually helped the other two year olds to relax a little bit. He would switch leads on a dime. You never had to ask for the change; he would just do it. I loved riding him.
We shipped up to Monmouth Park for the 2011 racing season and Money was breezing well, so I put him in the first two year old race of the season. He ran a nice race and finished third. For his next race, we shipped him to Colonial Downs to race in a turf sprint. He was a Virginia bred and at Colonial, if you win a race, they double the purse for VA breds. He ran another nice race and finished a closing fourth and appeared to really enjoy the turf. He looked like he was going to be a lot better off at longer distances. I remember talking with his jockey, Sheldon Russell after the race and he thought I should try him short one more time and was not near as sure as I was that he wanted to go long.
His next race was back at Monmouth, but we couldn’t get a grass race to go for him so he was back on the dirt and yes, the race was long. The plan was to take a good hold of him and lay third or fourth and ask him to pick it up in the stretch. If you’ve ever owned, trained, or ridden horses, you know that about 75% of the time, plans change. He broke really sharp and his jock, Jose Valdivia, who won this years Belmont, took a good hold of him, but he was in front. He was going very easily and the pace in the race was very slow so at the half mile pole I thought he was going to win easily. When he got to the top of the stretch I came to the sad conclusion that I should have listened to Sheldon. He got very tired and finished around sixth. Back to the drawing board.
We started training him again and I still wasn’t convinced that he wouldn’t go long and wanted to try it one more time, but on the turf. He came out of his last race great and was galloping nicely every day, but then