[Cannon Shell]

From the Bloodhorse
Punishment for overages has yet to be finalized. In the meantime, the CHRB intends to send warning letters for any overages.

How those letters will be viewed has some trainers worried about repercussions. "We do favor the regulation of steroids," said Ed Halpern of the California Thoroughbred Trainers. "But we do not yet have accurate withdrawal times. That raises some concern."

Those withdrawal times are close to finalization, Arthur said.

"Trainers are asking how close can we dance to the fire without getting burned," he added. "I'm not totally sympathetic. If you don't use anabolic steroids, you won't get a positive. It's that simple."

This attitude is what really troubles me. How can anyone believe that this guy is going to be fair on this issue? We want to know what the withdrawl times are so that we can be in compliance with the rules yet we are basically insulted when asking for those times. Denying that certain horses especially geldings have a occasional need for testosterone supplementation at the very least shows that the agenda here far outweighs the concern of the well being of horses or the idea that this somehow "levels the playing field". I believe that this will actually once again cause the "playing field" to be slanted towards the cheaters who surely already have research being done to try to find a replacement for the banned items. Of course Arthur and cronies will deem the entire program a huge success, too much money and time will be wasted tsting for known substances and once again the cheaters will hold an even stronger hand because the guys playing by the rules have no recourse.