Richard— the move up drugs (EPO etc.) allow the horse to run faster than nature gives him the ability to do by increasing red blood cells, air flow, or muscle. Other drugs (anti-inflammatories etc.) give the horse the ability to run as fast as he naturally can, but don’t move him up.

There are good reasons not to allow some things in the second category (like pain killers) to be used in races themselves— to protect both the horses and the public (you could run a horse hot or cold and the public wouldn’t know. Think Lasix on and off without the public knowing— which is pretty much the world we are now entering).

The idea of testing and withdrawal times is to guarantee the above. They figure out how far out a drug would stop being in a horse’s system (and having an effect), then add a cushion of extra days for safety.

The drugs that are involved in most of these cases (Asmussen, Baffert etc.) are in the second category. They are legal to use between races, but NOT in a race itself, and the amounts found generally (and just now) were tiny traces. Aside from not being something someone would use to cheat, there is no indication enough could still be in a horse’s system to have an effect.

The group busted about this time last year appear to fall into the first (move up) category, As is the White Mercedes crap I’ve detailed here over the years. Anyone who has been coming to this site for a while knows my position on that stuff, I’ve been fighting it longer and louder than anyone else.

There are situations where a positive for an anti-inflammatory could be suspicious— a big drop down in a claiming race with a larger amount found would be an example, especially if after the drug wears off the horse is lame. The idea would be they’re trying to get past the vet to dump the horse.

But this was the opposite. It’s the Derby, and he’s running back in two weeks. No way Baffert was knowingly doing something involving that drug. No upside and a lot of downside.

Good overview on all this by Matt Hegarty on the DRF site.