GENE doping is now on racing's worldwide radar. Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy received a look at what gene therapy can do to members of the greyhound family. Whippets turned into bulldogs is what the slides at the recent Asian Racing Conference showed.
Gene manipulation has entered the human sporting realm and Sydneysider Natasha Ellis gave a paper at the conference held in Tokyo. Ellis is one of those behind-the-scenes racing types. A post doctoral researcher in the genetics department at the University of Sydney's veterinary school, Ellis has for several years been working with Racing NSW on raceday collecting urine swabs from thoroughbreds.
It is all about catching the drug cheats. Unfortunately the chemists are always a step ahead of those entrusted with ensuring sport is clean.
Gene doping is no different to the likes of EPO, steroids or pep-tide hormones: it is all about improving athletic performance.
"The dogs had doubled their muscle size," Murrihy revealed.
The medical world entered the gene technology field with the aim of treating human diseases. A noble pursuit and one that must surely continue but when the rogues become involved cheating begins on the athletic field - horse, human and greyhound, it would seem.
"A matter being addressed by a number of worldwide laboratories supported by the World Anti-Doping Agency," Murrihy said. "Obviously it is a challenge for all athletic pursuits."
At this stage in the gene game there are valid concerns that altering one gene in the hope of improving performance can affect another gene's operating capacity. Increasing one's breathing capacity may well blow a heart value if it hasn't been tampered with.
As for EPO in the thoroughbred game, Murrihy believes the consensus from the conference is about changing the detection approach. Murrihy assured that regulators in these parts are upgrading out-of-competition testing raids.
"It is the way the world has approached it," Murrihy said. "You are unlikely to find EPO in raceday samples, more likely it is in a horse in training. Our test kits certainly have improved from the original ones."
UK racing authorities told the conference about a study into pacemakers and the use of the whip which is very much on the agenda in Australia. Those in charge in the UK spoke about outing a jockey for several days and fining a trainer a paltry four-figure sum when caught out in a pacemaker rort.
How did UK authorities find out the rules had been broken? Through a media report. Talk about integrity. Anyway, Murrihy reckons the fines dished out were at the lower end of what is handed out for careless riding breaches in these parts.
As Murrihy pointed out, it highlighted the disparity between the various jurisdictions. Murrihy was surprised to hear about the UK whip regulations.
"In the UK they restricted the use of the whip to a number of strokes and the number of suspensions doubled," Murrihy said. "What I find surprising is maybe they haven't got the right formula."
Australian stewards have put together a discussion paper on the whip issue. It is due to go before the Australian Racing Board next month. Murrihy is hoping it is embraced and debated by all in the industry.
The other interesting issue out of the conference amounted to synthetic tracks - the new feel-good yarn although it might not be as good as most claim.
"There is a school of thought in regard to synthetic tracks, they are far less forgiving if a jockey or work rider takes a heavy fall," Murrihy said. "On turf, riders are more likely to break the fall by skidding along where as they come to a fairly abrupt halt on a synthetic track."
cyoung@access.fairfax.com.au
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