Barry Irwin Speaks Out

[Echo Farm]

From TDN:

I am writing in response to Michael Iavarone's request
to have other owners join him in taking the initiative
to order their trainers to stop using race day medication
except Lasix.
I think almost all of what he proposes makes sense.
The problem is that Mr. Iavarone's headline trainer is
Rick Dutrow. When he received a suspension for violating
the rules in Kentucky this month, it marked the
73rd ruling against him since 1976. (Link to the rulings:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/acrobat/2008-05/
38903142.pdf)
I am sure that I speak not only for myself when I
answer his call to join him in saying no to drugs as
follows: only somebody terribly naive is going to sign
up as long as Rick Dutrow trains for IEAH. If he really
want to make a statement, he should consider moving
his horses. Then he might get somebody's attention.
Until then, the proposal looks like an attempt at damage
control or a PR stunt. Mr. Iavarone's peers are
some of the most sophisticated and successful business
people in the world of sport. Give them something
to sink their teeth into, and they might swallow the
bait. --Barry Irwin