TURF

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 1 October 1927, Page 8

TURF

SCIENCE AND THE RACEHORSES. LABORATORYTESTS FOR “DOPE." A racehorse was suspected of having been doped. A veterinary surgeon jhad taken a sample of his saliva, sealed it in a jar, and seent it to the chemist. A frog had been spreadeagled in the Sorgonno Laboratory on a little apparatus for registering its muscular contractions. It was a dramatic moment as Professor <!harles Lormand, chemist for the French Racing Association, madp a solution of the suspected saliva fill ed his hypodermic needle and squirted a few drops into the frog’s neck. A man ’s reputation depended on the result of the operation. The frog’s body was grasped by a pair of tiny tongs. The tongs were attached to a needle, and this delicate-ly-poised needle rested on a drum of smoked paper. In less than sixty seconds Professor Lormand who is the most famous chemist and gas expert in France would decide if a certain trainer would be kicked off the French turf for life, for there is practically no appeal from this laboratory test. “Watch the needle now ” he exclaimed, ns he started the drum revolving slowlv. “The needle will make a white line on the smoked paper, registering the frog’s contractions. The frog is extremely sensitive to the ‘dope’ used on racing horses and we get a more certain reaction than with an ordinary chemical analysis. “If the beat of the frog’s nervous system remains normal and the needle follows a straight line we will acquit ' honourably the suspected trainer, as we are sure there is no ‘dope’ in u saliva. f “If. on the other nand. the beast has a violent contraction and the needle starts zig-zagging wildly across the drum of paper, we will have proof against him that will be accepted by any court of law in France.” Professor Lormand, who represents the Racing Association, and Professor Fabre, the representative of the trainers, breathlessly watched the needle. For thirty seeconds it followed a straight line. Then it started to wobble a little, and at the fortieth second it began to career wildly from right to let t, awhile the two professors shook their heads sadly. “That seals his fate, but I will try the stuff on the fish out of curiosity,” Professor Lormand remarked. Hu took two river minnows from a glass bowl and put each one in a separate carafe of pure water. As the two minnows began - disporting themselves, he put in a few drops of the saliva solution from the suspected horse into the first carafe, leaving the second carafe untouched. In thirty seconds the minnow in the first carafe stiffened out and died with fins sticking out straight, which is characteristic of poisoning. "I will try the ultra-violet ray now.” Professor Lormand remarked, us he pulled this mysterious machine into place. Every alkaloid has a characteristic colour, even though it is often apparently colourless and fugitive, but in the light of these rays one can sec a fluorescence, leaving no doubt of its identity. For example, morphine is generally violet, strychnine blue, caffeine purple, and brucine red. He put a drop of the saliva solution on a glass plate and pushed it into the machine. “What is it. Fabret” he asked, knowing perfectly well the answer. “Blue — strychnine,” his confrere calmly replied. “Very strong.” The trick of doping racehorses in France became so widespread two years ago that the Racing Association had to act. The practice was first introduced into France in 1903, although at that time nearly all the American, English and French trainers here gave their horses mild stimulants. Some threw a quart of champagne on their oats just before a race, others gave them a big drink of whiskey, and still others gave their auimals a steady diet of kola nuts to excite them. If the horse was given just the right amount of dope at the right time he Would run as if possessed, and sometimes they ran far beyond the winning post and the jockeys were unable to stop them. They were often given sucn a big dose that they died in the stable or in the midst of a race. After tficy were doped a few times they became nervous wrecks and several went absolutly mad. They often suffered internal haemorrhages on account of their excitement, and were disabled for life. The stuff ruined some of the bast French horses for future races and breeding purposes—and there was nothing more pitiful than a horse ruined by dope. The French Racing Association thereupon decided two years ago to stamp out this scourge for ever, and it appointed as its chief chemist Professor Lormand, at the request of whom the association of trainers en gaged Professor Fabre, a well-known toxicologist, to collaborate with him and represent their interests. The two professors have managed in that time to give doping a death-blow in France and there are few trainers who try to fool the laboratory any more.