Substance Abuse - a new view of an old enemy

Substance abuse, a new view of an old enemy“I have seen so many jockeys wasting on physic go out like the snuff of a candle,” said starter and former jockey Henry Custance, in 1886. In 2016, work-rider and former jockey ‘Franck’ told Rue 89 journali…

By Lissa Oliver

“I have seen so many jockeys wasting on physic go out like the snuff of a candle,” said starter and former jockey Henry Custance, in 1886. In 2016, work-rider and former jockey ‘Franck’ told Rue 89 journalist Clément Guillou, "I saw that if I drank bottles of vodka and took cocaine, I was not hungry and I urinated a lot, so I lost weight. I became addicted at 22 years old, up to three or four grams a night. Then there are the prohibited products, diuretics (Burinex) and laxatives (Contalax).

"My first Burinex, I lost one and a half kilos in 12 hours. Your heart is beating very fast, you urinate all afternoon. You still want to go, but you have nothing left.” ‘Franck’ took only five milligrams of the most powerful diuretic, prescribed for acute and chronic renal failure. "You feel your belly retract. I know the Burinex shoot my back. And since you have only been snacking for three days, you are a little tense at the time of the race. The cramps happen quickly."

If ‘Franck’ “eats like a normal human being” he weighs 68-70 kilos. He needs to be 64 kilos. But it isn’t only about weight. "Among the lads, there are many former jockeys. The weight has caught up with them, but they remain alcoholics. They work in the yard all morning, and sleep in a nine-square-metre room, because here [in Maisons-Laffitte] real estate is very expensive. Don't be fooled; if you do this job and you don't race...it’s a bad luck thing.”

It isn’t just weight. It isn’t just disappointment and loss of a dream. And, as Custance recalled in his 1894 memoir, it wasn’t only the daily glassfuls of the crude and potent laxative concoction known as ‘Archer’s Mixture’ that contributed to Victorian pin-up jockey Fred Archer’s early demise. “Unfavourable public comments made in the press or conveyed to him by trouble-making acquaintances, slander and back-biting such as it is almost inevitable for a man in his position to suffer, racked him mentally.” Today, we call that social media.

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Resorting to substance abuse and becoming reliant upon its effect is as old as racing itself. The problems that drive the unfortunate to addiction have never gone away and are not going to, either. And the benefits of that addiction are hard to obtain by any other fashion. 

“In racing, the call of the bottle and the threat of the scale go hand in hand. Alcohol dehydrates, so it takes you to the bathroom more easily, and acts as a pain reliever,” Manuel Aubry, work-rider, told Rue 89. “A lot of white wine and champagne because it doesn't make you fat. My weight is 73 kilos. I went down to 66.5. I was hypoglycemic.” 

And there’s another factor as well. Maurice Corcos, director of the adolescent and young adult psychiatry department at the Montsouris Institute in Paris, responded, “Sports practice requires dietary restrictions. Both are self-reinforcing and addictive. Anorexia, bulimia and sports are addictions. We must add the state of elation linked to sporting success. When all these addictions are no longer enough, there may be the switch to others like alcohol and cocaine."

If the problems haven’t changed or diminished, our recognition of the symptoms have. As we can already discern from those featured here, what we see only as a problem in itself is nothing more than a symptom of several problems. The industry is tackling the symptoms stringently; but is it equipped to really prevent the problems at source?

That may not be our concern, but of considerable concern to trainers is the repercussion of staff becoming dependent on alcohol or drugs. It doesn’t only affect their timekeeping, work ethic and impact on their colleagues; the risk of cross-contamination is a major issue. 

We have already seen in Britain the disqualification of a winner due to a banned substance that was traced back to the hair dye used by an assistant trainer. Last October, a point-to-point winner in Ireland was disqualified for traces of the drug Ecstasy. Veterinary surgeon Hugh Dillon stated the horse could have been inadvertently exposed to Ecstasy through human contact. The trainer was fined €1,500. Another Irish trainer saw his €1,000 fine waived having taken all reasonable precautions to avoid contamination, as his disqualified horse had apparently tested positive to caffeine from a small amount of coffee spilt on racecourse stable bedding. 

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In North America, a trainer was held blameless after a horse in his care tested positive for cocaine. The Maryland Racing Commission ruled, “Because of his past history and the drug in question, the groom was requested to deliver a urine sample. He refused to take the drug test but did admit that he was in possession of cocaine the day the horse ran.” As a result, the trainer was not fined, but the horse was disqualified and lost the $13,110 purse. This was in contrast to three previous positive tests for cocaine handled by Maryland stewards, who handed out 15-day suspensions despite evidence of contamination from backstretch employees.

Texas stewards absolved several trainers of any blame when six horses tested positive for the street drug methamphetamine, and human contamination was ruled as a “mitigating circumstance”. The horses were disqualified and lost the purse money earned.

When it comes to taking “all reasonable precautions”, so much is out of the control of a trainer. In addition to loss of the race and prize money, proving cross-contamination involves lengthy and rigorous investigation and testing, by which time the headlines of disqualification and banned substances may already have caused damage. And there isn’t always a simple solution.

As a trainer found out, being absolved of guilt is sometimes not enough. His filly was found to have the painkiller Tramadol in her system when she ran unplaced, thanks to a groom urinating in her box while mucking out. The trainer was fined £750 and commented, “If I put a little sign out in the yard saying 'Please don't urinate in the boxes', owners coming in here will think we're a right tinpot little firm." He instead employed a former policeman to rewrite his health and safety rules to include a rule against urinating in boxes. It was a costly experience all round.

Alcohol and drug dependency has been a recognised aspect of the racing industry for three centuries, so why is it only now becoming such an issue? Partly this is due to the introduction of testing, but partly, too, we are also more aware of the underlying causes and tragic consequences and are less willing to turn a blind eye.

Testing for alcohol and illegal substances in jockeys was first introduced in France in 1997. Jockeys were breathalysed on a British racecourse for the first time in 2003, and in Ireland in 2007. In 2000, Irish jockey Dean Gallagher became the first in France to test positive for cocaine. “Since testing began three years ago, we have never had any cases of jockeys using hard drugs," said Louis Romanet, Director-General of France-Galop, at the time. “Dominique Boeuf had problems with the police over drugs, but he never tested positive when he was riding.” 

Paul-Marie Gadot, France-Galop, says, “France-Galop occasionally catches a few jockeys, often foreigners not necessarily used to French doping controls. Around a thousand riders are tested per year, not counting the breathalysers. It is not to make sure that they do not lose, because the performance is made by the horse, but we want to make sure that the jockey does not put his health in danger, that he has not taken alcohol, is not on antidepressant or has not taken diuretics.”

‘Archer’s Mixture’ and champagne diets are no longer so open that they’re considered de rigueur. Yet they remain, but now, perhaps dangerously, hidden. With stringent testing, the old methods of relief are denied. This has other consequences. 

“I commissioned a survey in racing in 2015, and 57.1% of jockeys in Ireland had symptoms of depression,” stated Dr Adrian McGoldrick, the Irish Turf Club chief medical officer at that time. In the age group of 18-24, the figure rose to 65.2%. Nationally, only 28.4% of 18-24-year-olds suffer from major depression, so jockeys suffer from depression at an alarmingly higher rate than their non-jockey peers.

To whom do trainers owe the greatest duty of care—their horses, their staff, the jockeys they employ, or their owners? What happens when that duty of care gives rise to a conflict of interest?

Increasingly, apprentice jockeys are testing positive, and they should certainly rate high on that spectrum; they are the next generation of professionals coming through. But should we support, sympathise with, or admonish? What about the duty of care we owe our horses and owners?

Cocaine has been widely used by jockeys as a hunger suppressant, with high-profile names throughout Europe testing positive. Following a six-month ban in 2001, German champion Andrasch Starke was quick to acknowledge the importance of support from his trainer, Andreas Schütz. “I think that's great, and something like that strengthens. He is with me, and I am also with him. I have great appreciation for his behaviour towards me. Because I am aware that it could have been different. Suddenly I could have stood there without a job.” …

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The importance of good nutrition and its bearing on mental health

The importance of good nutrition and its bearing on mental healthUnique to the racing industry is the daily need for staff to meet required maximum weights. Many in racing already believe they understand nutrition and the best methods to make weight…

By Lissa Oliver

Unique to the racing industry is the daily need for staff to meet required maximum weights. Many in racing already believe they understand nutrition and the best methods to make weight, using tried and tested practices that have been in common use for decades. The perceived success of such practices leads to an attitude of ‘it works for me’ and a reluctance to change or adopt new suggestions, and few consider the future consequences on health in later years.

Dehydrating and starvation to make weight is commonplace, and long periods in saunas and salt baths, laxatives and self-induced vomiting are familiar practices. The health implications associated with these include poor bone density, hormonal issues and impaired mood profile. Despite increased awareness of these problems, they remain as common globally as they were thirty years ago.

To help address this, the UK based Racing Foundation awarded a grant of just over £200,000 to support a ground-breaking, nutritional intervention programme developed over three years by a specialist team at the Research Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University. The team is led by former jockey, Dr George Wilson, and includes the head of nutrition for cycling’s Team Sky, Dr James Morton, and Daniel Martin, a doctoral researcher and high-performance nutritionist for the Professional Jockeys Association.

Dr Wilson has already spent seven years (part-funded by the Sheikh Mansoor Racing Festival) researching the serious health implications of extreme weight-making practises in jockeys and has designed healthier, alternative weight-making programmes. In addition to offering the facilities at the University to measure bone and body composition, hydration, metabolism and provide strength and fitness assessments, he also works with racing organisations to provide workshops, tests, presentations and bespoke advice. He is in the ideal situation to conduct research into the health issues faced by racing staff, having ridden as a National Hunt jockey in his younger days.

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“For my first ride as a conditional jockey at Southwell in 1985, I lost a stone in five days to make 10st (63.50 kg) minimum weight, felt awful and, given the occupational risks, I shouldn’t have been near a horse, let alone riding in a race,” he reflects on his experience. He later rode as an amateur mostly in point-to-points and hunter chases when weight became a problem. “Having ridden over jumps, I fully empathise with staff and understand the need for, and risks from, dehydration and starvation. Riding out stable staff are weighed in some yards and most vacancies are advertised with a maximum weight, so making weight is not just a problem for jockeys but also for a lot of racing staff.

“I was aware that not a lot had changed since my own time in yards in the 1980s and 1990s and so I decided to do my doctorate in the effects of common weight-making practices such as dehydration and nutrition (or lack of!). In 2009 I started my first research and have now had 11 papers published.”

Currently, Dr Wilson is studying the effects of diet, dehydration and bone health of jockeys, but, as he recognises, comparisons of bone density between standard 12st athletes and 9st, (57.15 kg), jockeys may have potential flaws given jockeys are an atypical population, being much smaller athletes. Furthermore, unlike other athletes, jockeys don’t tend to perform substantial hard surface training that helps maintain healthy bone metabolism.

Assisting Dr Wilson is Daniel Martin, and their paper, Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health (31 August 2017), is the first body of research to investigate the opinions and practices of racehorse trainers in relation to rider welfare. Disappointingly for the researchers, from over 400 invitations, only five trainers expressed an interest to take part, something that certainly needs addressing.

A reluctance to face up to industry problems isn’t new and is not confined to trainers. “When I first went to the British racing industry authorities and said I wanted to do this, they originally didn’t offer any help,” he reveals. “There appeared to be a reluctance to accept that the current services and advice to help riders, particularly with weight-management, were clearly not working. Therefore, I just ‘kicked on’ with my research, and because jockeys had not received the sports science support in the past, they flocked to LJMU to undergo the testing and receive bespoke weight-management programmes.

“Thankfully, now everyone is aware of the issues and have embraced the research findings on healthier weight-management practices, and it appears we are all singing from the same hymn sheet. Indeed, Dr Jerry Hill, the Chief Medical Advisor at the British Horseracing Authority, is a collaborator on some of my recent published research and we have some other research projects we are currently working on together.”

Even so, it is an industry culturally-driven and based on the shared knowledge and experience of its senior professionals, which can represent an obstacle to Dr Wilson and his team when some of that knowledge is outdated and incorrect. As Martin explains within one of the published papers, “If apprentice and conditional jockeys can carry some knowledge of evidence-based practices and the dangers of traditional methods into their early careers, there will be less of a reliance on seeking advice from senior jockeys. Similarly, over time the ‘new’ practices will hopefully supersede the current archaic medley of dehydrative methods.”

It certainly behoves trainers to ensure that younger staff members are set good examples and it isn’t asking too much of their time or level of expertise to provide suitable meals, in yards where catering is offered. Where meals are not provided, posters and literature should be made available to display in the yard to help encourage awareness of a good diet.

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