The 'Juice Man' and the Drug Scandal That Rocked Horse Racing
from Bloomberg.com: There were many reasons for the sport’s troubles, including the perception that it wasn’t safe for horses. Gruesome, high-profile breakdowns had drawn the ire of animal welfare activists who wanted a national ban. Eight Belles had to be euthanized on the track at the 2008 Kentucky Derby after finishing second and then breaking both front ankles; two years earlier, Barbaro fractured his right hind leg while running the Preakness, eventually leading to his being euthanized.
The Jockey Club had pushed for reforms to address trackside deaths, but Janney was convinced that die-hards were staying away for another reason: the sport’s inability to curb doping. “People I trusted were becoming increasingly suspect of the results,” Janney says. Trainers told him they were seeing horses become winners overnight. “Suddenly you’d have a horse that never got tired,” he says. “As the others slowed down, they never did."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-07-01/inside-the-doping-scandal-that-rocked-horse-racing