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Owner, trainer: No steroids in Eight Belles
Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones knows how the Kentucky Derby was ruined for so many people - but he doesn't want his horse turned into the poster child for the ills of the sport.
Jones talked yesterday at a news conference at Delaware Park - three days after his Derby runner-up was put down on the track right after the Derby - about how he had specifically requested that medical examiners in Kentucky test the filly's tissue to prove she was drug-free.
"We're being accused of steroid abuse," said Jones, who said he listened to that kind of talk on the radio as he drove from Kentucky to Delaware.
Steroids are legally used on horses in many states, and commonly used throughout the industry, but have been banned in Delaware and Pennsylvania this year.
"There were no steroids used by me," Jones said, adding he didn't use any performance-enhancing drugs on the filly. "The last steroid used by me on a horse was 1997, on an injured horse."
"You're not going to find anything," said Rick Porter, the owner of Eight Belles. "I can assure you, Larry doesn't use steroids. Because I get the bills and there's no steroids on the bills from the veterinarians or from Larry."
- Mike Jensen
