Criminal Charges Filed for Milkshaking
 

A bizarre headline and story that was too good to not post here. :)

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=16830

Dan

All three were later released and an arraignment date of July 17 has been set for First District Court in Hempstead.

Have the refs from the Fiesta Bowl been charged yet?

So is giving a horse a milkshake going to make it run faster or slower?

Where's QuikSand when we really need him?

If it's like kids, they'll burn it off by the first half of the race and then fade quickly.

Truly bizzare.

Could they have thought of a worse title???

not likely....

So Quiksand, what would happen anyways?

OK, I'll admit it - I figured this was something along the lines of "teabagging" when I saw the thread title.

I was thinking closer to tossed salad.

Sorry to be late, gang. The lack of specificity in the title, and all...

"Milkshakes" are solutions of mostly baking soda, administered to horses shortly before a race to try to improve their performance. The working theory is that the CO2 created when the bicarbonate of soda is introduced to the horse's body will help forestall the lactates that store up in muslces when they are fatigued. Fairly shaky science behind this, but it's illegal nonetheless. It's pretty bad for the horses, too - makes them fairly sick, as one might imagine.

This was a gift to us from the horsemen down under, and the most notorious case of milkshaking I know of was several years ago, when a horse was disqualified from a major Australian race for the practice.

Wow, and here I though they fed some horse a shake from Mcd's :D

You would think they would include some sort of side note about what milkshaking actually was somewhere within the article. I would be that a majority of those who read the artivcle have no clue what it really is. I am just a casual race fan, I like days at the track but don't follow it with a passion. I had no clue, not the first time I've been accused of that.

If a horse's biology is at all similar to a humans, the whole thing is bunk. It's right up there with my favorite retail product, water with more oxygen in it, to help your athletic performance :)

Does the horse get to choose between vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry flavored baking soda shakes?

Gotta go with strawberry all the way... :)

I'm with you with strawberry! Though I do wish someone would make a blueberry shake.

I don't really disagree with you, but in their defense - the Blood-Horse is a trade publication for horse breeders and trainers, and is mostly focused on issues of interest to that community. It's online and free, and so many casual horseplayers (myself included) like to peruse it for snippets, but for their main audience, no explanation is likely necessary.

Sorry the title didn't meet your approval Quik. I wasn't posting it for you or horse racing enthusiasts in general, just the weird headline I found while on another site caught my eye and I thought it would be fun to post here. Thanks for the explanation of "milkshaking" though.

Good point Quik, I wasn't paying attention to what the source was.

Remember the mint shakes Mickey-D's had for St Pat's day? Absolutely the worst beverage concoction from a major restaraunt chain of all time. Had sort of a Phillips Milk of Magnesia vibe to it. I think a grass milkshake would have tasted better.