Mike Dillon racing editor of the Herald on Sunday has published book based on Lisa Cropp’s drug use.
As Dillon says of methamphetamine:-
It’s perfect for jockeys – it creates massive doses of energy, suppresses appetite and can eliminate itself from a detection zone in as little as 22 hours, compared with a minimum of 20 days for cannabis.
Dillon provides a good timeline in the main article which shows how Cropp delayed justice for years, won races worth millions of dollars and broke the NZ record for the most winners as she lost case after case all the way to the Supreme Court.
The danger of driving around the country from meeting to meeting and then riding half ton horses at great speed with about twenty others while on meth is way beyond what is acceptable.
Dillon’s piece makes it clear that the racing authorities and journalists were aware of Cropp’s behaviour over a long period and did not have a way of stopping her.
It does raise the question of whether that type of evidence should be available for prosecution for drug use and/or driving offences as well.
I found the article sad and disturbing. I hope Lisa sorts herself out.
Wow, that is quite some story
All the while riding the Chief Justice’s ponies.
I see that Lisa Cropp intends to continue riding after her suspension time. She should probably have been barred for life as an example to others. I thought that testing WAS now available for drivers of motor vehicles suspected of being under the influence of drugs. Obviously, if drugs are a problem either within an industry such as horse racing, or on our roads to endanger others, then the means of detecting and eliminating users must be a top priority.
One other person knowledgeable about the ‘industry’ refers to one of the towns in the area as ‘Methametha’.
LOL
The problem seems to be the same as any involving drugs and sport – if the meth enhances performance, it becomes difficult for someone who is clean to get to the top of their game against the meth-fueled performers. I do not like the glee with which we tend to hound people, but I do think that the racing industry should take steps to stamp the meth out. I do not, however, think that Linda Cropp should be barred for life as an example, especially if this is not the standard penalty for such a crime.
Olwyn. Linda Cropp is a black American democrat politician. As far as I know she is not meth-fuelled, may well be hounded (as a politician), but has not been barred for life or for any other term, nor has she committed any crime (as far as I know).
Sorry about that Linda Cropp. I should have proof-read myself more carefully.
Dillon- impartial, obsessive or self-serving?
by kiwihero
Anyone happen to notice Mike Dillon’s continuing character assassination of Ms Cropp?.
He seems obsessed with constantly denigrating her which easily could be seen as a stark conflict of interest as Dillon is also licensed as Jockey agent.
Surely this is blatantly unethical where one jockey is singled out by someone representing other jockeys and competing for future rides, especially in this case where it could be seen that the writer is abusing his position as racing editor of the NZ Herald to further his cause.
And while Dillon has repeatedly stated that Ms Cropp’s career is ruined and over, she in fact will be free to resume her career within three months. NZTR’s Integrity dept must have alarm bells ringing, especially when Dillon is also an employee of racing’s admin body in his role as main editorial contributor for its monthly publication.
Re: Dillon- impartial, obsessive or self-serving?
by kiwihero
Firstly, Dillon and the publisher are one and the same. To join his sense of what is the truth, it’s said that an original publisher smelt a rat and distanced themselves from the unauthorised biography. Dillon then scrambled to form his own publish company – a limited liability version with one of those in brackets years after it that usually means the former company went bust – to attempt to get his “version” of Ms Cropp’s one-time irregular A sample without the referee of a B sample into print.
He then knowingly used without permission Lance O’Sullivan as an endorsement on the front cover. In a recent radio interview with Paul Holmes, Dillon stated that O’Sullivan’s emphatic denial of not only having endorsed the book but in fact never having read it (The book’s cover carries a picture of O’Sullivan alongside the quote “The best book I’ve ever read”), the writer declared that Lance had told “3/4s of the truth” and, in answer to Holmes question as to what Lance said about this, his reply was “blah, blah, blah.” So there is now not just truth and lies, there is the Dillonism which takes in degrees of the truth. Given his endorser didn’t and much of the book is more Dillon’s opinions rather than anything substantial about the book’s subject, it’s likely that in his own rating the book is close to just one-tenth of the truth.
This hackneyed journalist, twice divorced and known for his long, alcohol-addled lunches (he admitted in another radio interview that the book’s title was fuelled by more than a bottle or two over a long lunch) and failed attempts at rehab is hardly credible given the consistently error-riddled stories he produces as Racing Editor of the NZ Herald.
One of his recent articles about the use of P within the racing industry gave a scary insight into the bizarre and warped thoughts of the self-championed Dillon. He reports about the apparent demise of leading American jockey Chris Antley via his alleged use of P which Dillon says led to Antley’s tragic suicide. Next were two females American jockeys arrested for major meth dealing and jailed for 10 or more years.
But, hellelujah, in the next paragraph of Dillon’s preachings, Ms Cropp’s one-time irregular test and subsequent nine-month disqualification is the most glaring P related jockey downfall of all time. Really? This “downfall” included winning the next three jockeys premierships. Hell, let’s all have a downfall of such magnitude because it included posting an NZ record number of wins in a season and a clean riding and testing record since.
It’s highly likely that both Ms Cropp and Lance O’Sullivan could launch successful legal cases about the book and it’s false contents and equally most certain that anyone would know that there’s only thin air to chase so why would they bother. Why financially cripple a man who is already bankrupt of the truth.
These Articles were posted in a chatroom, Very interesting reading.
Wow some Facts.
Regards Lisa