Racing: How scourge of P has harmed racing

Methamphetamine, also called P in New Zealand, has the ability to seriously undermine horse racing.

Meth could help destroy the horse industry like nothing before it.

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.

New Zealand's rules for meth positives are tough, but officials could get even tougher. So could the courts.

Wellington Cup-winning jockey Leanne Isherwood faced the criminal courts after an Armed Offenders raid on a P lab she and her boyfriend operated on the Kapiti Coast in June 2006.

Despite police uncovering 2.7g of meth in point bags in a car, $6900 in cash, electronic scales and a glass pipe, Isherwood was sentenced to just 12 months' home detention.

While police were interviewing Isherwood, they intercepted a cellphone text message: "... to have the same as the other day please."

Compare that with two jockeys from Kentucky, Bryan Beccia and Greta Kuntzweiler.

Beccia, trackwork rider for 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarches, copped 25 years in prison after being found guilty of possession, trafficking and manufacturing of methamphetamine.

Kuntzweiler received 10 years in prison. Kuntzweiler rode 425 winners and was only the second woman to ride in the Kentucky Oaks.

Racing at least is taking a firm stance against Isherwood, who recently applied for a licence to begin riding trackwork again.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing refused that request in the past day or so.

Meth killed genius American jockey Chris Antley, who once won nine races in a day. In 1999, he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes on Charismatic, who broke a leg when attempting to complete the very elusive Triple Crown.

Methamphetamine cannot make a jockey ride better, but critics say its ability to sustain riders through longer periods creates an unfair advantage.

Chris Antley once rode an incredible 64 consecutive racedays and you have to believe meth helped him achieve that remarkable feat.

Methamphetamine doesn't just halt riding careers, it ends them.

It ends them through mental damage. Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Tony Allan was one of the victims.

Allan's physical and mental problems prematurely halted his riding career on a tragic 999 winners and he went to Japan to ride trackwork.

But no story will compare to what meth has done to Lisa Cropp.

The once darling of not only New Zealand racing, but Japanese and Sydney horse circles, slid all the way from fame to degradation.

You can read all about that in Riding With The Devil, Me and 'P', the Lisa Cropp Story.

There will possibly never be a better example of the ravages caused by meth because we knew what Lisa Cropp was like and how talented she was before meth.

When we see meth addicts in the media now we have no idea what they were like previously and therefore the extent of the damage.

Horse racing cannot be too tough on the hideous substance.