Weekend Winners Club

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Tuesday, March 19. Santa Anita Park is scheduled to resume horse racing on March 29 after a pact was reached last weekend involving the phasing out of race-day medication, specifically Lasix. There were other safety and medication measures in the pact that are specified below. Santa Anita has been closed since March 5.
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Considering that most of the euthanized horses were training on days they weren’t racing raises the valid question of how race-day medication was causing their deaths. But the ban was the key ingredient, and there is a 10 day state approval process, hence the scheduled date of March 29.
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Basically, Lasix levels will be immediately reduced by 50% on race days, from 10cc to 5cc, and no horse born in 2018 and forward will be allowed any Lasix. This will give trainers time to adjust, however next year it will lead to horses without Lasix competing against horses using Lasix.
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The North American Association of Racetrack Veterinarians weighed in against the Lasix ban and reduction. Lasix is a medication that reduces exercise-related bleeding of the lungs in horses, reducing EIPH and related pulmonary disease. Extensive medical research has shown that there is no relation between Lasix and horse breakdowns.
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“However there is abundant evidence that reduction and elimination of furosemide (Lasix) administration will lead to increasing levels of EIPH and subsequent pulmonary disease in our horses,” the NAARV said in a news release.
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“The result is that it has been decided that appeasement of specific sectors of our society as well as a minority of stakeholders in our industry is more important than prevention of [EIPH] in our horses.” The specific sectors were not specified, but certainly include PETA, which is implicitly threatening violence against the horse racing industry in general.
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The contrast of the rules being implemented can be illustrated by 72 of 74 horses at Golden Gate, where many trainees have shipped, were listed as racing with Lasix on Saturday. Del Mar and Los Alamitos have said they are not going to implement the same Lasix regulations.
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These rule changes will be applied to Santa Anita and Golden Gate, both owned by The Stronach Group, which hopes that all other tracks in California will follow suit. They have agreed with the Thoroughbred Owners Committee on the following changes.
— transparency on all veterinary records;
— strict limits on the use of any pain or anti-inflammatory medication and treatment, including legal therapeutic anti-inflammatory drugs, joint injections, shockwave therapy, and anabolic steroids;
— trainers must apply for permission to have their horses participate in timed workouts at least 48 hours in advance;
— no therapeutic medications or treatments will be allowed without a qualified veterinary diagnosis from a state-licensed vet;
— strict out-of-competition testing;
— increasing the time required for horses to be on-site before a race;
— investment by TSG in diagnostic equipment to help in the early detection of pre-existing conditions in horses.
— jockeys will not be allowed use of the whip except for safety reasons
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In the meantime, the Los Angeles County and the California Horse Racing Board have said they will continue to investigate into the actual causes of the 22 horse breakdown-induced deaths which occurred between last Christmas and the track closure on March 5.
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In other news, Gary Stevens said that it’s time for American horse racing to abide by international rules, and the need for a central commissioner for horse racing for the entire US. Many believe Stevens would be the right man for the job.

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