Doping The Horse - Owners, trainers, vets are the ones ...

[Whirlaway]

"I guess I'm having a hard time understanding why these people want to go look at the compounders. Compounders ain't got Jack Doodle to do with it," Landers said. "The veterinarians are the ones that are purchasing it, bringing it on to the backside, and they're the ones that are using it. If they think it's a problem, don't take it back there . . . "Anything we make, it's at the request of veterinarians and how they want to put them together, and what they want to do. The owners, the trainers, and the veterinarians are the ones that control what goes into their horse, not the pharmacy. We don't go in there and give them anything."

Things are heatin' up!

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/81992/texas-compounder-draws-industry-scrutiny

[TJ]

"I guess I'm having a hard time understanding why these people want to go look at the compounders. Compounders ain't got Jack Doodle to do with it," Landers said. "The veterinarians are the ones that are purchasing it, bringing it on to the backside, and they're the ones that are using it. If they think it's a problem, don't take it back there . . . "Anything we make, it's at the request of veterinarians and how they want to put them together, and what they want to do. The owners, the trainers, and the veterinarians are the ones that control what goes into their horse, not the pharmacy. We don't go in there and give them anything."

Things are heatin' up!

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/81992/texas-compounder-draws-industry-scrutiny

Hi Whirl,
The problem with Demorphin was that the testing labs weren't testing for it, or if they were...used outdated testing procedures. That's why the frog juice was going so well in the southwest. Once they instituted the new testing procedures, they caught a lot of trainers and scared the rest off it with harsh penalties. Went on mostly at small TB and quarter horse tracks....most of the demorphin positives were found in quarter horses. NY had picked up on it and they were testing weeks before the southwest was, after it came up on the radar. Kentucky tested for Demorphin in all the Derby contestants since Animal Kingdom's Derby win in 2011. Look at the labels on these things....it's a joke and I expect much of it doesn't work as advertised....and if it does it's easy enough to test for it. Here's a website that shows all these so called super drugs....only a fool would use it. Click on the link below and find "purple pain" advertising their product, instructions for use are against the rules of racing....if you search this website you will find Sarapin (P-Block)....it's what Cibelli's vet used to attempt to block that horse.....I doubt the stuff even works. No legitimate vet or trainer would use these, not only because all should be on the radar of all major tracks with this ridiculous website......99% of horseman/woman would never subject their horse to this. The % of suspensions due to positives is a fraction of 1% of horses and in turn their trainers. TJ
http://horseprerace.com/pain-supplement ... tion-10ml/

[Sylvie Hebert]

Oh my God...Call me naïve but I had no idea any kid could buy off the line all this stuff...Unbelievable! This is how all riding horse people get that stuff they missuse and abuse?...poor horses....I am in shock,I always though you needed a friendly vet...Terrible.

[Whirlaway]

"I guess I'm having a hard time understanding why these people want to go look at the compounders. Compounders ain't got Jack Doodle to do with it," Landers said. "The veterinarians are the ones that are purchasing it, bringing it on to the backside, and they're the ones that are using it. If they think it's a problem, don't take it back there . . . "Anything we make, it's at the request of veterinarians and how they want to put them together, and what they want to do. The owners, the trainers, and the veterinarians are the ones that control what goes into their horse, not the pharmacy. We don't go in there and give them anything."

Things are heatin' up!

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/81992/texas-compounder-draws-industry-scrutiny

Hi Whirl,
The problem with Demorphin was that the testing labs weren't testing for it, or if they were...used outdated testing procedures. That's why the frog juice was going so well in the southwest. Once they instituted the new testing procedures, they caught a lot of trainers and scared the rest off it with harsh penalties. Went on mostly at small TB and quarter horse tracks....most of the demorphin positives were found in quarter horses. NY had picked up on it and they were testing weeks before the southwest was, after it came up on the radar. Kentucky tested for Demorphin in all the Derby contestants since Animal Kingdom's Derby win in 2011. Look at the labels on these things....it's a joke and I expect much of it doesn't work as advertised....and if it does it's easy enough to test for it. Here's a website that shows all these so called super drugs....only a fool would use it. Click on the link below and find "purple pain" advertising their product, instructions for use are against the rules of racing....if you search this website you will find Sarapin (P-Block)....it's what Cibelli's vet used to attempt to block that horse.....I doubt the stuff even works. No legitimate vet or trainer would use these, not only because all should be on the radar of all major tracks with this ridiculous website......99% of horseman/woman would never subject their horse to this. The % of suspensions due to positives is a fraction of 1% of horses and in turn their trainers. TJ
http://horseprerace.com/pain-supplement ... tion-10ml/

The problem isn't the drug in and of itself, the problem is the owners, trainers and vets deciding to use the drug knowing damn good and well it is illegal. Greed trumps ethics - winning the purse of the race before anything else.

[Whirlaway]

"I guess I'm having a hard time understanding why these people want to go look at the compounders. Compounders ain't got Jack Doodle to do with it," Landers said. "The veterinarians are the ones that are purchasing it, bringing it on to the backside, and they're the ones that are using it. If they think it's a problem, don't take it back there . . . "Anything we make, it's at the request of veterinarians and how they want to put them together, and what they want to do. The owners, the trainers, and the veterinarians are the ones that control what goes into their horse, not the pharmacy. We don't go in there and give them anything."

Things are heatin' up!

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/81992/texas-compounder-draws-industry-scrutiny

Hi Whirl,
The problem with Demorphin was that the testing labs weren't testing for it, or if they were...used outdated testing procedures. That's why the frog juice was going so well in the southwest. Once they instituted the new testing procedures, they caught a lot of trainers and scared the rest off it with harsh penalties. Went on mostly at small TB and quarter horse tracks....most of the demorphin positives were found in quarter horses. NY had picked up on it and they were testing weeks before the southwest was, after it came up on the radar. Kentucky tested for Demorphin in all the Derby contestants since Animal Kingdom's Derby win in 2011. Look at the labels on these things....it's a joke and I expect much of it doesn't work as advertised....and if it does it's easy enough to test for it. Here's a website that shows all these so called super drugs....only a fool would use it. Click on the link below and find "purple pain" advertising their product, instructions for use are against the rules of racing....if you search this website you will find Sarapin (P-Block)....it's what Cibelli's vet used to attempt to block that horse.....I doubt the stuff even works. No legitimate vet or trainer would use these, not only because all should be on the radar of all major tracks with this ridiculous website......99% of horseman/woman would never subject their horse to this. The % of suspensions due to positives is a fraction of 1% of horses and in turn their trainers. TJ
http://horseprerace.com/pain-supplement ... tion-10ml/

The problem isn't the drug in and of itself, the problem is the owners, trainers and vets deciding to use the drug knowing damn good and well it is illegal. Greed trumps ethics - winning the purse of the race before anything else.

Here is an interesting comment that sums it up quite well:

Sadly there's so much money involved that no one really cares for the pain-stricken animals. The greedy trainers,hand-in-glove with the veterinarians, have only one thing in mind - to make as much cash as possible regardless of what happens to the horses. The horse racing industry is propped up by the casino mafia. The states too are involved since they cannot ignore the huge revenues from this industry.
The problem will remain as long as it is governed by man's greed. Americans have lost and will continue to lose thousands of horses on the race courses every year. Why are people silent - animal lovers, PETA, Humane Society of the United Sates and other animal charities? Can't they get to raise their voices loud enough to get this sport banned or have it conducted in a more humane and controlled form? The state laws are too weak as veterinarians and trainers go Scot free. It is time that a movement to ban horse racing throughout the country must be initiated. Sadly, most Americans are too hooked on acquiring wealth that they would hardly care for the deaths of horses or the pain and torture they must endure because of these drugs, both legal and illegal . . .

[TJ]

"I guess I'm having a hard time understanding why these people want to go look at the compounders. Compounders ain't got Jack Doodle to do with it," Landers said. "The veterinarians are the ones that are purchasing it, bringing it on to the backside, and they're the ones that are using it. If they think it's a problem, don't take it back there . . . "Anything we make, it's at the request of veterinarians and how they want to put them together, and what they want to do. The owners, the trainers, and the veterinarians are the ones that control what goes into their horse, not the pharmacy. We don't go in there and give them anything."

Things are heatin' up!

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/81992/texas-compounder-draws-industry-scrutiny

Hi Whirl,
The problem with Demorphin was that the testing labs weren't testing for it, or if they were...used outdated testing procedures. That's why the frog juice was going so well in the southwest. Once they instituted the new testing procedures, they caught a lot of trainers and scared the rest off it with harsh penalties. Went on mostly at small TB and quarter horse tracks....most of the demorphin positives were found in quarter horses. NY had picked up on it and they were testing weeks before the southwest was, after it came up on the radar. Kentucky tested for Demorphin in all the Derby contestants since Animal Kingdom's Derby win in 2011. Look at the labels on these things....it's a joke and I expect much of it doesn't work as advertised....and if it does it's easy enough to test for it. Here's a website that shows all these so called super drugs....only a fool would use it. Click on the link below and find "purple pain" advertising their product, instructions for use are against the rules of racing....if you search this website you will find Sarapin (P-Block)....it's what Cibelli's vet used to attempt to block that horse.....I doubt the stuff even works. No legitimate vet or trainer would use these, not only because all should be on the radar of all major tracks with this ridiculous website......99% of horseman/woman would never subject their horse to this. The % of suspensions due to positives is a fraction of 1% of horses and in turn their trainers. TJ
http://horseprerace.com/pain-supplement ... tion-10ml/

The problem isn't the drug in and of itself, the problem is the owners, trainers and vets deciding to use the drug knowing damn good and well it is illegal. Greed trumps ethics - winning the purse of the race before anything else.

Here is an interesting comment that sums it up quite well:

Sadly there's so much money involved that no one really cares for the pain-stricken animals. The greedy trainers,hand-in-glove with the veterinarians, have only one thing in mind - to make as much cash as possible regardless of what happens to the horses. The horse racing industry is propped up by the casino mafia. The states too are involved since they cannot ignore the huge revenues from this industry.
The problem will remain as long as it is governed by man's greed. Americans have lost and will continue to lose thousands of horses on the race courses every year. Why are people silent - animal lovers, PETA, Humane Society of the United Sates and other animal charities? Can't they get to raise their voices loud enough to get this sport banned or have it conducted in a more humane and controlled form? The state laws are too weak as veterinarians and trainers go Scot free. It is time that a movement to ban horse racing throughout the country must be initiated. Sadly, most Americans are too hooked on acquiring wealth that they would hardly care for the deaths of horses or the pain and torture they must endure because of these drugs, both legal and illegal . . .

Hi Whirl,
In every business where gambling and big money is involved there are cheaters. Most of these people are caught, usually sooner than later. The rules in place and the testing procedures also in place do a good job of keeping this to a limit. The website I posted makes it that much easier to catch these few that are cheating.....as it is available to the authorities as well. It is far from running rampant in organized racing. Most every American horseman/woman are willing to forego every medication out there on race day, except lasix. The reason being is that EIPH progressively gets worse after each episode, until the horse becomes a slaughter house candidate. The advent of the fiberoptic endoscope showed us to what level a horse bled after a race. This instrument and year round racing, created a niche which lasix seems to fill. Understand lasix does not stop bleeding but it keeps it under control. Before year round racing many horses had 4-5 months off every year to recuperate from injuries and that time off helped chronic bleeders as well. We see very few horses bleeding from their nostrils in America anymore because through medication, monitoring and therapy we are able to prevent race horses from reaching epistaxis at which point being rendered useless as a racehorse. We hear so much about UK not using lasix...they also have limited race meets. Truth is in the United Kingdom, there are no specific rules relating to horses exhibiting blood at the nostrils after a race or exercise. From a regulatory perspective, each occurrence is dealt with on a case by case basis. They have no specific mandatory procedure in place for bleeders. That is why there is a misconception that their horses don't use lasix and they have a very low percentage of bleeders. If they scoped their horses, they would find they have the same high number of horses bleeding after a race as they do here. In America we scope the horses to find out if they bleed and to what degree....other countries have specific rules about who are bleeders, for instance: In Australia and Hong Kong a horse is a bleeder if they show blood coming from one or both nostrils after a race. In general if they bleed from their nostrils....the horse is banned from racing for 2-3 months, a second time banned for life. This may seem harsh, but once they bleed from the nostrils it is usually too late for the horse...usually a level 4. That is why most horsemen/women use lasix in America....so they can keep their bleeding episodes under control and never have one gush blood from their nostrils after a race. TJ

[Whirlaway]

"I guess I'm having a hard time understanding why these people want to go look at the compounders. Compounders ain't got Jack Doodle to do with it," Landers said. "The veterinarians are the ones that are purchasing it, bringing it on to the backside, and they're the ones that are using it. If they think it's a problem, don't take it back there . . . "Anything we make, it's at the request of veterinarians and how they want to put them together, and what they want to do. The owners, the trainers, and the veterinarians are the ones that control what goes into their horse, not the pharmacy. We don't go in there and give them anything."

Things are heatin' up!

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/81992/texas-compounder-draws-industry-scrutiny

Hi Whirl,
The problem with Demorphin was that the testing labs weren't testing for it, or if they were...used outdated testing procedures. That's why the frog juice was going so well in the southwest. Once they instituted the new testing procedures, they caught a lot of trainers and scared the rest off it with harsh penalties. Went on mostly at small TB and quarter horse tracks....most of the demorphin positives were found in quarter horses. NY had picked up on it and they were testing weeks before the southwest was, after it came up on the radar. Kentucky tested for Demorphin in all the Derby contestants since Animal Kingdom's Derby win in 2011. Look at the labels on these things....it's a joke and I expect much of it doesn't work as advertised....and if it does it's easy enough to test for it. Here's a website that shows all these so called super drugs....only a fool would use it. Click on the link below and find "purple pain" advertising their product, instructions for use are against the rules of racing....if you search this website you will find Sarapin (P-Block)....it's what Cibelli's vet used to attempt to block that horse.....I doubt the stuff even works. No legitimate vet or trainer would use these, not only because all should be on the radar of all major tracks with this ridiculous website......99% of horseman/woman would never subject their horse to this. The % of suspensions due to positives is a fraction of 1% of horses and in turn their trainers. TJ
http://horseprerace.com/pain-supplement ... tion-10ml/

The problem isn't the drug in and of itself, the problem is the owners, trainers and vets deciding to use the drug knowing damn good and well it is illegal. Greed trumps ethics - winning the purse of the race before anything else.

Here is an interesting comment that sums it up quite well:

Sadly there's so much money involved that no one really cares for the pain-stricken animals. The greedy trainers,hand-in-glove with the veterinarians, have only one thing in mind - to make as much cash as possible regardless of what happens to the horses. The horse racing industry is propped up by the casino mafia. The states too are involved since they cannot ignore the huge revenues from this industry.
The problem will remain as long as it is governed by man's greed. Americans have lost and will continue to lose thousands of horses on the race courses every year. Why are people silent - animal lovers, PETA, Humane Society of the United Sates and other animal charities? Can't they get to raise their voices loud enough to get this sport banned or have it conducted in a more humane and controlled form? The state laws are too weak as veterinarians and trainers go Scot free. It is time that a movement to ban horse racing throughout the country must be initiated. Sadly, most Americans are too hooked on acquiring wealth that they would hardly care for the deaths of horses or the pain and torture they must endure because of these drugs, both legal and illegal . . .

Hi Whirl,
In every business where gambling and big money is involved there are cheaters. Most of these people are caught, usually sooner than later. The rules in place and the testing procedures also in place do a good job of keeping this to a limit. The website I posted makes it that much easier to catch these few that are cheating.....as it is available to the authorities as well. It is far from running rampant in organized racing. Most every American horseman/woman are willing to forego every medication out there on race day, except lasix. The reason being is that EIPH progressively gets worse after each episode, until the horse becomes a slaughter house candidate. The advent of the fiberoptic endoscope showed us to what level a horse bled after a race. This instrument and year round racing, created a niche which lasix seems to fill. Understand lasix does not stop bleeding but it keeps it under control. Before year round racing many horses had 4-5 months off every year to recuperate from injuries and that time off helped chronic bleeders as well. We see very few horses bleeding from their nostrils in America anymore because through medication, monitoring and therapy we are able to prevent race horses from reaching epistaxis at which point being rendered useless as a racehorse. We hear so much about UK not using lasix...they also have limited race meets. Truth is in the United Kingdom, there are no specific rules relating to horses exhibiting blood at the nostrils after a race or exercise. From a regulatory perspective, each occurrence is dealt with on a case by case basis. They have no specific mandatory procedure in place for bleeders. That is why there is a misconception that their horses don't use lasix and they have a very low percentage of bleeders. If they scoped their horses, they would find they have the same high number of horses bleeding after a race as they do here. In America we scope the horses to find out if they bleed and to what degree....other countries have specific rules about who are bleeders, for instance: In Australia and Hong Kong a horse is a bleeder if they show blood coming from one or both nostrils after a race. In general if they bleed from their nostrils....the horse is banned from racing for 2-3 months, a second time banned for life. This may seem harsh, but once they bleed from the nostrils it is usually too late for the horse...usually a level 4. That is why most horsemen/women use lasix in America....so they can keep their bleeding episodes under control and never have one gush blood from their nostrils after a race. TJ

Your post exemplifies the attitudes and beliefs held by owners, trainers and veterinarians – there is no problem, only a few are cheating, when they’re caught they will be punished and fined, we only use “medication” when necessary and we “are willing to forego every medication out there on race day, except Lasix,” because it has created a niche and prevents or limits bleeding in most horses - “so they can keep their bleeding episodes under control and never have one gush blood from their nostrils after a race.”

~

Here is an excerpt from the testimony given by Jesse Overton, Former Minnesota Racing Commissioner, at the Congressional hearing held today by the Energy and Commerce Committee on H.R. 2012, a bill to improve the integrity and safety of interstate horseracing, and for other purposes.

. . . They will say there are few or no problems either with the use of drugs or with the enforcement against those who do not comply with the regulations. This is simply not true . . . As a racing commissioner, I was stunned by the lengths some trainers will go to win races. As you will hear from other witnesses, there is no drug or compound that has not been tried in horses, from EPO and anabolic steroids to frog juice and cobra venom. And I promise there are chemists right now working up new, illegal, undetectable substances to give a trainer who wants a performance advantage, especially if he doesn’t have the fastest horse. Unless drug testing is conducted uniformly and in state-of-the art laboratories, unscrupulous horsemen will continue to cheat the system, the horses and the fans.

With respect to the administration of Furosemide, (Lasix), here is an excerpt from the same hearing given by Lawrence R. Soma, VMD, DACVA, Professor Emeritus of Anesthesia and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine:

6. Use of Furosemide (Lasix, Salix) for the treatment of Exercised Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (EIPH)

North America is the only continent that allows the use of Lasix on race day . . . Despite the use of furosemide, horses continue to present blood in the trachea after exercise. No studies have shown a complete absence of blood from the trachea in horses diagnosed with EIPH post-race or exercise, as a result of furosemide administration. The majority of published reports indicate that furosemide does not prevent EIPH in horses.

7. Furosemide and Performance

Literature available on this subject suggests that furosemide increases performance in horses without significantly changing the bleeding status. In a race track study conducted on Thoroughbred horses, there was an improvement in racing times in many horses after the administration of furosemide with similar observation in Standard bred horses. In a population study of 22,589 Thoroughbred horses competing in US and Canada with and without pre-race administration of Furosemide concluded that horses administered furosemide raced faster, earned more money, and were likely to win or finish in the top 3 positions than horses that were not administered furosemide.

~

Wordsworth wrote, "Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd." The doping of the race horse has become a habit and the habit is enforced by the attitude embodied in your post. No doubt the times they are a changin’ and hopefully soon the habits of the herd will give way to a drug free sport.


In case you missed it, here is the link to the testimony given at the Congressional hearing: http://energycommerce.house.gov/hearing/hr-2012-bill-improve-integrity-and-safety-interstate-horseracing-and-other-purposes

[TJ]

"I guess I'm having a hard time understanding why these people want to go look at the compounders. Compounders ain't got Jack Doodle to do with it," Landers said. "The veterinarians are the ones that are purchasing it, bringing it on to the backside, and they're the ones that are using it. If they think it's a problem, don't take it back there . . . "Anything we make, it's at the request of veterinarians and how they want to put them together, and what they want to do. The owners, the trainers, and the veterinarians are the ones that control what goes into their horse, not the pharmacy. We don't go in there and give them anything."

Things are heatin' up!

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/81992/texas-compounder-draws-industry-scrutiny

Hi Whirl,
The problem with Demorphin was that the testing labs weren't testing for it, or if they were...used outdated testing procedures. That's why the frog juice was going so well in the southwest. Once they instituted the new testing procedures, they caught a lot of trainers and scared the rest off it with harsh penalties. Went on mostly at small TB and quarter horse tracks....most of the demorphin positives were found in quarter horses. NY had picked up on it and they were testing weeks before the southwest was, after it came up on the radar. Kentucky tested for Demorphin in all the Derby contestants since Animal Kingdom's Derby win in 2011. Look at the labels on these things....it's a joke and I expect much of it doesn't work as advertised....and if it does it's easy enough to test for it. Here's a website that shows all these so called super drugs....only a fool would use it. Click on the link below and find "purple pain" advertising their product, instructions for use are against the rules of racing....if you search this website you will find Sarapin (P-Block)....it's what Cibelli's vet used to attempt to block that horse.....I doubt the stuff even works. No legitimate vet or trainer would use these, not only because all should be on the radar of all major tracks with this ridiculous website......99% of horseman/woman would never subject their horse to this. The % of suspensions due to positives is a fraction of 1% of horses and in turn their trainers. TJ
http://horseprerace.com/pain-supplement ... tion-10ml/

The problem isn't the drug in and of itself, the problem is the owners, trainers and vets deciding to use the drug knowing damn good and well it is illegal. Greed trumps ethics - winning the purse of the race before anything else.

Here is an interesting comment that sums it up quite well:

Sadly there's so much money involved that no one really cares for the pain-stricken animals. The greedy trainers,hand-in-glove with the veterinarians, have only one thing in mind - to make as much cash as possible regardless of what happens to the horses. The horse racing industry is propped up by the casino mafia. The states too are involved since they cannot ignore the huge revenues from this industry.
The problem will remain as long as it is governed by man's greed. Americans have lost and will continue to lose thousands of horses on the race courses every year. Why are people silent - animal lovers, PETA, Humane Society of the United Sates and other animal charities? Can't they get to raise their voices loud enough to get this sport banned or have it conducted in a more humane and controlled form? The state laws are too weak as veterinarians and trainers go Scot free. It is time that a movement to ban horse racing throughout the country must be initiated. Sadly, most Americans are too hooked on acquiring wealth that they would hardly care for the deaths of horses or the pain and torture they must endure because of these drugs, both legal and illegal . . .

Hi Whirl,
In every business where gambling and big money is involved there are cheaters. Most of these people are caught, usually sooner than later. The rules in place and the testing procedures also in place do a good job of keeping this to a limit. The website I posted makes it that much easier to catch these few that are cheating.....as it is available to the authorities as well. It is far from running rampant in organized racing. Most every American horseman/woman are willing to forego every medication out there on race day, except lasix. The reason being is that EIPH progressively gets worse after each episode, until the horse becomes a slaughter house candidate. The advent of the fiberoptic endoscope showed us to what level a horse bled after a race. This instrument and year round racing, created a niche which lasix seems to fill. Understand lasix does not stop bleeding but it keeps it under control. Before year round racing many horses had 4-5 months off every year to recuperate from injuries and that time off helped chronic bleeders as well. We see very few horses bleeding from their nostrils in America anymore because through medication, monitoring and therapy we are able to prevent race horses from reaching epistaxis at which point being rendered useless as a racehorse. We hear so much about UK not using lasix...they also have limited race meets. Truth is in the United Kingdom, there are no specific rules relating to horses exhibiting blood at the nostrils after a race or exercise. From a regulatory perspective, each occurrence is dealt with on a case by case basis. They have no specific mandatory procedure in place for bleeders. That is why there is a misconception that their horses don't use lasix and they have a very low percentage of bleeders. If they scoped their horses, they would find they have the same high number of horses bleeding after a race as they do here. In America we scope the horses to find out if they bleed and to what degree....other countries have specific rules about who are bleeders, for instance: In Australia and Hong Kong a horse is a bleeder if they show blood coming from one or both nostrils after a race. In general if they bleed from their nostrils....the horse is banned from racing for 2-3 months, a second time banned for life. This may seem harsh, but once they bleed from the nostrils it is usually too late for the horse...usually a level 4. That is why most horsemen/women use lasix in America....so they can keep their bleeding episodes under control and never have one gush blood from their nostrils after a race. TJ

Your post exemplifies the attitudes and beliefs held by owners, trainers and veterinarians – there is no problem, only a few are cheating, when they’re caught they will be punished and fined, we only use “medication” when necessary and we “are willing to forego every medication out there on race day, except Lasix,” because it has created a niche and prevents or limits bleeding in most horses - “so they can keep their bleeding episodes under control and never have one gush blood from their nostrils after a race.”

~

Here is an excerpt from the testimony given by Jesse Overton, Former Minnesota Racing Commissioner, at the Congressional hearing held today by the Energy and Commerce Committee on H.R. 2012, a bill to improve the integrity and safety of interstate horseracing, and for other purposes.

. . . They will say there are few or no problems either with the use of drugs or with the enforcement against those who do not comply with the regulations. This is simply not true . . . As a racing commissioner, I was stunned by the lengths some trainers will go to win races. As you will hear from other witnesses, there is no drug or compound that has not been tried in horses, from EPO and anabolic steroids to frog juice and cobra venom. And I promise there are chemists right now working up new, illegal, undetectable substances to give a trainer who wants a performance advantage, especially if he doesn’t have the fastest horse. Unless drug testing is conducted uniformly and in state-of-the art laboratories, unscrupulous horsemen will continue to cheat the system, the horses and the fans.

With respect to the administration of Furosemide, (Lasix), here is an excerpt from the same hearing given by Lawrence R. Soma, VMD, DACVA, Professor Emeritus of Anesthesia and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine:

6. Use of Furosemide (Lasix, Salix) for the treatment of Exercised Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (EIPH)

North America is the only continent that allows the use of Lasix on race day . . . Despite the use of furosemide, horses continue to present blood in the trachea after exercise. No studies have shown a complete absence of blood from the trachea in horses diagnosed with EIPH post-race or exercise, as a result of furosemide administration. The majority of published reports indicate that furosemide does not prevent EIPH in horses.

7. Furosemide and Performance

Literature available on this subject suggests that furosemide increases performance in horses without significantly changing the bleeding status. In a race track study conducted on Thoroughbred horses, there was an improvement in racing times in many horses after the administration of furosemide with similar observation in Standard bred horses. In a population study of 22,589 Thoroughbred horses competing in US and Canada with and without pre-race administration of Furosemide concluded that horses administered furosemide raced faster, earned more money, and were likely to win or finish in the top 3 positions than horses that were not administered furosemide.

~

Wordsworth wrote, "Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd." The doping of the race horse has become a habit and the habit is enforced by the attitude embodied in your post. No doubt the times they are a changin’ and hopefully soon the habits of the herd will give way to a drug free sport.


In case you missed it, here is the link to the testimony given at the Congressional hearing: http://energycommerce.house.gov/hearing/hr-2012-bill-improve-integrity-and-safety-interstate-horseracing-and-other-purposes

Hi Whirl,
If you read what I wrote you will see that all the points you've posted had been cited by me. Lasix does not stop bleeding, but it limits the bleeding. EIPH gets progressively worse each time a horse has an episode. As long as it can be held to low level the horse will continue to be a useful runner. Without lasix a horse will reach a level of bleeding that will prevent that horse from racing. Once a horse bleeds from his nostrils it's game over. With proper treatment and therapy a bleeder won't reach that point. Without lasix there will be more horses being sent out to pasture or sent to the slaughter house. I also wrote why this was legalized....there is much you either don't understand or chose to ignore in my posts. I thought you would understand the reasoning....as every responsible trainer is in favor of lasix and are willing to eliminate all other drugs.
On the other hand, before lasix was legal only that small percentage of cheaters were cashing in on the bad form their horses exhibited after a bad race due to EIPH. They found an illegal drug that they used to prevent that horse from bleeding and won a big bet. This is what trainers mean when they say lasix allows for a level playing field. TJ