Railbird 2004–2019

Lasix

How Inhumane

Dick Powell on the Lasix debate:

But rather than ban it, I think we should mandate it.

Nearly all Thoroughbred race horses bleed. If you think we can breed our way out of this by separating the horses that bleed from those that don’t and breed a new racehorse that doesn’t bleed and doesn’t need Lasix, you would have to ban it in training as well which nobody wants to do.

And, how do you explain banning it to the animal rights activists that view our sport as being cruel and inhumane? …

Or, as trainer Rick Violette has said:

“Horses bleed. That is a fact. To force an animal to race without it is premeditated, borderline animal abuse.”

Arguing that a Lasix ban is abusive raises the question — if it’s inhumane to race horses without a drug, then isn’t it inhumane to race horses at all? If horses need a drug to mask the conditions in which they’re bred, trained, and raced, then shouldn’t the focus be on changing those conditions?

I don’t have answers; I merely ask.

Posted in Racing on September 20, 2011 / Tagged Lasix

A Worthy Experiment

Select 2YOs from trainer Kiaran McLaughlin’s barn are running Lasix-free:

“There’s so much talk of no Lasix, we decided not to run them on it until they need it,” McLaughlin said Monday at [Saratoga]. “No one told me I had to do this, I decided it.”

Good for him.

9/15/11 Addendum: Jeff Scott looks closer: “Lest anyone get the impression that McLaughlin’s four juveniles were the only 2-year-old starters not running on Lasix at the Spa, Equibase charts show there were 60 altogether, and they came from the barns of 25 different trainers.”

Posted in Racing on September 6, 2011 / Tagged Darley, Drugs in Racing, International, Kiaran McLaughlin, Lasix, New York, Trainers

About a Lasix Ban …

Steve Zorn:

It would undoubtedly require major changes in training patterns and, ultimately, in breeding patterns as well. Is it possible?

Bill Finley:

It’s not that complicated and doesn’t require a whole new series of summits or meeting. In fact, it’s a no-brainer. Do it.

Ban or die.

Posted in Racing on June 16, 2011 / Tagged Drugs in Racing, Finley for Commissioner, Lasix, Medication Policies

The Cornerstone

Bill Finley on who should follow RCI’s call for a medication ban:

… the Breeders’ Cup is exactly the organization that should lead the way. Just announce that starting next year no horse will be allowed to race in the Breeders’ Cup on any medications. A grandfather clause is fine. You can allow any horse that raced on Lasix in 2011 to continue to run on the drug, but no one else. The Breeders’ Cup has nothing to lose. There’s not a trainer in America who would decline a spot in the Breeders’ Cup because they’d have to run drug free. And if they do, too bad.

Such a move by the Breeders’ Cup would not only help clean up American racing, it would be a significant signal to the international scene.

Maybe Europe would call off the boycott? (Note the posted date.)

Posted in Racing on April 3, 2011 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Building Momentum, Drugs, International, Lasix, Medications, RCI