JC / Railbird - Medication/Drug Policies

Medication/Drug Policies Archive

No Place in the Game

Consider: There are no allowed raceday medications in Dubai, so all 83 starters in the Dubai World Cup ran without the anti-bleeding drug Lasix, including 15 American horses who all raced on the powerful diuretic in the US. Of those 15, three won (Curlin!) and two more finished in the money. “Lasix is a fraud,” Bill Finley declares, and these results prove it. The time has come for American racing to end its dependence:

There is strong evidence that it is detrimental to the long-term well-being of the horse and some of the world’s most respected scientists say it can mask other drugs. Its pervasive use adds to racing’s image as an outlaw sport where drug use is rampant. Besides Canada, no other country in the world allows it. Yet, its usage here is out of control and no one seems to want to do anything about it. That needs to change.

Posted in Medication/Drug Policies on April 3, 2008

Druggy Americans

“As this weekend’s 24th Breeders’ Cup approaches we’re given another reminder that American racing’s defining characteristic is its dependence on drugs” (Guardian).

Posted in Medication/Drug Policies on October 23, 2007

Noted: March 17

– Former California associate steward Gina Powell testified “under penalty of perjury” that she gave information about the late Salix shot the mare Intercontinental received before running in a stakes race at Del Mar last summer to the head of security, who said he forwarded that information to the board of stewards and CHRB director Ingrid Fermin. Intercontinental won the race. Fermin has claimed that neither she nor the stewards knew of the late shot. Tote Board Brad has been covering this story since it broke. Visit his site for more details.
– Once, as many as 10 racetracks dotted Cape Cod. “While the competitive spirit of sea captains with their vessels has been well documented, they didn’t lose this spirit when they came back home. It was only natural that racetracks would be established throughout the upper and mid-Cape region.”
– Bill Finley would like to rename a few stakes races.

Posted in Medication/Drug Policies, News on March 17, 2006

This Sounds Bad

“According to Gallagher, the positive test results were relayed from the testing laboratory at Iowa State University to personnel at the racing commission. The commission, Gallagher said, then changed its regulations so that the concentrations of drugs found in the sample would fall below the state’s acceptable threshold levels, negating the need to call them positives” (Daily Racing Form).
More: “Drug positives weren’t called, Kentucky officials say” (Blood-Horse), “Horse racing official: Drug offenses not investigated” (Courier-Journal).

Posted in Medication/Drug Policies on July 12, 2005

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