This.
I am still floored that anyone who enters a horse in this high level of a competition would do anything that would test. I mean… really… they are going to test.
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Not to sound flippant, but this is a world class colt doing something that most horses cannot ever come close to doing. It is a relatively common procedure in racing… I would prefer the horse that needs injections, gets them…
Not like these horses are performing desk jobs…
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We don’t know the source of the betamethasone (ie really ointment or injection).
I am personally of two minds about a 3YO needing joint injections. Maybe a sign to back off on training and give the horse a bit of a rest?
Regardless of whether a horse should get injections or not, the rules say no betamethasone in a post race test. Mr Baffert claims the horse has never received it… whoops, except for that extended dermatitis treatment.
The rules are the rules.
I know across the pond racing is mostly turf (not completely) and their surfaces as I understand it, are a bit softer than ours but they pretty much are zero meds.
If you want some post race ‘aspirin’ there is bute and other analgesics. Otherwise, if a horse can’t get comfy, time off rather than drug?
I’ve also seen enough (and certainly not as many as some others, I am sure) breakdowns where the fetlock structures (bones and tendons) have failed. For me, of all the joints to be ‘protective’ of, the fetlock is it. Don’t drug the joint into being pain free, rest the joint into being pain free. Maybe a bit of a naive view of it but works for me.
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I don’t want to get into a debate about whether its right or not. I have no dog in that fight. My point was, injections are pretty common with race horses and people being surprised shows they’re not too familiar with what goes on with the horses in between their starts.
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However the betamethasone got into the horse, it wasn’t supposed to be there. He should be dq’d.
How do you move forward to keep this from happening? Is out of competition the answer? I know human athletes are now “surprise” tested–athlete has to say where he/she is at all times and and the tester shows up at the door at a random time. If the tester appears and the person is not available, he/she is guilty of avoiding the test. May be suspended for that. (I think the athlete is given a certain number of warnings.)
Do we need to go to pre-race testing for at least big stakes races? Expensive, but maybe necessary.
Had Medina Spirit broken down on Saturday, it could have meant the end of racing (which some might want, not me, but some). Instead I think he pretty much ran to his form–not a super horse, but a pretty good one.
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I think for most of us, the point isn’t that injections happen, it’s that there is protocol for reporting those injections and 0, zero, meds on race day.
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Not even touching that debate. My comment, above, was because someone said:
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Exactly - if it was so easy for simple accidental contamination, why aren’t other high-profile trainers getting violations? His behavior afterwards - the lame (intentional pun!) excuses that keep changing daily, the ignorance as to what his horse is being administered, the ignorance as to the test threshholds (at the initial press conference, saying it was 10 instead of 0) - really makes you wonder how this guy who seems so out of sorts as to what’s going on could be a successful trainer?
It also bothered me, going back to the video of a VERY lame Justify the day after the Derby, that Baffert claimed the lameness was due to scratches. (What’s with all the skin issues on Baffert’s horses? 
) A vet later said it was a heel bruise. Well, gee, that would have been my first guess.
A reporter wrote this: “There is a 4-point lameness scale of severity. Four is the worst.” So, either the reporter got it wrong or he was given wrong information… But then: “Dunlavy (the vet) scored Justify at a one during his examination Sunday morning.” How that level of lameness is a 1 is beyond me. Standing, he wouldn’t even put all the weight on that leg.
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And non-weight-bearing is a 5 on the AAEP scale…it does go beyond 4.
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Exactly!
I prefer a young horse not to be worked to that point.
And the pricetag has little to do with this. I understand the economy of racing, but also see that longevity isn’t a thing the industry is concerned about.
Here is the problem:
the Derby (and similar races) are to select the future generation breeding stock.
If a horse can’t be sound at the beginning of his 3 year campaign he needs to be in a field somewhere to heal and grow up.
Now, with the Derby win under his belt - controversy or not - he will be on the fast track to the breeding shed (because he might not survive a 4 year campaign on 4 legs!)
And that will be passed on to the next generation.
The backside is concerned with the selling aspect, the front side with transparency for the betting public.
Exceller Fund and similar organizations get to pick up the useable pieces.
Here is what I think what happened:
Medina SPirit was never meant to bother the finishline.
He was 3rd choice at best.
I bet he was supposed to be the rabbit.
The industry might hail the cheap horse, but they don’t respect them. They are hoping for all the cheap horses to be snapped up now at auction.
And of course most are cheap for a reason.
So no wonder Baffert had an OS moment there.
Either the field didn’t consider the horse could win, or the horse didn’t know not to. (and I don’t blame the Jockey…that’s 10% of the purse for him!)
I prefer young horses not to be worked to the point of needing invasive treatment.
*Assuming the residue was from injections.
I am quite astonished at the nonchalant approach to horse wellfare.
I for one can go for the rest of my life without seeing another horse break down in a spectacular fashion!
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I think that is the problem that ‘for most of us’ this isn’t a big deal.
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Which part “this” isn’t a big deal? That this horse (Medina Spirit) is getting betamethasone injections in his joints? We have no positive proof that happen.
That any horse might ‘need’ betamethasone injections during the course of their race career?
That any horse got an undocumented injection leaving the horse over testing limits?
Using Medina Spirit as a blanket view of how readers of this BB (not Bob Baffert) see the race world is probably a generalization most of us wouldn’t make.
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This: That a young horse is needing injections.
A head scratcher for me that so many are ok with that.
YMMV, of course.
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What you prefer has no bearing on the reality of racing. These horses are not trotting circles for 30m a day. They are performing the single most physically demanding career there is out there for horses, before their bodies are fully mature.
That you can’t understand why someone would inject a race horse shows a general lack of understanding of how difficult racing is on their bodies, post-race care and therapies that these barns employ, and just a general lack of understanding of the industry at whole. We have no proof Baffert had Medina Spirit injected, but do know that injections are used therapeutically in racing and yes, even among 3 year olds.
Which is worse - therapeutic modalities like injections, or not treating and running the horse anyway?
There are big issues with racing, which is probably a better discussion for a different thread, but if your concern is race horses and longevity/soundness, start with the breeding-for-sales approach – not whether or not a stakes winning horse retires for the breeding shed or had his fetlocks injected.
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Joint injections as needed with the right preparations, for the right goals and at any age is standard medicine today, in all species, humans and horses also.
Just as vaccines are to protect, as antibiotics are for infections, etc.
We don’t have to “like” joint injections, vaccines, antibiotics or any other standard medical practices.
Those are what in the right places, for the right uses and after legal considerations where those apply, as here, is what some practitioners recommend.
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LOL, rude much?
I am the public. And vaguely knowledgable of the industry, not an insider, but you know, I know stuff.
And as such I can influence the conscions of the sport
By voicing my opinion.
don’t pull the ‘BUT YOU DON’T KNOW’ card from the bottom of the deck.
A horse is a horse, and even thoroughbreds are not mature at 3.
And if I pay a professional big money to take care of my horse I - personally - would expect the wellness being paramount.
Of course, when all the horse is is a $$$ in a ledger, by all means, inject away.
yeah, I know how hard racing is on the horse.
Still no excuse to run them into the ground before they are grown up.
Sh** happens. Sure.
But over extersion isn’t anecessisity in the sport. More of a choice when it does not matter how long the horse will last.
Generally by people who have the money to back off and not suffer financially.
naturally, that is my educated opinion.
No we do not have proof
I noted that above. Somewhere.
But we have the 5th incident involving his barn, no telling how many didn’t get tested or showed up clean by chance.
The problem is ‘professionals’ playing fast and loose with the welfare of their charges.
And a lot of people shrugging and telling the concerned public 'BUT YOU DON’T KNOW.
there was medication in that horse that was not supposed to be there.
Now we puzzle out how it got there.
And have a ‘concerned’ trainer worry about crosscontermination and being framed.
I hope your day gets better.
Maybe have some chocolate?
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The insult and the vaguely sexist remark of yours aside, I have no disagreements about you re: Baffert…
But do know and understand that injections are in racing, people do inject a horse, and it is not an indictment on the connections if they pursue these modalities for their runners legally.
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Baffert will have no horses racing at Belmont.
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The ointment excuse throws a wrench in the sabotage theory doesn’t it?
He had a big problem in 2011-2013.
The fact that Baffert gave thyroxine to every horse in his barn, off label, proved to me that he will try medication to get an edge. He stopped giving thyroxine after the 7th horse dropped dead, and there were no more sudden deaths.
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