The lack of standardization certainly doesn’t help when it comes to research or problem solving.
My thoughts turn to the UK their lower rate of fatalities and the differences in their training practices and drug rules.
It is really difficult to compare, there are so many differences but the drug rules do make me wonder.
These are terrible circumstances. I love Thoroughbreds and would be too much of a wuss to become involved in racing, if I was able, because of the fatalities, but I don’t want to see the end of racing.
I hope the racing community can pull together and make the changes needed to lower the rate of fatalities. The fact that there is no consensus in the racing world about what needs to change, is problematic to say the least.
Of course. They are trained on the turf often and get to hack out into the countryside and get turned out etc. There is no comparison really, absolutely everything is different
I’m going to disagree with Laurierace a little on this, based on the talks I saw at the Jockey Club safety summit and the research coming out of the necropsy study. It seems many breakdowns are preceded by other issues - minor issues, microfissures, very small strains and such. While a pain medication may not mask a major injury (though I’ve seen horses go from three legged to weight bearing with one bute dose), it may mask very minor soreness, or keep the horse from noticing soreness that might cause them to let up or slow down if they felt it (though as a former runner, adrenaline also does this). Alternatively the horse may recover from work better, so the trainer is less apt to notice those tiny changes that may precede a major injury.
That is possible, I myself never trained on any NSAIDs for that very reason, I wanted to know if there was something wrong with one of my horses. I did use lasix and do not agree with making horses race without lasix anywhere in the world. It just seems cruel to me as all horses will bleed at some point.
I have no intention of dumping on any decision or rules. (and in fact I support the efforts to curb or monitor drug usage). But as a racing fan (no betting, no breeding)I can say that this seems a disconnect from what happened today.
This makes sense. Training while medicating through pain doesn’t make sense to me. Again, I’m not in the world of racing. Bute after a race or robaxin for a muscle spasm I can understand, but medicating before a work doesn’t seem wise.
New York State didnt permit lasix use until some time in the 90s. Racing seemed to do just fine without it. There were some horses that werent able to run in NY because of this- I remember the Belmont Stakes being affected twice- Summer Squall passed on the race in his year and Alysheba ran poorly which was attritubed to bleeding, but otherwise I remember fields being full and horses making a lot more starts when I was a kid in the 70s/80s so it didnt seem to be a problem overall.
The necroscopy of every horse that breaks down and has to be put down will check for drugs. The report is made available to the state, the commissioners, the state vets, etc. This happens in every state (I think) and has been a policy for many years. If there breakdowns were drug related it would have shown up.
Good post. See you, raise you. Do any of the trainers have any formal education in anything related to conditioning an athlete? Even a human athlete? Do they understand progressive loading? I think there is a lack of education and understanding about conditioning an athlete that is really coming to a head. You learn how to train horses by working for someone who trains horses and immersing yourself in the industry day in and day out. But you don’t study anatomy, physiology, anything useful that would help you understand the physical aspect of the sport. All of our top class human athletes have coaches and multiple trainers, like strength trainers and conditioning trainers, etc. Our horses get the guy who spent 10 years working for the guy who has been doing this for 40 years, who got his start working for 10 years for another guy who had been doing it for 40 years.
Race horse training is 2 things - conditioning the horse, and putting him in a race he can win. Maybe right now we got a bunch of guys that are fabulous and reading the condition book, but not so fabulous at actual conditioning. Maybe the horse is fit enough to go fast, but not properly conditioned to physically handle going that fast.
I don’t know that stopping Lasix (the only race day medication allowed in most places) is going to solve anything. I don’t think it’s the problem, and it’s a big knee jerk reaction on the part of Stronach. I does make the horses lighter, which then puts less stress on them during the race. The restriction of therapeutics will, IMHO, maybe have an impact. Trainers will have to be horsemen again, and not rely on NSAIDs to keep a horse comfortable between races.
I am interested in the results of the drug tests of horses in training. The results for ones that died were were not commented on by Santa Anita. I’m sure the necropsys tested for medication, but why would Santa Anita comment on drugs present that are allowed?
I am curious about the use of drugs that are allowed in horses in training and if they were present in the horses that died.
It is interesting that of all the things management could have done, they picked the actions with the least economic impact to them. It doesn’t cost them anything to ban Lasix and whips.
What if it doesn’t work?
People who are anti Lasix should be concerned about that. This is a terrible way to do a test case because what does it prove if the breakdowns continue? Those horses have been training on that track for several months now.
That is a good point. They can say it hasn’t been long enough for the damage the drugs did to repair for a while but not forever. I seriously wouldn’t run my maiden claimer there let alone my breeder’s cup horse. I hope the BC has a plan B in the works just in case.
