8/19/11
Lasix was banned in the hopes of increasing the number of international entries and thus increasing the likelihood that people from out of the country would put some money on the races. It is really all about the gambling revenue. Horses all over the world train on Lasix. They just pull them off it X number of days before racing. Here is the thing and it is what I am assuming Bob is talking about, and he is certainly as qualified as anyone to have an opinion, before Lasix, people gave horses various combo's of potions to help prevent bleeding, they will do that again. But instead of costing $25.00 for a shot of Lasix, it will cost $500 which in turn will be devastating to the little guys in the business. The other thing is that horses who bleed will have to be treated and given time off which will up the cost significantly as well.
8/19/11
Jean, horses do not "train" on lasix. they administer it so many hours before a race. A trainer would not give lasix to a horse just to breeze. IMO the trainers will need to train their horses differently, more in step with Europe where they do more sprint type works. A horse gallops then picks the pace up for a few furlongs, then back to a gallop.The lower level racers would be fased out, they would start with 2 year old stakes next year, then I believe 2 and 3 year old stakes in 2013 and build up. Not sure how long it will be till they reach the goal.
8/25/11
8/27/11
So if lasix is banned will horses be choking for hours after races as this blog suggests?
http://equineproject.com/if-there-were-no-race-day-medications/
Lauren
9/6/11
McLaughlin and Darley get an atta boy IMHO
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has quietly been experimenting with running two-year-olds without anti-bleeding medication, reports Claire Novak for ESPN. Novak says four times during the Saratoga meet, McLaughlin-trained juveniles racing for the Darley and Shadwell Stables went postward without Salix (Lasix). One of the two-year-olds - a Darley runner named Alpha - won:
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/novak-mclaughlin-experiments-with-salix-free-juveniles/
9/6/11
9/6/11
I like this, a nice quiet way of going about it and see what happens. I wish a few other trainers would also start this and let's see what happens.
11/17/11
Soon after leaving the service in the mid-1940s, Mel Stute went to work as a groom for trainer Yorkie McLeod at the old Tanforan Racetrack near San Francisco. McLeod had a funny way of trying to prevent his horses from the age-old problem of bleeding. He would ask his young groom to wrap copper wire around the base of a horse’s tail before a race − thin, eight-inch strips of the sort you would find in hardware stores.
http://www.drf.com/news/lasix-demystifying-drug-methods-training-without-it
