Paulick: Time for Anti-Lasix advocates to move on to other doping problems
 

Makes you wonder what, exactly they are protecting by not going drug free on race day...and whom.

Will certain careers go down the toilet?

It couldn't be that the trainers are using lasix as a "masking agent" for other drugs...could it?

Lasix sucks. Having been following this game long enough to remember no lasix, lasix for those that really bled, and now lasix for basically every horse, I have little doubt it has hurt the game and not in a small way.

Is there other stuff going on? Almost undoubtedly. That should go as well. But I wouldn't abandon the fight against lasix. Drug free on race day is a good start to the finding other stuff.

Agree. Another issue is the long recovery time for Lasix horses which I feel contributes to the shorter fields we see.

Wow! Blown away by the steady stream of anti drug support here. I very much appreciate that, and am confident that to be the attitude of all genuine horsemen for whom object #1 is to "do what's best for the HORSE".

Seems to me abandoning the fight against lasix due to severity of other issues is another example of hammering your finger to make your toe stop hurting. I'm in the camp that believes eliminating lasix would simultaneously provide relief/improvement in other areas as well.

Interesting that as of about 4:15 pm eastern time today:

More than 2100 viewers at Ray's site took the time to answer a survey.

And of those, just over 73% voted Yes in support of the Horse Racing Integrity Act, which would provide national oversight of medication in the sport.

Screenshot:

If they couldn't even successfully address the lasix problem, good luck on troubleshooting "special feed", and druggists who technologically are able to stay one step ahead of the testing procedures and more "severe issues" ...:lol:

When the fork you're using doesn't have the capability of cutting thru an overcooked soft potato, its not going to be able to attack a tough steak or raw hard-as-a-rock red beet.

Here is an older study from the Horse magazine, a non racing publication
https://thehorse.com/118316/eiph-and...ses-explained/

It is several years old but it concludes with the following:

"All racing horses suffer (from EIPH) at some level," Tobin said in closing. A conservative, science-based interpretation is that furosemide acts to protects the welfare of racing horses and also their riders, he added.

And, in a salute to American horsemen and to the community at large, he noted that American horsemen had "correctly determined the benefits of furosemide 40 or so years ago, while it has taken science more than 30 years to confirm that the horsemen were on the right track, so to speak, all along with furosemide."

As an owner I am opposed to the lasix ban as it is written now. I am not opposed to any other anti doping legislation or a commission established, just not as this bill is written. Read the bill for yourself and form your own opinion.

An immediate ban on Lasix with the mandatory layoffs when they do bleed will hurt field size. If you ban it now as it is proposed, get ready for a steady field of 4 5 and 6 horse fields. IMHO

There is some debate about this. MLB suspends Robinson Cano for 80 games for having lasix in his system, but there are some in the horse racing industry who argue that "Lasix cannot be administered in a way that can manipulate a drug test."

http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com...k-other-drugs/

As Upton Sinclair said, it is difficult to get the truth out of someone whose livelihood depends on a falsehood.

Let the conspiracy theories abound.

There are zero trainers who think Lasix has anything at all to do with unclean racing. Zero. What they do think is that Lasix is needed because horses bleed in their lungs at speed. Guess what? Do away with Lasix, and then we'll just do what they do in Europe and what we did in the old days, which is tie the horse up to the side of the stall for 9 hours and withhold all water, you know, really good stuff like that. Or letting them bleed, which is very uncomfortable for the horse when he suddenly finds he can't breathe. Or worse, let him bleed so severely that he actually dies of bleeding. You think that's more humane than giving the horse a simple shot before a race and then giving him electrolyte replacements after the race?

Lasix is the MOST HUMANE treatment for EIPH in horses. Treating the horse humanely should be the top priority.

If humans experienced bleeding in the lungs when they ran, which of you would just let your child bleed in his lungs, resulting in scarring the child's lungs, instead of giving the child a simple treatment that allowed him to play safely?

LASIX is NOT THE PROBLEM, and it's absurd that we keep talking about it.

Don't they withhold water from horses prior to races even WITH Lasix?

And why would you have to tie the horse to the side of the stall? The water buckets aren't removable?

What I found interesting about the latest hearing on the Integrity Act was that the Owners, Trainers, and Racing Commissions were all against it. The two main objections were Lasix and funding.

Would these groups be behind this act if Lasix was removed and the money issue was spelled out and affordable? Or are they against the act because it would bring in oversight from a "outside" organization?

Seems to me that the second one is probably the real fear.

Fager, the problem is it also masks doping.