Lasix-Free 2YOs Took 9 Races @ Belmont & Churchill

[Patuxet]

Lasix proponents may be winning the battle to keep race-day use of the diuretic in American horse racing, but supporters of a ban likely were heartened to see the results of two programs exclusively for 2-year-olds on Sunday wherein juveniles competing without the drug performed very well.

At Belmont Park, six of nine races were won by 2-year-olds racing without Lasix. A total of 20 of the 86 2-year-olds competing at Belmont Park raced without Lasix on Sunday.

An 11-race card at Churchill Downs where the vast majority of horses were given Lasix, three events were taken by horses not using the drug. Only 15 of the 110 2-year-olds that raced on Sunday were Lasix-free.

Link to article: http://www.paulickreport.com/news/thoro ... on-sunday/

Comments added to article include this encouraging one from Bill Casner:
−
I have run all of my horses the past 3 years without Lasix and the past 2 years without bute. We have had less than 7% bleed in that time period and we have NEVER had a 2yo bleed. Additionally, the 2yo's are able to use their races much more effectively to advance in fitness without having to deal concurrently with the stress of recovering from dehydration.

As far as performance the last 3 years, we've had a track record at Gulfstream, a G3 win and several Graded places all without meds with a 16% overall win percentage. Not the coveted 20% but I'll take it.

What we did find out early on with the small percentage that bled was that when we raced them WITHOUT Bute in their subsequent races, they DID NOT bleed. Bute is an NSAID like aspirin and interferes with clotting. It's has been implicated with causing leukemia and is not even used in human medicine anymore. It is well established that it will cause bowel ulceration with as little as 2 consecutive administrations. Yet trainers continue to blanket administer it to all of their horses, even the sound ones--"just in case."

History shows us the high annual start records of horses in the pre-bute/lasix era. I only wish that trainers would stop to consider that their medication management practices may be one of the main reasons their horses bleed and "bounce".

But as a very prominent trainer characterized it. "Hell Bill, we ain't training if we don't give them something."