Horses treated with the race-day antibleeding medication furosemide bled at a greater rate than horses that did not receive the drug, a study released by the Breeders' Cup on Monday found.
The study was conducted among 2-year-old horses running in early November on the card at the Breeders' Cup in Southern California. A team of veterinarians led by Dr. Nathan Slovis of Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Ky., performed an endoscopic exam, which inserts a camera down a horse's windpipe, to see if, and at what level, the horse showed signs of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage after a race.
They were granted permission by the owners of 55 horses, and the proportion of horses that bled significantly was greater among furosemide-treated horses (71 percent, or 10 out of 14) than among untreated horses (37 percent, or 15 out of 41), according to the study. In addition, five of the 14 horses (36 percent) treated with furosemide were scored as having bled in the higher ranges of the scale, compared with three of the 41 untreated horses, or 7 percent.
"This is not what I was expecting to find," Slovis said. "I was expecting animals that were not given furosemide would have an increased score" on bleeding. "That's what I expected to find. We did not find that in this small group."
About 95 percent of American thoroughbreds race on furosemide, a drug first approved for race-day use in the mid-1970s and sold under the brand name Lasix. It helps to prevent exercise-induced pulmonary bleeding, which can occur in horses and impair their breathing and performance. Most regulators say furosemide enhances performance by flushing 20 to 30 pounds of water out of a horse.
It is prohibited in Europe and the rest of the world's major racing circuits.
Banning the drug is a central part of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, which is in committee in Congress and would give the antidoping agency Usada the authority to develop rules for permitted and prohibited substances. It would also create testing and stiffer penalty programs for horse racing nationally, replacing the patchwork state-by-state system now in place.
"I can't stress this enough: It was not: 'Is Lasix good? Is Lasix bad?' " Slovis said. "The question was: 'Are we doing any harm racing without Lasix?' "
The Breeders' Cup funded the study after tussling with trainers and some owners over banning Lasix in all Cup races. Horses in its 2-year-old races have competed in the last two Breeders' Cups' without Lasix. This year, there were two non-Breeders' Cup races, for California-bred juveniles, in which the drug was allowed.
The plan was for every horse in all 13 races to run without the drug by 2014.
But the Breeders' Cup board reversed that policy after prominent trainers like Bob Baffert threatened to boycott the event, and one of his owners, Gary West, said he would sue the organization. As it stands now, all horses — even 2-year-olds — will be allowed to run on Lasix in the Cup next November at Santa Anita Park.
"The results of this study are certainly interesting but, as the scientists indicated, speak for themselves and don't lend to any conclusions, just the need for further research," said Alan Foreman, chairman of the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. "I agree that further research is indicated to better understand the information reported from the Breeders' Cup horses and its significance."
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