Mubtaahij: Lasix Free for the 2015 Kentucky Derby

Mubtaahij has never bled, so why would he run on the anti-bleeder diuretic Lasix in next week’s 2015 Kentucky Derby?

It seems like a pretty fair question, but one that is not easily answered by most American trainers. Surprisingly, the last horse to run without Lasix and win the Kentucky Derby was the D. Wayne Lukas trained Grindstone, way back in 1996.

Or maybe it is not such a surprise, considering the regularity which Lasix is relied on in American racing. Still, it is hard to believe it has been so long since a horse has even run in the Derby sans Lasix.

Most recently, although it seems a stretch to call it recently, Don't Get Mad won the Derby Trial in 2005. A week later, the stretch-running son of Stephen Got Even ran a bang-up race in the Derby, finishing 4th, only 3 ½-lengths behind at the wire. He raced without Lasix, along with Spanish Chestnut, in that edition of the Kentucky Derby.

One year before, Lion Heart ran an excellent second in the Derby, behind only Smarty Jones. Don’t Get Mad, Spanish Chestnut, and Lion Heart are three of only eight horses in the past 19 editions (since Grindstone won), to run without Lasix in the Kentucky Derby. Not a single horse has run in America’s most prestigious race in the last nine years without Lasix. Mubtaahij is poised to be the only one in the past decade.

For this fact alone, there is good reason to hope the Mike de Kock trained, runaway winner of the $2 million UAE Derby, runs a big race on the first Saturday in May.