Horsemen: Tracks ‘shooting from the hip’ with Lasix phaseout

Led by Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, horsemen have issued a strong response to Thursday’s announcement by a coalition of racetracks to phase the anti-bleeding medication furosemide, known by its brand name Lasix, out of races.

In a statement Thursday evening, Hamelback said he was “disturbed and mystified” by the initiative, which calls for Lasix use to stop in 2-year-old races in 2020 and all stakes in 2021 at Churchill Downs and New York Racing Association properties, among other prominent racetracks such as Keeneland, Del Mark and Oaklawn Park.

“Many of us in the industry strongly believe that it is reckless to unilaterally suggest a policy change that directly impacts horses' welfare without first consulting veterinary leadership or the horsemen's representatives,” Hamelback said.

Horsemen who spoke with Horse Racing Nation echoed that sentiment, along with the thinking that Lasix wasn’t the culprit for an above-average number of equine fatalities recently at Santa Anita Park, where the issue was thrust into a national spotlight.

“It’s such a divisive thing for the industry,” said Jack Wolf, head of the Starlight Racing partnership that participated in Justify’s 2018 Triple Crown run. “Until the four groups — The Jockey Club, the HBPA, the regulators and the racetracks — until they can sit down and have some sort of arbitration that can be binding and end up somewhere in the middle of the road, I don’t think we’re ever going to get anywhere.”

Trainer Mark Casse added: “I wish instead of just shooting from the hip, everybody got together — those groups got together, formed some sort of committee and formed more smart, and more importantly informed, decisions.”

The National HBPA represents about 30,000 owners and trainers. In Hamelback’s statement, he reminded that Lasix is “the only scientifically proven and approved treatment” for a horse with exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. He said it’s “in the best interests of the health and welfare of the horse” to continue its use.

Wolf, meanwhile, thinks it’s in the best interest of owners, too.

“I think it’s necessary,” he said, “especially for an outfit like ours that has historically gone out and bought 15 to 20 yearlings per year. If you do get two or three bleeders per year and can’t treat them with Lasix, that’s a pretty significant drop off in the horses we’re racing.”

Wolf labeled the Lasix debate as “more of a perception problem” than a safety issue. But in terms of public relations, Casse is a proponent of another type of racing reform.

“If you go today to Keeneland, and you ask 100 fans who are standing by the rail, ‘What do you think of Lasix?” Well, 95 will look at you like they don’t have a clue,” said Casse, a Hall of Fame finalist this year. “But if you ask those hundred fans out there: 'If we could run races without beating the horses or whipping the horses, would you be for that?' I think almost all 100 of them would say yes.

“In any other environment, if you were to hit an animal the way these horses are hit, you would be in jail.”

Casse maintains strings in Florida, Kentucky and Canada’s Woodbine. It’s the latter circuit he suggested American racetracks examine.

Woodbine, which races over a synthetic surface, recorded equine fatality rates per 1,000 runners of 0.86 (2016), 0.58 (2017) and 1.06 (2018) the last three years. Keeneland, a track that re-installed dirt after a synthetic era of its own, shows number over the same span of 1.85, 1.86 and 1.77.

“Woodbine has some of the most lenient medication rules along with treatment rules, and they have some of the least amount of breakdowns,” Casse said. “And nobody’s ever said one thing about that. Wouldn’t we want to go look at those kind of records?”

Monmouth Park, which is operated by state horsemen, is among the tracks encompassing 15 percent or so of the nation's annual handle that didn't join the Lasix phase out coalition. Monmouth released a statement saying it would continue to allow race day Lasix in accordance with the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ approach to treatment preventing EIPH.

“Until further scientific evidence proves otherwise, we believe the policy set forth by the AAEP regarding the race-day use of furosemide is in the best interest and welfare of the horses and their riders,” said Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development, LLC, operators of the racetrack. “We will continue to support that policy beginning with our opening day of racing for the season on May 4.”

Joe Appelbaum, president of president of the New York Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association, was another to voice his opinion on Thursday’s announcement.

“The recent breakdown crisis at Santa Anita has rightly heightened attention to health and safety issues,” Applebaum said. “In solely focusing on furosemide policy, the industry is missing an opportunity to enact comprehensive, far-reaching reforms that would directly benefit our horses by reducing the rate of equine fatalities.”