Tracks Plan to Phase Out Lasix, Horsemen Share Concerns:
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/233156/tracks-plan-to-phase-out-lasix-horsemen-share-concerns
-- quote:
"In what would be a significant change in how 2-year-old races and stakes races are conducted in the United States, 20 of the leading tracks announced plans April 18 to phase out the use of race-day medication beginning with juvenile races next year and then adding listed and graded stakes beginning in 2021.-- end quote.
The proposal to end the use of furosemide (Salix, commonly called Lasix) has support from some leading industry groups but also saw opposition and concerns raised by horsemen's groups and regulators.
Lasix is administered to prevent exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, but its use is out of line with other major international racing jurisdictions. On Thursday, a coalition of leading Thoroughbred racing organizations announced plans to move closer to that standard.
Coalition racetracks that signed on to the initiative include all tracks owned or operated by Churchill Downs Inc., the New York Racing Association, and The Stronach Group, as well as Del Mar, Keeneland, Lone Star Park, Remington Park, Los Alamitos Racecourse (Thoroughbred meets), Oaklawn Park, and Tampa Bay Downs. Taken together, the tracks represent 86% of graded or listed stakes races in the U.S. in 2018."
If I pull back and look at thoroughbred racing from (say) 30,000 feet --
It seems a bit unreal to me that fear of what PETA can do, and not vision from within, might turn out to be the catalyst for change.
That said --
Imo, if you're going to do away with race-day meds, a phase out, as opposed to a one time outright ban, is the way to go.
--Jeff Platt, HANA President
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