The Stronach Group, owners of the Maryland Jockey Club, announced in a letter to the Maryland Racing Commission today that the company is moving to restrict the use of Lasix on 2-year-old horses at its Maryland tracks.
Stronach will use a method the company has already employed at Hallandale Beach, Florida-based track Gulfstream Park and write a ban on administration of the drug 24 hours before post time into the conditions of the race, meaning all the entrants must comply.
Tracks in California, New York, Kentucky and Florida have already implemented similar reforms, Craig R. Fravel, Stronach’s CEO of racing operations, wrote in the letter to the commission.
“The clear weight of evidence shows that what began decades ago as a limited therapeutic to assist the few horses that were habitual bleeders has become a crutch for those looking for a competitive edge,” Fravel wrote, referring to some horses that bleed in their lungs after running. “The time is now to address this matter and to do so without delay.”
Belinda Stronach, chairman and president of The Stronach Group and 1/ST–a Stronach initiative pushing to modernize the horse racing industry–said “time has come to phase out Lasix beginning with two-year-old horses.”
“We believe in the principle that horses should only be racing free of medication,” she said. “By taking this important step together, the Maryland racing community will become stronger and provide the right foundation for our sport to progress into the future.”
The Stronach Group owns Maryland’s two major thoroughbred tracks, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course.
In April 2019, Stronach joined a coalition of major American racetracks in phasing out the use of the medication Lasix on race days following a series of fatalities at Santa Anita Park, a Stronach property in California.
Fifty-six horses died at Santa Anita between July 1, 2018 and Nov. 30, 2019, according to a December 2019 report by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office–a spate of fatalities that drew national attention and protests. Prosecutors found no criminal wrongdoing.
In addition to Stronach, Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York Racing Association are members of the pact, as are track owners at Del Mar, Keeneland, Lone Star Park and Remington Park, Los Alamitos Racecourse, Oaklawn Park and Tampa Bay Downs.
Those tracks account for 86 percent of graded or listed stakes races–the ones with the most elite runners in the field–in the country, including the three host venues for horse racing’s Triple Crown.
The group pledged to not allow trainers to administer Lasix to 2-year-olds within 24 hours of a race starting this year. In 2021, restrictions would apply to all horses running in a stakes race at the coalition of tracks.
Seven months later, Stronach joined a nearly identical lineup to form the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, pushing for a host of changes related to how drugs are administered to the sports equine athletes.
Some local owners and trainers were against the phaseout of Lasix. The Maryland Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association and Maryland Horse Breeders Association put a joint statement in April 2019 saying a ban could result in “irreparable harm to many of our horses.”
“Deprivation of a safe and effective medication for our horses is totally contrary to our commitment to the health, safety and welfare of the horse, and veterinary scientific experts and researchers agree,” the groups said.
Lasix, a diuretic, is used by trainers to reduce bleeding from the lungs in horses, a common condition. According to the National Institute of Health, there is “low quality evidence” that this condition, known as exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage, causes sudden death in racehorses.
Critics argue the drug is a performance-enhancer, but can also lead to dehydration and breakdowns.
In his letter to the commission, Fravel pointed to a 2015 study by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Diplomates that determined exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage is a disease, not the result of intense physical activity.
“Quite simply, only healthy horses free of disease should race,” he wrote. “Those that are not healthy should be treated before returning to racing.”
Alan Foreman, the general counsel to the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, told the Daily Racing Form he would not comment until the racing commission determines the legality of Stronach’s request.
Michael Hopkins, the executive director of the Maryland Racing Commission, told the publication that the commission has received the letter and is reviewing it.
Trainer Jerry Robb told local racing website The Racing Biz that he was strongly opposed to the ban announced today.
“All horses bleed sooner or later,” he said. “Anyone that cares about horse wants to protect that horse.”
