The Kentucky Derby 2011 is not the first image that pops into your head when discussing performance enhancing drugs. Rather your mind instantly returns to recent incidents with baseball players, football players, or basketball stars. But racehorses? Apparently a drug named Lasix is at the heart of the debate, and is a drug that is often injected into race horses four hours prior to the beginning of the race.
The drug is banned from races everywhere except for the United States and Canada, and is a diuretic which is designed to treat a condition that causes race horses to bleed internally while under extreme physical pressure, such as racing. What brings about the debate is the side affect that causes the horse to profusely urinate, potentially lightening its weight by up to 27 pounds, allowing the horse to perform much more swiftly. Hence critics are now suspecting that the drug is being used more for performance and less for the health of the horse.
The use of Lasix has dramatically increased, with 95% being the current figure for racehorses in the United States which received race day injections in 2010, as opposed to only 45% in 1991 according to Time Magazine.
The sports of horse racing has come under scrutiny as this information circulates, and has brought just how controversial this drug is right to the forefront. Many professionals believe that the use of Lasix prolongs an animal’s career and protects their health, while others say it gives horses an unfair advantage.
The drug Lasix is banned from races in Europe, however racehorse fatalities in the United States far exceed the number of fatalities in Europe according to the Jockey Club. A study which spanned a two year period starting in 2008 calculated that US tracks saw race horse fatalities at a rate of 1.55 per 1000 starts on tracks with synthetic surfaces, and 2.14 for the lower quality dirt tracks. The figures for England are only 0.8 to 0.9 per 1000 starts, and many wonder if that is due to the more stringent race day medication regulation.
It will be fascinating to see how this unfolds as authorities take a closer look at the involvement of Lasix in the race horsing industry and try to determine if the drug is medically beneficial, or simply a performance enhancer.
The drug is banned from races everywhere except for the United States and Canada, and is a diuretic which is designed to treat a condition that causes race horses to bleed internally while under extreme physical pressure, such as racing. What brings about the debate is the side affect that causes the horse to profusely urinate, potentially lightening its weight by up to 27 pounds, allowing the horse to perform much more swiftly. Hence critics are now suspecting that the drug is being used more for performance and less for the health of the horse.
The use of Lasix has dramatically increased, with 95% being the current figure for racehorses in the United States which received race day injections in 2010, as opposed to only 45% in 1991 according to Time Magazine.
The sports of horse racing has come under scrutiny as this information circulates, and has brought just how controversial this drug is right to the forefront. Many professionals believe that the use of Lasix prolongs an animal’s career and protects their health, while others say it gives horses an unfair advantage.
The drug Lasix is banned from races in Europe, however racehorse fatalities in the United States far exceed the number of fatalities in Europe according to the Jockey Club. A study which spanned a two year period starting in 2008 calculated that US tracks saw race horse fatalities at a rate of 1.55 per 1000 starts on tracks with synthetic surfaces, and 2.14 for the lower quality dirt tracks. The figures for England are only 0.8 to 0.9 per 1000 starts, and many wonder if that is due to the more stringent race day medication regulation.
