How are diabetics and horses that are given drugs to compete for millions and millions of dollars remotely comparable. That is just being ridiculous. Stick to sports, because after all, isn't that what horse racing is?

Again, in what other sport, anywhere, is nearly every competitor given drugs on the day of the race?

93 is not 99, and microscopic bleeding does not necessarily need to be treated with drugs...but you know that already. Why do those that don't need it get the drug?

Now that is funny.

Does it really matter whether it is 1%, 2%, 5% or 6%? It is a very small number. Do you dispute that?

Maybe not the day of the race but for sure day of the game. If you dont think humans are cortizoned and or blocked to play pro sports you havent been paying attention. Last year Ben Rothelisberger was blocked to play a playoff game and when it was delayed the sportscasters were even commenting about his pre-game injection wearing off too soon.
I will tell you we are experimenting with working some horses in our barn without lasix and scoping after to see if they are bleeding. I think that the reason is because my boss can see the writing on the wall, people who are not really involved on a daily basis with these athletes are going to try and dictate what can and cannot be done in regards to the well being of racers.

For about the hundredth time, nobody says there are no drugs in sports. However, there are no sports where virtually ALL participant gets drugs on the day of the event.

And you dont know that ....how could you? Are you in every locker room? Are you at every dog race? You dont know if athletes are taking 4 to 6 advil before they compete in every event. You dont know if they are hitting an over the counter inhaler to open up their lungs. Believe me if you dont think that pro athletes competing for their salaries arent making sure they do everything to make sure their performance is the best it can be then you surley believe all politicans care about you.

Yes, I do know it. Another being completely over the top to try to defend something that really can't be defended.

You complained about needles, just pointing out millions of people arent so concerned about the use of a needle. Again what other sport reports anything that a participant is given?

What other sport directly makes money from gambling?

No. Lasix has been definitively proven to attenuate the extent and severity of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. Which is why the medical world advises it's use as a race day therapeutic medication, for the health and welfare of the horse.

Insistence upon holding opinion left over from the 1950's, and pretending it's fact, in the face of 2012 medical evidence to the contrary, is really beyond comprehension. It's helping to ruin American racing today.

Yes, I do. You made that number up out of thin air and you have absolutely zero support for it. The truth is the majority of trainers use lasix in the morning, on days the horse will be asked for maximum speed, to prevent EIPH. It's common, it's good medical welfare of the horse practice, and it's why, during drug tests in some foreign countries, a far lower level of frusemide is permitted in the blood, than exists in the USA.

Nice way to induce impaction colic (remove hay from the diet)

That's a great reference telling the truth about lasix, I would recommend that those interested here read it. Thanks for posting that link.

So all analogies to other sports are going to be off limits because of betting? It is an imperfect world in which we live in. Unfortunately there is no way to satisfy everyone and sometimes in trying to satisfy some of the people some of the time the unintended consequences prove fatal.

Isn't that the only reason the information is provided? No worries, I'm done with this. After reading the NYT and the work of some of your cohorts, you have much bigger issues than losing Lasix.

You dont know it. You dont know what pro athletes take or dont take that is legal before they compete. Gambling on horses is no different than gambling on football or basketball at a sports book, and believe me you really think the coaches disclose what players had an injection prior to game time or who had a cortizone shot 5 days ago. Dude you really just dont know.

And how exactly would you know what I know?

Even if I didn't, just for fun, I also know that 99% don't get drugs or injections before competing, even in football.

Oh really? Then tell me what the sportscasters were talking about when they said Big Ben had an injection before the game and now that the lights keep going out we wonder how his ankle is going to be feeling with the delay of game? How about Grant Hills torn minicus, that is a pretty painful injury but yet he played in a game a week later. Whatever... you choose to believe what you want and I choose to believe what is written and talked about in pro sports. They get hopped and blocked and people bet on the games that is a fact.

Wow, do you read, or just rant first? I NEVER said no athletes use drugs to compete, EVER. I said 99% don't like they do in US racing.

Im not ranting, Im just pointing out the obvious.....Those are just the one's off the top of my head. If you think pro athletes dont down 800mlg of Advil and use over the counter blocks and injections before competeting and I would say the number is close to about 80 % of them DO....you havent played sports. It hurts to compete at a pro level even if you dont suffer a major injury during a game you are damn sure going to be sore the next day and if its a game day Im sure they are taking more than Advil.
I think racing can do away with all medications 72 hours out and there wont be a large impact, but to do away with a drug that by all scientific study is proven to be preventitive in helping horses not cause damage to their lungs is just beyond simply stupid.
Ever notice the number of horses that come here to run in the breeders cup from across the pond that use Lasix? Ever ask yourself why they use it ? they use it because they know it prevents bleeding. Over there they work on it but they know it has to be out of the horses system for the race. Just like Dubai, you can work on Lasix up until about 10 days from racing, then you have to go old school by withdrawing grain, hay and water. So which is more humane?

80%, I doubt that number. Even if true, it isn't 99%, and if someone isn't sore and takes it I don't think it makes them play better.

I've said many times why I think Lasix is given to horses shipping over...competitive edge. The ones that don't use it are fools, and it has nothing to do with health, but speed.

Hey Orioles.

Maybe this will help illuminate the futility of what you are trying to do.

Zenyatta fan : "Yay, Zenyatta is the greatest horse ever!! I love her forever, and her dance is so cute!"

A rational person : "She's a nice mare, but the greatest horse ever? That's absurd"

Three thousand irate Zenyatta fans : "Zenyatta is the bestest horse ever! Why are you such a hater? How can you say she is the worst horse of the last 50 years?. I hope you burn in hell!"

Rational Person : "I never said she sucked! I said she's a really nice mare. How did you get that I think she sucks?"

Zenyatta fan : "She does not suck! Rachel Alexandra sucks!"

Rational Person : "Ugh. Pardon me while I go slam my dick in a sliding glass door".

This is the type of mentality you are up against Orioles.

I believe that I have been saying this for awhile....

That much is accurate.

That about nailed it down. What can I say, a little Don Quixote in me I guess.

What other sport are the competitor's allowed to train on drugs that are banned on game day?

What other sport are players not allowed to use an injection to prevent their lungs from filling up with blood or any liquid substance?

Are IV's performance enhancers? Should althletes be banned from taking an IV during a game if they get dehydrated?

You are making that up. You claim the majority of horses work on lasix in the morning? A majority means over 50%. You have absolutely zero evidence to support that. Even in the US, not even close to 50% of horses work on lasix. I get the vet bills on all of our horses from all different trainers. Most trainers don't work most of their horses on lasix. From reviewng the vet bills every month on over 100 horses over the last 5 years with 15 different trainers, I estimate around 15% of the horses work on lasix. Sure there are some trainers here that work practically all of their horses on lasix. But there are also plenty of trainers that practically never work their horses on lasix. In Eurpope, I would bet the number is much lower. Do you think the number in Europe is higher than in the US? There is no way.

I really dont care about what Europe does and who says what they do is best for the horse? They race about 6 months of the year and horses race about 6 times a year, mostly on grass.

Unless you have horses that race in Ky you are really missing the entire focus of this topic which is the very bad position a ban on Lasix would be if it is only in Ky.

European woman don't shave their armpits, body hair and god knows what is going on between their legs. Should American women do the same?

American women should do whatever the fugg they want in that regard.

worth the read:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertain...racing/256621/

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You judge by your vet bills, I judge by the many trainers I see doing it, by knowing the vets that are giving the injections, by talking to the vets in other countries (just spent a conference day with three vets from Australia, and yes, we talked about horse racing and lasix), by what the veterinary industry knows about lasix use in the racing industry.

The unalienable truth is this: lasix is the most effective therapeutic drug we have to attenuate EIPH, and that medical help should not be taken away from the horse. Either in the morning, or in a race.

But most especially, the therapeutic value of lasix should not be used as a cheap straw man substitute for dealing with real drug problems in racing.