TDN OP-ED: Jerry Brown on missing Lasix discussion point

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by Danzig

when reading the report on the study, they said that a horse doesn't improve due to lasix, but they are able to run to their level because they don't have the bleeding issue. did you read the study? did you see the percentage of horses affected by bleeding?
if people don't wish to use it on their horses, they don't have to. but it is helpful to many horses, and should be allowed.



lasix doesn't make a horse 'run faster'.
horses may not bleed for some time, and then suddenly they do. that's why people use lasix, they have no way of knowing when it'll happen to a horse.
read the study, seriously.

I've read it, I just disagree. There are studies out there showing just the opposite that have been posted here before. I've been doing this a long time. I know how to measure horse speed, and I know that horses run faster with it than without.

There is ample evidence if people bother to look. As a bettor, I can quantify it. Horses that don't bleed run faster with Lasix than without. It isn't even really debatable. Of course horses are individuals and the effect isn't the same on all of them, and a scant few run worse. But by and large, it improves performance.

As for the preventative aspect, wasn't a study just released that purported to prove only a very few really need Lasix long term, and that bleeding doesn't hinder long term performance?

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...six-not-needed

I take them all with a grain of salt because everyone has an agenda. My agenda is to make money betting. It may be selfish, but it isn't slanted to one cause or the other. I look at it objectively.

Here is an example that won't happen because I think Goldencents is going in the BC Mile. If he met Rich Tapestry again, after his trip last time, I'd bet him in a second over Rich Tapestry. But, if Rich Tapestry were to add Lasix, I'd bet him. I've been doing this long enough to know Lasix makes a difference, and the difference is not heads or noses but lengths.