BC to phase out raceday meds; No Lasix for '12 Juvenile events

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Riot

Everyone knows lasix slows a horse down a tad, and hasn't been able to hide anything via "urine dilution" in two decades.

It is a performance enhancer in that yes, it allows horses to run fast and hard while attenuating bleeding. In my mind it would be cruelty to try and run horses on dirt, fast, like we do in American racing, without lasix. Even in mild bleeders, it attenuates lung scarring and harm to performance.

Sure, you can say you want to eliminate lasix, and change the sport to encourage non-bleeder genetics, but I doubt the sport would be able to survive that. It's an awful big reach. That would take 20 years, at least.
An admirable goal, but not quick nor easy.

The idea that you can purge the "gene pool" of bleeders is so ridiculous even in a sport where most people are clueless.