Sudden Deaths in Southern Cal

[Sightseek]

Would the rat poison also be known as warfarin/coumadin?

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

Would the rat poison also be known as warfarin/coumadin?

It says "diphacinone" over at the Paulick Report. Only the 6th one of Bafferts that died suddenly had it.

The first Baffert horse to die suddenly in the 2011-12 fiscal year as reported by the CHRB was a 2-year-old male who collapsed while galloping at Hollywood Park on the morning of Nov. 4, 2011. His death was attributed to “likely failure of the cardiac conduction system,” according to a necropsy report from the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System. A second came three weeks later when Irrefutable, a 5-year-old horse, collapsed after finishing second in a six-furlong race at Hollywood Park. Heart failure and/or exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage were listed as likely cause of death. A third sudden death occurred Jan. 6, 2012, again at Hollywood Park, when Uncle Sam, a 4-year-old son of Tapit, collapsed near the three-eighth pole during a morning workout. Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis was listed as a possible cause of death, but the report called it a “puzzling” case.

Kaleem Shah owned all three of the aforementioned Baffert-trained horses.

When Mike Pegram’s 4-year-old colt CJ Russell died from apparent heart failure after the finish of a Hollywood Park race June 15, 2012, the necropsy report noted “fourth horse to collapse/die for this trainer in less than one year.”

A fifth death occurred Aug. 20, 2012, when a 2-year-old male at Hollywood Park died from heart failure while training.

A sixth death occurred on Dec. 21, 2012, when a 3-year-old gelding galloping in the morning at Hollywood Park went down, succumbing to what the necropsy report said was a “massive abdominal/thoracic cavity hemorrhage.” Toxicology tests discovered trace amounts of diphacinone, an agent in rodenticide, or rat poison. The report on the death called this an “important finding” but did not elaborate.

The most recent Baffert sudden death, the seventh since November 2011, happened March 14, 2013, at Hollywood Park, again during hours, when a 5-year-old mare collapsed and died from what the report described as severe pulmonary edema.

Baffert did not respond to voice or text messages sent to his cell phone Wednesday afternoon.

Sudden deaths of horses are extremely rare. Several trainers with more than 30 years of experience interviewed by the Paulick Report spoke warily of the situation. None of trainers lost more than three horses to sudden death during their entire careers, they said.

During the Medication and Track Safety Committee meeting Wednesday, it was revealed that trace levels of rat poison were discovered in toxicology tests of two of the horses who died suddenly, according to Mike Marten, an information officer with the CHRB. Marten said the CHRB interviewed pest-control companies that provided services to the Southern California tracks and that the type of rodenticide used by those companies did not match what was found in the toxicology tests. He also said Dr. Francico Uzal of the University of California-Davis and the CHRB’s medical director, veterinarian Rick Arthur, told the committee that the rat poison could not be confirmed as the cause of death.

[Calzone Lord]

You knew Joe Drape would be all over this.

This is the only type of racing story he seems to like.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/sp...=tw-share&_r=0

[RockHardTen1985]

This could all be coincidence. If Baffert has such a high number of questionable deaths why isn't someone doing something about it.

[tabs]

24 horses a week die at America’s racetracks. How is this number acceptable to anyone?

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by tabs

24 horses a week die at America’s racetracks. How is this number acceptable to anyone?

Other then zero what is acceptable? Its a brutal sport. I love it and horses are going to die.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by tabs

24 horses a week die at America’s racetracks. How is this number acceptable to anyone?

Originally Posted by freddymo

Other then zero what is acceptable? Its a brutal sport. I love it and horses are going to die.

Understand that the '24 horses a week dying at America's racetracks' is a wholly phony number the Times manufactured with the mythic 'study' of result charts.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

This could all be coincidence. If Baffert has such a high number of questionable deaths why isn't someone doing something about it.

Yeah, because "somebody" always does something in horse racing, it is such a tightly run ship.

[goodcopy]

Do you think that B.B is feeding his horses rat poison to get them to run better?
Get them to "Mask" some other drug?
Get them to heal or have some other "Edge" that others don't have or will use?
Is this just a shot at a highly successful trainer with a high profile?

[jocko699]

Originally Posted by goodcopy

Do you think that B.B is feeding his horses rat poison to get them to run better?
Get them to "Mask" some other drug?
Get them to heal or have some other "Edge" that others don't have or will use?
Is this just a shot at a highly successful trainer with a high profile?

The numbers seem very high for one trainer. I am surprised and disturbed by it.

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by jocko699

The numbers seem very high for one trainer. I am surprised and disturbed by it.

What about the number of Pletcher horses? Not just deaths, but injuries also.

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

What about the number of Pletcher horses? Not just deaths, but injuries also.

What does that have to do with Baffert?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

What about the number of Pletcher horses? Not just deaths, but injuries also.

a wholly separate subject. has nothing to do with what is a very odd situation with baffert right now.
and your reaction is one of the things wrong with the sport. people who like a trainer don't want things to be true-but it doesn't make it untrue.

[jocko699]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

What about the number of Pletcher horses? Not just deaths, but injuries also.

Only talking about Baffert here, Pletcher is another story.

[my miss storm cat]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

You knew Joe Drape would be all over this.

This is the only type of racing story he seems to like.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/sp...=tw-share&_r=0

I have no love for Mr. Drape but he should be all over this.

Horrible...

[docicu3]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

You knew Joe Drape would be all over this.

This is the only type of racing story he seems to like.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/sp...=tw-share&_r=0

Doug

In the human world we "overshoot" coumadin or warfarin doses all the time which is easily treated by Vit K or time, often the problem isn't the drug but whatever else is eaten with the meal which can either shorten or lengthen the half life of the drug since they all work by interfering with Vit K metabolism or the liver dependent coagulation factors.

Vitamin K is used in the body to form bones but also plays an important role in blood clotting. Coumadin works by interfering with the liver synthesis of vitamin K-dependent clotting factors. Vit K decreases the amount of blood clots formed in the body the opposite of what your drugs in the article do.

In humans we use these meds to stop clotting for a bunch of reasons such as stroke prevention or avoiding clot associated with abnormal heart rythmns but yes these are the same class and effect of drugs.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by docicu3

Doug

In the human world we "overshoot" coumadin or warfarin doses all the time which is easily treated by Vit K or time, often the problem isn't the drug but whatever else is eaten with the meal which can either shorten or lengthen the half life of the drug since they all work by interfering with Vit K metabolism or the liver dependent coagulation factors.

Vitamin K is used in the body to form bones but also plays an important role in blood clotting. Coumadin works by interfering with the liver synthesis of vitamin K-dependent clotting factors. Vit K decreases the amount of blood clots formed in the body the opposite of what your drugs in the article do.

In humans we use these meds to stop clotting for a bunch of reasons such as stroke prevention or avoiding clot associated with abnormal heart rythmns but yes these are the same class and effect of drugs.

Would diphacinone interfere with the liver as well? TAP had a liver issue going with a few horses a couple years ago that a cause was never really determined, if I remember.

This is from the studyon E X T O X N E T. Interesting that it would be fed to animals to keep bats away...

"Fate in humans and animals: Rats eliminated 70% of the administered oral dose via the feces and 10% in the urine within 8 days [172]. A similar pattern of elimination occurred in mice [172]. Animal studies indicate that little metabolism takes place, and that diphacinone which is not eliminated may concentrate to varying degrees in the liver, kidneys, and lungs [8,172]. The half-life of diphacinone in humans is 15 to 20 days [8]. It was determined that cattle dosed with the compound as an anti-bat measure were safe to use for dairy and/or meat production [8]."

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by docicu3

Doug

In the human world we "overshoot" coumadin or warfarin doses all the time which is easily treated by Vit K or time, often the problem isn't the drug but whatever else is eaten with the meal which can either shorten or lengthen the half life of the drug since they all work by interfering with Vit K metabolism or the liver dependent coagulation factors.Vitamin K is used in the body to form bones but also plays an important role in blood clotting. Coumadin works by interfering with the liver synthesis of vitamin K-dependent clotting factors. Vit K decreases the amount of blood clots formed in the body the opposite of what your drugs in the article do.

In humans we use these meds to stop clotting for a bunch of reasons such as stroke prevention or avoiding clot associated with abnormal heart rythmns but yes these are the same class and effect of drugs.

what else would be affected? would it affect overall metabolism? would there be anything beneficial from using blood thinners for someone/thing in high activity?

[Danzig]

i did a search on blood thinners as performance enhancers, and i found this:

"Blood Viscosity
Like anything else, the thicker blood is, the slower it moves through the body. So anything that reduces the viscosity of blood is going to make it easier for the heart to get a full charge, faster for the heart to eject and quicker to deliver oxygen and remove heat, lactic acid and CO2. On a microscopic scale, at the entrance to capillaries, red blood cells tend to stack up like a traffic jam. This can reduce oxygen delivery. Thinning the blood a little can break up these traffic jams and improve flow. Red blood cells are less sticky when blood is thinned so you get more flowing through capillaries and delivering oxygen.

Secret Weapon #2 - Salycin
Although there are a number things you can take that reduce the viscosity of blood, the one we like best is a natural extract of willow bark called Salycin. As you may have guessed, it is related to Asprin (acetyl-salycilic acid). All blood thinners work about the same, by reducing cell-to-cell stickiness. Salycin is nice because you get all the performance enhancement without the risks inherent in more aggressive blood thinners. "