Kentucky's ongoing attempt to end racing in state proceeds..

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by Riot

If your lungs are filled with mucus from a cold, can you breath? Can you do your 2-3 miles of daily roadwork? Can you inhale deeply and oxygenate yourself successfully under maximal physical effort?

Depends upon the amount of stuff down in your smallest airways and alveolar sacs, right?

It's hard to believe that a horse suffering a bleeding episode during a race will run to its maximum effort, but that doesn't mean that it can't race competitively all the same, does it? Certainly there have been winners of races found to have bled post-race.

Horses are still bleeding despite the use of lasix, so it's not necessarily a forgone conclusion that lasix is the definitive treatment for bleeding. In fact, in the AVMA link you provided, the organization supported the use of lasix only in the "absence of a more effective treatment...". Hardly a ringing endorsment.

Don't many believe that horses are able to continue to perform even with minor injuries of all types? In fact, what percentage of racehorses, or any type of athlete, are considered to be completely "sound"?

As to the protection of the betting public, does lasix administration guarantee that a horse is being given ample opportunity to run to its best? Don't most jurisdictions allow for a variable dose lasix to be administered on raceday. Who's to stop the connections of a known bleeder (but probably unknown to the public), controlled normally with the maximum allowable amount of lasix, to suddenly drop the dose to the minimum? Would it be simpler and beneficial for the betting public's interest (and not necessarily the horse's health) to prevent this from the outset, by not allowing a licensed veterinarian in the stall on raceday with a needle and syringe and perhaps by banning horses from racing that bleed visibily from the nose?