PAULICK REPORT FORUM brought to you by THE BREEDERS’ CUP: CHANGE CAN DO US GOOD
We are pleased to introduce a new weekly feature today, the Paulick Report Forum brought to you by Breeders’ Cup. Every Wednesday, we’ll talk with a Thoroughbred industry player about the game we all love, trying to get a better understanding of where we’ve been and where we may be headed. One thing I’ve learned throughout my years in this industry is that nothing comes easy. We are a sport and a business fraught with divisiveness, incoherence and confusion. But at the same time we are blessed to have many participants with great intelligence, insights and dedication. In short, we never know where the next good idea may come from.
We hope you will read each week’s Forum, offer your thoughts on the subject being discussed, and suggest to us other areas where we can advance the discussions that need to take place to get our industry moving in the right direction once again. Thanks to the Breeders’ Cup for their sponsorship of this process.
It surprised me when Christophe Clement said that he has spent half of his 44 years in the United States. Maybe it’s the heavy French accent he still retains, or simply the blur of the years going by so quickly. But the third-generation horseman has made America his permanent home since 1991. He’d spent a couple of years here in the 1980s, working for Taylor Made Farm and trainer Shug McGaughey, before returning to Europe, where he served for four years as assistant to Luca Cumani in Newmarket, England. Earlier in his life, he had apprenticed for the master horseman Alec Head in Chantilly.
Clement, coming off an outstanding year when Gio Ponti won two Eclipse Awards for the Ryan family’s Castleton Lyons as turf male and older male champion, is preparing the 5-year-old son of Tale of the Cat for a possible run at the $10-million Dubai World Cup. He’s looking at a prep race at Tampa Bay Downs on turf in February prior to taking on the world’s best over the Tapeta Footings surface at the new Meydan racetrack in Dubai. Gio Ponti is coming off a second-place finish to Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic over the Pro-Ride synthetic track at Santa Anita.
In this, our first Paulick Report Forum brought to you by Breeders’ Cup, Clement provided some insights about the sport of Thoroughbred racing and how it’s changed during his lifetime.
What is it about international racing that is important to you?
First of all, with the Dubai race I can give you 10 million reasons. If it was a million-dollar race, I wouldn’t be going. I would be going instead to the Santa Anita Handicap. In the case of the Dubai World Cup, the purse has a lot to do with it.
But international racing is important. I’m just a trainer, but if I was a breeder or an owner, I would say it is very important for the breed to know which horse is the best and which sires are better. I saw an article in the TDN that said, as recently as 20 years ago, 80% of the world’s leading stallions stood in the United States. Today that number is 50%. The United States does not permeate world breeding the way it was 20 years ago.
From a personal standpoint, I don’t get as many fillies or mares sent from Europe to race here and then be bred to American stallions. Their owners are keeping them in Europe.
Why the shift?
A couple of things. First there is medication. People refuse to talk about it, but a lot of people in Europe still don’t want to breed to U.S. sires because those horses raced on medication. A lot of Europeans do not understand why we continue to allow medication while the rest of the world is doing OK without it.
That’s one of the factors. It is an issue for some people. There are two things I would like to see changed. I am convinced Grade 1 races should not be handicaps. It’s not healthy to use weight to try and beat the best horses. Allowance conditions are fine. This is something Bobby Frankel and I talked about, and Bobby was against handicaps in Grade 1s. I also believe there should be no medication in Grade 1s because we use these races to improve the breed.
So why do we continue to permit it?
I don’t know. Every track is different. There is no federal authority. No racing commissioner. The Graded Stakes Committee took grades away from Pennsylvania because they failed to do the proper testing, but there is limited means to enforce national rules. I’m just a trainer. These are some of my thoughts. I’m trying to win a race tomorrow.
You said there were two major reasons for the shift in stallion power away from the U.S.
Right. Secondly, the two groups, the Maktoums and Coolmore, have given European breeders access to some very good stallions because they are retaining some of the best racehorses. Twenty or 30 years ago the world’s best horses came to Gainesway—horses like Lyphard, Riverman, and Blushing Groom. This year, apparently no American farms bid for Sea the Stars. 20 years ago an American farm would have. Aside from Giant’s Causeway and Kingmambo, it’s been quite a while since an exciting European horse came to the United States as a sire. The top milers in Europe are no longer coming here, either.
What training methods have you adapted from your European background?
I am more American than European. I’m 44 and have spent more time in this country than anywhere else. But I’ll say this. When Sir Michael Stoute or Andre Fabre wake up in the morning they have a choice of tracks on which to train their horses. Here it’s the main track or the training track. Those guys have a much wider choice for their horses.
We should have access to all surfaces: dirt, turf and Polytrack. If you have a good dirt track, like in New York, a good turf course, and a good Polytrack surface to race or train over on days when it’s very wet, it would be very popular. But the problem is who pays? It would be very expensive. In an ideal world, that’s the way it would be. A dirt track should be safe if maintained the right way. Turf is safe, and off the turf races could be run on a Polytrack.
You recently cut back on the number of horses you have in California. Is it because of the problems with Santa Anita’s surface?
It’s Mother Nature. I’m not against Santa Anita. They did everything they could. Wherever you are, you have to deal with Mother Nature. It’s been very wet out there. One reason Gio Ponti came back East is I found that the flight to Dubai will be easier from Florida than California.
In the United States all trainers think they are track superintendents, but the track superintendents know their job. There is no ideal surface 365 days a year. Bob Baffert was really negative on Polytrack, but he’s such a smart guy and a good trainer he’s really adapted. He’s doing great on that surface.
What can American trainers learn from others around the world?
When you work for the people I’ve worked for, you learn that change is not always negative. People in racing don’t like change. Change is not always a bad thing. We should be more open minded about change. A typical thing is the synthetic tracks: trainers should be more open minded. Of course it will not be perfect from day one, but it is ridiculous to be so against it, just as it is ridiculous to be against dirt racing. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. The Kentucky Derby is on dirt and should remain on dirt, and the Belmont Stakes is on dirt and should remain on dirt. But we shouldn’t exclude Polytrack from our racing because it represents change.
Finally, how do you feel about Rachel Alexandra’s owner Jess Jackson’s recent comments that the field for the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic was not nearly as good as the 2008 race when his Curlin was defeated?
I think it’s just another reason that he should have participated in the race.
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Tags: Alec Head, andre fabre, Blushing Groom, bobby frankel, Breeders' Cup, breeders' cup classic, castleton lyons, Christophe Clement, coolmore, Curlin, dubai, dubai world cup, European racing, gainesway, giant's causeway, gio ponti, Graded Stakes Committee, jess jackson, kentucky derby, kingmambo, Luca Cumani, Lyphard, Maktoum, Meydan, Newmarket, Paulick Report, Paulick Report Forum, polytrack, pro-ride, Rachel Alexandra, Ray Paulick, Riverman, santa anita, santa anita handicap, shug mcgaughey, Sire Michael Stoute, Tale of the Cat, tampa bay downs, taylor made farm, tdn, zenyatta
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Thank you Christophe for speaking against the widespread use of drugs and destruction they and those who abuse them cause to racing horses and the breeding industry…
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:34 pm
This forum is a wonderful idea. I agree wholeheartedly with Christophe and your reader, Joe. Get rid of the drugs, not just for grade 1’s but for everything. One step backwards, initially, but at least two steps forward for the future of racing.
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:40 pm
I am so pleased to see the Breeders Cup sponsor this new forum via the Paulick Report. As always, The Breeders Cup is ahead of the times , always striving for improvement , and innovative ideas to press forward.
This is yet another reason I am a firm supporter of the Breeders Cup ltd.
When I read this first forum , I learned things , & felt positive after reading the information.!!!
I look forward to future forums !
It is good to hear the ideas & opinions of those involved in Throughbred racing in a calm manner & objectively. The glass really IS half full ! BEST WISHES !
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Outstanding interview and thanks to the BC for the sponsorship. It is unfortunate that without a national commissioner with “Judge Landis” powers there will continue to be this growing divide between states that have tracks which seriously focus on quality - no matter the conditions - and those that want to greedily fill fields with cheap claimers which will only react when a hot media spotlight cannot be kicked into a gutter.
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:53 pm
There is absolutely no scientific evidence to show that Lasix has weakened the Breed one bit. There is a study done by a Dr West from San Diego St for bicyclists on their bleeding. It ought to be mandatory reading for those that don’t approve of Lasix.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:09 pm
“So why do we continue to permit it?”
Um, let’s see…well, geez, perhaps because it would be all but impossible to fill a race under those conditions? Folks, it isn’t quantum physics, and it’s a bit much to read multi-millionaires pontificate on the ills of the sport.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:21 pm
U. Hemmings, then perhaps there are too many tracks and too many races carded. Within everyone trying to grab a piece of pie, the horses are treated as crumbs.
Clement has an interesting suggestion that could at least get the ball rolling. No drugs for Grade 1 races.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Ray, Great idea and great interview.
I agree totally with Christophe on drugs, but they must be banned from all racing, not just Grade 1’s. As for those who say we won’t fill fields, well that is for the best because it means we are not running horses needing drugs to stay sound or to (dangerously, in some instances) mask pain or run decent times. These factors, as Christophe noted, make foreign breeders wary of US studs - and one has to believe that with the industry in decline here, we need every bit of foreign business we can muster.
Also, he is absolutely right about some trainers in this country fighting change at every turn. Either we change or we fall behind the competition and he is spot on about another thing: we are now in a global marketplace and the US cannot expect to maintain any form of leadership without moving to safer surfaces and running on surfaces that are used outside the US.
An excellent read!
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:01 pm
The PR Forum has great potential!!
Thank you for another interesting read, can’t wait for more.
No handicaps and drugs for Grade 1 races, makes great common sense.
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Wow! Most excellent interview and responses.
US…are you listening(reading)????? Probably not and it is a shame because we have some of the most spectacular equines.
Go, Ray, GO!
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Clement seems to contradict himself when he says no to handicaps but that allowance conditions are okay. Allowance conditions tend to handicap horses who have won more money closer to the date of race. How is that any fairer?
I have a feeling a large share of those with anti-handicap sentiments really wouldn’t like a full-blown institution of the Jockey Club Scale of Weights because many of the older horses would then be required to tote 126 pounds every time they ran. I wouldn’t mind, but I imagine people like Clement would (or would have in the case of Frankel) cry bloody murder. That being the case, their crusade against handicaps rings hollow to my ears.
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:31 pm
What if we prohibited drugs in all graded stakes races? Not just G1’s, but all graded stakes races. And then let’s take this idea one step further. After testing the top 5 finishers (since they all would get a check under traditional 60-20-12-5-3 format) in each graded stakes race, if ANY of the 5 horses test positive for drugs, the race is stripped of its graded status for that year.
Would this create the necessary harsh consequences plus peer pressure to rid our best races of drugs? If the trainer of a 5th place horse had his runner juiced to the eyeballs, and that cost the connections of the top three runners some black type, would that create the atmosphere necessary to rid graded stakes races of drugs? Since regulatory agencies can’t (or are unwilling to, or whatever) fix the problem, perhaps the Graded Stakes Committee needs to throw its weight around some more.
Of course, it would be great to rid all races of drugs, but we have proven incapable as an industry up until now. So maybe this would be a good start.
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Christoph is the best, but he sure does break the rules at Payson Park(The Winter Place To Be).
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:14 pm
An excellent read and Cristophe is spot on with much of his article. Also I must agree with him when he says that the top milers in Europe no longer come to the United States to start or continue their stud careers. However one farm in particular does make a conscious effort to introduce European bloodlines and form into this country and that is Coolmore. HenrytheNavigator, according to Aidan O’Brien “the best miler he ever trained” and a four time Group 1 winner narrowly defeated in the Breeder’s Cup Classic is a stallion that were it not for Coolmore’s desire to introduce European raced and bred stallions into this country, would have been retired to stand at stud at Coolmore Ireland. It is up to us, the American breeder, to support these stallions to ensure that European soundness is reintroduced into the American breed.
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:21 pm
He is 44 and looks 60. If he is so great why didn’t Juddmonte give him horses? He is a turf trainer. Thats odd. What does he know about Breeding Horses? Sea of the Stars would have had head jerked off by Zenyatta.
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Romulus:
You just jerked yourself off…it’s Sea the Stars(holee molee what a horse! but we the fans will really never know).
And the problem with turf is??????
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Banning race-day meds from Group 1 races would at least be a start. And America needs to start somewhere.
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:04 pm
John Greathouse - I’d be interested to see the study - could you post a link?
Off the top of my head and without reading it, I really can’t imagine how its results could tell us anything about breeding horses. To draw any parallels about the effects of Lasix use in the horse breeding world, the study would need to have tested multiple generations of Lasix-using bicyclists who bred to other Lasix-using bicyclists.
The children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren of the Lasix using bicyclists would all have to be bicyclists, too, and would all have to be on Lasix throughout their bicycling careers.
Only after many generations, and assuming all other factors were identical, could you compare the strength and soundness of the Lasix-using bicyclists to the strength and soundness of bicyclists who were as carefully bred but had never used Lasix.
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Love Christophe’s comment that synthetic tracks should basically be for off-the-turf races.
Synth is not a replacement for dirt.
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Thanks for the new feature. Listening to Mr. Clemente reminded me of Jimmy Winkfield’s time as a trainer in France (as detailed in Joe Drape’s book The Maestro). There is so much history to learn from and if the current owners, breeders, industry leaders could incorporate a longer term view and less parochial perspective(s), agreement on a few significant changes could put the US thoroughbred sport/industry back in the vanguard.
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
European horses do not seem to be any sounder than U.S. horses. A lot of U.S. horses do not need and would be better off without drugs. How come so many European horses retire after so few starts like many of their American counterparts? How many Coolmore/Ashford stallions have had fractures? How many, if any, retired totally sound? Average starts per runner for horses born between 90 & 99 according to Thoroughbred Times was 21. Average starts per runner for Giant’s Causeway 10.5. and other stallions at Ashford also have low starts per runner. Henrythenavigator is by Kingmambo son of Mr. Prospector and his BM sire Sadlers Wells was a son of Northern Dancer. That’s American. Henrythenavigator only had 11 starts and he did not win them all. There are a number of G1 SW’s in Kentucky and elsewhere that had twice as many starts. Mr. Prospector never won a graded stakes but has had more influence and appears in more pedigrees than any modern stallion and is so far ahead on stakes winners produced by his daughters they may never catch him.
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:35 pm
John G: Lasix may or may not be bad for the thoroughbred, but it does its most potent damage in masking other drugs. Its diuretic effects dilute other substances in the blood stream and render testing ineffective, in many cases. That’s what the scientists tell us. Of course, it is useless to even do the testing we do when most State commissions really don’t punish wrong-doers anyway. A slap on the wrist and they train through an assistant and still collect commission. Big deal. That is why it is best to ban all race-day medication - and back it up with a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ penalty system. Out for life. That way may we actually clean up the sport and return confidence and integrity to what is now a dying industry.
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Trap
While I appreciate your explanation ( its about 30 years old btw) it in no way explains away the benefit of having horses race on it. I am always amazed at what humans can take and fly an airplane, drive race cars but God Forbid that a horse should receive ANY help. Some of these traces that you want to give a guy life for have been found (later of course) to be contamination from food stuffs. Not everybody cheats!
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Noelle
I’ll do better than that…call Lisa Underwood. She has the report (if she’ll show it to you)
but you are missing the point here…I said there is no proof that it weakens the breed, now you want me to prove a negative. Because someone thinks it does doesn’t make it so. Show me where this breed has been weakened?
This will open a new can of worms!
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Lasix dehydrates an athelete just before a competition. Horses lose app. 25 lbs of fluid. That’s good for the horse? Over and over again during their maximum efforts?
Dehydration affects the viscoelasticity of bone..OMGosh…do you think continued dehydration during maximum physical exertion over a period of time might contribute to…breakdowns?
Bute masks pain and/or inflammation. Why is a horse in pain or with inflammation running?
We call this “help”?
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Geez, am reading the C Clement I know, or a French intellectual the likes of Descartes, Foucault, and Derrida? I’m all confused now.
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Rachel you are soooo correct. Some horses even tie up after running and it is a scramble to get ice, water etc…as they have lost so much fluid due to lasix. Dunkirk had a battle with that last year to name one. Bute does certainly mask injuries…some train on it but do not use it for race day where it is prohibited and that to me is still wrong. If horses are such bleeders or are that sore why indeed, are they running?
Many handicappers hate change and need that speed favoring track in order to win at the windows. Their last concern is the horse. “Show me the money” that is the important part.
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:04 pm
i always agree with JOHN GREATHOUSE..He is about the only one on here that knows about this business..to listen to some of the others i would like to know how many years they have been training horses at the RACES..
IF MY memory serves me>i think that NOELLE inquired about lasix some months ago…& i said that lasix lowers the blood pressure which is good….not to long ago,states made it legal for vets to inject in addition to lasix amicar….Amicar is a human drug taht surgeons use in operating rooms when a patient is bleeding internally..IT STOPS THE BLEEDING.
now i am waiting to see how many of you are going to bash me…lol..look no caps to speak of
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Your title “Change Can Do Us Good” is quite timely, I think Ray.
For such a competitive sport involving the sums invested, this business, American racing interests, seems impervious to that idea. (may also involve the dominance of powerful interests over intellectual forethought)
Speaking for myself regarding daily racing activities, I haven’t been around a horse receiving raceday meds (anti-bleeder or otherwise) for five years excluding Lasix (every schoolchild knows Lasix moves horses up) and I hate the thought of horses being injected within a couple weeks of a race, though it happens far too often here.
That being said, I have been fortunate to have been involved with the care of over a dozen G1 stakes winners in 2009 alone, and would like to say here: Lasix isn’t neccessary, nor are artificial surfaces.
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I will speak from experience, since Mr. Clement trains my horses.
He is at all times an uncompromising, brilliant horseman.
I’ll tell you another thing that the readers of the Paulick Report will appreciate: the man is honest. He tells you what he thinks about the talent of your horses, where they should race, and how they are doing. Can you imagine a trainer who REFUSES to inflate the truth? If your horse is entering a difficult race, you’ll know it. If the horses isn’t good enough to compete at a certain level, he tells you. And what’s even more refreshing: if he DOESN’T know, he’ll tell you THAT too. How’s that for honest?
Here’s what I have noticed about Christophe: He is always watching, always questioning. And when I visit, he is often IN the stalls with the horses, I like that… he checks on them, talks to them. My guess, he actually likes them. He is professional, and understands the business end of things. So if you pay him to train your horses, he is going to run them at their peak, when they are happy. He takes pride in the health and happiness of his horses. I can tell, because sometimes, when a horse is dappled and happy, he takes a picture and sends it to you, just because. And his vet bills are simple, and easy on the pocket.
We can argue about the benefits of various drugs, lasix, salix, bute, whatever. I know this: Europe sends us their bleeders for a reason, and we have bred into the storm. Also, we legally raced on steroids for decades. Why should our stallions race record be trusted as a true indication of class? We’ve lost that guidance. So when Christophe says “a lot of people in Europe still don’t want to breed to U.S. sires because those horses raced on medication. A lot of Europeans do not understand why we continue to allow medication while the rest of the world is doing OK without it”. I stand beside him. He is right, we need to end the madness of chemical warfare, get back to where we can judge our horses based on natural talent.
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:26 pm
it is Unbelievable that no American farms even bid on Sea the Stars!! Well we will just have to bury our heads deeper in the Dirt since we don’t believe in artificial surfaces. I don’t think that ANY race in the US anywhere should be allowed to have the words “World” or “International” in their title. American racing wants International racing to go away so we don’t look so bad.
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Btw Dray33,
The way I understand things, CC gets all vet bills himself and bills his owners individually himself, not from the vet. Is that true?
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Clement is right on meds… no one wants any part of our dirty business, but thankfully the Europeans send some good runners over each BC to kick our arses from time to time to prove a point.
The most recent “pro-Lasix” study was funded by vested interests. If we banned Lasix, a lot of vets would have to cut back. If we banned a lot of meds, some race track vets would be out of business. Many racetrack vets have gone from healing the racehorse properly to getting it souped up to race, instead of doing things more naturally. Like… allowing a horse time off, alternative holistic therapy instead of reaching for a syringe. The pressure is on the vets to make their trainer clients happy & get results, put the horse back on the track sooner.
I am not a fan of Lasix. Don’t know that it has weakened the breed, but what does weaken the breed is overbreeding to certain bloodlines. We see yet another Unbridled’s Song runner sidelined with a fracture… how many does it take to say that maybe the bloodline isn’t great; or… that the dirt (and turf) at Gulfstream are as hard as asphalt. Bad breeding plus a hard, fast track doesn’t make for great racing careers.
I love turf racing and welcome Clement’s comments in regard to European horses standing stud here. No one here has an interest in a horse who could produce stayers, perhaps that’s why. We race on dirt, predominantly at 7 furlongs or less. We might as well be breeding Quarter Horses instead of Thoroughbreds, in my opinion. Kind of disgusted that “speed” is all we see in racing. No point in bringing over a classic stayer pedigree here because his progeny would be cast off into the claiming ranks when they can’t break their maidens at 2 or 3 on the dirt at 6 furlongs.
A couple of random thoughts in response to other posters’ comments:
No national racing commissioner would clean up the game unless the players want to clean up the game. I don’t believe any has-been politician (aka Safety Monitor Tommy Thompson) is the answer to our problems.
And though BC is sponsoring this forum, I disagree they are ahead of the game. It took a lot of public shouting to push them forward on racing & meds, too, thereby now listening and instituting a system of exclusion for trainers who have
served med suspensions in that BC year.
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Stephanie
that is absurd…they did and didn’t get him..people.. talk about something that you know something about…FIRST HAND…don’t guess
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:45 pm
The Eros come to America and the first thing they do is put their horse on Lasix and bute. Clement is a good trainer but won’t invent anything.
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Euros
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Greathouse should know why Lasix is used!!!!
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Refreshing, entertaining, education, insightful, fun. Thanks Ray!
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:27 pm
One day, when we are all dead and buried, maybe the sport in the U. S. will be like it is in Chantilly, where the horse comes first and those people interested in playing the game can move out to the middle of nowhere and train and race their horses. If this does not happen, the sport will disappear. It will not survive as an urban event very much longer. It needs to be taken out of town and televised to people that want to watch it. People that want to watch it in person can take a nice drive to the country. We cannot continue to trash our horses and our fans the way we are forced to do it now.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Respectfully disagree. I personally want to avoid any of English racing. Or Japanese or anywhere else, without any disrespect intended to foreign racing. We have the best sport of the sport in the U.S.A. Anybody with a small wallet can participate, here. Let’s work to keep it that way! We have one of the best internet sports, which I am hoping racing can figure out while I’m still alive.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:10 am
I have to agree with Mr. Greathouse, lasix should be allowed in all U.S. racehorses. U.S. horses are not kept in the same environment as european horses. The majority of U S tracks are located in or near cities with high levels of industrial pollution. A track near Chicago is adjacent to a waste management facility where burning of trash occurs. Numerous times during the day the sirens go off alerting everyone to the fact that pollutants exceeding the regulated amount are being emitted into the atmosphere. Our horses live on tracks where aside from training/racing/cool out time, they remain in their stalls almost 23 hours a day, in 100 year old barns contaminated with years of bacteria, mold, etc. Add the high ammonia levels in the barns, the dust from feed, bedding, shed row raking, the lack of proper air exchange, and lack of sunlight and you have a recipe for creating a bleeder when you add the stress of racing.
Many horses bleed in the first quarter mile of a race. Certainly, lasix can be abused by trainers attempting to flush out drug contaminants, but the excess lasix will be caught in a post race test. Electrolyte imbalances occur in those horses given high levels of lasix, and although a trainer may win one race with a horse, it takes a long time for the horse to recover.
The bigger problem here is not the lasix and bute, but the public perception of what the effects of lasix and bute are. There are far too many people that do not understand that bute is not
morphine or a blocking agent; nor, in the dose allowed, does it allow a horse with serious injuries to run without pain.
How do we change this perception? By promoting racing as the sport of kings, by focusing on the equine athletes, their stories, their owners and their connections. The individuality of the horses must be brought into greater focus and available to the general public. The internet is invaluable for being able to post short videos, daily blogs and updates on horses. The public needs to become aware of what goes on, on the backstretch. The backstretch is much more fascinating to the new comers and the average fan than the front side. Yet, this interest is not being tapped by the industry. People really want to see how the horses live. Almost all the non-racing people we have brought to the backstretch over the years, is SURPRISED. They have gotten the opinion that horses are abused regularly, whipped, sore, etc.
We need strict enforcement and serious penalties for performance enhancing drug violations and the public needs to know we take it seriously. For too many years, the concept that it would result in adverse publicity for the industry has ruled. The publicity would have resulted in positive change instead of rumors of rampant drug use and abuse of horses in horseracing.
The gambling dollar is the bottom line for this industry, but the only way to compete with slots, casino games, lottery tickets, and other forms of expanded gaming, is to promote the uniqueness of the product. Horseracing is and has always been fascinating to both the gambling and horse loving public. But, by focusing on attracting the wagering dollars of an older population, we make ourselves less attractive to younger fans, families with horse loving kids, new fans, new owners, etc.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:30 am
Equine asks: ‘How do we change this perception? ”
Getting rid of drugs would be the place to start.. There is perception and there is reality and while you’re argument about urban pollution is unique, there is, in the mind of the public, an image which cannot be wished away with great PR and promotion. The perception is that break-downs, inhumane treatment of the animal and corruption caused by drugs - or, as Arthur Hancock, described it ‘drugs and thugs’ and another prominent trainer called it ‘chemical warfare.” The only way I can see to counter that is to take away the drugs.
By the way, tracks in Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, etc. have similar urban pollution or worse and they run without lasix or bute, they compete with greater frequency and stay sounder longer, on average. True, they run on the lawn, which is closer to synthetics than dirt, but drugs (or the absence of them) are the major difference that I perceived in my visits to these places. The other major difference is that the stewards closely monitor trainer’s and vets’ activities on the back-side. In some cases, it is easier to police because they race say only on Saturdays, or Wednesdays and therefore the entire racecourse becomes a detention barn.
Also, enforcement is uniform and harsh in these places. Some trainers might justifiably claim that a contaminant crept into their feed, as John G. notes, but usually after about three or four of these explanations, the tale loses credibility - which it doesn’t in this country. Some US trainers have a couple of dozen positives and nothing happens beyond a few days’ holiday.
You also did not mention that racing is a lousy deal for punters in this country. The take-out makes it a bad bet compared to alternative forms of gaming. I am continually surprised that handle stays as high as it is, given the competition for the gaming dollar.
Yes, there is a lot of beauty, majesty etc. in racing which is under-exploited, but right now it is just too difficult to get past the contaminant of drugs and the awful pictures in the public eye of break-downs and syringes, syringes everywhere.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Bravo Mr. Beaton! I couldn’t have said it better. And Equine, don’t underestimate the magical properties of bute - I have seen lame horses trot sound after a dose, and if a horse needs to be on it, it is a risk to itself and others if it races. Even if you can’t accept the idea that medication is bad, surely the U.S. breakdown rate at triple that in Europe must make you question some aspect of the sport of kings as you know it?
February 4th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Foreign countries can criticize the use of drugs in US horses, but do they actually have more starts, and fewer injuries? I think not, it is like using the analogy of poly to dirt injuries, they types of injuries are different, but they are still career ending injuries. There is nothing wrong with legitimate therapeutic use of drugs in US horses.
What is not being stated: There are state of the art, performance enhancing drugs in use for which there are not currently any tests either in the US or foreign countries. These drugs allow a horse to break again, come back on after being passed and tired, or look like they could run another quarter mile without getting fatigued. It is rumored these drugs are IMPORTED from foreign countries. If they are not USDA approved and there is no test for them, what are they called? This is one of the most critical areas needing funding and testing procedures.
What is truly puzzling here is that despite the rumors of rampant drug use in our racehorses, why does the EU have such a huge demand for consuming slaughtered US horses vs . their own ‘drug free’ horses?
U.S. horses bleed period. If lasix is banned, people will go back to removing access to water the night before, reducing feed in the days up to a race, and giving bucchu leave tea, all to dehydrate the horse “naturally” like was done in NY for some many years. I don’t know if people recall this, but back then, it was considered optimum to reduce a horse’s weight by 50 lbs in the days prior to a race. The thinking was that the horse could run faster since it had been training with more weight. This was cruel.
February 4th, 2010 at 9:13 am
Geez equine, if all your horses are such bad bleeders and all my horses are not bleeding and don’t need lasix, I must be doing something right and beating you up on the racetrack regularly. KaChing!!!
February 4th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Equine - to answer your question, well, yes, “foreign” countries actually DO have equivalent starts and fewer injuries - or at least fewer fatal injuries. The numbers are out there. Start with the figures on the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities Web site for average starts. Breakdown statistics are harder to come by - which needs to change so this isn’t something being swept under the rug. But the fatal injury numbers most cited put the U.S. death rate near 1.5 per 1,000 starts, while in Europe it is 0.65 per 1,000 starts. Hong Kong actually has the highest number of average starts per horse and the lowest breakdown rate. They also have a strict no-tolerance drug policy, with every horse tested. They also, coincidentally, race in the most heavily congested and polluted urban area on the planet. Go figure.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:16 am
If you want the British fatality statistics, you can find them here:
http://www.britishhorseracing.com/resources/equine-science-and-welfare/injuries-fatalities.asp
As you can see the “breakdown” rate in Flat and All-weather racing is 0.6 per 1,000 runners. For obvious reasons this increases in Jump Raiong, but that is a whole other matter.
The only things a horse needs to run are Hay, Oats and Water, nothing else. There is a very good reason why the German Stud Book do not permit stallions that have raced on ANY drugs (Lasix included) to stand at stud in the country - they do not want to compromise or weaken the breed.
Drugs and medication alone cannot be blamed for the current problems in the US - breeding and training methods also play their part.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
brit
one last time…absolutely NO proff that Lasix or anything else weakens the Breed
February 4th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Then why is America the only major racing nation to permit its use?!
No other major racing nation allows it, or the other “medication” so readily permitted in the US.
Answer - because, amongst other things, it masks the use of other drugs through its diuretic effects.
Heavy bleeding is hereditary - stop breeding from horses that bleed badly and you’ll no longer need anti-bleeding medication!
February 4th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Perhaps I should clarify - two nations divided by a common language and all that.
Lasix is used to stop a horse bleeding.
Heavy bleeding is hereditary.
By masking the bleeding horses that normally would not have run as well will run better.
These horses then enter the breeding shed and hey presto, breed yet more bleeders!
Sooner or later all horses will bleed and will all need Lasix. THAT is how Lasix weakens the breed.
It is not a coincidence that German bred horses are regarded as the soundest and most stamina-laden horses. It is because they have the tightest Stud Book rules of any nation.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I have pointed out more than once the article by Dr West in the possession of Lisa Underwood…try referencing it
question for you…since those Europeans don’t bleed why do they race on Lasix when they get here? and the Germans better worry about something else, they better worry about keeping up with the rest of the Europeans
I will maintain that dirt racing and they stabling in congested cities are a contributor to this problem and what those other places do I am not privy to
btw..the designer drugs you keep referring to used to come straight out of France
do you think they may stop there too?
I will ask again, why can a guy with his finger on a nuclear weapon get more relief than a horse can?
You have lived so long with the mentality that all drugs are created to cheat and that everyone is a cheater…it just ain’t so..I get vet bills each month and unlike some I know what they are, what they are for and the size of the Bill speaks for itself
February 4th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
The fact that you actually GET vet bills every month should speak for itself. A horse that needs the vet every month shouldn’t be racing. Please tell me you are not the medicated soul with his finger on the nuclear button…
Oh, and those designer drugs? They are coming from Belgium, apparently - from vets strangely connected to the human cycling world. And the European horses use Lasix in America because they feel they have to in order to compete. If all of your competition is pissing out 50 kilos before the race, you might as well, too.
February 4th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Haha, Belgian cycling drugs, thats a good one Gina! Hell you’re over there, call Interpol, and I’ll get the Bureau, the CIA AND Blackwater on the case over here and we’ll catch them bad sumbitches!!!
February 4th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
My deceased mare had her first 10 starts without Lasix or any other drug and won her first time out. She was claimed away after a 2nd place finish and then put on Lasix. She finished 2nd on Lasix the next time out. It did not make her run better. I think someone should be checking race results to see how well horses do without Lasix. Vets see it as an easy way to make money without working for it. They just fill and empty syringes. Some horses have sensitive skin and repeated injections can upset them and make them hate race day. Too much Lasix before a race on hot days has sometimes led to horses suffering from heat prostration which is sometimes fatal. When Lasix was first used a horse had to actually bleed through the nose during or after a race. These days the vet looks in the lungs for a drop of blood and always finds one. Germany should find the genes for bleeding and other hereditary defects and base their rules on actual heredity not guessing based on whether a horse raced on any drug or drugs.
February 4th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Agree with you on the horsemanship stuff about Lasix, TheHorses, but believe me, they’ll never find a genetic component to bleeding. It ain’t there.
February 4th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
God, I love the internet like Dick Cheney loves the Patriot Act!!
February 4th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
rarick
you of the old days where trainers took care of the horses themselves?
well no more needles in the barn…hence vet has to do all the work…and you didn’t ask just how low the vet bill was…..but where do you race/ what is it you do or don’t do that adds or detracts from your horses performances
mine speak for themselves
February 5th, 2010 at 2:07 am
I’m in France, where most of us are actually taking care of our own horses, just like the “old days.” My vet bills average 500 euros a YEAR per horse. Results? I had five wins and 16 places from 60 starts last year. Not spectacular, but respectable for cheap horses running on hay, oats and water. And yours?
February 5th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Since I can’t seem to stimulate a debate with anyone of substance regarding medication, I do agree with Clement on these subjects, and would like to add this thought:
I know the KY boys want to think all is OK and that more medication is better business on the farm, but you better believe the future is in horse welfare, or you’re just gonna get totally shut down for good.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
I had the privilege to work for French master-trainer François Mathet in Chantilly for a few years as a lad in the early 70s. One of “my” horses was the American horse On My Way, owned by Howell E. Jackson from the Bull Run Stud Farm in Middleburg, VA. who finished second to Star Appeal in the 1975 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. I later became a travelling lad, taking horses, jockey’s silks to the races, entering horses etc. at provincial race tracks outside of Paris.
Alain de Royer-Dupré, Zarkava’s trainer, worked for François Mathet before he became a trainer.
When I left France, Mathet trained over 360 horses mainly for HH Aga Khan, François Dupré and Arpad Plesch (also Coco Chanel and Omar Sharif). The majority of these horses were homebreds.
Mathet also trained about 60 American horses for Howell Jackson’s Bull Run Stud Farm.
Mathet won numerous classic races across Europe and developed many champions who later became top stallions and broodmares. He was the leading French trainer for many years.
Most of his horses had lived in only two places: the farm they were born and raised and the yard in Chantilly. Yearlings arrived to us unbroken and were from day one under Mathet’s direct supervision.
By 6:00 am, Mathet was in his office and knew the name of all horses that may have left grain overnight, had a temperature or a nick that morning and decisions were made to rest or exercise them that day.
Mathet trained at “Les Aigles” which is an immense training center which offers dirt and turf tracks and a few jumps. He had 4 yards and trained all 360 horses himself. He had a single assistant-trainer and one foreman ran each yard. He trained all his horses with the precision, honor and dedication of the ex-military man he was. He knew all his horses inside and out. He had often trained the parents and grand-parents of his horses and had selected the matings of many. He called the yearlings and young two year olds by their breedings probably so athletic ability and conformation of parents and grand-parents he knew would sink in some more.
Horses were ridden for about 90 minutes and covered 5 to 6 miles daily which included a slow canter and a second faster and longer canter on soft, loamy, sandy dirt, except for the horses in stall rest or only walking or jogging that day. Mathet saw each horse at close range at least five times while exercising.
About once a week from spring to fall, all babies would gallop on the grass. I counted sets of nearly 90 two year olds at once, lead by males followed by fillies.
All work-outs were on grass and in groups to better judge ability and fitness.
Order and pride existed at all levels and included the impeccable grooming and presentation of horses and employees at work and at the races. From owners to lads, we respected the horses, our profession and the sport.
Missing in this vast operation were drugs. Mathet trained, raced and won classic after classic without drugs. Injuries were rare.
It is absolutely possible to train and race hundreds of horses without a single drug, to develop champions and win classics year after year without drugs. It is best for all involved including to protect horses and the integrity of the breed.
“Drugs and thugs” as Arthur Hancock call them and “chemical warfare” as Jack Van Berg calls it, must end in American racing to lower the injury and fatality rate, to save horse racing and start improving the breed by breeding only the strongest and healthiest athletes together.
Gradually banning drugs and breeding more and more horses capable to train and race off drugs would undo the destruction that drugs and commercial breeding have caused especially since Bute and Lasix became legal and were quickly followed by an array of therapeutic drugs most often used with monetary gains in mind, not healing.
Banning drugs could begin with training and racing two year olds off drugs. Maybe next year? Horsemanship, integrity, transparency and the welfare of horses and jockeys must become the top priorities, not the endless debate between dirt tracks and synthetic tracks. Both surfaces have their places. Most importantly, as long as injured and spent horses are regularly medicated and injected to continue training and racing, no surface will be good enough to save horses from aggravating injuries they can’t feel well enough into lethal injuries.
Future race horses can only become stronger off chemical boosters, dilators and blockers. Horsemanship and sportsmanship must replace drugs and thugs.
February 5th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Christine,
That was an almost poetic view of the current racing landscape in America compared to “what it was meant to be”.
I thank you for your insight, people could learn from the past……
February 5th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
D.J. I left out other details that are also crucial to the health and sanity of race horses such as clean, spacious, bright and sunny boxes, quiet yards in the countryside and fresh air.
It is much easier to keep horses mentally and physically healthy when they are offered decent housing and training and don’t have to deal with pain, chemicals and side-effects.
February 6th, 2010 at 2:34 am
I second DJ. And it’s all just basic common horse sense. In America, the horse has to fit the system, chemically altered or otherwise, and in Europe, the system fits the horse.
February 6th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Exactly. The “inventory” has to fit pre-determined, bloated racing dates with pumped and numbed horses all too often racing for a tag and without reliable safety net for horses and jockeys between barns and gates unless races take place in front of large crowds, like during the last two Breeders’ Cups. Then, the industry tries its very best to protect its horses in order to protect its image.
February 6th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
One day, several years ago, I was able to convince an American trainer, a good guy, and very intelligent, that his horses didn’t need to run on Bute as a pre-race medication. I believe it was mid-June that year. You know what happened? He broke an all time earnings record and will enter the Hall of Fame one day in his first eligible year.
February 6th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
To : Aunt Bea (?) your comments speaks volumes and also indicate that you are very much an active part in the welfare of horses. Are you one of those ‘Super Vets’ ? on the right side of the track I hope.
February 6th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Haha Mike,
I really don’t like that term super-vets, because it leads the unknowing to think that some “unknown” medication is being used by them and that’s just not so and hurts innocent people.
That said, most racehorses in the US are cared for by big “Group” veterinary practices that are led by a “Rainmaker” or charismatic individual, who are normally so busy backslapping and entertaining trainers that I don’t believe they have a clue what’s going on in front of their very eyes
February 6th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Aunt B. did I hit a nerve? I take it you are not part of a ‘Group’ practice but a lone crusader practicing in an industry not ready to make the critical changes that must be made if this industry of ours is to survive ? If that’s the case, then I stand by my previous comment that you are possibly a ‘Super Vet’! This blame game is getting soo tiresome. Trainers, vets, owners are all accountable for the demise this beautiful sport is in. I too, like you and G. Rarick found C.P. comment quite refreshing. It’s so easy to reflect on what once was (violin playing in background right now) gimme a break! poetic my A_ _!!! yes we can learn from the past, but if I’ve learn’t anything since I’ve been in this business, and it’s been a long time, is that it’s no longer a ‘Gentleman Sport’ but a multi billion business and the horses are just commodites. I need to take my pressure pills right now. Sorry if I offended your delicate sensibilities A.B. I really don’t beat up on nice little old ladies.
February 6th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
I am sorry, Michael C. Haggerty, that you are such a lowlife idiot. I guess you’ll just have to live with that.
February 6th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
A. BEA you are a ‘Fire Cracker’ A lowlife? I think not and would not reduce myself to name calling. I sleep very well at night, do you? You took my comment quite personal which was not my intent. I was merely stating that if you are a lone crusader in this business trying to do the right thing as you stated in your post #65, that in my book would be a ‘Super Vet’ because it would take just that to make a difference in this tarnished industry.
You sound quite passionate about your views on the horse welfare. I wonder just how passionate you are in your attempt to right the wrongs for the money hungry ‘Rainmaker’s’ out there that have put pocket before the horse best interest. STAND UP! SPEAK OUT! AND COME FROM BEHIND YOUR SWEET OLD AUNT BEA PERSONA!!!!
February 6th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Mike, seems you have an agenda here from your comments. What exactly is your agenda, Michael C. Haggerty?
February 6th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
A.B. - I’ve been a long time participant and observer in the horse racing world and have the uncanny ability to sniff out the those who just talk a good game and those who actively contribute something to the game. The only agenda here is that I would like for individuals with such invaluable insight in this industry to come forward especially if they are directly connected to the welfare of the horse. Selfish though it might be for me to wish for something that would no sooner happen like me trying to reverse a fast receding hairline.
I can only imagine the negative feedback and isolation one would suffer for such an honorable act of keeping the hypocratic oath if such an oath still mean anything or even exist in the equine industry. It is not my intent to single you out, but I can’t help but feel that you know first hand of such an act. Once again, your comments speaks volume.
Respectfully,
M.C.H.
February 7th, 2010 at 8:36 am
Um, gosh Mike, seems like thats exactly what I’m doing here. Why is somebody’s name so important to you people? Oh yeah, so they can get run out of the game.
February 7th, 2010 at 8:46 am
Also, sorry about the lowlife part, my bad, I guess I got caught in the heat of the moment haha.
February 7th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
One last thing before I forget, Mike: it’s the Hippocratic Oath, not Hypocratic, HaHaHa
February 8th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
I would like to know if any of you concerned people are Trainers & run horses @ any major racetracks in the USA. last year, last month or last week….i would love to know…it seems to me that there maybe 1,2,or 3…the rest of you wouldnt know a horse if u slept in bed with one….NOW i can see all the Stones coming..
P.S.. I DONT MEAN OWNERS>>>>JUST LICENSE TRAINERS THAT ARE STABLED AT MAJOR RACE TRACKS