How to fix the Triple Crown? Get rid of the drugs

Cross-posted from ESPN

Written by BILL FINLEY

The Derby and Preakness winners are skipping the final leg of the Triple Crown and the Belmont is, to be kind, a bit of a dud. So, here we go again — the hand-wringers say we need to fix the Triple Crown. Sorry, but it’s not the Triple Crown that needs fixing, but the horses that [who] run in the Triple Crown. The existing structure of the Triple Crown, three races in five weeks at the distances of 10, 9 ½ and 12 furlongs, must not be changed. To do so would forever weaken the enormity of the challenge and cheapen any future Triple Crown sweeps. The Triple Crown Lite would be a sham. The problem is that most modern thoroughbreds have a hard time racing three times in five weeks and that’s what needs to change. The most obvious reason for the lack of durability in these animals is drugs, particularly Lasix. Is it any wonder that a horse has a hard time bouncing back after competing when every time they race they race with a drug that dehydrates them? (How would you feel after running a mile-and-a-quarter while dehydrated?) Needless to say, every horse that ran in this year’s Preakness and Kentucky Derby ran on Lasix, not to mention all the other things they still let you run on in this anything-goes sport. Unless a European shipper shows up, every horse in the Belmont field will run on Lasix. This is insanity. Trainer Ken McPeek is one of the sport’s smartest trainers. He’s won a Triple Crown race and he’s always knocking on the door with a good 3-year-old or two. He knows what Lasix does to a horse. And while he doesn’t advocate banning drugs in all races, he says they don’t belong in top-level events, particularly the Triple Crown events. “Lasix dehydrates horses,” McPeek said. “They run in the preps. Then they run in the Derby, which is obviously very stressful. Then they run in the Preakness. They’re running, they’re shipping and they’re tired, and they’ve all been treated with medication. A body has to be able to carry fluids to nourish itself. Keeping a horse hydrated is nine-tenths of the battle. The Lasix takes the juice out of them. I strongly believe that Lasix is why horses can no longer make all three races.” Like everyone else, McPeek runs most everything in his barn on Lasix, including Noble’s Promise, who was fifth in this year’s Derby. He says the reason for the apparent hypocrisy is that he fears owners will not give him horses if he doesn’t use Lasix. Throughout the sport, it is viewed not so much as an anti-bleeding medication but as an edge; to many an edge that simply can’t be done without. Read full report >>