Jockey Club urging potential Salix study

Cross-posted from The Blood-Horse
by FRANK ANGST

The Jockey Club has called on leading industry organizations to come together to conduct a Salix study that would examine the timing of administration on the medication used to prevent exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage.

At the June 17 meeting of the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, member A. Gary Lavin, D.V.M., suggested a study examining the efficacy of Salix (furosemide, commonly called Lasix) at varied administration times.

Currently Salix is the only race-day medication allowed in U.S. racing and it typically is administered four hours before competition.

The KEDRC advises the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on medication policies and awards money for funding of medication studies.

Jockey Club executive director Matt Iuliano attended the meeting to offer support of the study and called on industry leaders to come together to fund and shape it. A veterinarian, Lavin represents breeders on the KEDRC and is a Jockey Club member.

“We thought it was pretty intriguing,” Iuliano said of looking at the timing of Salix administration. “We thought it was a novel approach, something unique and new, and something that had not really been done before.”

Iuliano said Lavin had talked about the study six or eight weeks ago. The idea was presented to the Jockey Club Thoroughbred Safety Committee, which approved Iuliano’s attendance at the KEDRC meeting to support moving forward with other industry groups on such an examination.

• Read full report »

WE SAY

Yet another study. At least it isn’t another database, or is that yet to come.

These people are fooling no one but themselves. They need to get rid of it, end of story. And not just because it is a performance-enhancing drug but the negative health effects it has. See link to reports by Jane Allin below.

In the meantime, the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit scheduled for July 8-9 in Lexington.
__________