Keenland and Fasig-Tipton change medication policies for horse sales

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — Officials from Keeneland Association and Fasig-Tipton Company Inc. Thursday announced restrictions on the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), corticosteroids and bronchodilators, including Clenbuterol, for all horses sold at sales conducted by these two major Thoroughbred auction houses effective immediately. These latest reforms are in addition to restrictions put in place…

Veteran trainer Casse urges horse-racing industry to ban use of Clenbuterol

DAN RALPH, writing for the Canadian Press reports: MARK CASSE wants the drug Clenbuterol out of horse racing. Casse, who's been named Canada's top thoroughbred trainer an unprecedented 11 times, called for the drug's use to be stopped in an op/ed piece Monday in the Thoroughbred Daily News. "It's a problem, absolutely," Casse said candidly…

H.R. 961 – Drugs, racing and toxic horse meat

By VIVIAN FARRELL H.R. 961, the "Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2019, stipulates: “(3) equines raised in the United States are frequently treated with drugs, including phenybutazone, acepromazine, boldenone undecylenate, omeprazole, ketoprofen, xyalzine, hyaluronic acid, nitrofurazone, polysulfated glycosaminoglycan, clenbuterol, tolazoline, and ponazuril, which are not approved for use in horses intended for human consumption…

Deadly to Horses: The Baffert Effect – Part 2

BY JANE ALLIN -- Continued from Part 1 WHAT TO MAKE OF ALL THIS? Since the sudden deaths of the seven horses there has been much speculation with regard to the root cause of these deaths, more so now that the results, in effect, have been reported to be inconclusive thereby absolving Baffert of any…

Doping at US tracks affects Europe’s taste for horse meat

Cross-posted from The New York Times WRITTEN BY JOE DRAPE PARIS — For decades, American horses, many of them retired or damaged racehorses, have been shipped to Canada and Mexico, where it is legal to slaughter horses, and then processed and sold for consumption in Europe and beyond. Lately, however, European food safety officials have…

U.S. slaughter horses caught in bureaucratic limbo

Reportedly for the moment Canadian horse slaughter plants are not accepting U.S. horses for slaughter for human consumption, leaving these horses in bureaucratic limbo while we await announcements from the European Commission (EC), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Some buyers for horse slaughter plants initially intended to return…

Inquiry faults racing officials in horse fatalities at Aqueduct

by JOE DRAPE and WALTER BOGDANICH Cross-posted from the New York Times SELECTED EXCERPT Only veterinarians can legally prescribe medicine for horses, yet veterinarians often let trainers, who are paid to win races, make medical decisions, including which drugs to use. These veterinarians also have a powerful financial incentive to prescribe drugs. They are both…

Drugging racehorses: Economics collide with Veterinarians’ Oath

Cross-posted from the New York Times Racing Economics Collide With Veterinarians’ Oath Horse-racing veterinarians are both doctor and drugstore; the more drugs they prescribe, the more money they make. by WALT BOGDANICH, JOE DRAPE and REBECCA R. RUIZ (Sept. 21, 2012) -- Only after Bourbon Bandit broke a leg racing last November did his owner,…

Thousands of racehorses face slaughter: Not so fast Canada

THOUSANDS of racehorses face slaughter in Canada. This issue is making headlines usually with the number 13,000 attached to it. These horses may face death, but they cannot be slaughtered. I will tell you why in a minute. Sarah Ferguson, reporting for the Welland Tribune, reports: With 17 racetracks in Ontario expected to close by…

Long-term Clenbuterol use in horses studied

"Our study shows that after about two weeks of use, it quits working and actually makes the horses breathe a little bit worse," Nolen-Walston explained. "The clinical significance is that clenbuterol should be used for no more than 14 days consecutively without a break. In humans, the loss of effectiveness can also be prevented by…