Major Racehorse Health Issues Discussed at RCI Meeting

Discussion topics included public veterinary records, commission authority over veterinarians, and Salix.
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While many of racing’s major issues were discussed at the July 25 meeting of the board of directors of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI), the agenda called for few decisions to be made.

Up for discussion at the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., meeting were race-day medication in Kentucky, public veterinary records, commission authority over veterinarians, and the effects of furosemide on horses.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) recently approved a plan to phase out Salix (the anti-bleeder medication also known as Lasix) in graded and listed stakes by 2016. The phase-out would begin in 2014 with furosemide use being prohibited in stakes races for 2-year-olds. KHRC executive director John Ward said that the phase-out is designed to enable Kentucky to produce and export horses that will be attractive to overseas buyers.

While Ward estimates the use of Salix in Kentucky will drop by less than 5%, he indicated that he’s interested in providing non-stakes horses with the opportunity to compete without Lasix and without the perceived competitive disadvantage of racing against horses that are being treated with the medication

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