OK, anybody who knows me knows I can’t possibly let the lasix study go by without giving my opinion on it. For those of you who haven’t seen it, a bunch of American veterinarians decided to actually do a real study on whether or not Lasix actually reduces bleeding in racehorses. Americans have been pumping their horses full of the stuff for the past 30 years or so based on purely anecdotal evidence that it has any effect on the problem. So now, finally, there is a study. Here’s the bad news: Guess what, it seems to actually reduce the incidence of bleeding, giving ammunition to those who justify its use and think racing can’t possibly live without it.

But before you all  jump on the “I told you so” bandwagen and call the rest of the world barbarians for not using it, let me point out there are some very important factors in this study that need to be considered. First, and most importantly, the study did not investigate any detrimental side effects that might be associated with repeated use of lasix. Secondly, researchers admitted they still had no idea HOW the administration of lasix actually reduced bleeding; the drug also acts as a bronchodialator, which means it might be possible that it simply reduces the flow of blood to the area seen when scoping a horse after the race.

All thoroughbreds bleed a bit in the lungs during a race or strenuous workout. (Humans do, too; that’s why you end up having a coughing fit if you run too fast when out of shape.) Most of this bleeding is benign, and can be managed by having a horse fit and ready to do the job at hand. Exterior factors like pollutants and temperature can play a roll, but managing stress and maximum fitness are the most important factors for limiting damaging bleeding. The study, conducted in South Africa by Colorado State University, classified the severity of bleeding between zero and 4, with 4 considered a severe bleeding episode. It found that 80 percent of the horses given a saline solution showed evidence of bleeding, while 55 percent of the horses given Lasix showed bleeding. So yes, while the incidence was reduced, HALF THE HORSES GIVEN LASIX STILL BLED. The study also showed that Lasix was most effective in limiting severe bleeding; none of the horses in the study given the drug had a Level 4 bleeding episode, but 10 percent of the saline control group did.

The study said it considered the conditions of horses trained in South Africa to be pretty much the same has horses trained anywhere else in the world. “Although racing and training conditions in other parts of the world do differ from those in South Africa in minor respects, we do not have any evidence that any of these differences
have been demonstrated to have an impact on the frequency or severity of EIPH,” or exercised-induced pulmonary hemorrhaging, the study said. I’ve never been to South Africa, but I have observed horses in training in England, Ireland, the United States, Dubai, Hong Kong, France and Germany, and I can tell you that there are HUGE differences in the way horses in these countries are trained. Considering how susceptible the modern thoroughbred is to the smallest differences in environment, I cannot imagine how the difference in conditions would not make a difference on bleeding during a race.

The study notes that 92 percent of horses in North America are treated with Lasix, making it a $100 million a year market. It concludes that the drug is really most effective only with severe bleeders. Surely, 92 percent of North American horses can’t possibly fall into this category. If so, there are problems with thoroughbreds far greater than Lasix can help. Oh, and by the way, horses treated with Lasix lose THREE TIMES MORE WEIGHT during a race than a horse not treated with Lasix. So is this really the most humane way to race? Let’s hope racing officials around the world don’t buy into Lasix - or at the very least, let’s see some more study as to how it really works, and what the detrimental effects might be. Race day for horses around the world should not start with a syringe.

Hard Way finished out of the frame at Compiegne yesterday, but he ran well and handled the whole procedure better than he has in the past, which gives us quite a bit to look forward to. It’s an hour and a half trip by horse transport from Maisons-Laffitte to Compiegne, and I had to ride in the back of the truck with him to avoid a repeat of his St. Cloud transport fiasco. Riding with him made a huge difference, though, and he settled and rode pretty well. He stayed pretty calm for showering and walking at the track, but still didn’t handle being in a box very well. Next time out, I’ll ask for a box bedded in shavings so we don’t have to use the “panier” to keep him from eating the straw. The panier seems to stress him out more than anything else, so we had to keep him out of the box and walking most of the time. The earplugs and iced cap went on with the bridle, and they seemed to really help. He was calm, cool and collected in the presentation ring, and he was pretty good behind the gate, too. I asked that he be loaded second-last, which worked well except that he missed the break a bit, so he was further off the pace than I had expected him to be. He also got a little startled on the turn by a horse coming up on his off side and jumped into the rail, losing some distance. But he came back well in the stretch to close and was running on past the wire, which is good to see. I think 2,000 meters is a little short for him, after all, and I’ll probably go back to 2,400 next time out. I don’t think 2,000 is out of the question, but I’d prefer 2,400. He recovered well, we had no major incidents on the trip home (although he did take issue when I fell asleep for a few minutes and wasn’t paying attention to him; he woke me up by threatening to rear or fall over, in that order). He ate up everything last night and took a walk around the park today with a calm, more mature look in his eye. I think he did a bit of growing up yesterday, and hopefully we can run back sooner than last time. The Compiegne race was only the fifth in his life, so he’s got plenty of races in front of him if he can learn to handle it all a little easier.

Hard Way snagged the last spot in the handicap in Compiegne on Tuesday. He’s been working relatively well, and he certainly has the physical ability to run well in this race. Now we have to see if he can handle the mental aspect.  I will ride in the back of the truck with him to keep him as calm as possible during the transport, and he will wear ear plugs once he gets to the track. Nadege is riding, which is a plus, but we’ve drawn the No. 2 hole, which is a problem because it means he could be left standing in the gate too long during loading. So I’ll have to ask that he be loaded as late as possible. I hate these kinds of special requests - I don’t want to be known for this kind of thing with the starters, but for the moment it just can’t be helped. Thank goodness I have SOME horses that load and stand with no problems - Skid and Turfani are great with the gate.

It will be very hot on Tuesday, so I will use IV fluids Monday night and Hard Way will run with an iced skull cap. I see they’ve already renamed the race in honor of my owners, so now all we have to do is take some of the money home! (The money to keep Hard Way in training graciously comes from Societe Generale, and the bank just happens to be sponsoring that race.)

Skid Solo didn’t run his race yesterday, but the jockey didn’t follow orders, either. We had an outside draw, which can be bad in straight sprints, but I saw it as an advantage because it would offer a great chance to tuck Skid in behind for once, which he needs. Instead of moving over to join the pack, our jockey, Raphael Marchelli, just let the horse hang on the outside, where he just bowled along on his own. He started to ask for acceleration halfway through, and Skid didn’t respond well, but I can’t really blame him - he wasn’t really part of the race. He ran on a bit, but finished back in the field, another bad lesson. I walked him down to the start this time to avoid him tanking off on the warm-up canter, but he still was completely stressed at the start. Usually, I’d think there was a problem of some sort, but Skid is sound as a bell and really just needs to get back into the swing of racing regularly. He goes into the stalls and stands quietly, and he came off the track after the race practically dry. There’s nothing physically wrong with him - he’s sound as a bell and solid, too. So he’ll win his race. Next time there will be a change in tactics - and jockey. I think the distance is good, although I may want to try him in Deauville over 1,300 meters with a turn. We’ll see.

It’s nearly time for one of the two best horses-in-training sales of the year: The Tattersalls July sale. I will be there, of course, and two or three owners are coming along, so I hope we come back with something exciting.  So, shamelessly, here’s the pitch for the five or so readers I have out there that don’t (yet) have a horse with me: Last year we bought Pixie’s Blue and Cape Tycoon, and both have now won races for us in France. Pixie cost 4,000 guineas, or about 5,000 euros, and Cape Tycoon went for 3,500 guineas.

I’ve been going to the Newmarket sales for a few years now, and I have never bought a horse that didn’t either win or place in France. Most of them were purchased for well under 10,000 euros. Skid is the exception; he was bought for 12,500 guineas, and at the moment that seems like an exceptional deal.

I’ll be looking for three-year-olds, with a preference for fillies or geldings, that have run a few times but probably not won. They have to have come from a dam that has already produced winners, with plenty of black type in the pedigree. The catalog is full of horses that meet those criteria, and I’m sure there will be bargains to be had. This is the kind of horse owners can have a lot of fun with in France. If you’re out there thinking about having a horse here, now is the time! A big part of the flat season is still in front of us - I’m looking for horses that can run in Vichy and Deauville this summer. Call your friends - they can each take a leg. Training fees are 55 euros a day. Contact me and I’ll get your owners’ application started with France Galop. We drink a lot of Champagne around here, and we have a lot of fun. Don’t miss out!

Skid  Solo worked in company on the grass Saturday morning and looked more than ready for Tuesday, although we decided it would be best to take him down to the stalls in hand rather than risk him trying to run his race in the warm-up canter. He’s still quite a stress-bomb, so better to avoid trouble. Can’t wait to see how this one turns out.

Tyke, meanwhile, is not going to be able to race for a month because we’ve had to start a course of antibiotics for his leg. The local treatments (constant disinfecting and wrapping with animalintex) just were strong enough. In any case, he is positive for three weeks anyway because I had to give him some bute just after the race, so one extra week isn’t going to make that much of a difference. He won’t miss much work, so he should be ready to run once his withdrawal time is up. This is an interesting example - in the United States, none of the medications we’ve had to use for Tyke would be considered illegal for racing, and some trainers would be penciling in his next start. Me, I’m happy to wait. It will take that long to get him right and truly sound anyway.

Cape Tycoon is healing after his battle with the gate. We were able to put the back shoes back on this morning and the swelling is going down, so things are heading in the right direction. He’s been hand-walked twice a day since the race, and I might be able to actually ride him out tomorrow, still walking, though, until more of the swelling goes down.

Skid, meanwhile, has an entry in a 1,200-meter handicap next Tuesday in Maisons-Laffitte. Hopefully he’ll be a little more sane this time around, after having let off some steam in his comeback race. This will be his first handicap, and he’s actually decently placed with a 36.5 rating (about 80 under the international system).  I’ve had to wait - again - for Hard Way, who had been entered in Lyon for Saturday. He just doesn’t seem quite right, and it would have been too much of a risk to go all the way to Lyon without a clear chance of a good run. So his next objective will be May 30 in Compiegne, which is quite a bit closer! Turfani has come out of her race very well, so I think we can look for something for her in two weeks or so. Paris Turf gave her the “meilleur impression,” or best impression, of the day for her efforts in St. Cloud, so it wasn’t just me who thought she should have won if not for the traffic.

Turfani opened her bank account with a nice third place at St. Cloud yesterday, running a very good race.  She ran confortably in the back without pulling this time, but we had some traffic trouble heading into the straight that cost us the victory. If you’re a closer in a field of 20 runners, there’s always somebody in the way when you want to open up (actually, there was one late scratch, so it was 19). We’re still very happy with her finish - she has really impressive acceleration in the straight and she will win her race soon. She was looking and acting better than I’ve ever seen her yesterday, so let’s hope this is the start of a good run for her. I put Nadege back on board this time, and the pair seemed to click.

Cape Tycoon, unfortunately, decided the starting gate was his enemy and thought he’d kick it to pieces. He loaded well with the blindfold, but he was put in too early, and lost patience when it took to long to load the rest of the field of 18. He had a meltdown and kicked back, tried to sit down and then broke through the front. I saw the starter ask him to trot for soundness, and I thought he might scratch, but he decided to reload and let him run. It was a mistake. Tyke set the pace again but had no finishing kick, and when he came back to the stable it was easy to see why: His back legs were completely beat up. He had green spots from contact with the gate and knocks all over, plus his back left shoe had turned and was pressing into the sole. He’s a pretty sorry-looking boy this morning, although that didn’t stop him from eating up last night and mugging me for breakfast, so he’ll live to fight another day. Unfortunately, the race was such a bad experience for him that we’ll have to do some work before he can come back - not to mention get his back legs sorted out. Ah, the highs and lows of a day at the track…

While racing in France from an owner and trainer’s standpoint has a lot to offer (great prize money, primarily), as a spectator event it can be dismal. Today was the biggest event of the year at the Chantilly racecourse, the Prix de Diane, or French Oaks, which Stacelita won in fine style (check out Frogs Racing for the report). France Galop seemed completely surprised by two things: 1) a large crowd turned up for the race. 2) it was very hot, and large, hot crowds need access to water. Neither of these things should have been unexpected. France Galop has papered Paris with ads for the Prix de Diane for weeks. And the mini heat wave has been forecast for days. But by the time of the big race, at 4 p.m., bars were out of water, and they were out of change.  By the end of the afternoon, all that was available were 10-euro flutes of Champagne, still cold, or cans of Schweppes tonic water that had clearly been stocked in the sun somewhere. There was a fantastic bar on the roof of the scales building, but no one at France Galop had thought it a good idea to actually open it for business, so there the bar sat, neglected and empty.

Many betting windows were closed, and those that were open had long lines, exacerbated by the fact that many of the operators shared the problem of not having change. So people needing to get paid had to stand aside hoping that somebody in line would make a five-euro bet with exact change so they could cash in. Add to that the fact that French people don’t believe in lines anyway, and you can imagine how much money the PMU lost today as all those polite visitors from across the Channel got shoved aside and shut out.

The sad thing is that this is not an isolated incident. Last year at the Prix de l”Arc at Longchamp, there was nothing to eat if you got there after 1:30 p.m. or so. Bad enough that the cuisine offered at France’s finest racecourses consists of either overpriced underwhelming food at the “Resto Panoramique” or stale sandwiches from the bar, but on big race days famished fans can’t even get their hands on the stale sandwiches.

France Galop is a strange bird. Part of the organization seems quite savvy in promoting racing and wanting to make it appealing for fans and owners alike. But another part seems bent on making the first part fail — and somebody in that latter part has awarded the catering contract to his uncle.

Racing has lot to offer here, and it’s frustrating to see things that could so easily be changed to make it even better. Wake up, France Galop!

Skid was a little too fresh for racing yesterday, and decided to lead for about three-quarters of the race before fading. I would have preferred to see him tucked in behind cover and then finish, but the opposite happened. In any case, he’s got his comeback race over with, so now maybe he’ll get serious next time out. He didn’t lose an ounce and was yelling for food all day, so the race took nothing out of him. Now that he’s back in the swing of things, we can look for a better performance next time out.

Tyke and Turfani, meanwhile, will go to St. Cloud on Monday, Tyke in the 1,400-meter claimer and Turfani in the 2,100-meter handicap. Both races have a full field of 20, so Tyke will definitely find things a bit tougher than his easy victory in Lyon. If he is motivated, though, he could bring home a check. In any case, I will tell the gate crew to go straight to the blindfold this time, which should at least make that part easier. Turfani is looking and working very well, so with a little luck in running, she should have a chance here.

The weather has turned from cool rain, which we’ve had for the past five or six days, to steaming heat, which arrives in full force tomorrow. I’m not sure how the track will ride, or how my horses will handle it, but in any case, all of the runners are in the same boat. Turfani will get a pre-race IV vitamin dose, like last time, but I don’t think Tyke needs it. I may change my mind depending on how he handles the heat over the weekend.