Many horses use Lasix. It’s everywhere like water, which is ironic considering it pushes water out of horses’ systems. But I digress. Lasix administration is ubiquitous in horse racing and in harness racing. Of course, it’s a highly controlled substance as a result, and every state has their own rules and guidelines to its use, with slight uniformity across each racing commission. But ultimately, no one state’s Lasix protocols are identical to the next, and the enforcement of rules can vary. Plus, the modern age of racing is becoming more and more defined by drag. Everybody from the gamblers to trainers is in on the joke that a 6 p.m. post time really means 6:15 p.m., because the longer tracks sit on zero minutes to post the more it helps to pump the pool sizes and overall betting handle upward. These both don’t seem like terrible things. Lasix has helped prolong many horses’ racing careers, and more money going into betting pools means more revenue for the racetracks. Unfortunately, if I’m writing a column about Lasix and mentioning post drag, you can assume 1) that several hundred more words are about to follow and 2) that this hunky-dory happily ever after procedure is not necessarily peachy for the sport. Firstly, for those unfamiliar: Lasix, or as my doctor calls it “furosemide”, is a diuretic drug given to horses to prevent Exercised-Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhaging (EIPD). EIPD occurs in horses as a result of the physical stress that comes from racing at high speeds. So, horses will sometimes burst blood vessels from the physical strain and bleed – Lasix helps prevent that. For more information as to how, go to veterinary school or ask a vet. I only have a single anatomy and physiology course on my college transcript, and that was for humans. I got a B+ though. Like all medicines, Lasix’s efficacy depends on the time of administration. Most racing jurisdictions – Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio as examples – require Lasix to be administered four hours before a race’s scheduled post time. Why is four hours the standard? No concrete reason. Some studies done have shown that Lasix is more effective around four hours after administration. A state vet I spoke to (who requested to remain anonymous due to the issues with speaking on race-day medication and the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority [HISA]) said Lasix loses most of its efficacy after two hours – and these same studies support that, showing that Lasix concentration in horses drops off but stays fairly consistent after the four-hour window. Granted these are thoroughbreds in the study…but they are also horses. The four-hour window has caused problems. On June 4, a pre-race accident at Running Aces caused a delay which pushed post time for its eighth race past the four-hour mark and forced the race to get cancelled. And the differences in how states adjudicate its rules creates nightmares for horsemen. Trainer Scott Di Domenico, a winner of over 2,000 races and $36 million in purses, said to me that New York scratches any horse that arrives late for Lasix, no matter how slightly late they arrive. “It’s stupid because if you’re one minute late for Lasix, your horse is scratched in New York, for example,” Di Domenico said. “But if they have a tote delay and it’s seven minutes, or they have an inquiry and it’s nine minutes, and if it’s just plain going slow with the races and dragging them out as much as they can drag them out, and your Lasix is four hours and a half in the horse’s system – why is that okay? But it’s not okay if you’re one minute late? It’s a silly rule there. “The last race at the Meadowlands [under New Jersey’s rules], if you’re in [the] 13th or 14th race – I mean, most nights, not every night but most nights, it goes off at a quarter to 12 [a.m.]. It’s past four hours, you know, in most cases.” Trainer Travis Alexander also spoke on the draconian enforcement of New York’s Lasix rules. “Why, when you can have legit reasons for traffic or things out of control that …once in a while they can give you a little leeway?” said Alexander. “They know people that abuse the system. Those people shouldn’t get chances or whatever, but if I get stuck on the Tappan Zee Bridge, why am I penalized for being stuck? If I can legit take a screenshot or take a picture on my phone and send it to the judge and he can see it, he can see it on the news, why can’t they say, ‘Okay, we’ll give you an extra half hour. After that, the horse has to be scratched.’ There’s no harm, no foul, you know? “I don’t understand why, if they know they’re gonna drag them, just make the -- if you know you’re gonna be an hour over, just change the Lasix time. Just plan for it. It’s not hard to plan if it’s the same routine every night. Just plan for it.” The variance to how certain states apply their rules create dissonance between the purpose of the rule and the circumstances of which that rule exists to protect. If the four-hour marker is so vital to the integrity of the New York product, then post drag should be viewed as breaking Lasix protocols, otherwise it becomes a double standard. The four-hour window also seems futile if, like in Ohio, they add a 90-minute allowance since tracks like Scioto and Northfield frequently don’t send their last race until an hour after its scheduled post time. If the rule exists simply as a rule to enforce, then it’s not a rule built to serve the problem it’s meant to solve. If allowances are easily written over a rule, then the jurisdictions are showing that the rule lacks any purpose and is instead an obstacle to more ideal protocols. Besides, the degrees to which these time periods beyond the window have much of an impact are difficult, if not impossible, to observe. Di Domenico has said that his barn has not had noticeable differences in performance when races push past Lasix time. Trainer Travis Alexander also said that, as post times (for lack of a better term) bleed farther from the Lasix window, any difference in his horses’ performances are ultimately immeasurable. “If I actually took the time and maybe scope them afterwards or look into it, they probably would bleed more or have different issues that I’m just not picking up on, to be honest,” said Alexander. “I don’t see how it couldn’t hurt their performance though. You’re giving them a diuretic and it’s not like you’re letting them have free reign of water. So by five, six hours, it’s not good for the animal.” A rule should obviously exist for timing Lasix use, since uniformity in regulation ensures an equitable playing field. But the issue exists in 1) the four-hour window being clearly ignored for the sake of building more betting dollars while also being enforced by means inconsistent with their purpose and 2) the impact to which the longer wait a horse on Lasix has until racing ultimately being unknown and possibly affecting race outcomes. Add on also the extra hour for Lasix meaning hitting traffic at certain inopportune times or myriad variables and ultimately we just have cumbersome protocol. Both Di Domenico and Alexander said one solution to Lasix with post drag would be for other jurisdictions to adopt Delaware’s protocol of a three-hour window. “I think it makes far more sense for everybody involved, you know, the horses,” Di Domenico said. “I think it eliminates the post drag and that kind of thing. And it’s beneficial to the caretakers and the guys that are bringing the horses to the track. Alexander also said that racetracks could feasibly build a communication system to inform horsepeople of Lasix schedules in accordance with post times subject to drag. “It’s not hard to change a Lasix schedule,” Alexander said. “Everybody has a cell phone. Put it online. You can put it online at noon every day: ‘Today we’re gonna do 12 minutes in between races. Tomorrow we’re gonna do 25. It’s a stake night, it’s gonna be 35 minutes, boys’.  It’s not hard.” Methods of administering Lasix can also be adjusted. Alexander said that giving Lasix intramuscularly instead of the typical intravenous method can help keep Lasix levels consistent come race time, since the drug doesn’t metabolize into the system as quickly as it would through the bloodstream. States like Delaware and Indiana also allow for the use of Aminocaproic Acid, a drug which helps blood clots and thus decreases bleeding, before a race. Alexander said allowing its use as other jurisdictions do can also remedy the possibility of bleeding over Lasix as it leaves the system past the four-hour period. “When I was a kid, you could give Lasix like either IV or in the muscle,” said Alexander, a native of Michigan. “I like that too. Either way, it’s in the system. They say it affects the blood pressure differently or whatever. But if you’re giving it, if you’re going to have drag, I’d rather give it in the muscle so it’s absorbed slower; so it works longer. I don’t know – any of these people that think Lasix isn’t good for a horse is nuts because what’s worse: them bleeding every time you race them? I think somebody cooked up that nonsense trying to get rid of horse racing altogether. You wanna help [the horses]. I mean, if you’re gonna take Lasix, give us Amicar or give us something that can help instead of the horse suffering. Without Lasix or anything [for a horse that bleeds], you’re forcing a horse to suffer.” How these changes to protocols get enacted of course is dependent on the state. Some states may require proper legislative passage, others can self-regulate through their respective racing commission. And change seems necessary, either in enforcement or in overall procedure. One thing’s for sure – change is possible. Otherwise, why did I just write 1,700 words about the topic?