LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, an offshoot of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, on Monday voted in favor of a proposal to phase out some raceday administrations of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix. The proposal would eliminate the raceday administration of furosemide, colloquially referred to as Lasix, in 2-year-old races beginning next year, and would extend to all stakes races the following year. The EDRC voted 6-2 in favor of the proposal, with the yes votes coming from the veterinarians Stuart Brown, chairman of the panel, James Morehead, and Johnny Mac Smith, as well as Kentucky Senate majority leader Damon Thayer, Mike Ziegler, and Art Zubrod. The no votes came from the veterinarians Mark Cheney and Andy Roberts. The veterinarian Michael Kilgore was not present. Monday’s vote came four weeks after the EDRC shot down an identical proposal by a vote of 5-3. At that meeting, Smith was among those voting no. Prior to voting yes on Monday, he indicated that he felt the need for more discussion of the issue. He also indicated an appreciation for the explanation of the “mechanics” of implementing the new rule that were laid out by Bruce Howard, a veterinarian who is the interim equine medical director for the KHRC. Under the rule, horses affected by the Lasix phase-out would be allowed to receive the medication, administered by a veterinarian of the trainer’s choosing, up to 24 hours prior to race time. The horses would have to be on the grounds of the racetrack 24 hours in advance. On Monday morning, while the EDRC meeting was underway, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation sent out the results of a project it funded that was published in the Journal of Veterinarian Internal Medicine this summer, supporting the administration of Lasix to horses known to be clinical exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage patients, or known bleeders, 24 hours prior to exercise, as opposed to the “conventional” treatment several hours prior to exercise. “These findings are encouraging and indicate that Lasix is capable of attenuating EIPH for a longer duration than traditionally believed,” the Grayson statement read. Horses in races not affected by the phase-out – which Ziegler estimated at the meeting to be 83 percent of races at Churchill Downs – would continue to operate under current rules, such as being permitted to ship in from another track or training center the day of the race in most cases, and having Lasix administered by a commission veterinarian on race day. “There were several things, from my perspective, at the last meeting that just didn’t sit right, and the reason for the way I voted,” Smith said. “The overall thing I felt from that meeting was that both [sides] were operating from a position of fear. On one end, we had a fear of removing raceday Lasix from the horses and what that was going to do. On the other hand, a fear of what the optics were going to be if we didn’t. But what we were presented with was a proposal that lacked the detail I have been given today, and there was not much discussion on the regulatory aspects, or any of the mechanics on how this was going to be done. It was just a statement of, ‘This is what we propose.’ There was no discussion on [the other horses], and I felt, at the end of that meeting, I was kind of caught in a position that I thought we needed more discussion on this. It’s a very sensitive topic, and I think decisions on either end made from a position of fear can never be good. It needs to be talked about more.” It will certainly be talked about more when the KHRC is next scheduled to meet, on Dec. 10. The KHRC generally approves any regulation that the EDRC forwards to the group. However, the issue of raceday Lasix is so controversial that it is not a given the KHRC will approve the rule outright. Supporters of the rule hope that a move by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to phase out the use of Lasix will lead to similar actions in other major racing jurisdictions. A ban on raceday Lasix is generally supported by breeders, and many organizations aligned with that constituency, such as The Jockey Club, have backed proposals to limit the raceday use of the drug. Already, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate, which are both owned by The Stronach Group, will prohibit raceday Lasix use next year beginning with the 2-year-old crop. That ban will be extended to all foal crops that follow next year’s 2-year-olds. That policy was announced earlier this year as the result of an agreement between The Stronach Group and the Thoroughbred Owners of California. –additional reporting by Matt Hegarty