CHRB passes new Lasix restrictions

The California Horse Racing Board formally banned the use of the anti-bleeder medication Lasix in races for 2-year-olds this year and reduced the permitted dosage for runners in other age groups to 250 milligrams at its monthly meeting Thursday.

The measure will be the subject of a 15-day public comment period before it will be enacted.

The prohibition of Lasix in races for 2-year-olds this year was proposed last spring by a consortium of racetracks owned by The Stronach Group, the New York Racing Association, Churchill Downs, Del Mar, Fair Grounds, Keeneland, and the Thoroughbred side of the Los Alamitos operation. The Stronach Group operates Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita in California, Laurel and Pimlico in Maryland, and Gulfstream Park in Florida.

Thursday, the racing board did not address the issue of whether foals of 2018 will be treated with Lasix when they begin to race as 3-year-olds in early 2021. That subject is likely to be discussed in coming months and is expected to result in a revision of existing rules, according to racing board chairman Greg Ferraro.

“We have plenty of time to think about what’s going to happen when those horses turn 3 and what’s going to happen with next year’s 2-year-olds,” he said. “We have plenty of time to see how this works out and adopt a rule that would be applicable with the data we get for 2-year-olds racing without Lasix.”

Races for 2-year-olds typically begin in California by early May, with greater participation starting in June.

The reduction in dosage from a maximum of 500 milligrams to 250 milligrams was already in place as part of a wider series of measures to reduce medications administered to horses implemented by The Stronach Group and horsemen’s organizations in California last spring following a series of equine fatalities at Santa Anita in early 2019.

In the past, horses were allowed a maximum of 250 milligrams of Lasix in California from 1991-2005 before the limit was raised to 500 milligrams, according to racing board documents.