Gulfstream holds its first two Lasix-free races Saturday

A maiden race for 2-year-old fillies at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., on Saturday that will bar entrants from receiving a race-day administration of the regulated anti-bleeding medication furosemide was split into two divisions Wednesday after drawing an overflow field.

The 4 1/2-furlong race, which has a purse of $65,000 – $17,000 more than a typical maiden special weight race at Gulfstream – was split into fields of 12 and 11. The races are the first at Gulfstream to bar race-day use of furosemide, also known as Lasix.

After entries were taken on Thursday for Sunday’s card, an identical race for 2-year-old colts also was split into two races with fields of nine horses each. Those races also have purses of $65,000.

The scheduling of the races by Gulfstream was announced a month ago as part of a plan by the track’s owner, Frank Stronach, to experiment with races that would roll back the use of the drug. Stronach, an owner and breeder, is a member of the Water Hay Oats Alliance, which is pressing the sport to rewrite its medication rules to bar the race-day use of Lasix.

Horsemen’s groups have generally opposed a rollback in the race-day use of Lasix, citing the drug’s efficacy in mitigating the incidence and severity of bleeding in the lungs. However, most 2-year-olds do not bleed to any significant degree, according to studies, and the relatively large purse for the race had a significant impact on the entry box.

“There’s a $60,000 purse in a handicap on the same card, so of course the purse had a lot to do with it,” said Kent Stirling, the executive director of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.

“They’re all first-timers, and they don’t need it,” Ralph Nicks, a trainer who entered three fillies in the two Saturday races, said in a release distributed by Gulfstream. “If they did need it, they wouldn’t be in there.”

Gulfstream also is conducting a study of bleeding in racehorses centered on the Lasix-free races. Trainers with horses in the races can voluntarily agree to have their horses scoped after the races to determine the extent to which they bled, if at all. Those results will be compared with scopes of horses who received the drug in other races for maidens. The results of the scopes will be confidential, according to Stirling. The study will be conducted by Dr. Stephen Selway.

“If they want to [volunteer], they can do it,” said Stirling, referring to trainers. “Hopefully, we can learn something out of this.”