Gulfstream starts shake tests

Gulfstream Park began prerace testing for milkshakes on Thursday, drawing blood samples from each of the nine horses in the afternoon's first race. The policy will remain in effect throughout the meet, with the track testing horses in all Grade 1 and Grade 2 races as well as up to three randomly selected races per card.

"Everything went smoothly today," said the track's veterinarian, Dr. Mary Scollay, who drew the blood samples from the first-race runners. "We wanted to make sure everything went well the first time, which is why we only tested one race today. We began drawing the samples at noon in the receiving barn and completed the entire field by 12:25. All the horses were good sports. We had no problems taking blood from any of them."

Scollay said two vials of blood will be taken from each horse tested. One vile will be sent to the University of California at Davis, and the second to the On Track Lab in nearby Pompano, Fla.

"We'll send out two samples for now to make sure the results are consistent," said Scollay. "Once we're sure the results are reliable, we'll only send out one vial to Pompano and keep the second frozen ontrack should a test come up positive and a trainer wants to have a split sample tested."