Lasix ban does not pass as Kentucky commission vote ends in deadlock

The Kentucky Racing Commission Monday failed to pass a recommendation from its raceday drug committee to ban the anti-bleeding medication furosemide when a vote of the full commission ended in a 7-7 tie. Earlier in the day the committee voted in support of a regulation to phase out the drug starting with 2-year-olds in 2013.

The committee had voted to recommend the ban by a 4-1 margin.

Under the rule, 2-year-olds would have been banned from receiving raceday administrations of furosemide - known by the trade names Lasix or Salix - in 2013. The ban would have been extended to 3-year-olds and all stakes races in 2014, and apply to all races in 2015.

The rule passed through committee despite heavy opposition from trainers. Dale Romans, a longtime Kentucky trainer, was denied permission to speak by the committee's chairman, Tracy Farmer. From a chair in the audience, Romans called the proposed ban "the final nail in the coffin of Kentucky racing."