Lasix rules weigh heavily on Orseno's plans for Imprimis

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Two years ago, Imprimis stumbled at the break but was able to overcome an eventful trip to run down Bound for Nowhere to win the 5 1/2-furlong Shakertown at Keeneland. On Saturday, it was Bound for Nowhere who got away awkwardly but recovered to avenge that setback, wearing down Imprimis in the final stride to capture the Grade 2 turf fixture for the second time in the last four renewals.

But there was more to the story than just the final result Saturday. Imprimis broke through the gate just prior to the start and had blood “pouring out of his nose” when he came back to be unsaddled after the race, according to trainer Joe Orseno.

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“I am so proud of my horse – that was a very good horse that beat him,” Orseno said Monday, referring to the Wesley Ward-trained Bound for Nowhere. “Wesley cranks him up every year for this race, he was ready, and he beat me in the last jump. It was as close to a dead heat as it could possibly be. At the time my horse broke through the gate, the state vet was back there, looked him over for cuts and scratches, and I assumed everything was okay. So when he came back after the race bleeding like he was, my first inclination was that he had bled really bad internally because of the no-Lasix policy.

“But after scoping him afterward, although he showed a trace of blood from his lungs, I’m led to believe that when he broke through the gate and hit his head, it likely started a nosebleed up high and a lot to do with the blood we saw when he came back after the race.

“But after going over him afterwards, unfortunately for us, I believe breaking through the gate and hitting his head likely had a lot to do with it, too. And as a result, he probably didn’t finish those last couple of strides as he might have without the blood being there.”

Keeneland, like several other jurisdictions, has banned the use of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix in stakes races. Earlier on Saturday, the 2-1 Hidden Scroll was eased to the wire in the Commonwealth Stakes, with the chart reporting that he bled.

Even though Imprimis did not bleed heavily in the Shakertown, Orseno said, “This still doesn’t change my stance on taking Lasix away from the best older horses in the country in stakes races who had been racing on Lasix before.”

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Imprimis, who earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure in the Shakertown, returned to his Gulfstream Park base from Kentucky in good order, Orseno said. But because of the incident on Saturday, Orseno may have to rethink his schedule for Imprimis moving forward, with a return trip to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar still the main goal at the end of the year.

Orseno already altered his plans for Imprimis once this season, passing a race in his own backyard because of the no-Lasix restrictions in stakes at Gulfstream Park to run instead at Tampa Bay Downs, where horses are permitted to compete on the bleeding medication in stakes.

“There are still some jurisdications that allow Lasix in stakes, so If I have to avoid some of those non-Lasix races moving forward, I will, and hope he can still get into the Breeders’ Cup on the strength of his merits, ” Orseno said. “I think he proved he belongs with this last race alone. I just wish the powers who be that came up with the plan to eliminate Lasix in stakes would sit down with a group of horsemen they respect and discuss the situation logically. The horseman’s group here in Florida has funded their own study with local vets regarding horses taken off Lasix in stakes races at Gulfstream Park, and the data they’ve accumulated so far – the list of bleeders in these races we’ve put together –has been astronomical. It’s probably time to put the results of this study out there.”