Racing: Making a case for using Lasix

By MICHAEL GUERIN in New Jersey

The oversized man eating the oversized hot dog had two questions for me.

"Are you the New Zealand guy," he quizzed as the darkness enveloped the stabling area at The Meadowlands.

And in typical New York style he shot off his next query without waiting for the reply.

"What do ya think of a horse called Yulestar?" was the second, equally surprising question.

After a brief chat and an update on the career of last season's New Zealand Cup winner, I ask the large American why he wanted to know about Yulestar.

"Well, we hear up here he is a helluva horse but that he needs the Lasix, so I was wondering whether his people might sell him to me," he replies.

And in one small statement he put his finger on one of the biggest differences between racing in the United States and New Zealand.

Horses in the United States can legally race on the medication Lasix, which controls bleeding in horses' lungs during strenuous exercise.

Bleeding has been a problem in racing for decades but high-profile admissions are rare - after all, two proven offences and a horse's career in New Zealand is over.

Yet Yulestar's trainer Lorraine Nolan has admitted her superstar bled during this season's Hunter Cup and it is almost certain that was behind his dramatic failure in the same race last season.

Which raises the possibility of some interesting situations next season.

Consider this. It is New Zealand Cup day and you want to have your $20 each way on Yulestar. But you know he is a past bleeder and that problem could strike again on the biggest day of the year at Addington.

How can punters bet with confidence when they have no idea whether the big champ will show his best or give up at the 600m like he has in the last two Hunter Cups?

Of course Yulestar is not the only top New Zealand horse who has had bleeding problems.

The trainers of at least two other leading harness horses have told the Herald in the last month their horses suffered bleeding problems this season.

But they sure aren't going to make that admission to Harness Racing New Zealand. Horses have the greatest difference in tidal volume of oxygen of any animal. A resting horse uses 80 litres of oxygen per minute, at racing speed that increases to 1500 litres per minute.

Such a change puts incredible pressure on the circulation system in the lungs and causes slight bleeds. They are not greatly different from a nose bleed in a human but they make it impossible for a horse to breathe properly, or therefore win races.

Which means when you back a bleeder, your wallet bleeds too.

Lasix is a diuretic which alters the pressure on the circulation in the lungs.

It is not performance-enhancing, it just stops horses bleeding, increasing career longevity and boosting punter confidence.

That is why roughly half of the horses who raced at The Meadowlands last Saturday had "L" next to their name in the race card - to show they are racing with the assistance of Lasix. Just as Lyell Creek will do in the US$500,000 Nat Ray Final this weekend.

So why can't New Zealand horses do the same?

"We are guided by our veterinary experts and they say we shouldn't have it," said HRNZ chief stipendiary steward Neil Escott.

Several high-profile vets don't agree with HRNZ's position.

"I think it could be a good thing to bring in here," says leading Takanini vet Ivan Bridge.

"We know it isn't performance-enhancing in any other way and bleeding in horses is a problem which isn't going to go away."

One reason Lasix use has not been lobbied for more intensely is our export market, as buyers from many countries are reluctant to purchase horses who have needed it.