The debate over the use of race-day medication, in particular the use of Lasix in North America has been heating up over the past year or so being fueled by the Jockey Club and WHOA on one side and the Horsemens/Trainer/Veterinary groups on the other. Lines have been drawn on the argument and battle cries/talking points well rehearsed with most of it rather emotive and little being based on the science of EIPH at all. The scientific community has published pretty extensively

Yesterday afternoon, California Chrome trainer Art Sherman contacted the NYRA Stewards requesting permission to use nasal strips on the horse. In a Stewards house rule, nasal strips had previously fallen under the broad catch-all of a non approved device and was thus banned from use in NY where is it not as popular as it is in say California where just about every trainer is using them. The Stewards immediately sought comment from New York State Gaming Commission Equine Medic

For as long as I can remember – and admittedly it is not as long as some – there has been a continual question over the soundness of the Thoroughbred racehorse. While, in recent history, the death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby caused the North American industry to, at least for a moment, to confront the issue, it is one that in reality has been present, if not always front and center, for a far longer period of time. In recent years there has been a significant push f

Abstracts have just been released for the upcoming Equine Science Society Symposium to be held in New Mexico at the end of May. Among the abstracts is a very interesting paper on EIPH completed by Dr Joe Pagan and colleagues. The abstract reads: Furosemide reduces the energetic cost of exercise in Thoroughbreds independent of its effect on EIPH J.D. Pagan, B.M. Waldridge, C. Whitehouse, L. Dalglish, S. Fuchs, and M. Goff Kentucky Equine Research, Inc., Versailles, KY 40383 Si

There were a couple of really interesting abstracts from the ISAG (International Society of Animal Genetics) meeting in Cairns Australia in July this year. Most of these will be at some stage published in Animal Genetics. In light of what is going on in thoroughbred circles right now, these ones caught my eye. S0107 Genetic architecture of complex traits and prediction of genetic value. M. Goddard*1,2, 1University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2Department of P