Big Brown, Eight Belles Spark Steroid Controversy
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| The steroid debate has lead to the Jockey Club to recommend a new steroid legislation. (AP Images) |
It is said to help horses maintain a healthy appetite, and recover quickly from the daily wear and tear of racing. However, according to track veterinarian Larry Bramlage, the abuse by trainers of such drugs as Winstrol will inevitably lead to the banishment of steroids in horse racing.
Bramlage stated that in the coming weeks, the Jockey Club Thoroughbred Safety Committee will submit a public recommendation opposing the legal use of such steroids.
“I don’t think you’ll see it next year,” said Bramlage. “It’ll be illegal nationwide.”
Currently 28 of 38 states allow the use of steroids in horse racing. High profile incidents such as the euthanisation of Eight Belles have raised eyebrows across the nation. Although Eight Belles never tested positive for any steroid, many incidents have cropped up recently drawing attention to the fact that trainers may be using theses drugs to fulfill a more personal agenda.
“Horses are relatively delicate with a large muscle mass to begin with, and when the muscle mass is stressed, bones can break,” said Dr. David Wilson, professor of equine surgery at MU.
The benefits and drawbacks of steroid use in horse racing may never be fully understood. However momentarily, it seems that the Jockey Club Thoroughbred Safety Committee feels it is prepared to make that judgment, and submit a formal recommendation to ban the use of steroids in horse racing in the coming weeks.
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I think they need to start breeding these horses with bigger lege. Why do they have to run so fast to have a race? A race is a race no matter how fast it is run and I think we need to think more of the horses welfare.When they are on steroids they probably don't feel the pain untill they are reall hurt.it seems to me there was somthing not quite right with Big Brown at the time.
People have been racing horses ever since people first jumped on to horses' backs and felt the thrill of all that power between their legs. It is in the human spirit to race horses; and this being so, horse racing shall not vanish from the face of the earth. However, with the advent of a vast array of modern, performance-enhancing drugs which desperate, corrupt people will use to induce their horses to win races -especially since such animal abuse has been legally sanctioned by corrupt politicians – along with the advent of highly sensitive drug testing techniques which allow the public to know what is being done to these magnificent animals which are utterly at the mercy of their human handlers, horseracing's reputation is in the toilet, and it will stay there. Even if the Jockey Club and Congress ban the use of all potentially performance-enhancing drugs, including Lasix/Salix and phenylbutazone ("bute"), in actively racing horses, the general public's negative impression of horseracing and the accompanying decline of horse-racing's popularity will never be reversed- at least not in this nation. Horse racing has long been called the sport of kings, but now the general perception in this nation is that it is the sport of scumbags- rotten to the core. And it breaks my heart, because deep down in my gut I love the idea of horseracing: Horse and man pitted against horse and man in a test of sheer, glorious speed and stamina. It runs deep in the man's spirit. It runs deep in the horse's spirit. My mother, born in 1926, fondly remembers the glory days of twentieth century American horseracing, when horseracing was America's most popular spectator sport (oh, of course I know they were doping horses back then, too). But now my dear old mom reviles horseracing, says it's just a dirty business and she won't even consider watching a horserace on TV. It makes her sick, disgusted and angry to hear the news of what happened to Eight Belles. When I phoned her to suggest she watch the Belmont Stakes to see Big Brown win the Triple Crown, she said, emphatically, "No way." Now I'm glad she didn't watch, and I'm glad I didn't bother to call a bunch of my friends – who otherwise wouldn't even be aware or wouldn't care that the Belmont was happening – to encourage them to watch Big Brown become the first Triple Crown winner in thirty years. When I watched Big Brown run around the pack in the Derby and Preakness it brought tears to my eyes and I thought, "shades of Secretariat…". No doubt a lot of racing fans thought the same, even though Big Brown's times weren't as fast as Big Red's – hell, they didn't have to be. Then, when he fizzled to everyone's surprise in the Belmont and the commentators mentioned that he'd been on Winstrol during the Derby and Preakness, but that he'd tested negative for the drug prior to the Belmont, I just thought, "oh, my god, Kentucky and Maryland actually allow horses to run with this shit in their system"?!!!" I knew immediately that they must have taken Big Brown off the drug in time for the Belmont because New York prohibits horses running on it – as they damned well should. (New York's Racing Commision didn't even want to sanction the use of Lasix, but in 1995 finally caved in to pressure from those warning – and threatening – that continued prohibition of the drug would seriously damage New York horseracing.) And the horse's connections have the unmitigated gall to say that his poor performance is a mystery , and Richard Dutrow (trainer) had the balls to blame Kent Desormeaux (jockey) for a bad ride…..it makes my blood boil. The public is right: horseracing sucks. The sport must be purged of all drug use, without exception. If a horse can't run drug-free, it shouldn't run at all. There is no other way to salvage the probably unsalvageable public image of a once great sport. Sincerly, Tom Nevling, Friday the 13th of June, 2008