Kentucky Derby, Horseracing, Steroids and Lasix

[Steroid News]

Throughout the world, drugs are banned on race day. In the U.S., for example, horses can't test positive for anabolic steroids like equipoise and Winstrol or be treated with antiulcer medications or even Advil-like anti-inflammatory drugs. But the U.S. and Canada are among the very few countries where horses can receive injections of furosemide, a diuretic also known as Lasix, or Salix, up to four hours before post time. This drug is barred in Hong Kong, England and most other places that host horse races. Within racing, Lasix is recognized as a performance-enhancing drug. Imagine if, at the Olympics, world-class sprinters like Usain Bolt were permitted to be treated with a performance-enhancing drug four hours before the race. That's essentially what happens in North American horse racing.

After receiving the diuretic, the horse urinates, and yes, he or she "pisses like a racehorse." The loss of body fluid typically causes the horse to shed 10 to 20 lb. (4.5 to 9 kg); the lighter the horse, the faster it can run. In 1991, just 45% of American horses got Lasix injections before their starts, according to the Jockey Club, the breed registry for all North American thoroughbred horses. Last year, 95% of all horses were on race-day Lasix.

After a few high-profile steroid incidents — especially those involving Rick Dutrow, the trainer of 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown, who gave steroids to several of his horses — American racing has taken positive steps to keep anabolics out of the game. Now, it's about time the U.S. joined the rest of the racing world and ended the use of a different type of performance-enhancer on race day. "Lasix is a very polarizing subject in racing right now," says Scott Palmer, a veterinarian who runs the New Jersey Equine Clinic and also heads the racing committee of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. "This a huge deal. Racing in America is in trouble, and medication is a part of that. It makes a world of sense to send a horse to the gate free of the influence of any medication."


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2069933,00.html

 

[Millard]

Throughout the world, drugs are banned on race day. In the U.S., for example, horses can't test positive for anabolic steroids like equipoise and Winstrol or be treated with antiulcer medications or even Advil-like anti-inflammatory drugs.

The article is misleading about the use of steroids in horseracing in the United States. It correctly stated that horses can't test positive on raceday but glossed over the fact that the therapeutic use of stanozolol (Winstrol), boldenone (Equipoise), nandrolone (Deca Durabolin) and testosterone are permitted for racehorses in many states that sanction horseracing. They simply must be discontinued within a certain window prior to competition and test below a certain threshold level during in-competition testing.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Animal Kingdom’s Win Is Victory for the Sport
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/sports/09racing.html

May 8, 2011
By JOE DRAPE
LOUISVILLE, Ky.

He is the son of a Brazilian-bred stallion and a German-bred mare. He is owned by a syndicate of 20 partners led by a sometimes ebullient, often cranky former turf writer. He is trained by an Englishman who has never been cited for violating a medication rule and believes a horse should be allowed to be a horse as much as possible. No, Animal Kingdom is not your typical Kentucky Derby winner.

Still, Animal Kingdom, a son of Leroidesanimaux, proved he was the best horse in the field Saturday, rolling down the stretch here like a wave to score an emphatic two-and-three-quarter-length victory. Animal Kingdom did this on a dry track, earning respectable speed figures. None of his rivals can claim to have been compromised by a bad trip.

So this colt is on to the Preakness Stakes, where his trainer, Graham Motion, and Barry Irwin, the chief executive of Team Valor International, can continue to demonstrate how solid horsemanship rather than black bag veterinarian work can succeed at horse racing’s highest level. This is especially important now that Representative Edward Whitfield, Republican of Kentucky, and Senator Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico, introduced legislation last week to regulate the use of performance-enhancing drugs and medications in horse racing.

Major industry stakeholders have acknowledged that medication rules in the United States are out of step with Europe, Hong Kong and Australia, where horse racing thrives, and that it is time for a significant overhaul of the sport.

How Animal Kingdom was bred by Irwin and how he was managed by Motion are nothing short of remarkable in this day and age. Leroidesanimaux is an inexpensive sire with a turf pedigree, and his dam, the German mare Dalicia, had never run on the dirt. In fact, Animal Kingdom had never raced on the dirt before the Derby.

“We have not done enough importing of horses and blood lines from other places where horses don’t run on drugs, and horses’ legs are not manipulated, and horses, basically, are bigger and tougher, stronger and sounder,” said Irwin, 68, who has bought and bred horses from Europe and South Africa. “In Germany, you are not allowed to breed a mare that has ever raced on drugs, Lasix, bute, nothing. So when you buy some stock from there, you know you’re getting something good.”

In Motion, Irwin has found a kindred spirit. The trainer came to the United States 30 years ago but adheres to European principles of horsemanship. His base is a European-styled training center in Maryland, where his stock hacks, or gallops, on wooded trails or runs in pastures and is turned out in paddocks. Last year, he was one of two trainers on the top 20 earnings list without a medication violation.

After 25 years of using multiple trainers, Irwin says he was exasperated by the lack of truth-telling in the profession.

“I don’t want to have 18 trainers,” he said. “I don’t want to hear stories from 17 trainers every day. Unless you’re there and you have one guy on your team that’s on your side, you’re not going to get the truth. And I reached the point where I was fed up with it. I also wanted to have my horses trained off-site from the racetrack, because racetrack life for a horse isn’t any good.

“We have had horses with Graham for the last three years,” he said. “I asked him early last year if he would train horses for us on a private basis. He didn’t want to do it. So we waited about six, seven months, after he had a little more chance to work with me, and I asked him again, and he decided to do it, and then we decided to go that way.”

Motion, too, recognized Animal Kingdom’s sturdiness and saw the possibilities for the colt beyond racing on grass.

“I think some of the good horses in the past, some of the best horses, were ones who were able to handle both,” Motion said. “He appears to be one of those great horses that can handle both. Maybe he is better on the grass, but he’s also a horse that can handle the dirt. Brilliant horses can do that.”

How brilliant is Animal Kingdom? We’ll know more in two weeks at Pimlico Race Course when he contests the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown. It appears that the Derby’s third-place finisher, Mucho Macho Man, and the beaten favorite, Dialed In, are also definite for Baltimore; the runner-up, Nehro, and Midnight Interlude are possible. Pimlico officials say there is a long line of new faces that could provide a full field of 14.

But for now, let’s appreciate Animal Kingdom’s Derby victory for how it was attained: with the best interest of the horse and the sport in mind.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Metabolism Of Anabolic Steroids And Their Relevance To Drug Detection In Horseracing

Drug testing in horseracing predates human testing, due to being driven by the prevalence of betting in horseracing and concerns of ‘nobbling’, which was documented in the 19th Century. Initially, methods were introduced to detect drugs intended to stimulate the horse (e.g., caffeine and amphetamines) or to adversely affect its performance (e.g., sedatives, tranquilizers and anesthetics) and to protect the welfare of the animal. In the 1960s and 1970s the potential abuse of anabolic steroids in equine sport was recognized and rumors of their use in racing were commonplace. This stimulated a number of racing authorities to investigate methods for detection of the use of anabolic steroids, which ultimately led to the introduction of screening and confirmatory tests based upon radioimmunoassays and GC–MS.

The first prosecutions for steroid misuse arising as a result of the introduction of these methods occurred in the UK in 1976, reflecting a significant research effort supported by The Jockey Club and carried out by its laboratory in the UK. Fundamental to the development of these methods was an understanding of the metabolism and disposition of steroids following administration. These studies and the resultant publications formed the basis on which much of the subsequent work on synthetic steroids was based.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Significant research into the metabolism of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) in the equine has been carried out and published.
• Both in vivo and in vitro models have been extensively employed.
• Known phase I metabolic pathways include reduction of keto groups and sites of unsaturation in the A ring, epimerization of the 17-hydroxy group (including 17a-alkyl steroids) and hydroxylation at a number of sites including but not limited to C16, C6 and C11.
• Phase II metabolism predominately occurs through formation of glucuronic acid conjugates of the 17a-hydroxy and sulfate conjugates of the 17b-hydroxy isomers.
• The result is that, even for novel steroids, potential major metabolites can be inferred or predicted.
• A number of AAS and/or their metabolites are known to be endogenous to the stallion/colt (testosterone/nandrolone/boldenone), the mare (testosterone), the pregnant mare (testosterone/nandrolone) and the gelding (testosterone).
• The endogenous nature of these steroids complicates the screening and confirmatory methods employed; an understanding of the metabolism of steroids and the natural steroid profiles is therefore beneficial in this area.
• Numerous synthetic steroids, for which there is potential for abuse, have been developed and continue to be introduced. Currently, this is largely driven by manufacturers of nutritional supplements for body builders.
• Methodologies must be constantly updated to target these new AAS agents.
• Alternative approaches such as the use of biomarkers, generic MS screens or ELISA methods targeted at steroid substructures are under investigation. Most of these generic screening methods rely upon an understanding of the structure of steroid metabolites.
• For the foreseeable future, where urine is the matrix of choice, confirmatory analysis will be based upon the direct detection of an active AAS and/or its metabolites, which in turn requires an understanding of the metabolism of the parent steroid to facilitate detection and interpretation of the analytical results.


Teale P, Houghton E. Metabolism of anabolic steroids and their relevance to drug detection in horseracing. Bioanalysis 2010;2(6):1085-107. Metabolism of anabolic steroids and their relevanc... [Bioanalysis. 2010] - PubMed result

The fight against doping in sport using analytical chemistry is a mature area with a history of approximately 100 years in horseracing. In common with human sport, anabolic/androgenic steroids (AASs) are an important group of potential doping agents. Particular issues with their detection are extensive metabolism including both phase I and phase II. A number of the common AASs are also endogenous to the equine. A further issue is the large number of synthetic steroids produced as pharmaceutical products or as 'designer' drugs intended to avoid detection or for the human supplement market. An understanding of the metabolism of AASs is vital to the development of effective detection methods for equine sport. The aim of this paper is to review current knowledge of the metabolism of appropriate steroids, the current approaches to their detection in equine sport and future trends that may affect equine dope testing.