According to Internet Media: Here's what's certain about the Kentucky Derby: The hats in the audience are spectacular, the race takes two minutes, and the purse, topping $2 million this year, is always large. What is becoming less certain in this annual thoroughbred horse race, which takes place Saturday in Louisville, Ky., is its integrity.
The debate, specifically, is over a drug that is routinely injected into competing horses four hours before the announcer at Churchill Downs shouts “they’re off.”
Banned in races everywhere except the United States and Canada, the drug, a diuretic known as Lasix, is meant to mitigate a condition that causes a horse to bleed internally while under extreme physical pressure. But the drug also causes a horse to urinate profusely, lightening its weight by up to 27 pounds and making the animal more nimble in a race. Hence, critics say, Lasix is being used to enhance performance – and to get around rules against using performance-enhancing drugs.
The debate, specifically, is over a drug that is routinely injected into competing horses four hours before the announcer at Churchill Downs shouts “they’re off.”
Banned in races everywhere except the United States and Canada, the drug, a diuretic known as Lasix, is meant to mitigate a condition that causes a horse to bleed internally while under extreme physical pressure. But the drug also causes a horse to urinate profusely, lightening its weight by up to 27 pounds and making the animal more nimble in a race. Hence, critics say, Lasix is being used to enhance performance – and to get around rules against using performance-enhancing drugs.
