It’s been a year when the grip of Lasix on American racing was dramatically loosened, and that hold is surely about to disappear completely now that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) is but a few months from taking charge.
The plethora of Graded stakes that were run Lasix-free during 2021 have shone a light on one question regarding the anti-bleeding medication, which many allege is also in effect a performance enhancer: Does it actually help horses to run faster?
Why, for instance, did so few connections in recent runnings of the Pegasus World Cups at Gulfstream Park take advantage of the substantial weight allowances on offer for runners taking part without the medication?
When the Pegasus races allowed a 5- and 7-pound weight breaks for Lasix-free runners in 2017-19, the four events had 48 runners. Just four of them raced Lasix-free and three of the four, Aerolithe, Eragon and Magic Wand, were visitors from abroad. The other was Channel Maker, trained by Bill Mott, the only U.S. conditioner to take advantage.
This season we have seen a vast number of top-flight races suggesting trainers who turned down the offer of a weight pull all made a mistake - as recent results suggest administering stakes horses with Lasix on raceday at least does not provide an edge.
In the build-up to this year’s Breeders’ Cup, the majority of horses ran to about the same level without Lasix as they had been doing when they were on the medication. Indeed, a significant number actually seemed to improve.
What we now know is that there’s precious little evidence, certainly in Graded stakes, to support the school of thought that says racing on Lasix gives you a better chance of winning.
A comprehensive study on all American racing is impossible as yet as, while principal U.S. tracks have banned Lasix in stakes and juvenile races, they still allow the medication in allowance and claiming races, so the data is not there to show how lower-grade runners would fare without Lasix.
Did Fabre prove them wrong years ago?
Andre Fabre is not particularly active with runners in the U.S. these days, but when he was sending horses to the Breeders’ Cup on a regular basis, the 24-time French champion had a superb record.
Unlike most trainers from Europe, Fabre never took up the option of giving his horses Lasix. Yes, he was running seriously good horses, but so were Bob Baffert, Aidan O'Brien, Wayne Lukas and Todd Pletcher – the four winning-most trainers in the history of the Breeders’ Cup with 63 winners from 613 runners. That’s a 10.2 percent strike rate.
Fabre is on a par with them – he has saddled five winners from 51 runners with a 9.8 percent strike rate.
The top four have had 194 horses placed - 31.6 percent. Eighteen of Fabre’s 51 runners have made the first three - 35.3 percent.
Would his record have been even better if his horses had raced on Lasix?
Because the Breeders’ Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ races were all staged Lasix-free, the 2021 season has told us a lot more about the effect of this medication.
The only top-flight horse that has been highlighted as a runner who clearly needs Lasix to show his best form is C Z Rocket, one of the best dirt sprinters over the past couple of years.
Having won two G2s and finished second at the Breeders’ Cup when racing on Lasix in 2020, the gelding was unable to produce his best when running in four non-Lasix races this year, finishing third in the G1 Bing Crosby, second in the G2 Pat O’Brien, third in the G2 Santa Anita Sprint and seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
When examining the form of all horses going into the Breeders’ Cup series after having come off Lasix, it’s impossible to find a similar case.
What is easy, however, is to spot horses that ran to at least the same level when medication-free as they did when given the medication.
Knicks Go, who ran on Lasix winning last year’s BC Dirt Mile, improved this year when he raced with Lasix just once (when cruising in the G3 Cornhusker Mile). Up to the Pegasus World Cup, another Lasix-free race, the subsequent BC Classic winner had been given Lasix for 14 consecutive starts. Running him without Lasix certainly didn’t knock his level of form. Indeed, if it did make any difference, it must have helped him move forward. He now sits at the top of the TRC Global Rankings and is also top-rated on my figues and on various speed figures.
Max Player, another BC Classic participant, also came off Lasix in 2021. From having been a bit of a nearly horse at 3, he improved to win the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup and G2 Suburban at 4 – competing without medication.
He did not fare too well at the Breeders’ Cup, but that was hardly because he ran without Lasix.
The case of Letruska
Gufo, one of the best turf runners in the U.S., has a similar profile. Racing Lasix-free for the first time since his juvenile days, he lost by just a nose when making his seasonal debut in the G1 Man O’War, and he progressed to run the race of his life to capture the G1 Sword Dancer later in the summer.
Letruska is an even better ambassador for Lasix-free racing. While there’s an ‘L’ in the past performances for all of her first 12 starts in North America, and for her two biggest wins in Mexico, the letter does not appear for any of her eight starts in 2021. And she won six of them, including four G1s. As she came off Lasix, she became better than ever.
There are so many Lasix-free runners that have performed at least as well as they did when they were on Lasix.
At the Breeders’ Cup, there was the G2 winner Royal Flag, G1 winner Casa Creed, G1 winner Blowout, G1 winner and BC Mile runner-up Smooth Like Strait, G2 winner Special Reserve, Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Aloha West, G1 winner and BC Sprint runner-up Dr Schivel, G1 winner Lexitonian, G1 winner War Like Goddess, G2 winner and BC Turf Sprint runner-up Lieutenant Dan and G1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Ce Ce.
With so many horses doing so well after coming off Lasix, it begs the question: Why has such a staggering proportion of big-race runners in North America been given Lasix over the years?