When the Corrupt Horse Racing Practice Act bill was introduced before the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, the hard-hitting testimony delivered by the late congressman Robert McClory (Ill) captivated members:  "The United States is the only country that permits the practice of drugging and numbing race horses.  Although various racing states have legalized what is termed controlled medication, it is anything but that.  Horse racing is becoming drug dependent.  Many of the drugs used are illegal and untested.  And all are inadequately controlled at the state level.  While they push for increased revenues from racing, prolonged seasons and lenient drug policies, state legislatures are ignoring the horse as a living creature.  The artificial means to enhance a horse's moneymaking capacity defeat integrity."

The use of pharmaceutical substances to stimulate or depress physical activity, and the outrageous, inhumane practice of running injured horses on painkilling drugs, combine to represent a dilemma that is by no means recent. Conduct of this nature has been a major problem for many years - though undoubtedly worse today than at any other time in recorded history.   Any attempt to correct matters is most often confronted with a conspiracy of silence, commonly referred to as the Unwritten Code of Integrity.  When pressed hard to respond, the game's Propaganda Machine grudgingly provides a few predictable comments designed to neutralize matters, to pretend there is no problem at all.  Even when members of the run-slow-run-fast gang are actually caught using illegal drugs, more often than not due to some brazenly arrogant act, Gambling Tracks (GTs) are less than enthusiastic in terms of adequately prosecuting offenders.

Arthur Patterson, VMD, who for several years was employed as an Equine Specialist at the Bureau of Veterinary Medicine for the Food and Drug Administration, provides us with a disturbing take on the the industry's health. "They have drugs around the track that haven't been named yet, " he revealed in a special report to The Equine Practitioner, "and there is a black market in both domestic drugs and drugs coming in from out of the country.  There is no way we can keep pace.  Frequently I get calls from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and they've caught a fellow with thousands of doses of narcotics.  These aren't amateurs.  They are criminals...with class two and three drugs, and these drugs are intended for the industry.  People only hear about the tip of the iceberg.  Convictions are hard to get.  And when they get a conviction, what happens? The associations that represent these individuals close ranks, administer a slap on the wrist and the guilty parties are out plying their trade before you know it."  Faced with such incredibly severe punishment - offenders must be laughing all the way to the bank.

Even those trainers who don't subscribe to the use of performance-altering drugs are forced to use them in order to compete.  Regarding this irrefutable reality, Patterson had this to say:  "There are good people out there who say, ‘What can we do?  We've got to compete, we've got to make a living.’  The bottom line is economics (money).  That's why the industry may never clean itself up.  I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the industry.  Where is the moral leadership?"

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Ted Cochran worked as an official racing chemist for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and for the states of New Mexico and Arizona.  He is recognized as an expert in matters of performance-altering drugs used on racehorses.  During these years, in addition to having been an active member of the Association of Official Racing Chemists (AROC), Cochran was also involved with an independent group of racing chemists known as Assert.

Having seen both large and small states attempt to control illegal drugs, Cochran is quick to admit that the system is not working.  In testimony given before the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Cochran pulled no punches:  "The field of racing chemistry is one of the most challenging analytical disciplines.  The racing chemist trying to detect potent narcotic stimulants make looking for a needle in a haystack seem easy.  To expand on that analogy, the chemist looking for fentanyl (Sublimaze) would be like looking for a needle in a 100 tons of hay.  With drugs so potent that a mere 25 millionths of a gram can affect a horse's performance, the chemist clearly needs all the edge he can get.  Today's horsemen (trainers) can hire veterinarians who know as much about drugs as the chemist.  With a moderate bankroll, a trainer can command a very wide chemical arsenal."

To make matters even more difficult, the actual acknowledgment of a positive, a sample of blood/saliva/urine that has evidence of one or more illegal substances, can get a racing chemist into trouble.  "The burden imposed in promulgating and enforcing drug rules," Cochran continued, "goes hand and hand with another responsibility - vigorous enforcement.  Yet, such action is viewed as a confirmation of the existence of a scandal.  Scandals hurt handles (total money gambled).  Revenues decline, the governor is unhappy, horsemen are unhappy, and so on.  No positives - no problems.  The lab director who is unaware of the dynamics of the industry or its politics is tuned up very quickly.  If he fails to get the message, there are many incentives that can be brought to bear."

Cochran is not alone in his frustrations.  To correct the serious drug problems that have brought the industry to its knees would require a substantial number of genuinely dedicated individuals, entailing a vast undertaking of far-reaching implications. "If a trainer would juice his horse with a drug like Sublimaze and even if it were detected," Cochran went on to say, "his penalty would likely be only loss of the purse and a 30-day suspension.  The loss of the purse is often trivial when compared to what may be made at the betting window or through a bookie, and his suspension means that he turns over the care of his horses to a buddy on paper."

The list of powerful drugs that can be used to manipulate a horse's performance - referred to as "going to the (gas) tank" by Getting Down - represents a mind-boggling figure, particularly if one considers the numerous combinations. This problem is magnified tenfold when we consider there are no adequate screening methods for many of the black-market drugs.  Why?  Because when a new drug is introduced to the market, whether by a recognized drug firm, or by a group of individuals working out of a garage, just to develop a method of detection represents a substantial expenditure.

Even numerous combinations of across-the-counter drugs can be most productive.  Considered big medicine by some thieves, one such drug is Acupan, a powerful analgesic that also works as a stimulant.  This potent drug, when mixed with the right ingredients, is said to be virtually undetectable.  According to insiders, the resulting milkshake will turn a common dog into a real ground burner.  A drug that is occasionally detected is Procaine, a local anesthetic and stimulant, also capable of moving a horse into the fast lane.  Considered a very powerful stimulant in horses is the drug Stadol, a painkiller that was undetectable until just a few years ago.  The controversial human drug clenbuterol, a bronchodilator that significantly enhances oxygen assimilation when a horse is under stress, has been used for years.  But not until recently, however, did trainers discover that by atomizing the drug, as opposed to injecting it, and thus spraying it into a horse's lungs, they could dramatically increase its effect, while at the same time making it more difficult to detect.

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If you want to blow the doors off the competition on the day of your "planned" Form Reversal, of course, you can always use scheduled narcotics such as Dilaudid, Sublimaze or Etorphine, to name but a few.  Nicknamed Rocket Fuel by the members of the run-slow-run-fast gang, Sublimaze is more powerful than morphine, a drug that was used with great success for many years in the west and southwest.  But why take the risk?  Since narcotic-based drugs occasionally can be detected, depending on the ingredients in the milkshake, to include the scope and the sophistication of the testing equipment, a much higher degree of success can be achieved when using black-market synthetics.  Drugs of this nature are so difficult to detect that some forensic racing chemists have resorted to freezing blood and urine samples in hopes that a satisfactory test will be discovered at a later date.

If you want a horse to run slow a few times, while giving the impression that it is laboring under the stress of competition, struggling to compete but failing miserably, a wide range of common depressants are available.  Many can be purchased across the counter that work quite well.  Even your local equine establishment offers a type of depressant that, after administration, calms an excitable horse sufficiently to be walked into a shipping trailer/van.  As was covered earlier, career race-fixer Tony Ciulla's favorite depressant was Acepromazine.

Of all the drugs available to the run-slow-run-fast gang, Butazolidin (generic name: phynelbutazone) and Lasix (generic name: furosemide), SC pre-race medication, have a special place in the scheme of things.  Before we start by addressing Butazolidin, a powerful analgesic (painkiller), perhaps a little groundwork should be established.

The nervous system is without question the most highly developed of all bodily systems, in horses as well as other mammals, humans included.  With respect to drug therapy, this system has been classified as having two major components:  the central nervous system (CNS), and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).  The CNS is composed of the brain and spinal cord, while the PNS consists of sensory and motor nerves, those minuscule nerves that trace their way throughout the torso, neck, legs, hooves, et cetera.

The brain represents the point of consciousness and regulates both voluntary reactions of a horse to its environment and the seemingly involuntary functions of its internal organs, the latter being realized by a number of hormone-producing glands (the endocrine system) that regulate and control bodily tissues and fluids.  This process represents a thoroughly complex arrangement between the pituitary gland - a small ductless gland located at the base of the brain - and the brain.

Analgesia is a term used to describe a condition whereby an individual experiences loss of pain but yet remains conscious, represented by a class of drugs which produce painkilling results in isolated areas, thus altering that portion of the PNS which directly embraces the area of injury.  Some of these PNS drugs, such as Butazolidin, possess agents which, in addition to inhibiting the natural process of pain at its point of origin, serve to provide additional relief from discomfort by way of restricting the flow of pressure-building fluids to a damaged area, subsequently reducing inflammation.  This class of drugs is used on horses that have experienced laminitis (interior hoof degeneration), bone and joint disorders, muscle injuries and occasionally digestive discomfort.

Though the precise mechanism of analgesic action is unknown, a number of studies suggest that it interferes with the actions of those pharmacologically active substances that are initially released when injury occurs.  A more recent study has discovered that prostaglandins, fatty acid substances, are synthesized in areas of injury and inflammation. Prostaglandins sensitize these areas.  Butazolidin inhibits the synthesis of prostaglandins, subsequently decreasing pain.  It’s like cutting off pain where it occurs.

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Regarding the misconceptions of the therapeutic properties of Butazolidin, Robert Baker, in his book The Misuse of Drugs in Horse Racing, underscored this serious problem:  "One of the most distressing situations occurring is the ignorance that abounds concerning the drugging of horses and the erroneous information that is publicly banded about.  There is no more dramatic evidence of this than what transpired a few years ago on ABC TV before the running of the Preakness.  Eddie Arcaro, in response to a question by the late Howard Cosell, stated that the drug Butazolidin was ‘not a painkiller,’ thus implying to millions of Americans that it was safe to race an injured horse on this drug.  While the method of analgesic action might be debated, there is certainly little doubt in the medical community about Butazolidin's ability to reduce pain."

Medical experts around the world, along with the companies that produce and distribute the drug, are quick to acknowledge its painkilling ability.  USV Laboratories, a generic manufacture, clearly state that "the analgesic (painkilling) action of phenylbutazone (Butazolidin) is manifest in prompt pain relief."  Another of the drug's manufactures, Geigy Pharmaceutical Company, is quite emphatic in pointing out that its Butazolidin has "analgesic properties."

In spite of the medical evidence which identifies Butazolidin as a painkiller, the game's High Priests of Propaganda insist on leading gambling fans to the conclusion that this class of drugs merely reduces inflammation, and that "the administration prior to running is in the best interest of the horse."

Even the text Veterinary Medicine recognizes this drug as being "widely used in an attempt to reduce pain." The drug is classified as an analgesic by such prestigious compendiums as the Merck Index, the Encyclopedia of Chemicals and Drugs, the American Drug Index, as well as Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, a textbook and reference work for pharmacists.  And the list goes on.

Phenylbutazone ("bute") is but one of a number of PNS drugs possessing similar properties approved for trainer use.  This particular drug has been addressed because of its high popularity among members of the shed-row gang - and with good reason.  Judging from the evidence, there exists a towering contradiction, to put matters mildly, with respect to the manner in which the drug is currently being used.  As we have seen, if an injury is serious enough to require the drug's administration, obviously a horse's activity should be confined to the type of environment that takes into consideration the nature of the injury in order to promote recovery.  After all, in this respect, horses are no different than humans.

Some 19 states continue to permit injured horses to be given symptomatic relief - treating the symptoms instead of the injury - through the use of Butazolidin.  Thus SC racing commissions are enabling unsound horses to compete even though their injuries have not healed.  But Butazolidin does far more than allow injured horses to compete:  It has special properties that interfere with the current detection methods of powerful stimulants and depressants that can dramatically alter a horse's performance.

According to a report by the Veterinary Chemist Advisory Committee, "Butazolidin and its metabolites (properties) may interfere with analysis for unauthorized drugs in blood and urine, depending on the concentration of Butazolidin, the sensitivity of the analytical techniques and the expected scope of the coverage."

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In an article which appeared in the Chicago Tribune newspaper, John McDonald, who served briefly as director of the Illinois Racing Board Laboratory, told how "too much Butazolidin - even the allowable amount now in use - is a hindrance to finding prohibited drugs in the testing process."  What all of this means, of course, is that if a person used enough of this drug, the potential for finding illegal substances is seriously compromised.

Before concluding The Straight Dope by taking a revealing look at the highly controversial drug Lasix, a few words on the class of powerful drugs which cause CNS excitation and depression would be in order.  Due to the extreme sensitivity of the CNS to drugs, more than one horse has had its racing career permanently cut short by haphazard administration.  One trainer reportedly bragged of killing six horses before "getting a dose down right."

Since the metabolism of no two horses is the same, particularly at any one time, a therapeutic dose in one horse may represent a toxic dose in another, while the same dose may make another horse run a hole in the wind.  This is generally true when the conditioning of any two horses differs dramatically.  A reasonably high degree of consistency can be achieved, however, if the over-all conditioning of the horses is fairly close, to include hematology (blood ) and electrolyte values.

Narcotics produce a state of depression (narcosis) in humans.  In horses, however, when administered in small amounts, these drugs can produce significant CNS stimulation, thereby increasing physical performance.  If the amount is large enough, needless to say, narcotics will also produce decreased activity in horses.  

The same can be said for synthetic stimulants.  But due to the fact that the base properties are synthetic by design, they have no readily detectable profile, unlike narcotic-based drugs.  "Its next to impossible to find something," said one forensic racing chemist, "if you don't know what you're looking for."

Lasix is undoubtedly the most controversial drug ever permitted by SC racing commissions to be in a horse's system.  Just like Butazolidin, Lasix has some very interesting properties.

Diuretics represent a class of drugs that increase the volume of urine produced by the kidneys.  Lasix is such a drug.  These drugs were designed to facilitate the reduction of certain tissue disorders characterized by edema, a condition whereby abnormal tissue enlargement results from excessive fluid retention.  In addition to performing admirably the purpose for which it was designed, Lasix also reduces fluid (water) from the entire body.  And if administered with discretion, say, over a short period of time, can safely remove, depending on the horse, anywhere from 40 to 70 pounds - sometimes more - of fluid.  The parrot-face clones who attempt to propagandize gambling fans with every breath forever fail to mention this simple fact.

The next time you're looking at a Gambling Proposition (GP) involving one or more horses displayed as being on Lasix for the first time, and your track announcer – the guy who mentions the word race as many times as possible in every sentence - breaks in to politely inform you that certain horses will be carrying 1-3 pounds more or less weight, in order to provide you, the sport's fan, with any and all pertinent information, you may wish to go to the bathroom and relieve yourself of a heavy burden.

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To suggest that a few pounds either way merit consideration - while failing to mention the type of overall weight reduction Lasix produces - is nothing more than a cheap hustle.  In any event, weight changes involving only a few pounds have all the significance of one more peanut-butter sandwich in an ironworker's lunch box.

National Laboratories, the manufacture of Lasix, and the United States Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency that subsequently approved Lasix for specific use, both regard Lasix as a diuretic.

The SC horse-racing industry, however, uses the drug in the treatment of an entirely different and unrelated disorder:  epistaxis, a condition whereby a horse bleeds through one or both nostrils.  Epistaxis can be caused by a variety of factors, including tumors, lung damage, infection, et cetera.  Damage to nasal passages by foreign objects, although extremely rare, can also result in this condition.

Since it is extremely rare when horses bleed through the nostrils as a result of infection or disease, and even more so as a result of damage to nasal passages by foreign objects, the majority of the small number that actually experiences epistaxis is caused when a horse is pushed to a point of physical exertion that exceeds conditioning.

A maximum effort by a poorly conditioned horse produces laborious respiratory stress and extreme muscle and joint exertion, occasionally resulting in the rupture of the intricate blood vessels that wind their way through the microscopic air sacs in the lungs.  Blood is then exhaled and subsequently drips from the nostrils.  You are probably wondering by now just what epistaxis has to do with edema.  Nothing.

Doctor Roger Conant, veterinarian who at one time was involved in clinical research with National Laboratories, declared that "FDA approval of Lasix is limited to treatment of edema, a swelling in one or more parts of the body caused by the sluggish flow of bodily fluids.  Lasix is a diuretic which improves the flow of urine."  Regarding the notion that Lasix is effective in controlling epistaxis, Doctor Conant also said, "We cannot recommend a product if we cannot substantiate its effectiveness."

An independent investigation conducted in California and Florida revealed that over 82 percent of all horses used for gambling purposes received Lasix - but only two percent of all horses experienced epistaxis.

According to Doctor Patterson, "Lasix binds itself to other drugs that may be circulating freely in a horse's system and washes the drugs out.  There is no doubt some trainers are using Lasix to mask other (illegal) drugs that may be administered before a race.  Whether Lasix actually prevents bleeders is unproven.  It lowers blood pressure through dehydration and this may help.  But the real reason is in flushing and masking."

In one study conducted by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board on drug medication, and according to the interim report offered by this investigative body, it was found that both Lasix and Butazolidin interfere with the detection of illegal drugs:  "As with phenylbutazone, Lasix may serve to 'mask' the presence of prohibited drugs or at the very least make the detection of illegal drugs significantly harder.  Our research to date indicates that Lasix does mask the presence of other drugs."

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James Manning, DVM, who served briefly as state veterinarian at Saratoga Raceway, told the New York Times that "Lasix causes excessive urination and this tends to flush other drugs out of a horse's system, or at least lower their levels so they can't be detected."

In his book The Misuse of Drugs in Horse Racing, Robert Baker eloquently addresses the gambling game's pathetic state of affairs:  "The racehorse is loved and respected by many for its integrity, simple honesty and nobility.  It is a shame that many of those humans involved with racing do not possess these same characteristics." Only when armed with the truth can gambling fans everywhere begin to understand what is actually occurring across this great country - all in the name of SC integrity.