In Horse Racing, Test of Beefed-Up Champions
By BILL FINLEY
Published: June 2, 2008 New York Times
Regulators and racing authorities are making headway in their efforts to curb the sport's seemingly insatiable appetite for drugs, but when Big Brown and his rivals compete in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, horse racing will still be in the midst of its steroid era.
The trainer Barclay Tagg says Tale of Ekati will race in the Belmont on steroids. "You don't want to be at a disadvantage," he said.
The Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown and at least one of his Belmont Stakes challengers will compete on anabolic steroids, as will, no doubt, dozens of other horses performing that day at Belmont Park.
Steroids are legal in 28 of the 38 states where horse racing is held, including the three states holding Triple Crown races, and their use is prevalent. Before banning the drugs in Pennsylvania, racing officials there tested 998 horses and found that 61.7 percent were positive for steroids and 17.3 percent had been treated with two steroids or more. That does not make horse racing any different from many sports, where the biggest, strongest, most focused athletes are the ones who most often succeed and earn the most money.
"They're performance-enhancing," said the trainer Graham Motion, who said his Belmont starter Icabad Crane was not given steroids. "Isn't that why all the athletes use it? What do they do? They build up a horse's muscle tissue and make the animal stronger. To me that's performance-enhancing. It amazes me that we're still even discussing it. They should have been banned a long time ago."
Among the nine trainers who are planning to run horses in the Belmont, only Rick Dutrow, the trainer of Big Brown, and Barclay Tagg, who trains Tale of Ekati, said their horses would race on steroids. Dallas Stewart, the trainer of Macho Again, said he had yet to decide whether his horse would receive them. The trainers Todd Pletcher and Nick Zito would not comment on whether their horses would be on steroids.
Steroids have been part of horse racing long before they became part of the sports world's lexicon. The Hall of Fame trainer Elliott Burch, who began his career in 1955, said he first remembered hearing of their use with thoroughbreds in the mid-60s.
Among other benefits, trainers found that steroids provided a boost for horses who were not eating well or were listless. Steroid proponents argue that drugs help with minor problems like appetite and do little to improve a horse's performance.
"Steroids do have some benefits," said Dr. Gregory Bennett, the veterinarian who treats Big Brown. "We're always under pressure to keep these horses going and to try and make races. Without steroids, they'd lose some horses that can't keep up the pace and race every three weeks or every month. You have horses, particularly fillies, who won't eat for three, four days and they'll start to lose weight. If used judiciously, it helps keep a horse up to the training standards we set for them."
As far as Big Brown goes, Bennett said it was ability, not steroids like Winstrol, that had allowed him to dominate his competition and put him on the verge of becoming the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown.
"This horse has a lot of natural ability and is a standout horse," he said. "He already has an innate ability, and the Winstrol does not alter his performance or anything like that. He's just a good horse."
While steroid use without a prescription has been illegal in humans in the United States, the Federal Drug Administration allows four steroids — Winstrol, Equipose, Durabolin and testosterone — to be administered to horses. According to Dutrow, Big Brown is treated once a month with Winstrol, the same anabolic steroid that the sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for in 1988, causing him to be stripped of his gold medal in the Seoul Olympics.
Until this year, Iowa was the only state that banned steroid use in racehorses. Most other racing jurisdictions seemed to ignore the issue or, perhaps, decided steroids were not a problem. By giving his horses Winstrol, Dutrow is not breaking any rules.
"If they tell me you can no longer use them, I'll stop using them," Dutrow said.
With the sport constantly dealing with a number of pressing problems, including the widespread use of illegal drugs, steroid use was rarely mentioned as something the industry needed to act on.
That began to change about seven years ago, when a number of factors began to put steroids in the spotlight, including their use in Major League Baseball. The federal government also began to take a look at steroid use in all sports, horse racing among them, and certain politicians started asking probing questions. Why should horses be allowed to race on steroids? The industry did not have a compelling answer.
"It's so interesting that in other sports anabolic steroids are not allowed, but they are in horse racing," said Representative Edward Whitfield, a Republican from Kentucky who has repeatedly spoken out about his concerns that drug use is rampant in horse racing. "Veterinarians who I respect, who are some of the leaders in the field, say that anabolic steroids should not be given to horses when they are racing. I don't think steroid use creates a very good image. We don't know what the long-term effects are. Some people say it has an impact on breeding. In addition to that, a steroid being given to this obviously magnificent horse, Big Brown, cannot possibly be a good thing."
The federal government has a potent weapon in its fight to clean up racing. It can pull the plug on the Interstate Horse Racing Act, which legalized the simulcasting of races from one racetrack to another or to off-track betting locations for the purpose of wagering. With more than 88 percent of all bets now made off track, simulcasting has become the lifeblood of the industry.
When Whitfield and other politicians began to threaten racing with changes to the Interstate Horse Racing Act if the sport did not deal with its drug issues, industry leaders began to listen.
Among the first steps was the formation of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, which was given a mandate to draw up common-sense responses to the problem.
Among the nonbinding recommendations it issued was a ban on steroids for racing purposes. Under the proposal, the drug can still be given to a horse when it is not in competition, but must be withdrawn, in some cases, as many as 45 days before a race. Otherwise, a horse will test positive for the drug.
The consortium's proposal called on all states to have the rules in place by Jan. 1, 2009. Nine states quickly complied, issuing steroid bans before the recommended deadline.
Most of the remaining states are in the process of implementing prohibitions on steroid use. New York is among them. The New York State Racing and Wagering Board announced Thursday a proposed rule restricting steroid use. According to its chairman, Daniel D. Hogan, the proposal could go into effect early next year.
"Dutrow has been saying, and he's right, that the three states that have the Triple Crown allow steroids," Hogan said. "I don't know that it necessarily makes it right. As the chairman of this board, this is a high priority for me."
The major horse sales companies have also taken steps to curtail the use of steroids in horses sold at auction. Many horsemen have said that the biggest issue with steroids involves their use with weanlings, yearlings and 2-year-olds who go through the sales ring. A strong, strapping horse is attractive to potential buyers, and many breeders and sales agents have been known to use steroids to make their young horses as physically imposing as possible.
"Steroids have done a great deal of harm to this industry," the Hall of Fame trainer John Nerud said. "They give them to all these young horses at the sales and they develop muscle while they don't develop their bones. Look at these baseball players, how they have so much muscle and how many of them are always getting hurt. It's the same thing with horses. They don't let them develop naturally anymore. You see these yearlings come through the ring and they look like 2-year-olds. Absolutely, this is one of the reasons all these horses are getting hurt and breaking down."
The lone holdout could be Kentucky, a state that has a reputation for having the most lenient drug rules in racing. Racing officials there have formed a committee to look into the matter and have not offered a timetable for placing restrictions on steroid use.
There has been little opposition to the calls for an end to steroid use, and even those who use the drugs seem resigned to the fact that their days are numbered.
"One of the reasons we'll use them is because everyone else does," Tagg said. "You don't want to be at a disadvantage. I'd be fine with them taking them away, but they need a national rule, say, that on Jan. 1, 2009, they are prohibited everywhere."
Big Brown could make racing history Saturday. He could become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 and the last Belmont Stakes winner to race on steroids. For a sport that needs not only heroes but clean competitors and pristine racing, both would be milestone events.
Girly,
Thank you for the post.
I just finished reading this and my jaw is still on the floor. I\'m totally shocked.
When asked if their runners will race under the influence of steroids:
Zito = no comment
Pletcher = no comment
Stewart = undecided
Tagg = YES
Say it ain\'t so, Barclay.
Who\'s next Allen Jerkens?
How can you be shocked about steroids? It\'s the one drug I can\'t ever remember anyone deny using at the track.
It\'s the paranoia created by the uninformed and the press covering the Belmont.Zito and Pletcher are 1 to 9 odds to be using steroids when they see fit, maybe always.
Why wouldn\'t Alan Jerkens or ANY trainer, for that matter,not use all legal means to help their horses.
Mike
Miff;
You wrote \"horses\" where you meant to write \"owners\".
Bob
Mike,
You mean to tell me if Allen Jerkens had a runner in this years Belmont, and he was going to give his horse steroids, you wouldn\'t be shocked?
How about Shug McGuaghey?
How about Bill Mott?
To me, it\'s not the WHAT it\'s the WHO.
Halo,
You are under a misconception about legal meds/steroids. I would be shocked if any trainer, including those you mentioned would not,for example,help a light framed poor eating filly with a proper steroid regimen.
Mike
Magic,
A lot of these guys that get up every day at 5:00 am may like the horses more than they like their owners.
Mike
Steroids for medicinal use for horses as in humans, must certainly have a place. It\'s been my experience that when physicians use steroids it is for the shortest possible duration. It\'s the beefing up and overdosing purely for an athletic edge that I object to.
Mike;
Funny reply, no doubt true, but one question. In the bottom right-hand corner of the check ... is there a hoofprint?
Bob
Mike,
Tale of Ekati is NOT a \"light framed, poor eating filly\".
Allen Jerkens would NEVER give any horse in his barn steroids. That\'s a misconception on your part. It\'s a very rare occurance when he gives a horse lasix, never mind Winstrol.
Ask yourself who owns Court Vision.
And then ask yourself again if those owners would encourage its trainer to use all legal medications and supplements to get the horse ready to roll.
Halo,
Doubt thats right re Jerkens if a vet recommended it.There are several outfits that race kinda \"cold\" and very few win at a high percentage. If I were still racing and a trainer refused to follow the vets recommendations re necessary legal meds/steroids,I\'d fire him. Trainers condition/rig horses, vets take care of the horses health/well being, when necessary.
I give no kudos to a trainer who does not use all legal means to win.All that accomplishes is racing his horses with a few lengths disadvantage.
Mike
Mike,
I don\'t know where your horse\'s ran, but I\'m pretty familiar with the NY backside.
Jerkens is famous for telling owners where to go. Don\'t tell him \"where to run the horse, who\'s going to ride the horse, and certainly HOW TO TRAIN the horse\".
I guess you didn\'t have horses with Jerkens (or maybe you did and didn\'t see eye to eye on something).
Halo,
The Chief\'s reputation precedes him and he did not train mine but I spoke to him several times over the years. He\'s a good man.I was standing in the walking ring once when he \"chased\" the paddock judge who told him the stickers on his turf runner were too long,too funny, but true.
A guy like Alan Jerkens probably uses a vet much less than most trainers because of his vast experience with treating certain minor things.
On the steroid thing, for example,it was Dr Allday that told Tricky 5 years ago to use them because\"everybody else is\"
Mike
I don\'t know whether Allen Jerkens uses steroids or not and really don\'t care. He doesn\'t have any problem getting owners to buy quality horses because of his rep and his ability.
But for God\'s sake, the stuff is LEGAL in most places. When they declare it illegal, great, there will be a level playing field. But to include this in posts on the \'drug\' issue is assinine.
Steroids have been on the track a long, long time. IMHO they are most dangerous when used on immature horses; less dangerous on older stock. It\'s about creating too much body mass for immature bones. Still, when the industry pours the biggest purse money and fame and glory into races for babies, what do you expect?
Alm,
Maybe I\'m misunderstanding you. Are you saying steroids are not part of the \"drug\" problem because they are legal? Probably not, because in the very next paragraph your writing about how \"dangerous\" steroids are with younger horses.
Don\'t know about you, but anything that\'s dangerous to a horse is a problem.