Dr. Larry Bramlage Speaks Out About I'll Have Another

This is taken from today's e-edition ofThe Blood Horse Magazine.  The article is written by Erica Larson.

In the wake of a New York Times article and an NBC Nightly News segment focused on injuries to I'll Have Another and the medications used to treat the winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), Dr. Larry Bramlage, who served as the American Association of Equine Practitioners' on-call veterinarian for this year's Triple Crown races, has issued a response.
Bramlage released his statement through Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, where he serves as the chief orthopedic surgeon.
According to the statement's introduction, released July 13, "The Times alleges that 'powerful painkillers' were given to the horse, and that X rays taken of the colt's joints prior to his withdrawal indicate a much more severe problem. The author also alleges that the practice of running horses with high doses of drugs to overcome painful injuries is common practice in Thoroughbred racing."
Bramlage–a member of the Jockey Club, and past president of the AAEP and the American College of Veterinary Surgeons–subsequently provided an interview to NBC news anchor Brian Williams "in an attempt to more accurately inform the public about health and safety practices in racing."
"Dr. Bramlage became concerned following the release of that segment that the public did not have all the facts regarding the issues presented by the Times and NBC," the statement's introduction read.
"In my opinion, the New York Times piece published on July 11 titled, 'I'll Have Another had history of ailments, records show' was closer to tabloid journalism than in-depth reporting, as was the selective editing demonstrated on the July 11 edition of NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams," Bramlage said in his statement.
"The misinterpretation of the medical terminology 'osteoarthritis' and the substitution of 'major painkillers' for anti-inflammatory medications is unfair to the uninformed general public. It's useful only to sell newspapers, not to allow the public to understand what actually happened for the horse. The phenylbutazone given to I'll Have Another is from the same drug group as aspirin and ibuprofen in humans, can't be given to a horse within 24 hours of a race, and is tested for with blood and urine samples at all levels of the sport. Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid used as an anti-inflammatory as well.
"There have been 11 horses that have won two of the three legs of the Triple Crown in the last 33 years. I would guess that almost all of those horses had X rays after winning the second leg as a monitoring, precautionary measure. That's routine veterinary care, and would be akin to the kind of examinations that human Olympic athletes who just qualified in the U.S. championships will undergo prior to competing in the Olympics at the end of July.
"While veterinary ethics preclude us from speculating on I'll Have Another's case specifically as we were not the attending veterinarian, the records provided to New York State Racing and Wagering Board do not indicate anything inappropriate," Bramlage concluded. "No illegal, unprofessional, or medically unwarranted medication was given to this horse. We totally agree with the approach that Dr. Jim Hunt, attending veterinarian, took to get this horse ready for a possible Triple Crown run."

Thoroughbred Racing Questions

I'm going to bounce back over to thoroughbred horse racing as my topic.  Yesterday morning, a large East-coast newspaper decided to run a supposed expose about I'll Have Another, the chestnut colt who won two legs of this years Triple Crown.  They had managed to get copies of the the attending veterinarians' reports of exams and treatments of the colt from before the Kentucky Derby and up to the Belmont, when I'll Have Another was scratched.  The newspaper had several small animal vets look at the records - these were not vets who routinely treat and care for racing horses - and these vets made statements based on their learning experiences in vet school.  The consulted vets said that the exams and treatments given I'll Have Another indicated severe leg, feet, and tendon problems, and that he had been training and running while in great pain.  Four other vets, who deal only with race horses, stated they saw nothing to indicate the small animal vets' statements were correct.  Add to this the fact that Union Rags, who ran behind I'll Have Another in both the Derby and the Preakness, and who went on to win the Belmont Stakes, is now out for the rest of the racing year due to a tendon problem. 
   What is the regular person on the streets to think about the state of horse racing in America and around the world?   There is one set of trained  and licensed veterinarians saying the horse is/was being mistreated; there is a second set, involved with racing, who say that the horse's treatments were very normal.  I can't blame people who know nothing about horses being confused, and not knowing whom to trust.  -  As I have written before, and will, no doubt, write again, I have conflicting feelings about racing.  Horses are not completely mature creatures until they are 8 years old.  Most folks who use horses start breaking and training them when they are 2 or 3 years old, which allows their back and leg muscles, tendons, and joints to begin maturing.  In the world of today's thoroughbred racing, horses are bred to run faster and at very young ages, which causes developmental problems for the legs and back.  Thoroughbred racing is a money-making business, and, as such, can not return to having a horse in it's first race when it is 4 or 5 years old - too much time and effort would be needed to be put into the horse before it could race and show a profit.  It's sad that the horse has to pay the price of man's avarice throughout the world.
   On one other note, Holy Bull, the big grey stallion that was the USA's Horse of the Year in 1994, has been retired from stud duty.  He still loves his mares, but his fertility has plummeted.

Holy Bull in 2011

102 Degrees; Fires; Bears; Thoroughbreds

We certainly broke the record high today - it's currently 102 degrees outside and the humidity is at 6%.  The record we broke was set in 1874.  We're expecting record-breaking heat for the next 4 days, too.
  The High Park fire has exploded again - 733 more homes were evacuated this afternoon.  The current number of homes lost to the fire is 190.  -  And in Utah, the Dump fire, about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City, has doubled in size in the last couple of hours.  3200 people have been evacuated there.
  Here in Boulder, the drought and low humidity are making normal bear foods disappear.  Last night, there were break-ins into two different cars on Hurricane Hill - both break-ins were committed by hungry black bears.
  I'll Have Another, the winner of this year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness, will be standing at stud in Japan.  ....  And, on the final day of racing at Royal Ascot, Black Caviar, the phenomonal mare from Australia, will face 14 opponents in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (at 6 furlongs).  TVG will broadcast live from Royal Ascot between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. EDT tomorrow (Saturday).  I'm putting my money on Black Caviar - she's undefeated in 21 races, and I have to root for the girl.

Bummed Out

I have to admit that the injury and retirement of I'll Have Another has me singing the blues.  I really liked that colt!  And I had hoped the chestnut would be able to emulate Secretariat in 1973 (on this very day) and Affirmed in 1978.  But it was not to be.   With the big guy out of the picture, I'll place my bets today on Street Life, Unstoppable U and Atigun, with Five Sixteen thrown into the mix....
  I was amazed to read a few newspaper stories today that questioned whether I'll Have Another should have been scratched after becoming lame yesterday.  The horse's left fore leg filled with fluids after an easy jog; the attending veterinarian said it was the onset of a bout of tendonitis.  As always, I'm conflicted about horse racing - I love the races, and I love seeing horses that are bred to run compete against each other; I also know that a thoroughbreds body is not completely mature until it reaches 8 years of age.  Racing is, intrinsically, a nasty business.  You break a track thoroughbred when he's a yearling, or a little over 1 year of age; then you start training them to run at high speeds.  Their legs, muscles and ligaments are not mature, and won't be until well after they are retired.  When the Thoroughbred breed was developed in England, the horses were not run until they were 4 or 5 years of age (at the earliest).  They generally raced a 4-mile-long race; the race was run in heats; sometimes they raced 4 miles 4 times in one day...  They were bred and trained for that type of grueling work at that time. Today, the thoroughbred is bred for speed over much shorter distances - especially in the United States.  Horses that don't "make it" running short, fast races, but have endurance, are sometimes sent on for steeple chasing and jump racing.  But this sport is not publicized as much as flat racing, and the winning monies are considerably smaller than on the flat track (here in the States).  Other horses break down and are retired, or break down and are killed because the injuries are too severe to off-set the cost of the veterinarian bills.  Unfortunately, a lot of pedigreed thoroughbreds end up becoming steaks in Europe and Asia, or end up in a doggie bowl.  It's a glamorous life for a talented few...
    I believe, in my heart of hearts, that the owners and trainers of I'll Have Another made the best decision possible in scratching the colt from the Belmont and deciding to retire him.  He'll be able to pass on his abilities to his offspring.  If he  passed a vet check today, and ran the one-and-a-half mile Belmont, he might do irreparable damage to his tendon sheath; he might make a mis-step due to pain, and end up fracturing a leg; he might have ended up being euthanized on the track, in front of an unblinking and unprepared nationwide audience.  Pulling an injured horse out of any race shows a love and caring for that horse.  Running him, just so he could have run in the Belmont, and could say he was a contender in all of the Triple Crown races would have been pure lunacy on the part of any true horse person.

I'll Have Another Injured: Retired

My huge hope for celebration tomorrow will not happen.  I'll Have Another went out for his morning jog today, and appeared to be going fine.  When he returned to his barn to cool out, his left foreleg ballooned and he became lame.  The vet for the Belmont Stakes barn was called, and he said it was the beginning of tendonitis - possibly career ending.  The owners and trainer of I'll Have Another had a hasty conference, and it has been decided to retire the chestnut colt.  There will be no Triple Crown winner this year.

I'll Have Another Wins Preakness

I'll Have Another (chestnut, on left) wins the Preakness Stakes this afternoon, beating Bodemeister (bay, on right) by a short neck.  Photo by Patrick Smith for Getty Images.

 My pick to win the Preakness did. Bodemeister led all the way again, and Mario Gutierrez sat chilly in the saddle until the top of the stretch.  I'll Have Another began to make up ground with each stride, catching Bodemeister about 100 feet from the finish line. Bodemeister hung tough, but I'll Have Another was a good head in front at the line.  Creative Cause finished third.  I'll have more tomorrow.

  In Lingerie, the filly who won the Black Eyed Susan Stakes (the fillies' equivalent of the Preakness) yesterday, is doing well.  She won the race Friday, but it was noticed that her left fore was bleeding heavily in the winner's circle.  She apparently grabbed a quarter coming out of the gate, and is sound and happy today, according to her trainer.