Breeders Cup No Lasix Ban
 

While not a big fan of Mike Repole I do respect his decision to pull all of his horses out of the Breeders Cup Races. The new rule only applies to 2 year olds this year but will affect all horses in Breeders Cup 2013.

According to one DRF article 95% of all horses run on Lasix. It seems to me that more research should have been done before making this decision.

From a handicapping point the Breeder's Cup Races are hard enough to figure out, and now the handicapper is left to wonder which horses are affected and which are not. To Quote a part of the article. “I was just over at the Arc de Triomphe, and every single race all day long was run without Lasix,” said Craig Fravel, the Breeders’ Cup CEO. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it works.” Great let's experiment on arguably one of the top horse racing events in the country.

Perhaps it is not a big deal but I wonder if the European horses will be advantaged by this decision since they do not run on lasix there. This may really come into play next year when all horses will have lasix off. Wondering how many owners will pull their older horses next year as Mike Repole did.

It may be time to start looking at European horses closer next year in the dirt races as well as the turf.

Here is the link to the DRF article.


http://www.drf.com/news/breeders-cup...rted-territory

As if 2 YO were not fickle enough, now we have this issue in play. There are a few that have raced so far without the drug and other than those unmedicated that look good enough to win, maybe play for a lot of prices in those races is the way to go.

Should be interesting, at least

bill

Personally, I think it is most fickle for the bettors. I think Bafferts comments in the article are the most telling. He isn't that concerned, because his 2 year olds running the BC races haven't showed signs of bleeding, which means that they (trainors) are just giving the medications as a precaution, and only they know who actually bled and may impact the horse's performance.

I am considering skipping those races from a betting perspective (outside of pick 4s, pick 6s), and just enjoy them as a horse racing fan.