Derby Aftermath

[knickslions2]

Originally Posted by jms62

My definition of Performance enhancing will include anything to mask pain. It is a natural instinct when feeling pain to not go to your maximum effort.. But you are far more schooled in these sciences.. Am I off in my thinking?

Originally Posted by moses

That’s my thought. My wife just gave birth last Wednesday (the baby was due in April but waited until after Derby Day, maybe she wanted to avoid seeing another Baffert horse win it?). Anyway, she got an epidural beforehand and it sure seems like it enabled her to push through the pain. Different drug but same concept - mask the pain and the horse doesn’t know it’s supposed to be hurting and just keeps running. But I defer to those with more knowledge on the topic.

This makes me worry about the entire sport though. How many people are going to read this story and say: “So they’re allowed to mask pain up to a certain point through the use of certain drugs. But if training and racing hurts these horses and they can’t train/race without painkillers and other drugs, why are we even allowing this?” To a lot of outside observers, that’s going to sound like animal cruelty.

It’s tricky. It’s not a true pain killer but more to treat inflammation. I would think they use it after a tough workout to take down swelling and have horse heal faster. Like a suped up ibuprofen delivered directly to the joints. It has a very short half life and really if was going to mask pain would need to be given real close to race day. The levels here show that not to be true. However the rules state not within 14 days of a race which clearly was broken. Remember it’s legal drug and has its place if uses as governed.