ASK THE VET

with Gerald Wessner, VMD, State Veterinarian at Tampa Bay Downs.

THE STATE VET'S JOB

The duties of the State Vet office at Tampa Bay Downs are basically twofold:

1) To verify all horses that intend to race on Lasix, and this is done by verifying through the State Computer, any horses that have already been approved in the state and have been placed on the BLEEDERS LIST.

Any horse that has been accepted by any other racing jurisdiction in the U.S. as a bona fide "bleeder" will be accepted as a bleeder at Tampa Bay Downs as long as a copy of the Bleeder Certificate is presented to the State Barn/Lasix office. To date, we have problems with only two states- Kentucky and Ohio. Kentucky has a program that allows any horse to race on lasix (even without a bleeder certificate), although I have seen Bleeder Certificates from Kentucky, and I urge anyone racing any horse in Kentucky to go the extra mile and get a suspected bleeder scoped and qualified for a bleeder program for the other jurisdictions.

Ohio has a three part rule for bleeders, and can be very confusing and trying if you have left the state and then are trying to call them to fax you a certificate. In Ohio, there are three ways a horse may race on lasix:

a) If a horse bleeds in a race/workout and is observed by the state veterinarian, he will write up a certificate at that time. If no state vet is present at this time, a licensed Ohio vet may scope the horse, verify the bleeding, and grant the certificate.

b) A horse that has raced on Lasix in another jurisdiction in it's last race may race on Lasix, even if the previous state has no Lasix program. (Such as Kentucky)

Any horse that raced on Lasix in Ohio before the state of Ohio adopted the bleeder program is automatically allowed to race on Lasix in Ohio, but cannot produce a certificate for other jurisdictions.

As you see, this can be very confusing. The state of Ohio has no bleeders list and uses the Racing Form to verify bleeders.

2) The second duty of the state barn at Tampa Bay Downs is to verify the collection of all post-race urine/blood samples. After each race, usually the first and second finishers are taken to the state barn , and the horses are encouraged to donate a urine sample so that the sample may be shipped to the state lab in Tallahassee for analysis. The samples are examined by thin layer chromatography and results are then submitted to the stewards. Any infractions usually result in hearings and sometimes purses are withheld and or redistributed.

The following booklets are available and should be used as guidance for the withdrawal of allowable medications:

Harris Racing Labs
3902 E. University Dr. Suite 3
Phoenix, AZ 85034, 602-470-0011

Canadian Pari-Mutual Agency
PO Box 5904, Station F
Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3X7, 613-998-4922

Horses that do not urinate after the race will have blood drawn for analysis. Remember, rules change in each racing jurisdiction, and you should consult the office in the state where you will be racing.