Regarding Eight Belles: Why is no one talking about performance drugs?

Question

Whenever a person suffers a severe "non-contact" injury like Eight Belles', the first thing people start talking about was whether the athlete was on steroids (which builds muscles but not ligaments, thus making one more prone to such catastrophic injuries).

Can any TB breeders out there tell me what kinds of drugs these racers must be on?

Answer 1

Because mis-steps are actually caused by mis-stepping, not by drugs. Horses' legs are unfortunately naturally weak, so they don't have to have something bump into them to break their ankles. In fact, contact injuries are almost unheard of in horse racing; almost all of the accidents you see are the result of a mis-step.

Answer 2

Race horses are traveling fast and hard. The force at which they hit the ground is incredible.  Listen to a horse race and the sound is so loud. Spindly horse legs aren't always a match for that extreme force. It's just a freak accident, not drug induced.  It can happen to barrel racers, too.  I worked for many a horse farm and they all start 2yr olds under saddle. They don't wait until they are 5.

Answer 3

Because there are a number of steroid-based products which are legal in North America. For many Thoroughbreds, they are placed on drug programs as juveniles which last through their entire racing careers.

There are other nation's - Japan, South Africa, for example - who have zero-tolerance policies for the use of drugs, unless there is illness or injury.

And there are cosmetic surgeries done on young runners to make their confirmation look better for sales purposes (how they appeared before ultimately may not have hindered a racing career, only the price tag that could be had at a sale).

I contend that nearly 100% of the breakdowns are based on pre-existing conditions that are not caught in cursory exams due to drugs which can mask marginal physical problems and explode into (near) catastrophic injuries on the track.

Answer 4

As a long time horse owner I can tell you the problem is not drugs but rather the fact that these horses are pushed to hard to young.If your not in the race horse business you don't even start to work a horse hard until they are at least 5 or 6 years old.This filly was just not mature,no horse is that young.Also large horse will mature slower than a small horse.I would love to see the rules change in horse racing and not allow racing at all before the horses are at least 5 years old.It's all about the money for these folks.I can't even imagine pushing one of my own horses that hard at such a young age.These horses are tested for drugs and will be disaqualified if drugs are found in their system.Larry Jones is a good guy and I know many people who know him as he is a local man.