Summer Squall Is Back at Pimlico Without Talk of Dreaded ‘L-Word’

Trainer Neil Howard has brought Summer Squall back to the scene of his greatest triumph, the 1990 Preakness Stakes, but this visit could be even more satisfying. Summer Squall may well score another victory over his archrival, Unbridled, only this time the trainer will not be driven crazy with questions about Lasix and the controversy over the drug.

The topic dominated the whole Triple Crown series last year, and Howard said: “I’ll never forgive everybody for what they put us through with Lasix. I was deeply hurt. I do know that Summer Squall is not the only horse who ever bled. There are Lasix horses in the Triple Crown this year, and you have not heard one word said about them.”

Maybe the issue was overblown, but there have been few top horses in recent years whose bleeding became such a crucial factor in their racing careers as it did with Summer Squall. And Howard shouldn’t be so sensitive. In fact, the publicity about Summer Squall’s bleeding only underscored what a delicate job he faced with the horse--and how well he handled it.

A severe bleeding incident--blood gushed profusely from his nostrils--disrupted Summer Squall’s training schedule early last season and threatened to knock him out of the Kentucky Derby. Howard had to play a tough game of catch-up, but he got the little colt to Churchill Downs, where he finished second behind Unbridled in the Derby.

Then Summer Squall came to Pimlico and trickled blood from his nostrils on the day before the Preakness. Everybody but Howard was alarmed.

“When he was at Pimlico, we could hardly keep him on the ground,” the trainer recalled. “He was galloping so strong and he was so worked up that he spurted a couple drops--a blood vessel might have broken.” When an interviewer asked him what this was going to do to his chances the next day, Howard replied: “I don’t see how the horse can get beat.”

Innately cautious, the trainer was fretting for the rest of the day that he might have given his horse the kiss of death. But he hadn’t. Summer Squall won the Preakness so impressively he appeared on the way to the 3-year-old championship.

But his season ended on a disappointing note when he gave the only dull effort of his life in the Meadowlands Cup. Again his old affliction appeared to be to blame. “He trickled a little through the Lasix,” Howard said. “I hate to make excuses, but it was a humid, muggy night, a real steam pit, and that’s not the optimal place for a bleeder.” Summer Squall was finished for the year.

But this could well be Summer Squall’s year. The colt got a rest over the winter, and Howard can look forward to a campaign with enormous promise. The colt looks good and is sound. His schedule won’t call for appearances in New York, whose ban on Lasix kept Summer Squall out of the Belmont Stakes and ignited so much of last year’s controversy. His main objective is the Breeders’ Cup Classic this fall at Churchill Downs, where the medication is permitted.

While arguments about Lasix may be muted this year, racing purists will never lay to rest the issue that the trainer wants forgotten. It remains an important one that cuts to the essence of the sport. Should bleeding be viewed as a common problem that requires treatment or a defect that demands that the horse be rested or retired?

Should a horse so heavily dependent on medication be permitted to win the sport’s greatest prizes? Do we want such horses to enter stud as champions and beget a new generation of Lasix-dependent runners? There are no easy answers, but the vast majority of the racing world disagrees with America’s pro-Lasix position.

To everyone’s relief, the main topic of conversation at Pimlico this week has no such insoluble questions, but the more intriguing ones that specifically surround the Pimlico Special. And the key question about the race focuses, again, on Summer Squall. He may well be the best horse in the field, but can he spot his rivals an apparent edge in conditioning?

Unbridled, Farma Way, Festin and Jolie’s Halo have impressive stakes victories this season. All ran in the Oaklawn Park Handicap four weeks ago. Summer Squall has raced only once, in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance race at Keeneland. He looked impressive, winning by four lengths and breaking the track record, but is that enough seasoning for a tough 1 3/16-mile race?

Howard believes that Summer Squall, being a smallish horse, can get himself fit with relatively little work. He also doesn’t like to overtax the horse because of the bleeding problem. The colt looked so good in his Keeneland race and trained so well thereafter that Howard decided to go directly into the Special with no other prep races. “It’s a bit of a bold decision,” he acknowledged, “but I’m very comfortable with it.”

If this mode of preparation fails, Howard leaves himself open to being second-guessed that he didn’t do enough to prepare Summer Squall for the Special. But he’d probably prefer to hear criticisms like that than to hear any more discussions involving the L-word.