Trainers report juvenile horses did bleed at Breeders’ Cup races

Trainers Mark Casse and John Sadler said Sunday that they had 2-year-old horses bleed during races at the Breeders’ Cup this weekend at Santa Anita during an event in which the anti-bleeding drug Lasix was banned for the first time from use in five juvenile races.

Under a new Breeders’ Cup policy, Lasix was prohibited from being used for 2-year-olds. Lasix, a powerful diuretic that also can be used to mask other drugs, helps prevent bleeding in horses. Lasix is scheduled to be banned next year from all 15 Breeders’ Cup races.

On Saturday, Dr. Rick Arthur, equine director of the California Horse Racing Board, issued a statement that no horses in the 2-year-old races had been found to have bled following a visible examination by veterinarians on the track and in the receiving barn. On Sunday, Arthur said he did expect some horses to have bled in the trachea after being scoped.

Casse said that his 2-year-old filly Spring in the Air bled “very badly” after racing in the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Friday.

“My filly started coughing when she pulled up,” Casse said. “She coughed all the way back to the barn.”

Sadler said Capo Bastone, who finished third on Saturday in the Juvenile, was found to have bled after a scoping. Also bleeding was Monument, who finished ninth and last in the Juvenile.

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