Three days after the Kentucky Derby, Eight Belles' trainer angrily denied that steroids contributed to her gut-wrenching breakdown on the Churchill Downs track.
To prove his claim, Larry Jones said he was voluntarily doing something that officials inside and outside horse racing say should have been made mandatory years ago - testing for performance-enhancing drugs.
Horse racing, unlike major league baseball, basketball and football, doesn't ban steroids. Horsemen such as Rick Dutrow, who trains Preakness favorite Big Brown and other horses, say they legally administer Winstrol - the steroid that former Orioles star Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for - as part of the animals' regimen.
Veterinarians say steroids have therapeutic purposes, such as helping horses recover from injury. But critics say the drugs are used by many to make horses stronger and faster, sometimes at the horses' peril.
"These steroids are an artificial advantage used to bulk up horses," said Rep. Ed Whitfield, a Kentucky Republican who says the drugs contribute to clotting disorders, liver damage and heart attacks and can help build muscles that the animals' legs can't support, leading to breakdowns.
Twenty-seven years after Sen. Charles "Mac" Mathias of Maryland urged a national prohibition on drugs in horse racing, Whitfield and others are wondering why Maryland, which hosts the Preakness tomorrow, and other leading racing states have lagged in banning steroids.
"I remember Sen. Mathias talking to the Jockey Club [in 1981]," Whitfield said. "He said [to states] that either you take action or we'll send the federal cavalry into your barns. But things have not changed that much since then."
The state won't screen for steroids at the Preakness because Maryland doesn't yet have testing procedures in place. Maryland will test for many other drugs, including stimulants and overuse of phenylbutazone, or bute, an anti-inflammatory.
Bute is the most commonly abused drug at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park, according to Maryland Racing Commission records. Overusing the drug can fetch fines ranging from $500 to $1,500 and lead to suspension or disqualification.
Though there is no evidence Eight Belles was on steroids, Whitfield said the horse's death "has re-ignited the debate over the horse racing industry in general and steroids in particular." Test results on Eight Belles are pending.
