Terry Finley, president of West Point Thoroughbreds, wants to see the return of durable, sound horses to the industry. He said a lot of horse owners are getting out because too many buy yearlings from a fashionable sire, only to have them suffer an injury the first time they breeze.
That, in fact, happened to Finley's syndicate.
"We gave $575,000 for a 2-year-old, and he looked like nobody on Earth could beat him," Finley said. "As good as he looked, as good as he breezed in the quarter-mile, he hasn't run since, and that was a year ago. I was taught some lessons there."
Finley said horsemen need to send a message they won't ignore issues of soundness when it's time to pay stud fees.
Nevertheless, the use of steroids also has its proponents. Some trainers have found that steroids help build muscle and also help horses maintain their appetites during training.
Dr. Dan Dreyfuss, a veterinarian who services the Pimlico and Laurel tracks, disputes the widely held belief that steroids enhance performance in horses. He said a dose of Winstrol once a month is in line with the manufacturer's recommended guidelines and approved by the FDA.
"I don't think it enhances performance, I think it enables horses to continue to perform," he said.
But have steroids made Big Brown a super horse?
"No, because tens of thousands of horses get anabolic steroids, and we're looking at a horse trying to do something that hasn't been done in 30 years," he said. "To say that is flawed logic."
Big Brown's sire, Boundary, had eight races before injuries, including chronic quarter cracks, ended his career. Bill Mott, Boundary's trainer, told the Louisville Courier-Journal he had "a lot of soundness issues," particularly with his feet.
Even if quarter cracks aren't heritable, as Dreyfuss said, there could be a connection with other foot problems.
"I have experience with several stallions who had foot problems," said Dr. Tom Bowman, a veterinarian and partner of Northview Stallion Station. "And those foot problems very often are reflected in offspring, although not quarter cracks per se."
Still, the allure of a horse with a turn of foot like Big Brown's is often too much to resist.
"When it comes to horses that have outstanding racing careers, I think most breeders are willing to overlook certain structural flaws with the hope of achieving the same kind of success in this horse's offspring," Bowman said.
ken.murray@baltsun.com
