Others point to genetics, suggesting that thousand-pound thoroughbreds -- the product of just three original stallions, 43 mares and generations spanning 300 years -- have become so inbred they are irreversibly fragile.
"We certainly debilitated the breed," said Nick Zito, a two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer whose Stevil will run in the Preakness. "We've been talking about that for 15 to 20 years. They don't make horses like they used to, right or wrong. . . . You look at the 2-year-olds of years ago. They ran them every week. They just don't make them like they did."
The issues of drugs and breeding seem intertwined. Many say that the animals are now too large for their ever-thinning legs, causing chronic soreness. But the commercial pressure to run them has brought the allowance of Lasix and Bute, and has also enticed some trainers to slip into illegal use of anesthetics.
As controversial as the legal use of Lasix and Bute is, even more so is the alleged use by some trainers of illegal analgesics, especially Mepivacaine. According to Arthur, that deadens the injured area, allows horses to run, but takes away the pain that is the best warning to both horse and trainer that something is wrong.
This year's Triple Crown races feature at least three trainers who have served suspensions for having horses test positive for Mepivacaine: Steve Asmussen, who trained Curlin, last year's Preakness champion; Todd Pletcher, whose Rags To Riches won the Belmont Stakes last year; and Rick Dutrow Jr., whose Big Brown won this year's Kentucky Derby.
According to the Assn. of Racing Commissioners International, Dutrow has been fined every year since 2000 for a horse doping situation. In '03, one of his horses tested positive for Mepivacaine. He has served various suspension times, ranging from 14 to 60 days, for these violations.
Emotions run high on this issue. Southern California trainer Darrell Vienna, while not speaking specifically of any of his peers, said anyone knowingly administering a masking drug to send out an injured horse to run "should be charged with negligent homicide."
Arthur makes a similar point.
"Internationally, North America is looked down upon because of our use of drugs," he said. "You never see drug cheating in England. They don't tolerate it.
"If a trainer is caught over there, his picture is in the papers the next day. Above the child molesters."
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Friday: Synthetic tracks and future fixes.
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Sandy McKee and Ken Murray of the Baltimore Sun; Michael Cunningham of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel; Neil Milbert of the Chicago Tribune; Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel; and Times staff writer Larry Stewart contributed to this report.
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bill.dwyre@latimes.com
