Oaklawn to Offer Bonuses for Lasix-Free Wins
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Charles J. Cella, president of Oaklawn Park, announced Sept. 18 that the Arkansas track in 2015 will offer purse bonuses for horses that run and win without furosemide (Salix or commonly called Lasix).
The Oaklawn Lasix-free bonus program will provide a 10% bonus to the winner's share of the purse for all horses that run and win without Lasix. This means Oaklawn Lasix-free incentives will range from $1,080 for its minimum purse of $18,000 up to $60,000 for the $1 million Arkansas Derby (gr. I). The total potential bonus supplement will be $1.4 million.
Further, Cella said Lasix-free bonus payments will be provided by Oaklawn itself and will not come out of the purse fund. Cella called the program experimental and said he hopes it will inspire more owners and trainers to race their horses without Lasix.
"We know some horses do indeed need Lasix in order to run to potential and I want to make this very clear: We are not advocating that horses who need Lasix race without it." said Cella. "However, it is also our belief that many of the horses running on Lasix may not need it. We think it is in the best interest of the sport and the breed to find a way to have more horses run without Lasix. Our hope is this program will be a step in the right direction."
The Jockey Club and a growing number of the sport's more prominent owners and trainers have come out in support of ending race-day Lasix use or reducing its use.
"I applaud Oaklawn for thinking outside the box and taking a positive step toward trying to reduce race-day therapeutic medications," Mark Lamberth, an Arkansas Racing commissioner and chairman-elect for the Association of Racing Commissioners International, said in a release from Oaklawn. "As an owner and lover of the sport, this makes me proud to be from Arkansas, where racing continues to come first."
Cella said if the results are encouraging at the meet scheduled to begin Jan. 9, he would hope other tracks might consider similar programs. This year Arapahoe Park in Colorado offered bonuses to trainers who won with horses who did not receive race-day medication.
"We don't know if this will work or not," said Cella. "We're trying to do the right thing. And we want to send a message that if you have a good horse that does not need Lasix, come to Oaklawn. If the program does work, we'll share the results with other tracks and racing jurisdictions, and we'll build on it here at Oaklawn."