Longtime Owner John Ed Anthony Joins WHOA

John Ed Anthony is no stranger to The Preakness Stakes (G1). His Loblolly Stable had back-to-back wins in the Preakness in 1992 and 1993 with Pine Bluff and Prairie Bayou respectively.

Anthony is no stranger to champion racehorses either, having campaigned three Eclipse Award winners in Temperence Hill (1980 champion 3-year-old colt), Vanlandingham (1985 champion older male), and Prarie Bayou (1993 champion 3-year-old colt).  The stable's first nationally prominent runner was Cox's Ridge who won important handicaps in 1977-78, including the prestigious Met Mile (G1).

In 1995, Anthony formed Shortleaf Stable which currently keeps 15-20 head in training and 20 broodmares located in Arkansas and Kentucky. 

Anthony is a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, The Jockey Club, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and is a former member of The Breeders' Cup Board and Graded Stakes Committee.

Anthony shared the following comments in a recent statement to the Water Hay Oats Alliance:

"Over the last few weeks I have read with interest the articles about prominent tracks proposing new rules that would ban the use of some race day medications. I applaud the effort. In fact, I have long believed that racing without race day medication should be the rule for racing. the Horseracing Integrity Act would accomplish that.

Few have been in racing as long as I have. Beginning in 1973 as Loblolly Stable we raced across the U.S. but primarily at Oaklawn Park and tracks in New York. I have always been proud of having raced in a drug free environment for most of Loblolly's successful years. 

During those years, without Lasix or Bute, we had three champions, several near champions, and over 100 stakes winners in Cox's Ridge, Temperence Hill, Vanlandingham, Pine Circle, Demons Begone, Pine Bluff, and Prairie Bayou; all grade 1 winners, plus countless others raced clean.

I blame the invention of the fiber optic scope for the explosion of Lasix use. With it vets could always find some blood after a race, normal in Thoroughbreds, usually harmless but still within the rules. 

Now racing as Shortleaf, after a hiatus of sorts from about 1995, we got serious again in 2010.  We quickly found how different racing has become during that interval and have struggled to adjust to it. We race all our 2-year-olds without Lasix, believing that it's harmful to developing young stock to have their vital fluids drained routinely, older horses too if they show no need. Still, since we're the exception, we spot the competition 15+ pounds in each race. Knowing the disadvantage, most trainers have to be forced not to use it. 

The Grayson(-Jockey Club Research) Foundation has found, I believe, the percentage of true bleeders in the breed is in single digits. In "the good old days" the remedy for a horse who was bleeding was to give it some time off for healing, and it worked. I also note that now horses run much less often than in the past.

During the Lasix free era, a normal pattern for a healthy horse was to run every two weeks, or less. I have PP's in hand from those days proving this fact. As an example, after a knee chip at 2, Cox's Ridge raced for 14 weeks in the fall of 1977 at 3 when he won 8 of 9 starts in the East, seven stakes, four in New York with intervals of 15, 12,19, 15, 7, 14, 14, and 12 days between starts. Then after a short vacation and a move to Oaklawn Park, he won three of three, two of them stakes, with intervals of eight and 13 days before returning to N.Y. to win the grade 1 Metropolitan with 15 days rest.

Temperence Hill won the Belmont (Stakes) in his third start inside two weeks. Conquistador Cielo won the grade 1 Met Mile for Woody on a Monday and the grade 1 Belmont five days later. All normal racing patterns before the liberal use of Lasix. I could go on and on with this. 

Now trainers want six-plus weeks between starts in order to "recover" from Lasix use. I doubt the jugs administered just after running can restore what's been taken from these athletes that is unknown to science.  

It's clear to me that since the era of limited race day meds to today's overuse of the same, much has changed and none of it is good for owners, horses, or racing. You'll have to show me how the abundant use of medication has improved either racing or it's public image."

John Ed Anthony 

President, Shortleaf Stable