Jerry,

I know it isn't Lasix per se that makes a trainer move a horse up. But the horses and horsemen started scattering when they changed the med rule from 10cc of Lasix and all the anti-inflammatories you can find to 5cc of Lasix and no anti-inflammatories on race day. Miller, O'Neill, Hollendorfer, Mullins all took some of their horses elsewhere right away.

(That's right when Miller quit winning although he had a huge blowout win at CD at 12-1 this week to get some spending cash)

I think the higher Lasix dose and anti-inflammatories loaded up allowed whatever illicit pain killers or performance enhancers to be masked, diluted, go undetected, etc. You have stated that you haven't heard about masking in a few years. This is where you and I disagree though. The fact is clear that TSG changed the rule and horsemen and horses scattered like rats seeing sunshine for the first time in their lives. Surely the stricter drug rules were why they ran away, no?? And if so, isn't it logical to believe that whatever the super high percentage trainer was doing was necessitated on the 10cc Lasix and anti-inflammatories on race day to implement his "program" (that's what all these trainers call it) without being detected???

I'm not necessarily against Lasix to prevent bleeding. We all know Lasix is a performance enhancer and some must think "More is better." But if 5cc or lower quantity accomplishes the goal of preventing bleeding then that's what the rule should be. And as I said previously, I haven't heard complaints about horses bleeding due to the rule change out there. Now if only there could be uniformity at all tracks on this and other fronts...……

As FrankD is apt to say, Nero fiddles...