Santa Anita to Test Horses for Excess Carbon Dioxide


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Sep 16, 6:33 PM (ET)

POMONA, Calif. (AP) - Santa Anita will be the first track in North America to test thoroughbreds for the use of alkalizing agents called milkshakes when its Oak Tree meeting opens Sept. 29.
The track's decision follows the California Horse Racing Board's vote Wednesday for a rule that would authorize stewards or the state veterinarian to select any horse entered in a race for testing of total carbon dioxide concentrations in its blood. The proposal now faces a 45-day public comment period.

Although carbon dioxide occurs naturally in horses, its presence at high levels would indicate it was illegally administered in an attempt to improve performance by neutralizing lactic acid that might otherwise cause fatigue.

A so-called milkshake of baking soda/bicarbonate compounds is inserted through a horse's nostrils into its stomach.

Ron Jensen, the state's equine medical director, said random surveying this spring at Hollywood Park and Northern California's Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows detected the presence of milkshakes in a small number of horses.


A survey at Del Mar found excessive carbon dioxide in the blood of 10 percent of the horses tested.

California has no rule prohibiting milkshakes, so trainers whose horses have tested positive for excessive carbon dioxide haven't been punished.

But all horses entered in races during the first week of Santa Anita's fall meeting will be tested for milkshakes, said Sherwood Chillingworth, executive vice president of Oak Tree Racing Association.

After that, there will be random checks of several horses each day, he said.

First-time violators would forfeit purse money won. A second violation could result in banishment from the track.

"We would like the racing board to adopt a policy making milkshaking illegal," Chillingworth said. "But for the time being we can do this on our own because we have the authority to allocate stalls to a trainer or deny them."