Michael,Socal,Deb,

Thanks for an interesting article and discussion. I excerpted this from a UCONN site, with an address too long to repeat, taken from a google search(in quotes at the end of this post).

As I'm sure you all know better than I, "shooting the joints" has been around a long time and usually used with reference to older "cripply" horses being dropped in price. I guess this is the stuff(hyaluronic acid) they've been using.

I appreciate Socal's reference to the player being "injected last" with appropriate info. After a long struggle with a "hijacked browser" and malware, a friend finally got my computer " cleaned" of it over the weekend. I asked him if the "geniuses" who design this garbage ever get caught? He told me that nothing they do is against the law. I'm sure that's true, but it seems crazy that their uninvited intrusion onto my equipment isn't accompanied by an announcement of some sort.

The substances Allday, Pletcher, Dutrow et al, are using may not be technically prohibited, but as Socal suggests, we are at least as entitled to know about them as baseball fans are, if not moreso. For whatever reason, the personal ethics of these guys seem to keep them from deliberately "stiffing" or sedating their horses, which is to their credit. That can't be said of all trainers. raz


"The backbone of the joint lubrication fluid is known as hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid itself is not absorbed when taken orally and therefore its use at this point is limited to an injectable form. There is no current evidence that hyaluronic acid is effective for the treatment osteoarthritis when given orally. The only proven and approved method of administration is by injection into the joint. Hyaluronic acid is injected directly into the knee in a series of three to five injections approximately one week apart. As it is injected into the knee, its onset of action is often immediate, however several studies have found that some individuals do not benefit from the injections until after the final injection.

Hyaluronic acid has been approved by the FDA. It can be administered only by a qualified provider in a series of injections as mentioned above. Most insurance companies are currently paying for these injections, after traditional and conservative measures have been attempted."