BIG BROWN'S REAL VICTORY

Maybe Big Brown's real victory will be getting stables to STOP drug abuse in the racing industry, not that I think they're doing it for humane reasons, but it is a step in the right direction.

Big Brown’s Owners Say Stable Will Go Steroid Free


By JOE DRAPE
Published: June 23, 2008
The owners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown, saying they want to lead the way to the elimination of performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing, announced Sunday that they would immediately begin withdrawing all steroids and any unnecessary medications from their horses.

Michael Iavarone, a co-president of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings, said that the more than 50 horses owned by his stable would be drug free by Oct. 1, and that he would pay for tests to be administered by state or track veterinarians before and after each of their races to prove it.

“I know Big Brown or any of our horses do not need this stuff to win,” he said. “I’m not worried about an uneven playing field, either. The cost of the drug tests are a small price to pay for the integrity of the sport. I’m urging other owners to join us, and let’s turn the game around.”

Iavarone said Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, backed the self-imposed ban on all medications perceived to be performance-enhancing. The stable’s horses will run on the legal antibleeding medication Lasix when necessary, however.

It was Dutrow who put steroids and performance-enhancing drugs front and center during Big Brown’s failed run for the Triple Crown this spring when he acknowledged that Big Brown had been receiving steroid injections in the months before the Derby. Dutrow later said that Big Brown had last received the drug on April 15.

Big Brown’s owners, known as I.E.A.H., also came under scrutiny when they said that they intended to create a $100 million horse fund that would operate like a hedge fund, then struck a deal to sell Big Brown’s breeding rights for about $60 million.

Last Thursday, a Congressional subcommittee lambasted the sport for lax drug policies, faulty breeding and an emphasis on greed over transparency in a hearing titled “Breeding, Drugs, and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Horseracing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse.”

One member after another told witnesses, who included owners, breeders and veterinarians, that if they did not clean up their sport, Congress would reopen the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1978, which provided the legal basis for wagering on horse races across state lines. Last year, such wagering accounted for 90 percent of the $15 billion wagered on thoroughbred races.

“I was moved by the hearing and I saw one witness after another say they wanted zero tolerance on drugs,” Iavarone said. “Someone has to take the first step. We want other owners to join us immediately. Racing can’t wait for state laws or house rules or Congress. What we have to get this done is the integrity of the people involved in the sport.”

I.E.A.H. has had some notable success on the racetrack in its few years of existence. So far in 2008, I.E.A.H. horses have won more than $5.7 million in purses and won at a 23 percent clip. They have also captured prestigious races in Dubai, where the rules against drug use are the most stringent in the world. In fact, Dutrow, in written testimony submitted to the subcommittee, cited his horses’ victories in two $1 million races there as evidence that his stable could thrive in a drug-free environment.

It was the on-track euthanization of the filly Eight Belles after she finished second in the Derby, and Dutrow’s admission that he injected Big Brown with the anabolic steroid Winstrol, that have fueled the Congressional and public scrutiny of horse racing.

Before the Belmont Stakes, Dutrow said he had taken Big Brown off Winstrol, last administering it in mid-April. When Big Brown was eased at the far turn and loped home in last place, his performance fueled speculation that the colt’s previous unbeaten record had been the result of drug use.

Beyond damaging Big Brown’s reputation, the stunning loss in the Belmont cost I.E.A.H. at least $50 million in the breeding shed and in future marketing deals, Iavarone said.

If Big Brown, a bay colt, never raced again, he might attract $40,000 to $75,000 for a breeding session versus the $100,000 to $200,000 he would have earned as a nobly defeated Triple Crown challenger or the 12th horse to sweep the series.

Iavarone said he was going to ask racetracks and Daily Racing Form to print in their programs that horses owned by I.E.A.H., and any owner who adopts the policy, be listed as drug free.

Iavarone also said that if any of his horses failed the drug test that I.E.A.H. intends to pay for, the company would return the purse money.

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