Updated: Hidden Scroll Suffered EIPH On Saturday, Imprimis Did Not
Hidden Scroll wins an allowance race at Oaklawn on Jan. 24, 2021
Hidden Scroll, who pulled up after crossing the wire seventh in Saturday's Grade 3 Commonwealth Stakes, is one of few cases of epistaxis from exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) in Kentucky since the state implemented new furosemide administration rules in 2020. The Brad Cox trainee went off at odds of 2-1 for his first start without the race day medication, which is commonly known by its trade name of Lasix or Salix.
Kentucky began a partial phaseout of race day furosemide last year, beginning with 2-year-old races and expanding to include stakes races this year. The drug may now be given no closer than 24 hours before post time in those contests.
Dr. Bruce Howard, equine medical director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, confirmed that Hidden Scroll's case of epistaxis (visible bleeding from the nostrils) due to EIPH was the fourth case of verified bleeding on record since the state began its partial phaseout. There was one 2-year-old at Ellis Park and a 2-year-old at Churchill who were verified bleeders last year. This year, a stakes runner at Turfway was also a verified bleeder.
A frustrated Joe Orseno, who trains multiple graded stakes winner Imprimis, told media immediately after the horse's runner-up effort in the G2 Shakertown that he believed his horse also suffered from epistaxis due to EIPH. Orseno said he could see blood on the horse's nose at the finish, where he was just edged by Bound for Nowhere.
"You're not allowed to run on Lasix anymore," said Orseno. "They're taking the best horses in the country and they're penalizing them. My horse bled today, visibly. Blood coming out of his nose. How is that good for the public's perception of Lasix? Somebody needs to answer that question. It's not fair to take a horse like this and make 'em bleed. It's just not fair. I wish you'd print every word of that, because it's total bullshit.
"My horse didn't have to bleed. Let him run on Lasix ... I care about my horse and his physical condition."
Orseno pointed out that a bleeding event from EIPH can knock a horse off its training schedule.
"I was supposed to run him in two months, now it's going to be four," he said. "So I've got to tell the owners, forget the Jaipur, now maybe Saratoga, maybe not, because who knows. I don't know. You never know the damage it does to horses."
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The full interview, courtesy of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association's Jennie Rees, is available here, following comments from Bound for Nowhere trainer Wesley Ward:
Howard said that besides Hidden Scroll, there was one other incident on Saturday's card related to blood on a horse's nose, but it wasn't a result of EIPH.
"I think the other one which might have been commented on was a horse who broke through the starting gate before the start," said Howard. "It was examined and reloaded, and ran its race. Post-race, there was a small amount of blood noted in a nostril. The horse was examined in the test barn and a small abrasion or laceration was noted. The private veterinarian came and scoped the horse and there was no bleeding noted in the lower airways."
Imprimis broke through the starting gate before the start of the Shakertown.
Kentucky's commission voted unanimously for the partial furosemide phaseout in December 2019 and racetracks implemented house rules preventing the administration of furosemide less than 24 hours before a race for 2-year-olds beginning in spring 2020, as a stopgap until the new rule worked its way through legislative approval and became law. The Kentucky HBPA took the tracks and commission to court over the house rules and commission regulation changes. A judge ruled in favor of the tracks and commission in November 2020.
Kentucky does keep records of epistaxis events, and has also previously conducted post-race endoscopic examinations as part of a multi-jurisdiction study led by Washington State University which will compare results of post-race scopes on horses subject to different furosemide administration rules. Data collection in other jurisdictions is ongoing and the university is not expected to release results until analysis is complete. Howard was unable to comment on the outcome of scopes submitted from Kentucky.
For the commission's recordkeeping purposes, officials take note of bleeding from a horse's nose or mouth after the conclusion of a race and state veterinarians examine the horse to determine whether the blood is coming from the mouth (due to biting their tongue) or nose. If the blood is coming from the nose, they determine whether there is an abrasion or laceration present in the nose or whether the blood is coming from the airway. If the horse does seem to be bleeding from the airways, Howard said the stewards are notified and a note is made in the chart for that race.
Editor's note: This story and its headline originally reported that Hidden Scroll was the first case of verified bleeding on record in Kentucky since the state began its phaseout; Kentucky officials misunderstood a question by the Paulick Report and believed we were asking about verified cases at the current Keeneland meet only, where Hidden Scroll was the first case of epistaxis. The story has since been updated to reflect that Hidden Scroll is the fourth case of verified bleeding on record due to EIPH since the state began its phaseout last year. We regret the error.
