January, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Grade I Winner, New York Stallion Frost Giant Dies

Grade I winner and longtime New York sire Frost Giant (Giant's Causeway–Takesmybreathaway, by Gone West) was euthanized from complications of laminitis Monday and buried not far from his paddock and barn at ReRun, Inc., a Thoroughbred retraining and adoption organization in East Greenbush, NY. He was 19 years old.

Bought by Coolmore for $600,000 at Keeneland September in 2004, the chestnut started his career in Europe with Aidan O'Brien, winning the G3 Killavullan S. as a juvenile and the G3 Kilternan S. the following year. He eventually was moved to the U.S., where he raced for various partnerships that included IEAH Stables, Andrew Cohen, Sanford Robbins, Pegasus Holdings Group. He reached his career pinnacle in 2008, pulling a 40-1 shocker in the GI Suburban S. for trainer Rick Dutrow and jockey Rudy Rodriguez. He entered stud in 2009 at Empire Stud in New York and later stood at Vinery, Keane Stud and Irish Hill Century Farms before being pensioned last January.

“If I was in the barn and shouted at him, he would always call back,” said Lisa Molloy, executive director of ReRun. “He would give you a run for his money, always want to jack with everybody. But not a mean bone in him though. He just liked to kind of spice life up a bit. He was a rock star. I'm pleased he came into our lives. I really, really enjoyed having him. It just sucks. I was hoping we'd have a little longer with Frosty, but once the spark had gone out you know that it was it.”

Frost Giant has sired 244 winners, 19 stakes winners and the earners of $22,537,016 in 12 crops. His most successful progeny is Giant Expectations, a multiple graded stakes winner who banked over $1.3 million in his racing career. He also sired Australian Group 2 winner and millionaire Valour Road.

The post Grade I Winner, New York Stallion Frost Giant Dies appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Robin Goodfellow’s Racing Tips: Best bets for Thursday, January 13

Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow dishes out his tips for Thursday's meetings at Catterick, Bangor-on-Dee, Newcastle and Chelmsford City.

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Citing Pandemic, Defense Asks for Delay in Doping Trial

Attorneys for Seth Fishman and Lisa Giannelli, the first two defendants scheduled to face trial on Jan. 19 in the years-long alleged international horse doping conspiracy, Wednesday asked the judge in the case to delay the trial over concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a highly-redacted document filed Jan. 12 in the United States District Court (Southern District of New York), Fishman's attorney, Maurice Sercarz, wrote that he and Giannelli's lawyer “respectfully submit that the present trial should be adjourned until there has been a substantial reduction in the prevalence of this variant of the virus.”

Fishman, a Florida veterinarian, is charged with two felony counts related to drug alteration, misbranding, and conspiring to defraud the government. Giannelli faces a related charge that has to do with an online business called Equestology that was closely tied to Fishman's venture.

A footnote within the request is the most substantial part of the document that survived redaction.

It states that conducting a “trial before masked jurors implicates the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel from gauging jurors' facial reactions to questions and arguments counsel may advance and tailoring them accordingly.

“Insofar as the pandemic will reduce or eliminate the number of unvaccinated individuals available for jury service-and to the extent it disproportionately cognizable groups like the elderly and people of color-forcing a trial under these conditions may also implicate Dr. Fishman's right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community. The former prospect is especially fraught in a case instigated by the Food and Drug Administration.

“Finally, significant disruptions may ensue should key trial participants contract an infection [redacted] or another participant, creating substantial trail management problems and risking potential mistrial,” the footnote states.

The post Citing Pandemic, Defense Asks for Delay in Doping Trial appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Pros And Cons Of Antibiotic Injections In Equine Joints

Because of the finesse with which equine veterinarians inject medications into joints, the procedure can appear uncomplicated. While injecting joints with antibiotics can help clear infections, the procedure is not without risks. Veterinarians must therefore consider a number of important factors before moving forward with intra-articular antibiotic therapies.

Managing Osteoarthritis

Medicating joints with corticosteroids, polysulfated glycosaminoglycans, or hyaluronic acid is commonplace in equine sports medicine. Intra-articular injection is often used in conjunction with other modalities, including oral joint health supplements. Oral products decrease inflammation and improve mobility, boosting the overall health of joints. Examples of appropriate products include high-quality supplements that contain proprietary combinations of glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, MSM, and hyaluronic acid.

According to a recent review of intra-articular antibiotic use, 78 percent of veterinarians use intra-articular antibiotics in combination with other medications.^* By adding an antibiotic, often amikacin, to corticosteroid or polysulfated glycosaminoglycan, veterinarians hope to sidestep the development of a septic joint.

Considering the low risk of infection following joint injections, the question then becomes whether or not veterinarians should use prophylactic antibiotics. Moreover, because intra-articular antibiotics are used “off-label,” no researched guidelines for appropriate intra-articular use exist.

Prophylactic intra-articular antibiotic use therefore has two major ramifications:

Veterinarians may administer an excessively high dose. “According to some evidence, antibiotics like amikacin have toxic effects on cartilage cells and other joint tissues,” said Peter Huntington, B.V.Sc., M.A.C.V.Sc., director of nutrition at Kentucky Equine Research.
Unnecessary use of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic resistance. “With few new antibiotics in development and growing multidrug resistance to currently available medication, revisiting the practice of prophylactic antibiotic use in horses may be warranted,” Huntington added.

These concerns associated with intra-articular antibiotic administration supports alternative strategies for maintaining joint health.

Managing Septic Joints

Intra-articular antibiotics are indispensable in the face of a septic joint because direct administration into the joint can achieve high local drug concentrations. If, on the other hand, antibiotics are offered orally, high dosages would be needed for longer durations to achieve the same result as an intra-articular injection.

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“Systemic antibiotics, however, may be associated with important and potentially life-threatening side effects such as gastrointestinal disturbances that disrupt the microbiome. In the face of microbiome disarray, pathogenic bacteria may proliferate, altering immunity and increasing the risk of diarrhea or laminitis,” Huntington explained. When systemic antibiotics must be administered, gastrointestinal support in the form of research-proven supplements should be considered.

Local antibiotic delivery directly into a joint may also:

Improve owner compliance as injections do not rely on the owner administering the entire course of oral antibiotics;
Make treatment more affordable, as a systemic antibiotic maybe be cost prohibitive for an owner;
Shorten the course of treatment and improve outcomes; and
Result in high concentrations at the site of infection that may be particularly useful for fighting “floating biofilm,” which is an accumulation of microbes embedded within a self-produced extracellular matrix that helps protect the bacteria from antibiotics.

^*Pezzanite, L.M., D.A. Hendrickson, S. Dow, L. Chow, D. Krause, and L. Goodrich. 2021. Intra-articular administration of antibiotics in horses: Justifications, risks, reconsideration of use and outcomes. Equine Veterinary Journal:13502.