“Until you go to the Kentucky Derby with your own eyes, behold the Derby, you ain’t never been nowhere and you ain’t never seen nothing.”—Irving S. Cobb It was a Monday, the start of a new week, but this would go down as anything but a typical Monday. The day began with clear skies, the sun soon joining the multitudes flocking to Louisville’s newest racetrack, their journey presaging a day a century and a half hence. May 17, 1875, was something altogether bigger than a Monday: it was Derby day.
Month: February 2024
Sarah Delany to Leave Hospital, Long Road Ahead
Trainer Sarah Delany was scheduled to be released from a Houston, Texas hospital Tuesday after undergoing spinal surgery due to an injury suffered at Delta Downs Wednesday morning. Delany, who trains alongside her husband Benny Martinez, was injured Wednesday morning at Delta Downs when she was kicked by a horse in the back of her neck, according to family friend and client Brian Poppenberg. The local Lake Charles hospital sent her via CareFlight to Houston, where she underwent emergency surgery.
“This morning I spoke with her husband Benny, and she is being released to go home to today,” said Poppenberg via email to the TDN. “Benny has family that will be staying with Sarah 24/7 and a nurse will be at their home every other day, as she navigates the process of recovery. She is only able to walk, talk, sit, and sleep. In my conversation with Benny, and after talking to Sarah, he will continue taking care of the barn, with the help of some new hires to assist in everything Sarah does.”
A Gofundme page has been started for Delany to raise the needed funds for her care. Poppenberg said that Darley had offered a season to Mystic Guide to be auctioned off with all monies raised to go to Delany's care, and that details regarding that auction will be forthcoming.
“Huge thanks to them for stepping up,” said Poppenberg. “Please continue to help Sarah and Benny, through this long road.”
Sarah Delany's Gofundme page may be accessed here.
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Derby Future Wager 4 Opens Friday
The Pool 4 future wager for the GI Kentucky Derby will open Friday and will close Sunday. The 39 individual 3-year-olds listed in the future wager field are led by Grade I winner Locked (Gun Runner), who is 10-1 on the morning line. “All other 3-year-olds” is the wager's 2-1 morning-line favorite.
The fourth of six future wagers opens at noon ET Friday and closes at 6 p.m. Sunday. Click here for the complete field.
Other future wager dates are set for Mar. 15-17 and Apr. 4-6. The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 5.
The post Derby Future Wager 4 Opens Friday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Letter to the Editor: Detection of Banned Drugs in Horses
As a Clinical Pharmacologist (human) and an avid horse player, I have grown tired of these instances of biologic samples from horses having banned substances found and the “interesting” explanations as to how the exposure happened. One recent example was a story of a horse in which three samples of blood had metformin (a drug used to treat type II diabetes in humans) detected. The explanation was that a groom and later the trainer was taking metformin and “touched the horse's face.”
This explanation is questionable from a clinical pharmacology standpoint. Metformin for human use is a film coated tablet (coated with a polymer). Unless the individual taking the tablet crushes or chews it (and puts a finger in the mouth), handling the film coated tablet does not transfer metformin to the hands. Additionally, published data shows that the amount of metformin absorbed from an oral dose in a horse ranges from 3.9-7.1% (fed vs fasted state) which is minuscule. Finally, the suggested dose of metformin in horses for approved use is 15 mg/kg (7.5 grams in a 500 kg horse) versus a usual 500 mg dose in a human. Thus, horse exposure from a human dose (by rubbing the face) or even putting a finger/hand in the horse's mouth would be quite a stretch of science.
This story is not the only one that TDN readers have seen over time. We have been subjected to stories of a horse with detectable betamethasone in his blood supposedly not from an intraarticular injection but due to use of a topical product, a horse with dextromethorphan in the blood due to a groom using a cough syrup and urinating in the stall and many other stories. These explanations stretch the science of clinical pharmacology to unreasonable levels.
I'd like to offer my human-based clinical pharmacology expertise to HISA/HIWU to “solve” these human-based inaccurate explanations in terms of horse exposures to banned drugs, gratis.
Horse racing is a great sport with a long tradition. Unfortunately, stories of horses having banned substances (no matter how low the exposure) is a negative for a sport where interest at least in the USA is declining and groups like PETA show up to protest at large racing venues putting more negative attention to the sport. But, worst of all, use of banned substances is bad for the horses and aren't the horses our primary interest/concern?
Sincerely,
Joseph S. Bertino Jr., PharmD, FCP, FCCP
Guilderland, New York
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