For the second year in a row, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's veterinarian's list shows that several Kentucky Derby contenders and one Kentucky Oaks contender will be making their start in the big races fresh off the veterinarian's list.
Brad Cox trainees Hit Show, Jace's Road, and Angel of Empire, as well as Todd Pletcher trainees Kingsbarns and likely favorite Forte, are all on the list with on dates of April 22 and pre-determined “off” dates on Derby Day. Keith Desormeaux trainee Confidence Game appeared on the list April 21 and has an off date of Oaks Day. Cox's Oaks entry, Wet Paint, went on the list April 21 and has an off date of Oaks Day also.
None of the trainers responded to inquiries from the Paulick Report about the reason for the horses' appearance on the list. When a similar query came up last year, KHRC officials indicated they could not provide details about the reason for a horse's appearance on the vet's list.
The most recent version of the veterinarian's list for Kentucky is available on the commission's website here. A version of the list dated April 24 included the Cox and Desormeaux horses, but not the Pletcher horses, who appeared on the May 4 version with the same on-date as Cox's Derby horses.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.“The list is added to almost daily as I receive treatment sheets,” said KHRC equine medical director Dr. Bruce Howard. “I post the updated version once a week. I was delayed in getting it posted due to a busy week. There may have been a gap due to treatments being reported outside the posting of one list and the second list.”
The veterinarian's list is used for a variety of regulatory purposes. When it's used to flag a horse veterinarians believe may have a soundness or medical issue, there is often not an “off date” listed. It also may be used to restrict a horse's ability to start for a set amount of time. An off date may be used if officials want to make sure a horse doesn't start in a race until after an approved therapeutic drug has cleared the system, or until another, more minor physical issue has had time to resolve. National regulations under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority call for the list to be used in the same way across the country as it has been for several years in Kentucky.
All horses are set to be on the list for two weeks before coming off. When we reported on a similar situation last year (which also included Pletcher trainees), those horses also had pre-determined off dates at two weeks. At that time, a spokeswoman for the commission indicated that intra-articular injections are one reason a horse may be prescribed a two-week waiting period on the veterinarian's list. A first-time bleeding incident is another.
Read our reporting on Derby vet's list appearances from 2022.
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