University of California-Davis | Horse Racing Free Tips

CHRB Advisory Warns ‘EPO’-Labelled Supplement Contains Caffeine

In an advisory issued to trainers just before Christmas, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) warned that caffeine had been detected in two supplements marketed to performance horses analyzed by the Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab at UC Davis.

“As such, Horsemen are advised to exercise extreme caution when using these products in close proximity to a race,” the advisory states.

Under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), caffeine is a Class B controlled substance, which comes with a possible 15-day suspension and $1,000 fine for a first offense.

The advisory shows pictures of two tubs of substances broadly labelled “EPO-Equine,” each labelled to sell for $525. EPO is the shortened version of Erythropoietin, a type of protein called a growth factor.

EPO stimulates the bone marrow to make red blood cells, which contain a protein called haemoglobin that carries oxygen around the body. As such, EPO is widely known as a performance enhancing substance.

When asked if EPO had also been detected in the two substances, CHRB equine medical director, Jeff Blea, simply said that “just caffeine” was detected.

The two substances, said Blea, were found during a barn search conducted at Los Alamitos. “It was not related to a caffeine positive,” he said, declining to say whose barn was searched.

“This one I think has been around for a long time,” said Blea, about the “EPO-Equine” product. “The caution is, be careful what you're giving your horses.”

When asked about the suggestive labelling, Blea said that he had called and emailed the company but didn't receive a response.

“It's all about marketing, right?” said Blea. “They're trying to sell a product.”

The post CHRB Advisory Warns ‘EPO’-Labelled Supplement Contains Caffeine appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

All Breeders’ Cup Samples Cleared; Assistant Starter Uninjured, Back To Work

All samples collected from 2021 Breeders' Cup horses have been cleared by the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California, Davis.

All horses competing in Breeders' Cup races Nov. 5 and Nov. 6 at Del Mar were tested for TCO2 levels in blood. Post-race testing was performed for prohibited drugs on the first four finishers in all Breeders' Cup races and any additional random horses selected by the stewards consistent with California Horse Racing Board protocol. Post-race testing was done on both blood and urine samples.

The Maddy Laboratory's standard protocols look for a wide variety of compounds of concern for racing integrity, such as anabolic steroids, beta2 (b2)agonists, selective androgen receptor modulators, erythropoietin, and other similar doping agents. All post-race samples were tested for cobalt. Routine testing in California exceeds national graded stakes testing standards. The Maddy Laboratory is accredited by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium and the only laboratory in the Western Hemisphere certified by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.

The Maddy Laboratory cleared TCO2 samples on 148 horses that competed in 14 Breeders' Cup races along with 69 horses that competed in other races on the two Breeders' Cup cards. The large fields were popular with the public, as the total all-sources common-pool handle for the two-day world championships was $182,908,409, a new record for the two-day event.

There were no equine fatalities in the races nor any observable injuries to the horses. Carl Woods, the assistant starter who was injured at the starting gate on November 5, informed the CHRB that he is fine and back to work.

Jockeys rode under extremely restrictive rules governing the use of the riding crop. Three jockeys (Florent Geroux, E. T. Baird, and Tom Eaves) violated those rules and received fines totaling $11,000. Two of those fines were $5,000, possibly the highest in North America for whipping violations. All jockeys were advised by the stewards prior to the races that the crop rules would be strictly enforced and that fines would be elevated.

All Breeders' Cup horses competed without the administration of furosemide, or Lasix.

The post All Breeders’ Cup Samples Cleared; Assistant Starter Uninjured, Back To Work appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

New California Veterinary Emergency Team To Coordinate Training, Response

University of California, Davis, leaders, veterinarians and California legislators unveiled on Tuesday a new emergency program to help rescue animals in disasters. Called the California Veterinary Emergency Team and administered by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, the program will support and train a network of government agencies, individuals and organizations to aid domestic animals and livestock during emergencies.

California is providing $3 million a year for the California Veterinary Emergency Team, under legislation authored by Sen. Steve Glazer and incorporated into the state budget recently signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The program will be modeled after the UC Davis-led Oiled Wildlife Care Network, created in 1994 to mobilize volunteers and professionals to rescue and treat shorebirds and other wildlife that are injured during oil spills.

“We want to create a robust, coordinated effort statewide to help animals during disasters,” said Michael Ziccardi, director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network and executive director of the One Health Institute. “The California Veterinary Emergency Team will bring together state and county agencies and organizations charged with emergency response to help them organize, train and adopt best practices.”

A primary goal of the new California Veterinary Emergency Team is to increase response capacity and help standardize disaster response across counties, bringing together disparate and fragmented groups. Currently, the California Animal Response Emergency System, or CARES, within the California Department of Food and Agriculture is charged with managing evacuation and care of animals during emergencies. They also work with community animal response teams and nonprofit organizations.

“Recent wildfires have overwhelmed the state's ability to safely evacuate and care for household animals and livestock,” Sen. Glazer said. “Twice in the past five years we have had to call on Texas to send an emergency team to assist. That puts not just animals at risk but also increases the danger for residents and first responders if people stay behind fire lines because they fear their animals will not be cared for. We need this new team to help train, coordinate and lead the hundreds of volunteers who are eager to help. Our goal is a team that is ready to respond anywhere in the state with a mobile command center, a clinic if necessary, and the veterinarians, equipment and medicine to get the job done.”

The California Veterinary Emergency Team would be available to mobilize response to disasters anywhere in California, operating under a memorandum of understanding with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the Office of Emergency Services. Between disasters, the team would recruit, train and drill volunteers, conduct research, and train veterinarians and veterinary students on best practices in shelter and emergency medicine.

UC Davis has provided leadership in veterinary disaster response through its Veterinary Emergency Response Team, Wildlife Disaster Network partnership formed with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and its Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital disaster patient care. UC Davis VERT and hospital teams typically triage, evaluate, treat and/or rescue more than 1,000 animals in the field in every fire. During the 2018 Camp Fire alone, the teams helped more than 1500 animals, including 70 that were brought in for treatment at the hospital.

“The funding of the California Veterinary Emergency Team provides unprecedented resources that will bring multiple partners across the state of California together to enhance recruitment, coordination, and training of volunteers, veterinarians and veterinary students in best practices in disaster response and sheltering of animals in disasters,” said Michael Lairmore, former dean and distinguished professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Lairmore said the university is committed to working with partners across the state to ensure that the California Veterinary Emergency Team program is successful. Developing the California Veterinary Emergency Team is expected to take some time. It's anticipated the program will be in an organizational phase during this fire season.

The post New California Veterinary Emergency Team To Coordinate Training, Response appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Eye Of The Tiger: Genetic Reason Behind ‘Tiger Eye’ Discovered

Equine eyes have evolved and adapted in very specific ways to allow the flight animals the best possible advantage. There are some changes to the eyes that aren't easily explained, like the creation of “tiger eyes” in Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses. “Tiger eye” refers to horse eyes that have yellow, amber or bright orange coloring.

Researchers at the University of California-Davis have discovered two genetic mutations responsible for the unusual eye color that is desired by Paso Fino breeders. The tiger eye trait is autosomal recessive, meaning one copy of the mutated gene must be inherited from each parent.

Most tiger-eyed horses have inherited two copies of the Tiger-eye 1 allele, but some have one copy of each mutation (Tiger-eye 1 and Tiger-eye 2). The researchers tested 196 related breeds and have not found the mutation in any other breed but the Puerto Rican Paso Fino.

UC-Davis now offers a genetic test for tiger eye. This test allows breeders desiring a tiger-eyed horse to strategically plan pairings.