Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

An Update on Milkshaking & TCO2 Testing

by Kimberly Rinker
This article appeared in the June 1, 2005 edition of Horsemen & Fair World

"Milkshaking" continues to be one of the most controversial subjects within the Standardbred industry after first being recognized as a problem in the late 1980s.
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The autoanalizer, blood gas machine or "black box" was first used to detect TCO2 (total carbon dioxide) loading on the North American harness scene in Illinois in the early 1990s, as well as in Ontario, New Jersey, Florida, Australia and New Zealand. In the past year the tube and soda issue has become a worried subject for thoroughbred horsemen nation-wide as well. Throughout North America various racing jurisdictions have taken steps to better monitor horse’s TCO2 levels and have gone on to increase penalties for violations.

An outsider might think, why all the fuss on something as simple as a box of sodium bicarbonate? The bottom line is that baking soda—in its purest form—works. Horses, like human athletes, when given specific amounts of baking soda prior to a race don’t get as tired and have less muscle soreness during and after an event. That’s because baking soda is an alkalinizing agent—and alkalization delays the onset of fatigue through the neutralization of lactic acid. Lactic Acid is produced in the muscles of both equines and humans, and builds up during exercise and stress. Thus, if you stop the build up of lactic acid, you stop the fatigue and muscle soreness.

Though testing procedures did not become a mainstay in harness racing until the 1990s, there is evidence to suggest that milkshaking was happening in North America and Down Under as early as 1987. Eliot "Doc" Narotsky, Maywood Park Racing Secretary was at the forefront of the milkshake investigation and testing procedures in the United States.

"From 1991 to 1997 at Maywood and Sportsman’s Parks, we tested every horse in every race for those years," Doc recalled. "We never had a high test that we weren’t able to get to the bottom of. If the trainer couldn’t explain why his or her horse had a high test, we were able to go back to animal’s previous test to compare levels."

Doc maintained a database of all the horses that raced at both tracks and their tests, and tracked the results. He also worked closely with Dr. Kevin Kline at the University of Illinois.
"Although Dr. Kline did have one horse (a retired broodmare) that maintained a high level state, I believe that a fit Standardbred at rest will show normal levels and will not—on their own—show high levels," Doc said. "When we first began testing, we believed that 33 to 34 was a normal range, with 35 being high. If a horseman was close to the high end of a normal range, we addressed that issue with he or her. As of 2005, we now consider 37 to be a high, and 39 for a horse that is on Lasix."

Studies have shown that TCO2 levels in a horse’s system will not deviate from their normal range unless the diet of the horse is altered.

"I do believe that there are trainers out there trying to keep their horses high, some for the right reasons, and some that are just plain crooks," Doc said. "For instance, if a trainer has a horse that is prone to tying up, it is natural that the trainer would want to put the horse on a high alkaline diet, such as putting baking soda in the water and using a high concentration of electrolytes on a daily basis. This type of program doesn’t necessarily mean that a trainer is trying to be dishonest. However, there are definitely those trainers out there who use baking soda and other alkalizing agents to gain an advantage. It seems that no matter what, the crooks are always ahead of the scientists, laboratories and researchers."

Studies have shown that a horse on pasture can have a normal TCO2 level of anywhere from 26 to 32. If the same horse is brought in to a controlled environment and is fed commercial feed along with processed hay or hay cubes, his levels tend to rise slightly from 27 to 33. Obviously, a horse in a racing or racetrack environment would be affected even more under normal circumstances. A higher protein feed, additives and daily supplements could theoretically raise levels another point or two. Also, one must take into account the horse’s training regime, and whether or not the horse is stabled at a farm, training center or racetrack, accounting for a variety of stress levels. As well, it is widely whispered among horsemen—though few will admit it publicly—that they believe that many of the most successful trainers in North American have their own "black boxes" at their disposal.

"It doesn’t surprise me that trainers would have their own black boxes," Doc said. "An awful lot of trainers want the ‘edge.’ If the limit is high, and you don’t want your horse to go over that limit, and that near-limit gives you the advantage you’re looking for, well, then that trainer needs to be as accurate as possible in the amount of prohibited substance given to the horse."

"The levels now that were raised (from 35 to 37 without Lasix) was just an invitation to add a few more ounces of soda," Doc noted. "It allows for a greater margin of error."

And who suffers the most from this margin of error? Without of a doubt of course, the horse, who has no say-so in the administration of any substance. And of course, there’s the often-forgotten wagering public, who is not privy to this information.

When milkshaking goes wrong, it goes very wrong. The most obvious problem occurs when a horse drowns from the incorrect insertion of a tube. As well, some horse’s systems are just not able to hand the bicarbonate overload on their systems. Pound for pound, horses have more body cavity pressure on their hearts than any other animal. If the horse’s system cannot handle the bicarbonate overload, it puts a great deal of stress on the heart and cardiovascular system, with often-disastrous results.

"The year before we started testing, in 1990, we had two horses drop dead in a race (the same race) at Maywood Park from apparent heart attacks," Doc recalled. "The state did an autopsy on both horses and found their stomachs to be full of baking soda."

While the test for milkshaking has remained basically unchanged over the years, the type of alkalinizing agents utilized for the process has evolved.

"Essentially the test is the same," Doc said. "The instruments are better—but in comparison with standard drug testing, which is much more sophisticated, there has been little variance in the TCO2 test. However, I think the crooks have evolved in their ways of using alkalizing agents. I’ve heard that everything from Tums and other forms of calcium carbonate are being used. Again, the crooks are always way ahead of us. The only way to have everyone on a level playing field is to have zero tolerance for offenders."

In 2004 the Illinois Racing Board Laboratory uncovered nine TCO2 overages from 11,721 Standardbreds samples tested and none from 3,678 thoroughbred samples tested. Compare this with nine Lasix violations found in thoroughbreds and only two in harness horses tested. As well, the IRB found 12 thoroughbreds who tested positive for prohibited drugs and 119 bute overages, while only seven Standardbreds tested positive for prohibited drugs, with 78 bute violations. What these figures say is that while 17,610 Standardbreds were tested in 2004 compared with 7,275 thoroughbreds who were tested, harness racing still had fewer violations overall despite being tested two and a half times more than the runners. There were 374 harness dates in 2004 and 311 thoroughbred dates.

"I don’t think that milkshaking just started in 2005 in the thoroughbred industry," Doc noted. "It’s obviously been going on for some time in their world as well. It’s just that the honest people in the harness industry recognized the problem long before the honest people did the same in the thoroughbred industry. Clearly, other racing jurisdictions such as Kentucky and California are on the right track with their proposed rules."

Perhaps one of the reasons that bicarbonate overloading in the thoroughbred industry took longer to get noticed is the fact that the thoroughbreds don’t race set distances as is commonplace in harness racing. Studies have shown that in sprint racing the build up of lactic acid is not as pronounced and has less or little affect. Add to the equation a distinct difference in training methods between thoroughbreds and Standardbreds.

Another issue with TCO2 testing is the funding to do so. However, despite the costs, the New York Racing Association instituted pre and post-race TCO2 tests at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga in mid-February. Likewise, on the West Coast, veterinarians at Santa Anita have been testing horses during the winter/spring meeting. In the Midwest, Keeneland implemented tests and violations for the first time in their recent spring meet (April 8-29). Florida’s Gulfstream Park has followed suit as well.

In Illinois, at the April 12 meeting of the IRB, Dr. David Fitzpatrick, DVM reported on the results of his tests of Lasix and TCO2 increases. Dr. Fitzpatrick stated that there was a noticed increase in TCO2 levels when lasix was given in doses higher than 5cc. It was upon these findings that the IRB changed their procedures back to post-race TCO2 tests for winners and one random horse (known as the "special").

"Post-race testing was the only option—the only way to go when lasix horses are getting 10ccs," IHHA President Tony Morgan said. "Everyone involved is very confident in the new lab’s ability to accurately test, and with a horse getting that amount lasix, there really is no other viable option than post race testing, since the amount of lasix has a significant effect on TCO2 readings."

It has been just over a year (March 12, 2004) that pre-race TCO2 testing—and stiffer penalties for overages—was initiated in Illinois. As well, the IRB turned over all testing procedures to the University of Illinois at Chicago in July 2004. With the IRB’s most recent decision a few weeks ago, selected horses are now subject to a 90-minute post-race detention, but the previous five-hour pre-race detention was knocked down to a four-hour pre-race detention. These new rules took effect on April 16, 2005.