Racing to resume at Santa Anita, Golden Gate Fields after deal on Lasix

An agreement reached Saturday between The Stronach Group and the Thoroughbred Owners of California over the use of the medication Lasix will allow for racing to resume at Santa Anita and continue at Golden Gate Fields.

Santa Anita, which has been closed since March 3 because of the deaths of 22 horses, will take entries Tuesday for Friday’s program. Golden Gate Fields delayed taking entries for two days but now will take them Sunday for Thursday and Tuesday for Friday.

The major term of the agreement calls for phasing out the use of Lasix, a diuretic given to almost every horse on race day to control bleeding in the lungs.

Horses foaled in 2018 — which can begin competing in 2020 — and thereafter will race without Lasix. Horses currently racing or beginning to race this year will be able to use Lasix throughout their careers. The maximum amount of Lasix to be administered will be lowered from 10 cc to 5 cc.

The new rules apply only to Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields — the two California tracks owned by The Stronach Group. Officials of the summer fair circuit and Los Alamitos (Orange County) indicated they would continue to allow Lasix on all horses. It’s not known what Del Mar (San Diego County) will do.

Belinda Stronach, president of The Stronach Group, had proposed to eliminate the use of Lasix immediately in a letter released Thursday that addressed horse welfare.

“The particular circumstances we are facing right now is that Stronach was not going to reopen,” said TOC president and CEO Greg Avioli. “They were going to request the California Horse Racing Board to issue a rule to run without Lasix without the horsemen’s consent. There was legal precedent to get that done. That sort of media circus with no idea how the CHRB would rule was the...