Up to 60% of racehorses are doped, trainer warns during death spree

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Horse racing is facing accusations of widespread doping ahead of New York's most prestigious race – Saturday's Belmont Stakes – after a rash of deaths plunged the sport into crisis.

One industry veteran told The Post he feared up to 60% of thoroughbreds are drugged by trainers, while an animal advocate is calling for a "zero-tolerance" approach regarding race-related fatalities.

The flurry of deaths at the fabled Churchill Downs racetrack – including two during the undercard of last month's Kentucky Derby – continued last week at Belmont Park on Long Island when 6-year-old Chaysenbryn had to be euthanized on the track following a leg injury during Thursday's third race.

With the final leg of the Triple Crown Saturday, racing regulators insisted to The Post that necessary safety precautions were in place while dismissing allegations of widespread illegal doping as grossly exaggerated.

Churchill Downs on Friday temporarily suspended all operations for a "top-to-bottom" review of safety and surface procedures after 12 horses died at the Louisville racetrack since April 27, including seven in the week leading up to the May 6 Kentucky Derby.

But advocates are now demanding an "abundance of caution" at Saturday's high-profile, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, claiming yet another death could push an American pastime to its brink.

"Horses need to be scratched if there's any problems, the weather's got to be right and the track surface has to be in perfect order," Animal Wellness Action president Wayne Pacelle told The Post. "We cannot accept the idea that it's OK for healthy horses to be dying on tracks. We have to have a reset."

Pacelle said it was "difficult to unpack" the wave of horse deaths.

"And only a deep-dive… is going to give us more insight," he said while questioning the efficacy of moving the remainder of Churchill Downs’ spring meet to Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky.

Pacelle's warning is bolstered by Fred Hudson, a veteran standardbred trainer and CEO of the US Harness Racing Alumni Association, an organization closely related to thoroughbred racing.

Hudson said he found it extremely unlikely the spate of equine deaths was a fluke, claiming industry practices like shockwave therapy and joint injections to reduce pain and inflammation should be examined more closely.

"There's a lot of illegal drugs out there that are being used," Hudson told The Post, estimating between 40 and 60% of racehorses are doped. "And yes, that could weigh in as a factor. Nobody knows what they could be using except the person using them."

Banned substances like steroids to promote muscle growth, blood-doping agents to enhance oxygen-carrying capacity or stimulants to increase energy are among the likely culprits doled out to horses to maximize profit, Hudson said.

And Hudson, 68, believes erythropoietin is somehow linked to the fatalities since late April. The naturally-produced hormone stimulates red blood cell production and can be administered as a drug by veterinarians. EPO has also been abused by elite athletes, including disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Horses receive the prohibited substances via "milkshakes" consisting of baking soda, electrolytes and confectionary sugar pumped into their stomachs about four to six hours before races, Hudson said.

"The milkshakes, they’re going to delay fatigue," he continued. "That's going to make a horse just keep on going when if he got fatigued, he would stop."

Hudson said the fact vets had examined the horses before races suggested they were drugged: "Something's got to be masking the pain or making them look sound when they’re not."

The alleged widespread cheating has also infiltrated harness racing, Hudson said.

"I think a lot of the honest owners and trainers got forced into cheating because they couldn't compete with the cheats," he said. "They just can't compete against people that are cheating, and I hear it every single day."

One of the most well-known trainers caught up in doping, Bob Baffert, will be running a horse in the Belmont, just over two years after his Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby before being later disqualified for failing a post-race drug test.

The 3-year-old colt tested positive for betamethasone – an anti-inflammatory steroid – and Baffert unsuccessfully fought a 90-day suspension from the sport and a two-year ban from Churchill Downs. It later died of a heart attack.

Baffert's horse, National Treasure, won the Preakness Stakes in the controversial trainer's return to the Triple Crown circuit on May 20.

But Baffert's record eighth Preakness victory was tempered by seeing another of his 3-year-old colts, Havnameltdown, die hours earlier during an undercard race at Pimlico – one of at least 75 horses to perish in his care, according to PETA advocates.

Baffert's reps did not return a request for comment.

Meanwhile, Chaysenbryn – Thursday's Belmont fatality – had six wins in 25 career starts and was been trained by Rudy Rodriguez, who has had four horses die this year alone. The other three died at the Aqueduct track in Queens, according to the New York Gaming Commission's database.

Rodriguez served a suspension issued by the New York Gaming Commission for a drug violation in 2015.

Other factors could also be involved in the rash of deaths rocking horse racing, Pacelle told The Post.

"We know there are multiple variables when it comes to a breakdown," he said. "It could be a track surface problem, a breathing problem or the fact that they’re being pushed a little bit too hard."

Doping or simply pushing horses past their limits to take home mandatory purse payouts are also likely key factors in the cluster of prized racehorse fatalities, he added.

Lisa Lazarus of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which oversees safety in U.S. thoroughbred racing, dismissed Hudson's estimate of up to 60% of animals being doped as "wildly inflated" while saying horses won't be at risk at Belmont.

"The New York Racing Association does a really excellent job with their safety protocols, and we’ll obviously be paying a lot of attention to the races there and bringing in our layer of oversight," she said.

Although there's "definitely no smoking gun" linking the 12 Churchill Downs deaths to its racetrack surface, Lazarus said the temporary suspension best allows comprehensive investigations to continue. Investigators had not identified a likely cause of the "typically multifactorial" fatalities, she acknowledged.

"We don't have a theory," Lazarus said, adding that led to HISA's recommendation that Churchill Downs temporarily shut down. "So if we had a strong theory, we’d obviously be pursuing that remedy whatever it is."

Churchill Downs’ races have been moved to Ellis Park, where there will be new safety protocols, including post-entry screenings that analyze 30-day medical histories and the collection of blood and hair samples from all fatalities.

Dr. Alina Vale, an equine forensics specialist who analyzed a high-profile series of 21 horse deaths at California's Santa Ana Park in 2019, is also conducting an additional review of all necropsies performed on the 12 horses.

After delays due to lawsuits, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's new anti-doping and medication control program took effect in late May, replacing the patchwork network of regulations in 38 states with a centralized testing process and uniform penalties for violations. There will also be more out-of-competition screenings for banned substances than ever before, according to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

"We’re looking at everything," Lazarus told The Post of the ongoing effort to identify a cause, adding that the medical history of each horse will be carefully reviewed by veterinarians as they try to find answers to stave off the next tragedy.

"And I feel very confident that with all of this learning and all of this focus, we’re in a very good position for the Belmont."

With Post wires