Kentucky horsemen are losing patience with a new policy that requires regulatory veterinarians to administer furosemide (commonly known as Salix) on race day after mistakes have led to horses being scratched on consecutive race days at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, this November.

On Nov. 11 stewards scratched Booby Prize from the 10th race at Churchill after the 3-year-old gelding mistakenly was given two pre-race Salix shots instead of one. On Nov. 14, the same problem occurred with 4-year-old gelding Outofsiteoutofmind, again necessitating a scratch. Booby Prize is trained by Michael Laurer for Penny Laurer, and Outofsiteoutofmind is trained by Phil Simms for Nelson McMakin.

The two scratches at Churchill follow two mistakes at the Keeneland Race Course, in Lexington, fall meeting, although those horses were allowed to race after an update to their Salix status was announced. Exothermic mistakenly received Salix when he was supposed to race without the diuretic and Infrattini was not administered pre-race Salix when he was supposed to receive it.

Following those errors, Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) equine medical director Mary Scollay, DVM, updated protocol, but errors have continued at the Churchill meeting