A baby step toward progress was how organizers described the two-day International Race Day Medication Summit held June 13-14 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

However, no recommendations came out of the industry conference created to educate industry leaders here and abroad about the use of the anti-bleeder medication furosemide in the United States. The U.S. is the only racing jurisdiction in the world that allows race-day use of furosemide, known by the brand name Salix.

"The summit represents a new beginning and a new opportunity to begin a journey," said Scott Palmer, VMD, racing committee chairman for the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP). "I sensed a spirit of consensus that our problems are real and medication is one of them. A number of options were proposed and evaluated. We have the opportunity to use this summit as a springboard to develop actions to address these issues."

The AAEP pulled the summit together in cooperation with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC)