Just days before the Breeders’ Cup board of directors conducted a vote on furosemide use at its 2013 world championships, prominent owners Gary and Mary West threatened litigation against the organization. Furosemide is a diuretic used to reduce the effects of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), also known as Salix or Lasix.

In a letter sent to Breeders’ Cup, an attorney said the Wests would be joined by other owners in filing a lawsuit if Breeders’ Cup moved forward with plans to prohibit race-day Salix at its world championships. The letter notes that Gary West had submitted several proposals to Breeders’ Cup regarding Salix policy at the event but West had not heard back from the organization.

While the impact of the threatened litigation is unknown, the board voted March 1 to keep the 2012 Salix policy in place for the 2013 races; that 2012 policy prohibits Salix use in races for 2-year-olds but allows it in the other championships events. The decision changes a plan Breeders’ Cup announced in 2011 to phase out Salix beginning with the 2-year-old races in 2012 and expanding to all races in 2013.

With the board deciding to keep race-day Salix restrictions in place only for juveniles for a second straight year, the Wests have not made a final decision on possible litigation, according to their attorney Ronald Zdrojeski