One of the three witnesses testified August 25 on the fourth day of the appeal hearing regarding the disqualification Medina Spirit from 2021 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), longtime prescribed veterinarian Dr Mary Scollay has criticized the vet’s practice in prescribing betamethasone-containing ointments for treatment. Medina Spirit leads the race.
Speaking before the hearing officer Clay Patrick, who is presiding over Frankfort, Ky. testified that treatment with Otomax antifungal cream was “problematic” for the Zedan Racing Stables Medina Spirit. Trainer Bob Baffert claimed that treatment of that cream to treat a skin condition on the foal’s hind legs led to the horse’s disqualification at Derby for testing positive for betamethasone, a corticosteroid
For several violations that culminated in the Derby, Kentucky managers fined Baffert $7,500 and suspended him for 90 days from the date he served this spring and summer after he must not stay pending an appeal.
Prior to joining RMTC, Scollay served as KHRC’s equine medical director from 2008-19.
She testified that according to California Horse Racing Board treatment documents, California-based Baffert veterinarian Dr Vince Baker prescribed Otomax on April 9, 2021 and on May 19. 4, 2021, when the foal prepares to start in the Derby at Churchill Downs in early May of that year.
Among other ingredients, Otomax contains betamethasone valerate, which Baffert’s legal team insists is not specifically banned by the KHRC, in contrast to betamethasone acetate, the betamethasone used in joint injections, the typical way horses receive the substance. Anti-inflammatory.
The KHRC considers the route of administration to be irrelevant. The ambiguous language in the KHRC rules is one of the notable areas where Baffert’s legal team is struggling with its appeal.
Otomax is not FDA approved for use in horses. Horses can be treated with off-label medications, but veterinarians are legally required to record and obtain client consent before dispensing or using off-label medication , Scollay testified.
Reporting records in California, where Baker prescribes the drug, record limited details, she said. No indication of fungal testing or some other treatment was found in the CHRB literature. Furthermore, no information was provided on size, volume of distribution and treatment guidelines, she testified. She continued: “The Veterinary Practices Act requires veterinarians to maintain and keep records.
She suggests that if Medina Spirit is having a fungal problem, products containing clotrimazole strictly could be chosen to treat ponies without the risk of using betamethasone, which is not approved for use in the rearing system. horses in Kentucky on race day. According to groom Rolando Cruz, he applied Otomax to Medina Spirit for a number of weeks last spring, up until the day before the Kentucky Derby.
Scollay said betamethasone is administered because it is a “strong anti-inflammatory” with the ability to “mask the wound, the inflammation”. Anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed as “a matter of welfare to ensure the horse’s condition is not masked or misrepresented to harm the horse,” she testified.
Zedan Racing Stables attorney Clark Brewster questioned Scollay’s critique during the cross-examination, noting that she had never been a racing vet during her long career. mine.
“Horse medicine is horse medicine,” she replied at one stage.
Brewster also asked her about betamethasone not being allowed at any detectable level, referring to the prevalence of corticosteroids in many FDA-approved drugs for both humans and animals, some with different or high thresholds. than betamethasone.
“I believe that most violations are the result of error, not intentional,” Scollay said during the cross-examination.
Although she admits betamethasone has medicinal uses, “I often say that it can be used without treatment,” she says.
Attorneys Luke Morgan and Jennifer Wolsing, representing KHRC, did not acknowledge Otomax as the only potential route of betamethasone administration.
Earlier Thursday, they phoned Dr. Scott Stanley, a professor at the University of Kentucky and a trial expert who criticized the findings of Dr. George Maylin, director of the Research and Experimental Laboratory. New York Horse Drug Test. After testing Medina Spirit’s blood last year, Maylin concluded that he had found the ingredients found in Otomax.
“I don’t believe the data definitively conclude that,” Stanley said of his assessment of Maylin’s study.
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