VA-BRED A LITTLE WARM OUT OF PREAKNESS

(By Nick Hahn)

A small nugget of graded stakes earnings kept Virginia-bred A Little Warm (shown here with shadow roll winning the Spectacular Bid Stakes) out of the Kentucky Derby. Now a small amount of bleeding will keep A Little Warm out of the Preakness after a Monday morning work. Before being scoped, he worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 at Delaware Park for trainer Tony Dutrow. (photo-Coglianese Photos)

"He worked fine, but he just didn't scope out good. We're going to have to withdraw him from consideration from the Preakness. We just have to get him well, and hopefully he'll be able to get back to racing in 30 days or so," said Spring Hill Farm manager Chris Baker.

Horsemen working with Thoroughbreds deal with bleeding (exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage or EIPH) issues on a daily basis. Bleeding is a term that refers to a condition caused when lung capillaries of horses burst during heavy exercise. Bleeding is common in many horses when they undertake intense exercise, whether it is on the track, pulling loads or playing polo.

The condition is usually treated with a diuretic such as a furosemide (an example being what was formerly known as Lasix). When most horses bleed, there is no external presence from the nostrils. A Japanese study found that only 0.15% (369 of 251,609 race starts) resulted in horses shedding blood from their nostrils. Other studies put the figure between 1% and 2%.

Bleeding is more present in the windpipe or trachea, (some believe at a rate exceeding 50%). It is discovered when a horse is "scoped" which means having their windpipes endoscopically examined. Studies suggest that mild bleeding likely has minimal or no effect on performance other than some horses don't like to run with the taste of blood in their throat.

Severe bleeding can impair oxygen intake by flooding airways and can impact performance. There is no cure for bleeding, but it is managed with medication as noted above.

For more information about bleeding, click here.