Cobalt – a sorry saga or simply stupidity?

Let’s start with what cobalt does to a horse’s physiology. Like excessive levels of EPO in humans, excessive levels of cobalt in horses have an effect on the blood system by increasing the number of red blood cells and haemoglobin, and therefore the capacity of the horse to carry oxygen throughout its’ body. That allows the horse to maintain peak performance for longer periods of time than it would otherwise be able to do. Pretty straightforward, really. Give the horse a cobalt supplement and it will run fast for longer. No problem, and cobalt supplements are readily available, so why not use them?

Well, there is a problem, actually.

Cobalt supplements, when used to increase a horse’s red cell count to an excessive level, also work to reduce the horse’s long-term health by damaging its’ cardio-vascular system, thyroid, nervous system and blood viscosity. Reputable veterinarians will tell you that a horse can only manage about 5 runs on cobalt before the damage happens. No more horse, or rather, no more speed boost.

That makes using cobalt supplements to excess, to a level that has the required effect, is simply unethical and immoral. Unethical because it is just cheating, immoral because it is animal abuse.

But it isn’t as simple as that, and it isn’t as simple a situation as the stewards’ panels would have us believe.

The thing is that cobalt is a naturally occurring trace element that may normally be present in horses as a result of their normal diet. Some feedstuffs contain cobalt in trace amounts, and there’s no way to avoid that. But I’ve yet to see a nutritional chart on a horse feed bag of any brand that tells me how much cobalt is in the mix, and that means that, unless I test my horses for cobalt, I haven’t a clue whether my horses are over the limit set by the stewards. And that limit is very low – it was 200 micrograms per litre of urine, and is now 100 micrograms per litre of urine. To put that into perspective, the sample taken from Lidari that led to Peter Moody’s suspension contained 380 micrograms per litre. It’s questionable whether that level could have been reached by a horse on a normal, unsupplemented diet. It’s equally questionable whether Moody actually administered a known cobalt supplement. It is certainly possible that another dietary aid could have been used and the trainer was totally unaware that cobalt was part of it. Check it out by looking for the level of detail that would make a trainer aware of the constituents of animal feed products on any packaging from any manufacturer. You simply won’t find it.

It’s easy to see the problem by looking at the numbers of trainers who have been “pinged” for cobalt use in the past year or so. That number is well in to double figures now. Surely, if the problem of cobalt contamination was easy to manage, a person whose livelihood depended upon managing that particular issue, wouldn’t be wanting to run the risk of getting caught in the gunsights!

When cobalt use first hit the headlines in the USA, test levels were running at over 600 micrograms per litre, and that’s a level that could only be reached by over-using cobalt supplements. It’s also significantly higher than the level that got Peter Moody into strife, and significantly higher than any levels detected in Australian racing.

What that tells us is that there may well be an over-reaction to the problem. I’ve yet to see any research substantiating the 100 micrograms per litre threshold set by the stewards. I’ve yet to see any comment from the stewards about requiring supplement manufacturers, or feed manufacturers, to provide a comprehensive listing of trace elements on their packaging that would give trainers a clear understanding of how they can manage the demands of the cobalt rule. I’ve yet to hear stewards say that any and all cobalt supplements are banned. Instead we get weasel words like these:

 

 

The threshold has been set at a level to allow for normal levels of cobalt supplementation through routine nutritional sources. However, trainers are advised that the administration, particularly by injection and on mutliple occasions, of certain registered vitamin supplements close to racing may result in a level of cobalt in a subsequent sample that exceeds this threshold.

Trainers are therefore advised to avoid the use of these supplements close to racing.

 

To my mind, racing authorities have to do more to help the trainers. There should be requirements for nutritional lists on horse feeds and supplements. There should be more specific advice to trainers as to which supplements are problematical and which aren’t. There should not be the existing grey area where trainers are the only ones expected to take the responsibility.

 

Quite frankly, I’d far rather see less money invested on a risky concept like The Everest and more money invested in the people who make the industry work and in making the Rules of Racing more realistic. Either that, or ban all supplements – and that will never happen!

 

So, fixing the cobalt saga needs two things:

  • substantiation by the authorities of whether the threshold under the Rules of Racing needs to be 100, 200, 300 micrograms per litre or what; and
  • a requirement on by the authorities on supplement manufacturers and feed manufacturers, to provide a comprehensive listing of trace elements on their packaging.

 

Until those things are in place, the situation is unfair on trainers, and the sorry saga will continue. And to continue would be simply stupid!

By Rob Young

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