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Complete Confidence
Absolute Assurance.
That’s what you get when you buy a Stonestreet bred and raised yearling.
At Stonestreet Farm, our focus is breeding and raising the very best. We pride ourselves on a program that allows the adolescent to be a horse first and foremost. We believe nature is the best way to build strong bone and muscle and the develop the fastest horses.
It is why we developed an innovative blood sampling, testing and secure storage protocol in partnership with The University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center in 2019, and have continued in with our 2020 and 2021 yearlings. The program was developed in response to reports of off-label bisphosphonate use in growing horses. Combined with newly available post-sale testing offered by auction houses, buyers of a Stonestreet bred and raised yearling will have an opportunity to review a blood-health window of at least six months prior to their purchase.
It was a simple next step for us to take that will allow buyers to act with complete confidence. Stonestreet has never used any product prohibited by the conditions of sale, and we have never used any brand of bisphosphonate, or any growth promotant.
– Barbara Banke, Stonestreet Farm
Commencing in February of the yearling year, blood samples were drawn from each Stonestreet yearling on a regular schedule developed by Gluck using current bisphosphonate detection periods. These were drawn by a third-party veterinarian with experience handling samples within a regulatory environment who was hired by the Gluck Equine Research Center.
Sample collection was supervised by Dr. Scott Stanley, professor of analytical chemistry at the Gluck Equine Research Center, who ensured a strict chain-of-custody and authored documentation connecting each sample to the yearling from which it was taken.
Samples were stored and frozen in accordance with the normal regulatory laboratory standards established for pre- and post-race blood samples in a dedicated freezer. The samples were tested for bisphosphonates and growth promotants. The purchaser of any Stonestreet bred and raised yearling may request a report stating the test results for the individual that they purchased. At their own expense, they may also request testing for anabolic steroids and/or bisphosphonates on the blood samples which remain in secure storage at the Gluck Equine Research Center. Purchasers may request testing for up to 7 days following the fall of the hammer by completing the Request to Test form. Following completion of the secure storage period the blood samples will be donated to Gluck and used in research projects.
– Barbara Banke, Stonestreet Farm
The Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center is the only scientific institute in the United States with nearly all faculty conducting full-time research in equine health and diseases. Their mission is scientific discovery, education and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of the health and well-being of horses.
World renowned Dr. Scott Stanley is the professor of analytical chemistry where his focus is equine pharmacology and toxicology. At U.C. Davis, Stanley was the director of the Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. He modernized drug testing in California horse racing by introducing new, state-of-the-art instrumental drug testing equipment and procedures. His current research interests are related to drug testing methods for the detection of biopharmaceuticals, natural products and designer drugs.
This blood sampling, testing and secure storage protocol is just one more way we offer Stonestreet clients complete confidence and total transparency. We invite every farm to join us. Because breeding and raising the healthiest and strongest racehorses in the world is not only good for our business, it’s good for the sport.
If you have questions about the project, or have purchased a Stonestreet yearling in 2021 and wish to receive a copy of the report, please contact us at info@stonestreetfarms.com. If you purchased a Stonestreet bred and raised yearling in 2021 and wish to have the samples tested please download and complete this form.
To learn more about the project, watch this video.
What are bisphosphonates, and how do they work?…
By Dan Ross
In order to understand how bisphosphonates work, it’s important to know that bones are (or should be) in a continuous state of regrowth and renewal. This dynamic, adaptive process maintains the bone’s delicate balance of rigidity and flexibility.
In order to understand how bisphosphonates work, it’s important to know that bones are (or should be) in a continuous state of regrowth and renewal. This dynamic, adaptive process maintains the bone’s delicate balance of rigidity and flexibility. And at the crux of this process are cells called osteoclasts and osteoblasts.
Osteoclasts dissolve, break down and absorb–as part of a process called resorption–damaged or weakened bone tissue at the site of a fracture. Osteoblasts follow behind, adding new bone to fill and mineralize the holes left by the osteoclasts. This is the fundamental, on-going mechanism at play, from large fractures down to the microfractures sustained by horses and humans on a daily basis.“Every time you walk up the stairs, you’re going to get a microfracture somewhere in your body,” said California Horse Racing Board Executive Director Rick Arthur. “It might be a tiny little thing, but you’re going to go through that, and your body’s going to repair it.”
When it comes to degenerative bone diseases, bisphosphonates inhibit the work that osteoclasts do, thereby preventing the breakdown of bone tissue–a useful tool for tackling osteoporosis.
But problems may arise if bisphosphonates are used to treat, say, sesamoiditis in a yearling being prepared for the sales. While an X-ray may give the outward impression that the bone is healthy, in actual fact, the bone tissue could be made up of dead material that’s never cleaned away in the usual manner–what experts liken to a ticking time bomb, when that potentially compromised bone is put under the duress of training and racing.Bisphosphonates also appear to stunt healing. Veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage has been outspoken about the threats that these drugs pose to racehorse populations. In this article in the Paulick Report, Bramlage explains that fractures typically show improvement after only a couple of months. But in horses treated with bisphosphonates, original fractures are sometimes visible as much as 14 months after injury, he said.
On top of that, studies have shown that that, in cases where bisphosphonates have effectively treated lameness, it’s difficult to know just how much of the improvement was due to the drug’s pain-killing effect. Experts say analgesia post-treatment can last up to a couple of weeks.
Use in older horses…
Nevertheless, bisphosphonates can be of benefit, especially to older horses suffering navicular disease, back pain and osteoarthritis. California-based practicing veterinarian Ryan Carpenter said he uses the drug on horses only in light training, primarily on sore shins, and never close to a race, he said.
“If you use a small dose in a specific area extremely infrequently, I believe it’s a safe tool that we have in our tool box,” he said. But, “if you want to just start giving all horses bisphosphonates in systemic or full-body doses, I think you’re going to get into some serious trouble,” Carpenter added. “We’ve seen people who have done that, and they’ve regretted the decisions they’ve made.”
Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (“Stonestreet”) represents and warrants to the person or entity (each, a “Purchaser”) who purchases a yearling bred and raised by Stonestreet that Stonestreet offers for sale at any North American yearling public auction in 2020 (each, a “Yearling”) that the Yearling has not been administered bisphosphonates or anabolic steroids (collectively, the “Banned Substances”) while owned by Stonestreet.
Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (“Stonestreet”) represents and warrants to the person or entity (each, a “Purchaser”) who purchases a yearling bred and raised by Stonestreet that Stonestreet offers for sale at any North American yearling public auction in 2020 (each, a “Yearling”) that the Yearling has not been administered bisphosphonates or anabolic steroids (collectively, the “Banned Substances”) while owned by Stonestreet. The representation and warranty set forth is unique to Purchaser, shall be solely for the benefit of Purchaser and not for any subsequent purchaser or third party and may not be assigned. Blood samples drawn from the Yearlings while owned by Stonestreet (the “Samples”) will be stored by Gluck Equine Research Center (“Gluck”) during the period Purchaser is entitled to request a Test (as defined herein).Any request by a Purchaser to test the Samples of a Yearling (each, a “Test”) shall be made directly to Stonestreet within seven days from Purchaser’s purchase of the Yearling and shall be accompanied by a completed and executed Request to Test Sample that may be obtained by contacting Stonestreet. Any Test shall be conducted solely and exclusively by Gluck, for the benefit of and at the sole cost and expense of Purchaser. Any Test shall be limited solely to a test of the Samples for the presence of any of the Banned Substances and not for any other substances or purposes. Purchaser shall have no right, title, or interest in or to the Sample or any right to possess the Samples, to remove the Samples from Gluck, to have the Samples retested following the Test, to request a split sample of the Sample, or to have any other tests performed on the Sample.
If a Test concludes that the Banned Substances were administered to the Yearling while owned by Stonestreet, Purchaser may return the Yearling to Stonestreet and Stonestreet shall refund the purchase price paid for the Yearling without interest. This is the sole and exclusive remedy of Purchaser.
Stonestreet makes no representation or warranty with respect to, and Stonestreet shall not be liable for, the condition or quality of any Sample, any destruction of, damage to, or misuse of the Sample, any improper testing, freezing, maintenance, storage, withdrawal or thawing of the Sample, or any contamination of the Sample. Stonestreet shall not be liable for any failure to maintain or provide a Sample if such failure is caused by or results from acts beyond Stonestreet’s control.
The Yearlings will be offered for sale in accordance with the applicable conditions of sale. The applicable conditions of sale are hereby ratified and shall not be amended, modified or supplemented, except as expressly set forth herein
EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN OR IN THE APPLICABLE CONDITIONS OF SALE, STONESTREET MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO ANY YEARLINGS OR THEIR HEALTH, PHYSICAL CONDITION, RACING SOUNDNESS, OR BREEDING SOUNDNESS, FERTILITY OR ANY OTHER MATTER AND IN PARTICULAR, STONESTREET MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS SAME.