Blackie heart scare

[Maorisidol]

Concern; Blacks A Fake has suffered cardiac arrhymthia again.
The immediate future of Australia's greatest ever pacer is in serious doubt.
Four time Inter Dominion champion Blacks A Fake suffered cardiac arrhythmia again this morning (Saturday) in trackwork for trainer/driver Natalie Rasmussen.
His quest for another Inter Dominion title which begins next month in Christchurch is obviously in serious limbo also.
The $4.3 million earner was sensationally eased out of a race last July at Albion Park when he was found to be suffering from the same condition.
“He didn't feel right during his work and it was established he fibrillated again,” Rasmussen stated.
“Everything was coming along well for another tilt at the Inter Dominion, most of our plans were in place.......that's obviously been turned upside down now.”
Rasmussen is naturally disappointed but remains philosophical about the horse's well being.
“It's shattering news, we're hoping his rhythm will return to normal by the end of the weekend,”
“The vet will come back out early in the week and carry out more tests and then we will get a clearer picture of what our options are before making any predictions about his immediate future,”
“I don't want to start making any statements right now about his future but if it's not good news he will be retired immediately, that's fact and something that all of us connected with the horse realise,”
“Ever since he started his career, his health and well being has always been our number one priority, that has never changed and it never will.”
Rasmussen was hoping to trial Blacks A Fake again this week before looking for a race start here in Brisbane.
Blacks A Fake was expected to arrive in Christchurch early next month where he would either race or trial at Addington in preparation for the series which commences on March 25.
Earlier this week, Blacks A Fake won a 1660m trial at Albion Park defeating Mr Feelgood in a time of 1.57.9.
Blacks A Fake has not raced since winning the Christmas Cup at Albion Park on December 18.

[triplev123]

We had one do that a year or so back and he recovered brilliantly.
The Vet, the one and only Alistair McLean, simply crushed up a whole heap of Quinine Tablets, added some water and periodically tubed him with the resultant mixture until his heart went back to it's normal beat.
Amongst its many handy aspects including anti-malarial as well as anti-inflamatory and anelgesic properties, Quinine is also an anti-arrhythmic which means that it supresses/corrects abnormal heart rhythms, the dreaded atrial fibrilation being one such example. Here ends today's excerpt from Chemistry 101. :p

[buster]

should be the end of a terrific career

[triplev123]

Why? It's not a career ending problem by any means. I know of a number of horses that have fibrilated and on numerous occasions and are still racing as well as they ever have.

[buster]

yes but i bet they hadn't won everything possible and had nothing left to prove and should be protected from diminishing their reputation

[triplev123]

Nah, 9.5 out of 10 times it won't do that. It can be dangerous if it's not identified corrected but once it is it doesn't leave them with any permanent damage. For want of a better analogy it's like the heart version of a galloper getting on the wrong leg. Very common in horses that have been denied fluids in the lead up to a race. Their electrolytes can get out of whack and it sends their ticker into a spasm. Nolarama, that good racemare of John Caldow's, used to have the same problem.

[Phoenix]

yes but i bet they hadn't won everything possible and had nothing left to prove and should be protected from diminishing their reputation

I agree here. Blackie should have been retired immediately after winning ID10.

[aussiebreno]

I agree here. Blackie should have been retired immediately after winning ID10.
Real life is different to fairy tales where they live happily ever after. Why retire a gelding who has just proved again he is still the best?

[nat]

I'm with you Aussie on that premature retirement he was going great guns nearly won the Mile but now after 2 heart problems I don't want to hop in the PC one day and read Blackie dead after a hit out on Harnesslinks he has been to good for that to happen.

Funny side note that after 2 bleeding attacks automatic retirement for safety so a horse doesn't drop dead and cause an accident what's the difference?

[mango]

Agree with you on this one Aussiebreno, it will be interesting to see what the out come is.

[triplev123]

From what I've seen of him I'm betting that BAF would go three parts nuts after a couple of weeks R & R. He's got a terrific constitution & you can bet your last dollar that the horse is one of those wonderful buggers that just LOVES to be in the stable environment in work & competing, that's how he rolls, that's what makes him the great racehorse he is. Golden Reign was like that too. They put him in a paddock and all he did was walk & walk & walk the fences. The bigger the paddock the further he walked. Retiring BAF could easily be mentally harder on the horse than keeping him going could ever be physically.

[aussiebreno]

From what I've seen of him I'm betting that BAF would go three parts nuts after a couple of weeks R & R. He's got a terrific constitution & you can bet your last dollar that the horse is one of those wonderful buggers that just LOVES to be in the stable environment in work & competing, that's how he rolls, that's what makes him the great racehorse he is. Golden Reign was like that too. They put him in a paddock and all he did was walk & walk & walk the fences. The bigger the paddock the further he walked. Retiring BAF could easily be mentally harder on the horse than keeping him going could ever be physically.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard an ex Grand Circuit horse could be put back into work because they are jumping out of their skins ....

[triplev123]

That is invariably why they're GC horses though breno. It's their attitude.
They LOVE it. I can't recall ever hearing of a GC horse that didn't like racing...can you?
How many really good horses have had to be forced to do it ?

[aussiebreno]

That is invariably why they're GC horses though breno. It's their attitude.
They LOVE it. I can't recall ever hearing of a GC horse that didn't like racing...can you?
How many really good horses have had to be forced to do it ?
Agree agree agree.

[triplev123]

Everyone loves the horse breno and they all fear something happening to him. I realise that. The story has been more than just a bit sensationalised too which doesn't help.
Diagnosed quickly and treated properly, if the resting heart rate is less than 60bpm, if the fibrillation has been going on for less than 4 months & if there's no associated heart murmur to speak of...then there's a better than 95% recovery rate from Atrial Fibrillation. Even with readings that exceed those parameters there's still an 80%+ chance of a complete recovery.
The reason I know all this is because we had one that this happened to so I read all about it & found out as much as I could. The drug that's used is called Quinidine btw. It is a very slow process, crush the tablets, mix them up with to make a drench and tube the horse every 2 hours for as long as it takes to bring the heart back into a normal rhythm with the Vet standing by in case of colic etc. Alistair took our one home with him so he could do the tubing & monitor proceedings.

[aussiebreno]

Everyone loves the horse breno and they all fear something happening to him. I realise that. The story has been more than just a bit sensationalised too which doesn't help.
Diagnosed quickly and treated properly, if the resting heart rate is less than 60bpm, if the fibrillation has been going on for less than 4 months & if there's no associated heart murmur to speak of...then there's a better than 95% recovery rate from Atrial Fibrillation. Even with readings that exceed those parameters there's still an 80%+ chance of a complete recovery.
The reason I know all this is because we had one that this happened to so I read all about it & found out as much as I could. The drug that's used is called Quinidine btw. It is a very slow process, crush the tablets, mix them up with to make a drench and tube the horse every 2 hours for as long as it takes to bring the heart back into a normal rhythm with the Vet standing by in case of colic etc. Alistair took our one home with him so he could do the tubing & monitor proceedings.
For somebody who doesnt know anything about it the stats are good to hear; rather than people just automatically thinking it must be a be all and end all situation.
Just out of interests sake is the tablet swabbable and how long does it take to get out of their system?

[buster]

i dont fall for the horse needs to be worked...

hes just used to the routine of it, leave him long enough and he'll be fine

[triplev123]

G'day breno,
Quinidine is a pretty old school simple compound so I imagine it would stand out like dogs balls. It's a 4 score and 7 years ago substance, has been around for ever....used heavily by the troops throughout the Pacific during WW2. The thing is, for use in horses with fibrillation it's not just 1 tablet either. You have to get a whole heap of them, shell packets & packets thereof, and pound them into a powder/paste and then mix it with some water or a saline drench and then tube the horse every 2hrs or so until the beat goes back to normal. It does have a myriad of other influences but it is also toxic if used incorrectly.

[aussiebreno]

He is out of the Inter market, after orignally being marked (doubtful).

[triplev123]

BUGGER! :( I was looking forward to seeing him pound the Kiwis.

[mango]

I was looking foward to seeing him when visiting Mark's place inter wk i was thinking we might of got a close up whilst Nat was staying there, but to her credit she has always stated that the horse comes first and she must think he won't be ready for the inter. Has anyone heard if he will continue or will he be retired.

[triplev123]

I hear that Blacks A Fake is now back and fast working. Told ya. Never bet against a Champion. They dust themselves off and keep on rolling.

[mango]

If all goes well in the next couple of hit out's there planning on trialing him next thursday.

[triplev123]

Go you good thing!

[Mighty Atom]

Sorry, cant see how a horse with what appears to be ongoing atrial fibrillation attacks can be expected to continue to race at the highest level as he has done. Any other horse would probably have been retired.Blackie has nothing to prove. He is the greatest pacer ever to race in Australasia,as well as being the greatest stakes earning pacer in the world. For goodness sake,think of the horses well being,he's going on 11years old.Give him a good paddock with a few other horses to enjoy his retirement. If they take him to N.Z.I don't think he will be a major influence.

[triplev123]

By way of repeating part of an earlier post of mine to this thread...
Diagnosed quickly and treated properly, if the resting heart rate is less than 60bpm, if the fibrillation has been going on for less than 4 months & if there's no associated heart murmur to speak of...then there's a better than 95% recovery rate from Atrial Fibrillation. Even with readings that exceed those parameters there's still an 80%+ chance of a complete recovery.

[buster]

why risk that 5-20% with such a champion, would be a very sad day to see him tailed off in the inter final or heats with AF

[triplev123]

Natalie would no more do anything that could harm the horse than she would cut her own left leg off with the dull edge of a soup spoon.
If she thought that there was any risk at all to BAF then he wouldn't be leaving his box & day yard let alone hopping a plane & flying to NZ.

[aussiebreno]

why risk that 5-20% with such a champion, would be a very sad day to see him tailed off in the inter final or heats with AF

Yes sad but no point worry about what ifs. If it happens it happens but the horses long term health isnt at risk. And honestly he wont be remembered for something like thatt, he will be remembered for his 4 Inter wins. The AR Gold Coast Inter failure is all but forgotten and the same will happen with BAF if something bad was to happen.

[DAZZA]

The horse is fine.

[mango]

Thats great to hear, can't wait for the inter.

[triplev123]

Here come da judge!