Horses, poison and death: an absurdity that has marked the history of world sport

Sunday, April 19, 2009. One of the trucks that transports Lechuza Caracas polo horses to the International Polo Club's field in Palm Beach is heard screaming Petiseros. Two horses fell and enter a state of convulsion. They arrive at the scene, the doors of the utility open and despair accentuates. "My God, what's going on?" Cries one of the onlookers at the edge of tears. Do the horses start to fall, flicker and some fall quickly. Nobody understands anything. Veterinarians from the team arrive and also from other sets. "Bring the fans, ice and water, in an emergency!" Implores one of the doctors. The audience, who had gone to watch La Lechuza Caracas' match against Black Watch for the US Open Polo, came to see what was going on. Many, on their arrival, leave: they do not want to see more. Tarpaulins are placed to protect the area, while veterinarians work without accurate diagnosis. Although they know that it is serious. "Take the rest to the clinic, you must save them!", Implore.

A

Juan Martín Nero

10 handicap and one of the Argentineans who played at that time in La Lechuza Caracas, had been warned by phone about events almost at the time he showed up at the club. "Watching the horses fall was infuriating, especially since there was nothing to do there," he said.
THE NATION 48 hours later, still in shock. The sentence almost repeated 10 years later. Nothing has changed in terms of sensations. Two other Argentineans played with him:

Guillermo Caset

and Nicolás Espain. The boss was the Venezuelan banker Víctor Vargas, one of the main sponsors of the professional polo.

Selenium at a dose ten times greater than normal

In total, 21 horses died. Seven on the field, eight others on the way to the clinic and the other six at dawn on Monday. The consternation was total. And also doubts, propagated in every way. Human error, sabotage, doping? Everything has been speculated in the US media, a country with the active participation of animal welfare societies. Yes, there was a name in the dance: Biodyl. Everyone has talked about it.

It is a vitamin compound of French origin, widely used in Argentina, which promotes the recovery of horses. A muscle tonic in injectable solution. It contains vitamin B12, potbadium, magnesium, sodium and … selenium. The latter is a common mineral that humans and animals need in small doses for tissue growth and stabilization. It also acts on muscle fatigue. "We give them Biodyl once a week, I played that day, the only thing we have is that something has happened to this stuff, because the horses that were donated are dead and the 5 that have not been applied are perfect, "he added. Nero Palm Beach.

The compound, not the original one but a generic one, was prepared in a laboratory in the city of Ocala, in the state of Florida: Franck Pharmacy. Necropsies marked an excess of selenium. The usual dose was 0.5 mg / ml for each dose, but the lot of those that had been prepared at that time was 5 mg / ml. Pure Poison It is estimated that a dose of 3.3 mg / ml was already deadly. "All horses presented as a concomitant element of hemorrhage and pulmonary edema," said Mark Fagan, spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture. "This detail is consistent in all autopsies."

The investigation showed that there was a human error in the preparation. "An overdose of a common mineral that helps muscles recover from fatigue has been the cause of the death of 21 polo horses," said Dr. Thomas J. Holt, veterinarian of the state of Florida. "The symptoms shown by the horses and their rapid death coincide with the toxic doses of selenium," Holt added. There has been talk of a bad comma in the recipe, which, over time, can be interpreted as a gross mistake: the risk of effect of selenium in large amounts is not unknown. Ten times more at each dose has proven catastrophic.

James Belden, a veterinarian in La Lechuza, dismissed the possibility of drug abuse in an interview with NBC: "We think it's an intoxication of something they've used, we do not want to …" Never use anabolic steroids or steroids because the team is also competing in England., Where these drugs are banned. "The injections were provided by another Argentinian veterinarian and player Felix Crespo, who worked at La Lechuza Caracas. "It's really a tragedy for me, it's going to be very difficult to recover … I do not know if I'm going to be the same person," he said on that occasion. What was a work routine turned into a nightmare in a few hours.

The sabotage version

In the meantime, they hovered over speculation as to whether everything had been a sabotage of Vargas for political reasons. President of the Western Bank of Discount (BOD), which had grown rapidly in recent years thanks to its close relations with the government of President Hugo Chávez, its activities also included oil, natural gas, insurance and insurance. ;immovable. the Association of Banks of Venezuela. Billionaire, Vargas confessed to having three planes, two yachts and six houses.

It was Vargas himself who downplayed speculation on a personal attack against him and started the counter-attack: collecting compensation for the loss of the twenty mounted. For many millions of dollars. Supported, furthermore, in the recognition of the error by Franck's Pharmacy. The horses of La Lechuza Caracas were very popular. The team had just won the USPA Gold Cup, the second major tournament of the American Triple Crown (handicap up to 26 goals) and was already in the semifinals of the US Open, a tournament that was obviously to withdraw.

Time has pbaded La Lechuza has continued to participate in tournaments in Palm Beach, England and Spain (Sotogrande). In 2011, she was finally able to win the US Open, with almost the same team. Without being able to get rid of these fateful images. And also the different tributes that there were in the following days, with flowers being thrown at one of the lagoons of the International Polo Club.

The lawsuit that brought nothing: the laboratory went bankrupt

What happened at the trial? "The laboratory, which acknowledged his guilt, had another serious problem years later and eventually broke it, and we have never seen a peso," says Juanma Nero, who was beginning to benefit from recognition and great achievements. A few months earlier, he had just won his first Palermo Open, the most important polo tournament, with

Ellerstina

. He was 28 years old. At 38, his life is different: he has already won the Argentine Open 9 times (2 with Ellerstina, 7 with La Dolfina), he has directed 4 times the Triple Crown (Tortugas, Hurlingham and Palermo the same year), he is married and has three sons.

Ten years have pbaded since that impact that marked his career and he does not forget it. "It's great what happened, weird, so it's this confusion in the badembly of the supplement that ended up turning selenium into a poison, I lost 5 horses that day, one of which of the best, the Mini Bank, I had just won, I had already won prizes and I was going to take her to Argentina to play at the Open, these are irreplaceable horses, they did not give us anything, no one was responsible, the pharmacy had another mess with eye drops and closed.I think things will work differently in the US but it has nothing In fact, he made a big hole, beyond the love we have for the horses themselves, a human error that ended in disaster.

The other mares had played in the country and had taken them to Palm Beach: Princess, Vasuda, Pelusa and Alazan. The second laboratory case occurred in 2012: there were at least 33 cases of eye drops developed by Franck's pharmacy and closed in July of the same year.

"I keep reminding him of this moment, these pictures never leave you, it looked like an attack, and we did not know what was happening, you have a special affection for the horses and see that they were dying without Being able to do nothing was horrible, we always gave the horses vitamins, mainly for recovery, for the muscles, so as not to enjoy the sport, "explains Nero.

The Trenquelauquese did not cry inconsolably, although a few tears escaped that day. "More than anything, it was desperation," he admits. "After that, it was as if we were lost, because of the very fact,
kilombo media player that was armed and all the things that were said Very ugly, "added the back, he had fears when he later saw horses with problems?" No, because it was exceptional. We had bad luck. We have small horses that are with the horses every day, veterinarians who take care of them, they are well cared for. It was a disaster, but because of a human error. "

Nobody remembers a day more sad than that of a polo field in the whole world. For surprise, for disbelief, for the despair of small-generics, veterinarians, players and the public. A shocking, enlightened fact, with sincere losses and without the expected legal effects. It's worth staying with a sentence from Nero 10 years ago:
"We live on horses, we will not sabotage our own heritage, go to the stables today and see that all that is almost empty is difficult for everyone."