A bicarb (TCO2) stomach drench is popular with many trainers as it has been found that bicarb helps buffer lactic acid. But as bicarb is naturally produced, it cannot be banned entirely. Instead, there is a threshold level of 36 millimoles a litre plasma total carbon dioxide. Any reading over that constitutes an offence.Racing Victoria Ltd's chief veterinary surgeon, Dr John McCaffrey, says bicarb is an old remedy, but it has been abused in more recent times."Bicarb - or baking soda - has been used by trainers for many years but the whole perspective of that changed some years ago when there was evidence that people were using large quantities of it with the intent of trying to have some effect on performance," McCaffrey said."When you give large quantities of bicarb - I am not talking about a teaspoon- or tablespoon-full that trainers have been giving horses for years; we are talking about large quantities of 600 grams or so - the whole idea is that when a horse is exercising, then the bicarb would mop up the lactic acid, which is a waste product of muscle activity."So it does not make the horse run faster. It basically means the horse can perform at the same level for longer."
