drug testing lab

The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) has extended for another six months its accreditation suspension of the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. The RMTC initially suspended its accreditation of the laboratory back in March, following news that the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) had stopped sending samples to the lab due to "concerns with the performance" of the facility. Prior to that, the laboratory had been one of six drug testing facilities used under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug testing program. According to...

(This is the second in a series we are doing on environmental contamination. Click here for part one.) Like a Matryoshka doll of conjecture and supposition, the very real threat of environmental contamination in the horse racing industry's testing protocols can play out like a game that becomes ever more intricate with each layer unpeeled. In part one of this series, we looked at a growing understanding of the array of possible contaminants in the backstretch environment coupled with ever more sensitive testing methodologies. But go deeper, and what emerges...

Over the past year or so, a series of high-profile positives attributed to environmental contamination have dogged racing's highest-profile trainer, Bob Baffert. Last week, the California Horse Racing Board's Board (CHRB) conducted a hearing into the Dextrorphan positive incurred by the Baffert-trained Merneith (American Pharoah) in July. Connections had attributed the positive to cross-contamination stemming from Merneith's groom, who took DayQuil and NyQuil, both of which contain Dextrorphan. Before that were the positives from Arkansas in May, when the Grade I-winning Gamine (Into Mischief) and Charlatan (Speightstown) subsequently tested positive...

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (D-NY) today announced legislation in the FY 2021 Executive Budget to authorize The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) to use capital funds to finance, construct and equip a new state-of-the-art equine drug testing laboratory and research center. The Executive Budget also proposes enabling New York to enter the Mid-Atlantic Drug Compact, which is designed to facilitate uniform passage of previously agreed-upon rules pertaining to equine medication and testing procedures. "Horse racing remains an important industry in many communities across New York, but preserving integrity in...