EPO

Last week saw the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Unit (HIWU) and the University of Kentucky issue their reports into alleged misconduct and mismanagement at the university's Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab (EACL) under the leadership of former director, Scott Stanley. The allegations levelled towards Stanley and the lab's operations include misrepresentation of its ability to test for specific substances such as erythropoietin (EPO), and the "intentional misrepresentations" of positive tests as negative. Questions arising from operations at HIWU's fleet of contracted laboratories isn't confined just to the UK Lab, however. At...

A report issued by Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) into HIWU's investigation of the University of Kentucky Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (UK-EACL) cites multiple failures on the part of the lab and the lab director, Dr. Scott Stanley, including "intentional misrepresentations" of positive tests as negative. In a press conference Tuesday, HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said that HISA was "cooperating" with federal law enforcement, and that possible criminal charges could be leveled against Stanley for some of the alleged offences detailed in...

In an advisory issued to trainers just before Christmas, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) warned that caffeine had been detected in two supplements marketed to performance horses analyzed by the Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab at UC Davis. "As such, Horsemen are advised to exercise extreme caution when using these products in close proximity to a race," the advisory states. Under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), caffeine is a Class B controlled substance, which comes with a possible 15-day suspension and $1,000 fine for a first offense....

Effective Dec. 1, the Meadowlands will ban 33 harness horsemen after evidence and exhibits track officials acquired from the U.S. Attorney's Office revealed the names of trainers and owners who had purchased banned substances from individuals who were charged with manufacturing and selling performance-enhancing drugs. The delay in imposing the ban was put in place in order to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest because many of the trainers are pointing horses to races run at the Meadowlands during November in which they could meet horses owned by Meadowlands...

News out of Churchill Downs last week that two of trainer Saffie Joseph Jr's horses had collapsed and died within days of each other has reignited talk around one of the most confounding--and by extension, frustrating--issues in racing: sudden equine death. More than four years ago in response to the death of GI-placed Bobby Abu Dhabi (Macho Uno)--what was initially suspected a sudden cardiac-related event--the TDN took a lengthy dive into the issue. In a nutshell, sudden cardiac deaths oftentimes leave no discernable physical sign for pathologists to piece together...