medication

Light Up Racing, an industry collective which seeks to counter negative reporting and perceptions about horse racing, issued the following statement Saturday about the Hulu/FX/New York Times documentary "Broken Horses," which debuted Friday. The statement is printed in its entirety.  "The recent FX documentary 'Broken Horses' has cast a spotlight on the historical issues and implications of illegal doping in horse racing. The presentation attempts to address significant challenges within the industry, particularly focusing on the critical issue of racehorses sustaining life-ending injuries and the urgent need for reforms to...

As the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug and medication control program has rolled out over the past couple of months, various questions have been raised over the mechanics of the new law. As such, the TDN has decided to maintain a Q&A on this new program comprising questions raised by readers, and answers fielded by representatives from either HISA or the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), which implements HISA's anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) program. The first set of responses can be read here. The second set of...

The hearing officer assigned to oversee trainer Bob Baffert and owner Zedan Racing Stables' appeal of penalties related to the drug disqualification of 2021 GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) has issued a recommended order to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) that the underlying stewards' rulings be affirmed in their entirety. The 47-page report was made public via press release by the Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet early on the Friday evening of the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. Its issuance comes 765 days after Medina Spirit crossed the...

Edited Press Release New and enhanced anti-doping regulations took effect in U.S. Thoroughbred horse racing Monday following the Federal Trade Commission's approval of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program. HISA's ADMC Program, administered by the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU), brings all testing and results management under one national authority, standardizes the categories of substances laboratories test for and institutes clear and consistent penalties for violations. In its authority as the independent administrator of the ADMC Program, HIWU is introducing to the...

With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Integrity Act's (HISA) anti-doping and medication control program set for launch Monday--pending approval by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)--the inevitable focus will be on the spider web of post-race and out-of-competition testing set to blanket most of the nation. But with it has come this other question: What do buyers now need to be aware of when purchasing a horse at the sales or privately? The question has gained added currency since a recent presentation before the Southern California horsemen by representatives from the...

The Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program has proposed enforcing the screening limit of phenylbutazone at 300 ng/mL in blood, rather than the previously established screening limit of 200 ng/mL in blood. HISA will file Guidance with the Federal Trade Commission that will implement this change in the enforcement of the screening limit. The RMTC's Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) has been asked by industry stakeholders to review its withdrawal guidance of phenylbutazone based upon the updated proposed screening limit. Based on the updated screening limit of 300 ng/mL in blood...

The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium's Scientific Advisory Committee has now completed its analysis of HISA's proposed ADMC screening limits and detection times and has developed a withdrawal guidance limited to RMTC's schedule of Controlled Therapeutic Substances. This withdrawal guidance is based on existing research and administration data. The complete withdrawal guidance, which is subject to change, can be found here. The intention is for the RMTC to provide the industry with scientifically derived information to aid attending veterinarians and horsemen in making medication decisions and to avoid preventable errors,...

Edited Press Release In advance of the anticipated effective date of HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program March 27, the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) calls the Thoroughbred industry's attention to regulations regarding the presence and use of bisphosphonates in covered horses. Bisphosphonates are a class of medication prescribed for managing clinical signs associated with navicular syndrome in horses 4-years-old or above. They also have a history of extra-label use in younger horses. Bisphosphonates may be detected in samples from treated horses for months to years after administration....

The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) has formally asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to set aside and temporarily not approve proposed anti-doping and medication control rules proposed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) until the constitutionality of the HISA Act is determined by the Courts. "This has nothing to do with wanting uniform rules or having a central rule-making authority, two things the ARCI supports," said Ed Martin, ARCI President. "This all has to do with avoiding a situation where an enforcement action is overturned because...

The Board of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) has unanimously requested the Federal Trade Commission to delay final action on HISA's proposed Anti-Doping and Medication Control rules until the constitutional questions being litigated are resolved, they announced in a press release Wednesday. "We cannot have a situation where an enforcement action is overturned because the authority of the enforcing entity to act is in question," said Ed Martin, ARCI President. "The only way to avoid that is to delay approval of HISA rules leaving existing state rules and...

We recently ran part one of our story on the challenges facing HISA. Today, we deal with lawsuits, adjudication, and more. This time next year, the machinery of horse racing in the U.S. may be almost a month into a radical system overhaul. But with scant few calendar pages between now and then, what do we know about how the cogs, wheels, and pulleys of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) will work together? To find out, the TDN reached out to Charles Scheeler, chair of the HISA board...

Part One of a Two-Part Series If the letter of the law is any reliable prognosticator, this time next year the United States horse racing industry will already be nearly a month into what promises to be a major realignment of the planets. With the official enactment of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) on the first of July, 2022, racing jurisdictions North and South, East and West will be bound by the same medication standards, safety rules, and enforcement mechanisms--a hallelujah for many who have long championed the...