UK Lab Report Demonstrates `Intentional Misrepresentations;' UK Moves to Fire Stanley

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 the report, which can be accessed here.

“It's in their hands whether or not they determine if there's anything criminal to take forward,” she said, about federal law enforcement's involvement. “It'll obviously be subject to their investigation and their discretion.”

Shortly after the report was released, UK said that it was taking steps to terminate Stanley. The university has also reportedly referred the matter to UK Police for further review of any possible criminal wrongdoing.

The report details the events leading up to the investigation, “including UK-EACL's persistent delays in reporting results, unprofessional staff behavior, and unresponsiveness to HIWU communications.” Ultimately, “the catalyst for the commencement of the investigation was the discovery by HIWU of intentional misrepresentations that were made about Sample analysis,” the report states.

When asked Tuesday if there was any suspicion that Stanley had communicated with industry stakeholders about any testing the laboratory was or was not conducting, Lazarus described it as “a tremendous concern to us.” She said that HISA has shared those concerns with law enforcement, “who are investigating them.”

According to the press release, key findings of the six-month long investigation include:

• UK-EACL's failure to comply with mandatory testing specifications and instructions, including its standard operating procedures and sample analysis methods.
• UK-EACL's misrepresentation about both its ability to test for specific substances, including erythropoietin (EPO), and the completion of analysis for certain substances on specific Samples.
• At the direction of UK-EACL Director Dr. Stanley, the laboratory's failure to perform confirmatory analysis on 91 samples whose initial screening showed the potential presence of a prohibited substance and therefore required follow-up, instead reporting the samples as negative.

As a result of these findings, HIWU re-analyzed and reconciled all remaining potentially affected Samples, and HISA has sought repayment from the University of Kentucky for the laboratory's non-compliant services, the press release says.

In Tuesday's press conference, Lazarus said that amount is over $1 million.

“The university has agreed to work with us to reimburse this money. They've taken responsibility and they've acknowledged it,” she said. “This is industry money. So, it's something that we have a fiscal responsibility for and a duty to recover.”

The report states that in November of 2023, HIWU requested a confirmation that a sample from another program lab contained EPO. Two months later, Dr. Stanley reported that the sample had been tested twice, but did not contain EPO. The following month, HIWU was told by UK-EACL staff that the sample had never been analyzed, and was still sealed in the storage refrigerator.

The investigation also found that they failed to follow the specifications for testing for methamphetamine and cobalt, testing for the latter on only a few days per month. They also failed to follow procedures for glaucine and triamcinolone, the report says, and that there was evidence of Lasix in horses who were not eligible for it. Those findings were not reported to HIWU, the organization said.

Furthermore, the report alleges, HIWU was billed for “numerous analyses of samples that were not in fact performed by the laboratory.”

The HIWU investigation involved more than 15 current and former lab employees, and a comprehensive laboratory performance and staff review, the release says.

Upon re-examination, two samples were confirmed as Adverse Analytical Findings for controlled medications, and will be processed under the ADMC program. Two others were found not to be positives, as previously reported by the UK lab, and HIWU said they would withdraw all sanctions, and refund fines, costs, and purses to the parties in question. Neither resulted in a suspension.

In Tuesday's press conference, Ben Mosier, HIWU's executive director, explained that the identity of the two trainers charged falsely with positives will be made public soon on HIWU's website, after first being notified directly.

“Both of the false positives were controlled medications, as well as both of the false negatives–they were controlled medications,” Mosier said. “At the time that the rules require public disclosure, those names will be made public on our website.”

In a press release, Mosier said that, “through our decision to investigate UK-EACL and consequent discovery of ongoing deceitful activities, we're proud to have uncovered and halted these unacceptable practices that were unfair to our horsemen and put horses at risk.”

Lazarus also issued a statement Tuesday. “HISA's and HIWU's actions to uncover these wrongdoings and quickly remedy them is a testament to how the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program is enhancing the integrity of our sport and ensuring fairness in competition,” she said. “We also thank the University of Kentucky for their partnership and cooperation in the investigation.”

To provide further assurance that the other Program Laboratories are in compliance with the ADMC Program requirements, HIWU said, they have bolstered their Negative Sample Exchange Program and is preparing to implement HISA Equine Analytical Laboratory (HEAL) accreditation on January 1, 2025.

HEAL accreditation will include enhanced compliance oversight by HIWU and a more robust Equine Quality Assurance Scheme sample program. Currently, in a transitional phase, lab accreditation is handled by the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium. HISA/HIWU were initially required to utilize the services of UK-EACL under the requirements of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act.

HEAL accreditation will give HIWU a strengthened ability to ensure strict compliance by all Program Laboratories with all ADMC Program requirements, the report says.

On March 5, 2024, HIWU and HISA announced that HIWU was investigating the performance of the UK lab under HISA's ADMC program. The UK lab was one of the original six program laboratories selected by HISA and HIWU.

But from the outset of the program on May 22, 2023, the report states, “the behavior of Dr. Stanley and some of his staff at UK-EACL was challenging.

They failed to acknowledge emails from HIWU staff with respect to matters critical to the operation of the ADMC program…In addition, “there was a level of incivility in their communications to HIWU staff that was frequently unprofessional.”

The report says they lab failed to meet the agreed-upon deadlines for reporting of results, and that Dr. Stanley's conduct on weekly calls with HIWU was “often disruptive and disrespectful to colleagues.” HIWU stopped sending samples to the UK lab of February 16, 2024.

The investigative report identified a lab employee who was a close relative of a “Covered Person” working in the industry. While the lab employee's position represented an opportunity for sample manipulation,” according to the report, “HIWU found no evidence that Samples collected from the Covered Person's horses were handled inappropriately.”

HIWU executive director Ben Mosier declined to reveal the identities of the lab employee and the covered person, saying that was a matter for the university to disclose.

A call to Dr. Stanley's mobile phone was not answered, and the phone's voice mail was not activated.

U.K. Takes Steps to Terminate Stanley

“After a months-long internal investigation into the EACL, UK has concluded that the lab's former director-Scott Stanley, who is currently a professor in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Martin-Gatton CAFE)-did not follow appropriate business practices in reporting equine drug tests and did not honor certain standards and obligations,” the school said in a press release Tuesday.

“In March, Stanley was removed from his administrative role as director of the lab,” the release continues. “Stanley's tenured faculty position is distinct from his role as lab director and disciplinary action with respect to his employment at the university is a separate process. University officials have determined that these initial findings warrant the additional disciplinary measure of tenure revocation, with the intention of terminating him as a university employee.”

“We appreciate our partners HIWU and HISA bringing forth concerns so that we could investigate the problem and act decisively to take corrective action,” said Martin-Gatton CAFE Dean Nancy Cox.

The university said they would continue to investigate Stanley's management of the lab. They said he “exploited vulnerabilities in technology, governance and oversight. Additionally, the investigation found that Stanley potentially engaged in business and employment relationships that constitute conflicts of interests. Specifically, Stanley purposefully chose not to disclose external work, violating university rules requiring disclosure.”

The press release said that the university had referred the matter to UK Police for further review of any possible criminal wrongdoing.

“Given the serious breach of ethics and policy violations, we have now initiated the process to revoke Stanley's tenure as a faculty member, with the intention of terminating him as a university employee,” said Cox. “In accordance with university rules and regulations, and working with the university's Provost, we are preparing a specific set of findings that will be presented as part of a case to revoke Dr. Stanley's tenure.”