http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/49167.htm
Frozen-Sample Drug Tests Get Funding
by Blood-Horse Staff
Updated: February 11, 2009
Posted: February 11, 2009
The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Safety Committee said Feb. 11 it will fund a Racing Medication and Testing Consortium frozen-sample and retrospective testing program that will begin in April.
The program is part of the drug-testing initiative that evolved from a safety committee recommendation announced at The Jockey Club Round Table Conference in August 2008.
The safety committee's recommendation included the maintenance of a facility to store frozen samples for future analysis. The Jockey Club board of stewards has approved $150,000 in funding to the RMTC for the facility and other drug-testing initiatives in 2009.
"We have devoted significant resources, financial and otherwise, to medication issues through the years and we will continue to do so," Jockey Club chairman Ogden Mills "Dinny" Phipps said in a statement. "There is nothing more important or more critical for this entire industry, and a frozen-sample retrospective testing program is a key component of any drug-testing initiative."
The RMTC will coordinate the frozen storage of plasma and urine post-race, pre-race, and out-of-competition samples. In addition, funding will be provided for the retrospective super testing of plasma and urine samples.
"The purpose of this program is to act as a deterrent to the use of illegal drugs or prohibited medications in racehorses competing in the United States," Thoroughbred Safety Committee chairman Stuart Janney III said. "The testing of these samples may result in positive test results, which can then be used as probable cause for the future collection of test samples from racehorses with the same owner, trainer, or attending veterinarian."
Janney also said an accumulation of positive test results by the same owner, trainer, or attending veterinarian could be considered "aggravating circumstances" in the determinations of fines and suspensions in accordance with existing RMTC penalty recommendations, which were adopted as Association of Racing Commissioners International model rules in 2006.
Dr. Rick Arthur, a member of the RMTC executive committee, said the RMTC Scientific Advisory Committee, in cooperation with state racing commissions, will select up to five participating laboratories for the frozen-sample program, including Dr. Don Catlin's Anti-Doping Research Laboratory in Los Angeles.
Catlin founded the first anti-doping lab in the United States, the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, and served as its director for 25 years. He has overseen drug testing at every level of sport, including Olympic, professional, and collegiate. Catlin has been involved with Thoroughbred racing since the formation of the Equine Drug Research Institute in 2005.
The safety committee was formed in May 2008 to review every facet of equine health, including breeding practices, medication, the rules of racing, and track surfaces, and to recommend actions to be taken by the industry to improve the health and safety of Thoroughbreds.
Copyright © 2009 The Blood-Horse, Inc. All Rights Reserved
GOOD START. THANK YOU TGJB FOR YOUR EFFORTS IN THIS AREA.
Now we got a game.
Jerry:
It wouldn\'t serve as good TG theater without at least one cynical voice being
heard.
I thoroughly understand the potential deterrent effect of a frozen blood bank,
but without punishment,crime will continue.
I\'ve mentioned enough times that Racing had a chance to make a real statement
about tolerance of cheaters in October 2007. What surprised me more than the
leniency was the fact that the man doling out the \"punishment\" was a second
generation hay,oats and watermeister.
[...and how can one reference leniency without thinking of Bernie (Madoff, not
Kerik). Note to those fancy federal prosecutors trying to get Bernie out of the
penthouse and into the jailhouse: You are wasting a great opportunity. Take 5
or 6 members of the general prison population and move them up to Bernie\'s crib
to live with Bernie, the help, and the 15 million dollar woman. Set up a bunch
of cameras and microphones and do some reality TV. I think its a cant miss
boffo smash and we could get some restitutional healing for the victims from
the proceeds...]
Punishment needs to be serious and severe. The problem will be that a bad
economy may wipe out legions of small and mid size trainers; the large trainers
will become larger,and Racing will become more reliant on (and less likely to
punish) the volume trainers and the owners who patronize them.
So to those who believe that leveling the playing field will save Racing, or at
least make it a better game, I raise my glass of V-8. Very large problems still
exist. If these problems are not addressed, one time in the near future, a
child will look at an abandoned building in an empty field and ask \"Why did
they freeze the horse\'s blood, Ma?\"
Richee
Couldn\'t agree more. The punishments are a complete joke! Yea, a $1,000 fine is really going to make these guys think twice about cheating. Why can\'t racing have a 3 strike and your out rule? Heck I would be happy to see a 6 strike and your out rule. Until then we will have to continue to daily deal with the BianCobras of the world.
Richie,
Buried in your comment is, I think, an excellent point and that is \"the owners who patronize them\".
Would the potenial of significant punishment to the owners enable that group to demand compliance and police the trainers that they employ?
Bob
Better be careful,those blue bloods. Owners like Maggie Moss will make them look silly in court unless they have irrefutable proof of complicity by an owner.
The blue bloods have been sick for years watching their royally bred horses get run off their feet by lesser breds from smaller outfits.Of course, it\'s only because of steroids/illegal drugs etc, not that their mares are throwing mediocrity year after year.
The same guys who have lots of influence in NY racing have been making a suckers holler for years but still race cold.They refuse to take advantage of some terrific legal ways to help a horse perform to it\'s maximum level.They will continue to generally be no factor in the game,new rules or not.
Mike
Richie-- yes, the penalties need to be addressed, but one thing at a time. This is like trying to turn around an aircraft carrier-- actually, several, serving different governments.
This was a very big step, but again, only step two. There are more to come, and that\'s one of them. But it will be a lot easier when there are tangible, public positives.
The Madoff TV show would have to be on late at night, an R rating won\'t be enpugh. It also wouldn\'t last very long, because he wouldn\'t. Pay-Per-View? Everybody might get their money back.
Good work Jerry.