Page 122 - June 2022

LQHBA ROLLS OUT HAIR TESTING POLICY FOR 2022 FUTURITIES
by Michael Compton
To ensure that the Louisiana Quarter Horse racing industry thrives in the age of trans- parency, the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders’ Association (LQHBA) has implemented a
Hair Testing Policy to identify prohibited performance-enhancing drugs in all horses participating in eight Futurities to be run in the state in 2022.
The Hair Testing began at the current Delta Downs meet and includes the fol- lowing Futurities this year: the Old South Futurity at Delta Downs on May 21; the Lassie Futurity-RG2 and the Laddie Futurity-RG2
at Delta Downs on May 27 and 28th; the Firecracker Futurity-G2 on July 9 at Delta Downs; the Lee Berwick Futurity-RG1 at Delta Downs on July 16; the LQHBA Sale Futurity-RG1 at Fair Grounds; the Louisiana Million Futurity-RG1 at Evangeline Downs;
and the Evangeline Downs Futurity-G3 at Evangeline Downs.
Adopted by the LQHBA Board of Directors on July 7, 2021, the Hair Testing Policy in part states that “As a condition for participation in any LQHBA or Licensed Association Futurities, all horses will be subject to Hair Testing by the LQHBA. Additionally, the owners of the Top 20 quali- fiers for any LQHBA or Licensed Association based on the trial times, agree that they may
be required to provide a negative hair test for prohibited substances after the trials and before the Final Race for such Futurity as admin- istered by the LQHBA. A positive report for any prohibited substance will result in loss of eligibility to participate in trials or finals as determined by LQHBA. Refusal by owner or trainer of an otherwise eligible horse of pre-race
examination or the LQHBA Hair Testing Policy prior to or following a race shall be ineligible to enter the race.”
“We have completed hair testing samples for the Old South Futurity and for the Lassie Futurity,” said Bruce Salard, LQHBA executive director. “The Old South Futurity had five trials, so we selected 15 horses for hair testing. Three out of the 15 had a prohibited substance in the hair and were not allowed to compete
in the finals. One of those three also did not stay on the grounds. You have to stay on the backside between the trials and the finals.
“In the Lassie Futurity, we selected the maximum 20 fillies, the Top 10 qualifiers from each day, for hair testing,” Salard continued. “Of those 20, one filly had a positive hair test for a prohibited substance and there were three other fillies that a trainer refused to submit to
120 SPEEDHORSE June 2022
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