Page 31 - New Mexico Horse Breeder Summer 2018

There is one word that has dominated racing’s war on drugs. That word is “uniformity.” The word, as well as its implications and benefits in racing, is easily understood. All other sports – baseball, football, basketball, soccer, etc. – play by the same set of rules, regardless of the state where they’re playing. There are no questions about what is legal or illegal because everything is standardized and presided over by one person, usually referred to as a commissioner.
Racing is attempting to adopt that uniform sameness and, very slowly, the concept is spreading. That, however, is not the same as acceptance.
The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) convened its recent national conference and focused on Equine Welfare and Racing Integrity. At the meeting, The Jockey Club made it very plain that it throws its considerable weight in favor of a federally legislated bill (H.R. 2651, the Horseracing Integrity Act) that would allow the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to control the drug testing in racing. There is, however, a united wave of resistance coming from major horsemen’s associations as well as by most racing regulators and racetracks. It should be pointed out that the USADA does not perform the actual testing but, instead, contracts out that work to already-existing labs.
You may be reading this and thinking it’s just too darned confusing and nothing makes sense. Well, basically, you’re correct. It is confusing and, unfortunately, very few good things have ever emerged from confusion.
What we’ve always had (and still have) are boards of commissioners over-seeing the regulation of racing in every state. These commissioners have worked their butts off in efforts to break the sport free from drugs. But the wisdom embracing the strength in numbers concept is as true in racing
as it is in anything else. This time, the “strength”
is on the wrong side of the line. There are entities and individuals providing constant, on-going work to develop new drugs, turning them out
just fast enough to stay one step ahead of the test barn. Then, the test barn catches up, tweaks the testing methods and begins identifying the latest substance. Hooray! But there’s already something new coming down the pipeline. The circle is vicious and it’s damaging to everyone involved.
The Coalition for Horse Racing Integrity is yet another group supporting the Horseracing Integrity Act. A host of major racing organizations belong to the coalition, including prominent animal welfare groups such as The Humane Society of the United States. The Coalition contends national uniform medication reforms were implemented unevenly, resulting in a patchwork system that severely reduces the effectiveness of medication testing and penalty enforcement. The bottom line? More confusion.
This year, the distinct possibility of an “Interstate Compact on Anti-Doping and Drug Testing Standards” may be added to the list involved organizations. It’s already been introduced to Maryland’s General Assembly
and looks as if it may pass. The bill, which has a great deal of support, would authorize the state’s Racing Commission to join a proposed Compact Commission. This Commission would become
a real, recognized group as soon as two or more states agree to join it. The goal of the Compact
is “to enable member states to act jointly and cooperatively to create more uniform, effective and efficient” rules and regulations regarding which drugs are permitted in racing and which are prohibited. Each state belonging to the Compact will carry one vote. New rules could be adopted by the Compact only through an 80% super majority vote. Of course, there could be inherent problems here since some states may elect to join the Compact but the Compact rules may not necessarily comply with the rules set out by the National Uniform Medication Program (NUMP) as compiled by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC).
The RMTC is really the granddaddy of the uniform drug/medication and testing movement. It began in 2001 and laid the groundwork for everything you’ve been reading in this article. The 23 organizations belonging to the group include horsemen’s groups, breed registries, racetracks, racing regulators, industry associations and veterinarians. NUMP was born out of,
and approved by, the RMTC and the Racing Commissioners International (RCI) in 2012. Understand, please, that neither the RMTC nor the RCI has the authority to enforce compliance. Compliance is still up to the individual states. Also, as of last year, not one major racing jurisdiction has adopted NUMP in its entirety.
NUMP Is A Four-Part Program
NUMP includes: 1) A Schedule of Controlled Therapeutic Substances (CTS) 2) Third-party Lasix administration by an authorized person,
such as the official veterinarian 3) A Multiple Medication Violation (MMV) program and 4) RMTC Laboratory Accreditation.
So, based on the foregoing discussion points, how is this march toward uniformity moving?
So-so.
Up-and-down.
But....
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, easy
about this task.
Though broad-based data may vary
somewhat, the most widely accepted report shows that not one Quarter Horse or TB racing jurisdiction, major or otherwise, has adopted NUMP in its entirety over the past six years.
The first component of NUMP, covering the 30 controlled therapeutic medications, has been adopted by nine states: Colorado, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and Texas. Interestingly, none of those states is typically considered as major, especially for TB racing.
Seven states have adopted fully the NUMP component directed to the third party administration of Lasix. Those states are: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, North Dakota and Virginia.
NUMP’s laboratory accreditation program has met with the least resistance, with 29 states coming into compliance.
Finally, the Multiple Penalty Violation rule has been adopted by nine states. They are: Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
To summarize, five states (Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, Montana, Virginia) have embraced three of the four NUMP components; thirteen states have adopted two of the four and another thirteen have adopted one of the four. Florida and Iowa have seen fit to hold out on all four.
A horse could have aminorex, a stimulant that was used as a weight loss aid in humans, in its system as a result of having recently eaten hay or grain containing a relative of the plant wintercress. The drug was banned after causing pulmonary hypertension in humans and is listed by ARCI’s uniform Classification guidelines as a Class 1 drug.
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