Page 40 - New Mexico Horse Breeder, Fall

The state has assumed a tough, uncompromising stance when it comes to trainers and owners who violate the drug rules. A number of very heavy sanctions have been levied on such cheaters.
It’s impossible to point to the most recent Sunland Derby (March 25) and say, “Yes. Absolutely. The wonderful numbers are a direct result of the stricter regulatory measures in New Mexico,” but it is safe to say those measures made a striking contribution.
We’re talking about the 16,000 people who turned out to watch, and to bet, a local horse named Runaway Ghost win the $800,000 Grade 3 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park in El Paso. The handle was $4.2-million, the most ever bet on one card in New Mexico. The Derby alone handled $1.8-million, setting a new standard for the most money ever wagered on a single race in the state.
Was the success story due to the extra measures? It’s impossible to quantify but, more than likely, it’s safe to say those measures are helping to push things in the right direction.
Making Teeth that Bite
Rules in the racing industry all too frequently have no bite. They’re toothless. Not worth the paper they’re written on. They’re simply in place to be broken. That’s beyond bad.
The result is no different from little Johnny who turns a deaf ear when Mama threatens
to spank him. It never happens so why pay attention? It’s laughable.
The laughter died down in New Mexico when the rules were given good, strong dental implants that pack a painful and powerful bite.
Case in point: The NMRC joined forces with the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy and, now, horsemen illegally possessing clenbuterol are subject to prosecution under the state’s controlled substance act. Clenbuterol abuse has declined sharply over the past two years. No,
it hasn’t disappeared. There is still a very real
problem with a small number of abusers who seem to have difficulty understanding what “zero tolerance” means.
Clenbuterol, which has effects similar to an anabolic steroid, may be used outside of training but it must be reported ahead of time. The horse is then not permitted to compete for six months and must test clean prior to returning to the track.
Typically, the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) generates
rules they apply evenly to all racing breeds,
but clenbuterol marks an exception. It’s
been withdrawn completely from Quarter Horse racing, where the abuse was the worst, but is still allowed as a bronchodilator in Thoroughbreds, with a 14-day withdrawal time.
Clenbuterol abuse is nothing new. It’s been hanging around and creating a problem for many years. There is, however, a subtle but consistent decline.
There were 71 clenbuterol positives in New Mexico in 2014. The number increased to
84 in 2015. There has been, per the NMRC, some improvement since then, falling to 57 in 2016 and 51 in 2017. Those are the numbers that led the NMRC to reach out to the Board of Pharmacy, acting on the feeling that more needed to be done.
Section 15.2.6 D.5.
It looks like just a bunch of numbers with a “D” thrown in to break the monotony but.... it’s not.
It’s part of the New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC) and trainers and owners really, really should try very hard to stay far away from it. It was written by Dr. Scott Waterman, NMRC Medical Director.
The core of the rule says: A horse with a positive test, as determined and reported by the official lab, in specific categories shall be placed immediately on the stewards’ list.
This is as good a definition of “summarily” as anything found in a dictionary. In other words, it cuts through the B.S.
THE CATEGORIES ARE:
• Any drug deemed as a Penalty Class A under the ARCI’s uniform classifica- tions guidelines and included in NMAC 15.2.6.9.
• Any prohibited anabolic and androgenic steroid or any anabolic androgenic steroid in excess of the permitted concentrations as listed by NMAC 15.2.6.9.
• Clenbuterol or other beta-agonist drugs with significant anabolic effects that are not currently Penalty Class A drugs.
• Other drugs designed to promote growth or muscle, including but not limited to growth hormones, somatotropins, insulin growth factors and gene modifying agents.
• Cobalt, when it’s in excess of the level accepted by NMAC 15.2.6.9.
Horses in violation of these rules will be placed on the stewards’ 60-day list. They may return to racing if they test clean at the end of that period. By that time, any lingering effects of whatever the horse was given should be gone.
The process for setting everything in place was actually stepped up several notches when the above rules were adopted in emergency action
on June 29. Enough was definitely enough, pushing Trejo to seek the emergency ruling. Soon after, five Quarter Horses were scratched from Ruidoso Downs stakes races at the very beginning of August, 2016, after failing out- of-competition testing. That might never have happened without the June 29 emergency action.
Dr. Waterman explained the practice when he said, “Those that wager on horse racing must be confident that the form of the horse is based on its true athletic ability and not based on the use of performance enhancing substances.”
Actually, that point can be taken one very important step farther.
38 New Mexico Horse Breeder