Page 36 - 16 March 2012

Continuing ChangeS RegaRding ClenbuteRol
Several states are currently discussing changes to their clenbuterol rules for Quarter horse racing.
by Stacy Pigott
Since 2010, the American Quarter Horse Association has been discussing the issue of clenbuterol use in racing American Quarter Horses. And while it’s taken some time, the Quarter Horse racing industry is starting to see widespread discussion of clen- buterol in several state racing associations and racing commissions.
“We probably started hearing stories and reports right after the industry really started to push for the ban of anabolic steroids in 2008,” said AQHA’s Executive Director of Racing Trey Buck. “At some point after that, we started hear- ing stories about the “red bull” or the “mexican juice” or whatever terms you heard going around out there, but nobody really called it clenbuterol then so you really didn’t know what it was they were talking about.
“At the 2010 Heritage Place Yearling Sale, Dan Lucas and Jimmy Eller both came to
us and said we should do something at the Racing Conference to talk about this,” Buck continued. “So we organized a round table with horsemen, representatives from racetracks and diagnostic laboratories, and several veterinar- ians, and ended up with about a group of about 30 people at the Racing Conference at the Fair Grounds. That was probably the first formal meeting we had to discuss it.”
Following that meeting, the AQHA in early 2011 drafted a letter to the five major racing commissions and AQHA affiliates for Quarter Horse racing—Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, California and Louisiana— including a proposal for the use of clenbuterol and recom- mended thresholds and guidelines. At the time, clenbuterol was already on the radar of racing associations in Ontario and California, with both locations making drastic changes to their clenbuterol policies in 2011.
In Ontario, the Ontario Racing Commission on Aug. 12, 2011, issued Quarter Horse Directive 1/2011, establishing enhanced testing for clenbuterol for Quarter Horses. The Directive lowered clenbuterol thresholds to 200 pg/ml in urine samples and/or 1-2 pg/ml in blood samples.
In California, Los Alamitos implemented a “zero-tolerance on race day” policy for clenbuterol on Oct. 14, 2011. If the testing lab detects clenbuterol at any level in a post-race sample, it is a violation. The California Horse Racing Board clarified that “To be clear, clenbuterol is not ‘banned.’ The drug may be used on the grounds upon the prescription
of a CHRB-licensed veterinarian. Only the FDA-approved form of clen-
buterol, Ventipulmin
Syrup, is allowed to
be used to treat lower
respiratory disease.
Veterinarians pre-
scribing Ventipulmin
will be required to
provide a specific
diagnosis for its use
on form CHRB-
24 (Veterinary
Confidentals). As
a muscle builder, a
horse on clenbuterol
starts losing the
muscle mass from the
repartitioning effect
within days without
sustained administra-
tion. The CHRB will
continue to use out-of-
competition testing to
monitor compliance in
conjunction with our
existing post-race testing
program. In addition, the
Maddy lab is investigat-
ing alternative testing
techniques for other
beta-2 agonists and other
growth-promoting drugs.”
“I think what kind of gets lost sometimes is it’s not a ban. We’re not recom- mending a ban,” said Buck. “The one thing we’ve said all along is that the actual
Ventipulmin Syrup is a very good medication that is very useful on a horse with breathing issues when used at the FDA-approved doses. But the problem is that the labs can’t determine between the real clenbuterol and the illegally compounded stuff.”
Both California and Ontario recommended a 30-day withdrawal time to avoid any inad- vertent positives, provided the drug used was
the FDA-approved Ventipulmin form of clenbuterol administered at the recom-
mended therapeutic dose for lower respiratory disease.
Last month, the AQHA sent a second letter to state asso-
ciations, several of which are now addressing the use of
clenbuterol. Clenbuterol is currently on the agenda at various levels in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, while
New Mexico has already announced a rule change for 2012.
“Since then we’ve learned that Colorado and Wyoming already had a
zero-tolerance on race day for clenbuterol in place,” said Buck. “And I just
found out a few days ago that Alberta also already has a zero-tolerance
policy in place.”
New Mexico became
the first state in 2012 to make changes to their clenbuterol
policy during a
Aeropulmin is a
generic form of Ventipulmin—both of which are FDA- approved sources of clenbuterol.
34 SPEEDHORSE, March 16, 2012