Page 54 - May 2017

UNITED FRONT
Separate, But Equal
by Jennifer K. Hancock
explained. “A perfect example is when Texas had a threshold for clenbuterol. If you competed
in the Texas Classic, by their rules and afford- ing your horse an opportunity to have some clenbuterol, then when you came to Remington to participate in their races, which was in the six-month window, and they have a zero toler- ance for clenbuterol, then you had a problem. The beauty is Texas has come on board and they are going to be adopting a policy for all breeds for clenbuterol as a prohibited substance.”
VanBebber said she was encouraged by the jurisdictions coming together to support the changes at the ARCI gathering. “All of our major jurisdictions were on board. While a few did vote against the measure for breed specific, the reason they did was because they were go- ing across the board for all breeds,” VanBeb- ber said. “They weren’t against us, they were for us, but they had a little different way of getting there. It’s not how you get from Point A to B, the important thing is that you get to Point B, and we feel like we got that done in last week’s conference.”
AQHA describes the recent move by ARCI as being “one step toward better regulating and prop- erly classifying the PEDs we do know about.”
One of the other hot topics at the confer- ence included out-of-competition testing, or the testing of horses for banned or illegally used sub- stances before a race and on or off the backside of the racetrack. Scientists have perfected hair testing techniques that can detect banned sub- stances that have been used in the animal for up to six months from administration. In addition, it was discussed how state jurisdictions can use
a vet list or a stewards list that sidelines a horse
At the Association of Racing Commissioners International annual meeting, the ARCI model- rule committee and board of directors approved the American Quarter Horse Association’s request to separate American Quarter Horse flat racing into its own breed-specific standard for medication violation within ARCI’s model rule, in what AQHA is describing as a “big win” for sprint racing.
ARCI’s Annual Conference on Integrity and Equine Welfare took place April 18-20 in Charleston, South Carolina.
A key point in requesting the ARCI change was regulating the use of clenbuterol, or Ventipulmen, in Quarter Horse racing. AQHA sought to have the ARCI welfare committee and the model-rule committee amend the uniform thresholds for therapeutic drugs to provide a zero tolerance for clenbuterol in American Quarter Horse racing. Due to the medication’s anabolic nature that has been proven to be performance enhancing, horses that test positive for the drug could be sidelined for six months and must pro- vide a clean test before returning to competition.
According to an AQHA press release, “For years, clenbuterol has been a therapeutic medi- cation used to treat horses for inflammatory air- way disease or recurrent airway obstruction due to its vasodilation properties, which act to open the airways in the lungs. It has been prescribed for human use for the treatment of asthma in the form of an inhalant, but it has also been used at higher doses by bodybuilders to burn fat and build muscle. Described as a Beta 2 agonist, clenbuterol has been banned in the livestock industry for more than 30 years because of the side effects it can have in humans who consume
compared to the endurance qualities of Thor- oughbred racing. Dr. Scott Stanley reported at the 2016 AQHA Racing Conference held at the Challenge Championships at Los Alamitos Race Course in California that illegally compounded clenbuterol produced in unregulated, black mar- ket laboratories has been commonly found and confiscated as illegal contraband on the backside of racetracks. The drug has been discovered in dangerously high concentrations indicative of an overuse and abuse of the drug. Dr. Stanley ex- plained that the use of clenbuterol would likely give horses an unfair performance-enhancing impact and, at its worst, would produce the risk of a major equine welfare problem due to the potential side effects of the drug that could lead to death of the animal.”
In June 2016, Janet VanBebber, who is the first female trainer with 1,000 career wins in Quarter Horse racing and is the leading female trainer by money earned, became the AQHA Chief Racing Officer. VanBebber points to a new approach by AQHA for improved dialog and working with state regulators.
“Instead of trying to be an actual regulatory body, we are trying to partner with commissions to enhance their ability to increase integrity
in our sport. With that same attitude moving forward, I want to foster implementation,” VanBebber said.
In an attempt to self-regulate, in 2014 the AQHA Racing Council began the Multiple Medication Violation System which involved added penalties for violators in addition to those given by state adjudicated proceedings. Accord- ing to an AQHA press release, in March 2016, AQHA suspended its MMVS program due to
tainted food-animal products containing the drug compound. It has been a proven perfor- mance enhancer and muscle builder commonly referred to in the livestock industry as a reparti- tioning agent, which switches the animal from fat production to muscle production.
“The International Olympic Committee has also had a long-time ban on clenbuterol
in athletes due to its performance-enhancing properties and dangerous side effects. Because of the nature of American Quarter Horse rac- ing and the required explosive start and rapid acceleration of a race lasting under 21 seconds, muscle mass and “fast twitch” muscle strength become a premium and, therefore, the major difference in American Quarter Horse racing
the volume and complexity of violations coming in from more than 20 jurisdictions. AQHA then appealed to state commissions to evaluate this serious problem and collectively work toward the elimination and proper employment of deterrents not only for clenbuterol but also for all performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) that can be abused on the backside.
VanBebber said since taking over AQHA’s racing department last year, she’s heard a famil- iar theme from AQHA management, the Racing Council and her fellow horsemen: fairness across jurisdictions.
“If they were going to follow the rules in one jurisdiction, they wanted the rules to be the same when they went to another,” she
from racing for a length of time until a horse clears such violation through additional testing.
“The foundation for this was set by my predecessors and by our Medication Taskforce and by our Racing Council and the objectives that they set,” VanBebber said. “Our perspective is to partner with the jurisdictions to increase integrity. Once we forged that relationship – that AQHA is not trying to micromanage their job, we’re trying to enhance their job and how can we help you – we’ve made all kinds of prog- ress. This is the first of many big steps. I’m really thrilled. It’s nice to see all of us working together for the betterment of our sport. The goal for in- creased integrity is something that we can have a united front moving forward on.”
52 SPEEDHORSE, May 2017