Page 96 - New Mexico Horse Breeder Spring 2018

The 2019 New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association annual business meeting and Zia Awards banquet will be held on Thursday, January 24, in Albuquerque
Dr. Ben Moeller
Dr. Ben Moeller of the Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the Kenneth L. Maddy Laboratory at UC Davis, made a presentation about the logistics and practice of hair testing in racehorses.
Dr. Moeller’s current research is primarily focused on equine anti-doping and the development of biomarkers to detect the potential abuse of prohibited substances.
He has received numerous awards for his research on analytical methods in toxicology and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.
According to Dr. Moeller, most testing of racehorses is done post-race. Many jurisdictions also use out-of-competition testing.
“When we test, we are looking for stimulating agents and growth promoters,” he explained. “Prohibited substances include Clenbuterol, Zilpaterol, Nandrolone, Stanozolol, Boldenone and Testosterone.”
Dr. Moeller added that mane hair is primarily used for hair testing in racehorses. “Mane hair is less dirty than tail hair and
we don’t use body hair as a matrix to test for prohibited substances,” he said. “The matrices we use for testing in racehorses are urine, blood (serum) and hair. Hair allows us to have a longer detection window. With hair testing, the storage is ambient, meaning that it doesn’t need to be refrigerated as blood and urine do. It also gives us a better view of cumulative exposure to prohibited substances.”
Dr. Moeller concluded his presentation
with a video on how hair samples are collected and shipped. Hair is cut close to the skin and placed in a labeled bag. It is washed and dried to eliminate contamination, then it is cut, processed and pulverized into powder, and the targeted drugs are extracted from the sample. More than 70 compounds are included in the screening.
“Hair testing is one tool that can be used to detect illegal drugs, but it is not the only tool,” Dr. Moeller said. “If we just tested hair, people would figure out a way to get around the tests, just like if we just used blood or urine. We need a full complement of matrices to test properly.”
Mindy McArthur
Also during the meeting, the following people were elected to the NMHBA board: Denton Crozier of Hobbs, New Mexico, Mindy McArthur of Austin, Texas, and Thomas W. Pierce of Albuquerque, a Thoroughbred trustee and Bill Shepard of Roswell, New Mexico, a Quarter Horse trustee.
Also, Ralph Vincent of Albuquerque was re-elected to serve as NMHBA president.
Jay Taylor of Albuquerque, a Thoroughbred trustee, was re-elected as first vice president, and Tom Goncharoff of Tularosa, New Mexico, a Quarter Horse trustee, was elected to serve as second vice president.
“We had a very busy year and we
accomplished many of our goals.”
94 New Mexico Horse Breeder