An authority on drug testing, who has worked with the United States Olympic Committee and is now advising the horse racing industry, has urged caution on efforts to regulate anabolic steroids.

“You need much more infrastructure; you need to walk before you run,” Dr. Don Catlin said March 17 during the second Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit at the Keeneland sale pavilion in Lexington. “You’re getting there. You’re taking the first steps.”

Catlin, head of the Equine Drug Research Institute, made his comments following a report from Dr. Scot Waterman, executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, who noted the progress being made throughout the country in getting racing jurisdictions to adopt rules to regulate four types of anabolic steroids.

Earlier, during his presentation to the about 100 industry professionals attending the public portion of the summit, Catlin advocated an outright ban on steroids. A main reason for banning the drugs altogether is that a myriad of different anabolic steroids are available. Even restricting the testing to only four and determing threshold levels that would determine a positive test, he said, will still be cumbersome