Groups Step Up Call for Model Racehorse Drug Rules

Racing industry organizations have stepped up their call for swift adoption of national model rules on medication and drug testing in the wake of investigations into allegations of mistreatment and over-medication of Thoroughbred racehorses.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Racing industry organizations have stepped up their call for swift adoption of national model rules on medication and drug testing in the wake of investigations into allegations of mistreatment and over-medication of Thoroughbred racehorses.

Trainer Steve Asmussen and assistant trainer Scott Blasi were the subjects of a 2013 undercover investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which alleges over-medication and mistreatment. Documentation of the allegations, as well as video, were turned over to regulators in Kentucky and New York.

Much of the undercover probe revealed the presence of legal therapeutic medication used in training or administered within a certain number of days before a race. The practice isn't uncommon, but the model rules devised by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) and Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI) are designed to greatly reduce such drug regimens and create a treat-when-necessary environment.

"(The Thoroughbred Racing Association's, or TRA) members in 2012 voted unanimously to advocate the Uniform Medication and Penalty Model Rules, developed by the RMTC and RCI," the racetrack trade group said March 21. "By the end of 2013 those policies had been adopted by many of the leading racing states, and efforts continue to ensure unanimous adoption in the current year

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Tom LaMarra, a native of New Jersey and graduate of Rutgers University, has been news editor at The Blood-Horse since 1998. After graduation he worked at newspapers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as an editor and reporter with a focus on municipal government and politics. He also worked at Daily Racing Form and Thoroughbred Times before joining The Blood-Horse. LaMarra, who has lived in Lexington since 1994, has won various writing awards and was recognized with the Old Hilltop Award for outstanding coverage of the horse racing industry. He likes to spend some of his spare time handicapping races.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
332 votes · 332 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!