The Jockey Club isn’t opposed to federal regulation of medication and penalties in horse racing but it would prefer Congress not tinker with the Interstate Horse Racing Act (IHA), an organization official said July 12 during a congressional hearing on performance-enhancing drugs.

The hearing, held by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in Washington, D.C., was the second racing-related hearing this year. A House subcommittee held a hearing in late April in Kennett Square, Pa., on equine medication use.

Jockey Club president and chief operating officer Jim Gagliano, one of eight witnesses at the three-hour hearing, said uniform medication standards and penalties should be in a standalone bill. He said The Jockey Club also would support state-by-state implementation of its proposed "Reformed Racing Medication Rules" or a national compact depending on what can be achieved.

But Gagliano said the IHA, which authorizes interstate simulcasts and advance deposit wagering, should not be opened up and rewritten to govern equine medication. He said the "crucial medication issue could get lost" should lawmakers decide to add other provisions to it