National HBPA Endorses Changes in Racehorse Drug Rules

Changes made by the Association of Racing Commissioners International in regard to model medication rules led to an endorsement by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA).
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Changes made by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI) in regard to model medication rules led to an endorsement by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA), which includes a Florida affiliate that has been categorized as not being on board with uniform regulations.

The RCI board of directors approved the model rules changes last week during its conference in Lexington, Ky. Regulators altered withdrawal times and threshold testing levels for a few substances and added two drugs to the "Controlled Therapeutic Medication Schedule" to make for a total of 26 substances.

The RCI acted upon recommendations by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC).

"Horsemen across the country want just one thing, a level playing field, and that's what uniform medication is all about," Florida HBPA executive director Kent Stirling, who also serves as chairman of the National HBPA Medication Committee, said April 11. "Florida is 100% on board with that goal, and we'll continue with an open and frank dialogue with the RCI, The Jockey Club, and the RMTC as we move forward united toward that common end

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:

How much time do you usually spend grooming your horse?
439 votes · 439 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!