Proposed Racehorse Drug Rules Debated in New York

Officials heard the pros and cons of having different medication rules for Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds.
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The New York Gaming Commission (NYGC), during a Jan. 21 public hearing, heard the pros and cons of having different medication rules for Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses.

The NYGC, which oversees horse racing in the state, is currently considering uniform model drug rules approved by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) and adopted by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI). Many states in the Mid-Atlantic region have enacted the rules or are in the process of adopting them.

Concerns over withdrawal times and threshold levels for clenbuterol and corticosteroids led the United States Trotting Association (USTA) to leave the RMTC in late September 2013 and to publicly oppose the rules adopted by RCI. Standardbred leaders have repeatedly said current regulations are effective for harness horses.

"We’ve used (the medications) for 10 years or more, and we don’t have a problem with them," USTA president Phil Langley told the NYGC. "Our breed is just so durable

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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.

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