Two committees of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission have agreed on a set of regulations that will pertain to out-of-competition testing that is being pushed through before the Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 5-6 at Churchill Downs.

During a lengthy Aug. 26 meeting, the KHRC rules committee and Equine Drug Research Council endorsed regulations that call for a first-offense penalty of a fine up to $50,000 and a ban from racing in the state for a period of one to 10 years. Also, those same penalties would apply to an owner, trainer, or anyone refusing to permit a horse to be tested. Horses that test positive under the regulations would be barred from racing in the state for 180 days.

At the Aug. 26 meeting and during "town hall" meetings earlier this week at Churchill Downs and Keeneland, KHRC equine medical director Mary Scollay-Ward, DVM, said out-of-competition testing is important because it can detect substances, mainly blood-doping agents, that are not found in the regular post-race urine and blood tests.

Out-of-competition testing, in effect in Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Canada, allows the commission to conduct the tests on horses regardless of location, including other states if there is a belief that that the horse may eventually race in Kentucky. That capability generated an intense amount of discussion on how the commission could enforce its authority across state lines