CHRB adopts uniform guidelines

In a move aimed at bringing uniformity to the use of medications in horse racing, the California Horse Racing Board on Tuesday tentatively adopted guidelines that will establish standard fines and suspensions for trainers but also will put more responsibility on owners and veterinarians.

The guidelines, which will become official after a 45-day waiting period to allow for public discussion, will make violations involving most of the 800 drugs for which the state tests more costly for owners and could lead to license revocation for up to three years for trainers or veterinarians after a third offense involving the most serious violations.

The standards, set forth in a regular meeting of the CHRB at Arcadia City Hall, were established by the Kentucky-based Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, a national organization.

The guidelines are intended for use at all California race tracks and will apply to thoroughbred, quarter horse and harness racing.

Currently, the standards and applications of penalties vary for different types of racing.

“It’s sentencing guidelines that will be fair and uniform throughout California,” said Richard B. Shapiro, the board chairman.

“That way, people will understand the potential consequences if they continue to abuse horse racing.

“It’s exactly opposite of the way the judicial system works. You are presumed guilty and you’re going to have to prove that you’re not.”

California officials also are trying to take a leadership role in the regulation of anabolic steroids, or, illegal muscle-mass builders.

Violations for all but four drugs commonly used to build muscle mass will be reclassified as more severe, a move that will require the loss of purses, and call for suspension.

The four anabolic steroids that will not be reclassified, because they are either approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in horses or are used to treat legitimate health problems, are boldenone, testosterone, nandrolone and stanozolol, which may be used to treat debilitating illness such as colic or pneumonia, or as hormone replacements for geldings.

With their actions, California officials will be following in the example of Kentucky, the only other state that, so far, has adopted the consortium guidelines.

There will be rare cases in which a less severe penalty, or no penalty, may be assessed.

Scopolamine, for example, is a prohibited drug but it can be found in hay, and could be ingested by a horse through no fault of his human connections.

In such cases, which Dr. Rick Arthur, the CHRB equine medical director, considers poisonings, a horse would have to be disqualified but there would be no penalty for a groom, trainer, veterinarian or owner.

“There’s people who will always say they’re being picked on,” Arthur said. “The goal, however, is not to go after specific people, it’s to make people realize the reward is not worth the risk.”

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