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Horsemen favor harsh penalties for some drug violations

Posted: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 11:33 AM

by Frank Angst

When Association of Racing Commissioners International committees meet in Saratoga Springs on Tuesday, the nation’s largest horsemen’s group will call for harsh penalties for the most severe violations.

 At the conclusion of its summer convention last weekend in Seattle, the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association’s board of directors advocated the “strictest penalties,” for drug violations involving pharmacologically significant concentrations of RCI Class I or Class II substances.

 RCI creates model rules that regulators in racing states are encouraged to adopt. In its classification of illegal substances, Class I and Class II substances generally carry the harshest penalties. Class I substances have the highest potential to affect a horse’s performance—boost or suppress, and have no medical use in the horse; while Class II substances have a high potential to affect performance and are not generally accepted as therapeutic.

 The HBPA Board will support this initiative on Tuesday at meetings of the RCI Drug Testing and Standards Committee and the Model Rules Committee. Ohio HBPA Executive Director Dave Basler will represent the National HBPA at the meetings. Florida HBPA Executive Director and NHBPA Medication Committee Chairman Kent Stirling advocate the same position at the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) meeting on August 4.

 The horsemen generally favor the harsher punishments, but said suspected violators must receive full due process rights, testing facilities must be accredited to uniform standards, and that scientific evidence must back the addition of any substances to the list of Class I and Class II substances.

 “I believe that the public positions taken by our Board send the message out that while we and industry regulators may still have work to do on how we regulate and penalize horsemen with regard to the use of legitimate therapeutic medications, we are very much united with regulators on passing even tougher penalties for those found guilty of using substances that we all agree don’t belong any where near a horse—the performance enhancing, non-therapeutic RCI Class I and II listed substances,” National HBPA President Joe Santanna said on July 24.

 Horsemen said it was important to remember that the vast majority of trainers have never used such performance-enhancing drugs. Based on RCI data, the National HBPA said 99.5% of horses tested are in compliance with existing scientific standards and 98% of 6,000 licensed trainers never have had a Class I or Class II violation.

 Federal legislation was proposed earlier this year targeted at drugs and medications in racing. RCI President Ed Martin agreed with the horsemen that the sport often is treated unfairly on such issues. The RCI Board will meet on Wednesday in Saratoga Springs.

 “The story being told in the non-racing media, that racing has a drug epidemic, is not accurate to the sport and does everyone who works in it a disservice,” Martin said. “We do have the most aggressive drug testing program of any sport testing for more substances at deeper levels.”

 Also at the convention, the National HBPA presented its Industry Service Award to Arkansas HBPA President and National HBPA Secretary-Treasurer and past president Bill Walmsley. Walmsley’s selfless dedication, efforts, and wise counsel to the National HBPA over the last two decades have been instrumental.

Frank Angst is senior writer of Thoroughbred Times.