What routine testing procedures are carried out on horses racing under Turf Club Rules?
The Turf Club has an extensive drug testing regime in place which includes the following:
All winners are routinely sampled for testing for prohibited substances, by the Turf Club veterinary surgeon on duty at every racetrack.Ireland is one of the only countries worldwide where all the winners are tested.In addition, the stewards may request the veterinary surgeon to sample other horses in the race, where they may have run below form if no other reason for this poor performance can be found.The Turf Club veterinary officers also visit trainers’ yards and take samples from horses in training. What are prohibited substances?
The definition of a prohibited substance means that you should assume that any drug or supplement that has, or claims to have, an effect on horses (or any other species) is prohibited unless you have specific advice from a Turf Club veterinary officer that it is not. It is generally true that anything (other than normal food and water by mouth) that you give a horse, by mouth, injection or nebulisation in the hope or belief that it will have an effect on a horse or its performance, in any way, is a prohibited substance. Not all prohibited substances are detectable in racing laboratories but they are still prohibited. Where such substances are of concern to racing authorities they will encourage their laboratories to develop new methods to detect them. Some samples that have been declared negative are frozen and will be re-analysed if/when new methods are developed.Most veterinary drugs, except certain anti-infectious agents, are prohibited substances but their use outside of performance is often essential to treat a disease or injury. It is, therefore, important to terminate treatment at an appropriate time before a horse races again: that is the purpose of the detection time information given by the authorities.Although anti-infectious agents are not called as positives, it is important to remember that horses with active infections (e.g. ringworm or respiratory infections etc), should not be taken to the racecourse. Horses that have had a bacterial infection in the recent past may not be fit to run.Few trainers would consider running a horse shortly after worming it.While the use of prohibited substances for veterinary treatment, with a suitable withdrawal period, is perfectly acceptable, it is an offence to administer a prohibited substance to a horse with the intention of affecting its racing performance (whether or not the drug is detected in a sample). Are there infectious agents which could be deemed prohibited?
Yes. A case in point here would be procaine penicillin. It is the procaine part of this product that is the main prohibited component of the injection. This could show up in the treated horse’s system for up to 45 days post treatment. This means that a trainer could inadvertently give a horse with an infected leg a course of injections (by prescription from his treating veterinary surgeon), and test positive on the race track within or up to the 45 day period after treatment. Therefore awareness of withdrawal times is ultimately important for all involved.What methods are used for deciding on racehorses for sampling?
The Turf Club systems use a targeted approach complemented by the stewards on the day for selecting horses for testing, often on the basis of their performance. This is in addition to the routine testing of all winners.What is the procedure for routine testing for prohibited substances for horses under FEI Rules?
The FEI enforces these rules for sport horses competing in international competition.Horses competing at FEI shows/events may be subject to sampling for the presence of FEI Equine Prohibited Substances as per FEI Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMRs). Horses may be selected for sampling in accordance with obligatory testing, targeted or random sampling procedures under the FEI Veterinary Regulations.How is sampling done?
Pre-race testing and testing in training is normally undertaken via a blood sample, as opposed to a urine sample, which is the usual procedure in post-race testing and is carried out by the Turf Club-appointed veterinary surgeon. However other samples may also be taken, including hair and saliva.Under FEI Rules, the Elective Testing for prohibited substances is carried out by the FEI-appointed veterinary surgeon to test the urine of the selected horse. The actual sampling procedures follow normal veterinary practices. Where are the samples analysed?
The BHP Laboratories Limerick provide this service for testing for prohibited substances in racing under Turf Club Rules.The reference laboratory usually used by FEI is located in Cambridgeshire UK. The other laboratories servicing the industry are located in France, Hong Kong, Australia, and USA.There are strict procedures in place to ensure samples are tamper proof, not contaminated and are correctly identified. The follow-up includes a robust chain of custody from the place of sampling to the testing lab so there can be no outside interference with the sample. Subsequently there are rigorous procedures in place to ensure sample integrity.Do many race winners show positive results on routine testing for prohibited substances?In 2013, the Turf Club tested 3,207 samples out of which three were found to be positive for a specific drug.