Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Kentucky Unlikely to Begin Steroid Rules by Jan 1

February 25, 2008

The timing of Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) research into anabolic steroid withdrawal times and threshold levels will make it difficult for the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority to implement new steroid rules by January 1, a date the regulator had set as a goal.

RMTC Chief Executive Officer Dan Fick said at a Monday meeting of the Kentucky Authority that a Florida study to determine withdrawal times and threshold levels for four permitted anabolic steroids should be completed by August and possibly as early as June.

Kentucky Authority Executive Director Lisa Underwood acknowledged that an August completion would make it difficult for Kentucky to finish all of the needed hearings to have a new rule in place by January 1, which would coincide with the beginning of the 2009 racing season.

“If the testing is not completed by August, it’s going to be tough, frankly, to make a January 1 deadline,” Underwood said. “It could take six months or longer after the tests are completed.”

Funded by the RMTC, the Florida research uses horses in a simulated training program to determine how their bodies react to the permitted anabolic steroids and how quickly the levels decrease. The four permitted anabolic steroids are stanozolol (Winstrol), boldenone (Equipoise), Nandrolone, and testosterone. Nandrolone and boldenone occur naturally in intact males and testosterone occurs in all horses.

The Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI) has approved model rules on the use of the four androgenic anabolic steroids and has banned the use of any other anabolic steroids in racehorses.

Fick encouraged the Kentucky Authority to stick with the goal of putting a rule in place by January 1, noting that four states, Arkansas, Indiana, Virginia, and Washington, currently have adopted the RCI model rules and two states, Arizona and Iowa, regulate anabolic steroids under existing rules. He said 15 other states have begun the rule-adoption process.

“By the end of the year, we should have 20 states testing for anabolic steroids,” Fick said, noting that National Thoroughbred Racing Association President Alex Waldrop will address a United States congressional subcommittee on the issue on Wednesday.

If needed, Fick said Kentucky could approve the model rules and amend withdrawal times and threshold levels as they become available. He said Indiana helped ease horsemen into the new testing by allowing a 45-day period in which only warnings were issued after horses tested positive. Also, Fick said international standards are already in place and the Florida research will only add to that information.

“We know these anabolic steroids are commonly used and in some cases abused,” Fick said, stressing the need to adopt the model rules.

Marty Maline, executive director of the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, opposed putting a rule in place with plans to update withdrawal times and threshold levels.

“We are in support of regulating steroids,” Maline said. “However … basically what we are dealing with is a rule that is not ready for primetime.”

Of particular concern are testosterone levels. Maline cited veterinarian reports that male testosterone levels can vary significantly from horse to horse. Also levels can increase and decrease during different seasons and can even vary based on the amount of daylight horses receive.

Kentucky Authority Racing Veterinarian Lafe Nichols agreed that of the four permitted anabolic steroids, testosterone would require the most research in terms of withdrawal times and threshold levels.