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UK Hires Dr. Cynthia Cole As Acting Lab Director

Dr. Cynthia Cole has been named the acting laboratory director of the UK Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (EACL), effective March 15, 2024, according to a press release from the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

Cole brings over 30 years of experience to the role, with a diverse background spanning academia, industry and research, according to the UK release. Previously, Cole served as an associate clinical professor and director of The Racing Laboratory at the University of Florida from 2002-2006 and again from 2018-2023 when the laboratory closed.

Just last week, the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) suspended its accreditation of the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, according to the RMTC's executive director, Michael Hardy.

That followed news the prior week that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) had opened an investigation into the UK Laboratory's performance, and that the agencies were cooperating with the university's own investigation into the matter.

The university is also conducting an ongoing personnel investigation relating to former lab director Scott Stanley and that “Dr. Stanley was not permitted to be in direct communication with the other staff at the laboratory,” HISA and HIWU wrote in a joint statement two weeks ago.

HIWU stopped sending samples to the UK Lab on Feb. 16. Prior to that, the laboratory had been one of six drug testing facilities used under HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program. According to the RMTC's Hardy, his organization alerted the University of Kentucky to the RMTC's laboratory accreditation suspension on Mar. 11.

Cole was one of the founding faculty members of the KL Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California, Davis (1995-2002). She holds a D.V.M., Ph.D. and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Florida and is recognized as a Diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology. Cole has also made significant contributions in her industry roles at Mars Petcare, Novartis Animal Health, IDEXX and Piedmont Pharmaceuticals.

In her role as acting director, Cole will oversee all operations of the laboratory, including reviewing procedures from sample receiving to results and ensuring compliance with all applicable accreditation criteria.

“With the resources, energy and support that UK, the racing industry, elected policymakers and other stakeholders have invested in the Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, it is poised to be an industry leader in forensic drug testing,” said Dr. Cole. “Moving forward, and working with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit and regulators of sport horse competitions, I am confident that we can achieve that vision.”

Leveraging her background in veterinary medicine and pharmacology, Cole will also provide guidance on chemistry and sample analysis to ensure the accuracy and reliability of testing procedures. Additionally, she will supervise daily laboratory activities, offering leadership and support to staff members to maintain the highest standards of performance.

“We warmly welcome Dr. Cole to the college,” said Nancy Cox, vice president of land-grant engagement and dean of Martin-Gatton CAFE. “Her extensive experience and proven leadership will be instrumental in advancing the EACL's history of providing drug testing that meets the highest industry standards. She will also be instrumental in upholding the integrity of the equine industry, advancing the health and welfare of the horse.”

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Letter To The Editor: Racing Surfaces And Testing

by Dr. Mick Peterson and Dr. Wayne McIlwraith

This year marks 15 years since the Racing Surfaces Testing Lab (RSTL) was founded by an engineering faculty member at the University of Maine and an orthopedic surgeon from Colorado State University. The non-commercial material testing lab emerged out of the 2006 Grayson-Jockey Club Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit at the urging of Dennis Moore of Hollywood Park and Dan Fick of The Jockey Club. Initially located in one stall of a two-car detached garage in Orono, Maine, the independent non-profit was made possible by donations from The Jockey Club, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Churchill Downs Inc., The New York Racing Association, California Association of Racing Fairs and Oak Tree Foundation.

The RSTL in 2023 has little in common with that modest start. Now located in Lexington, Kentucky, the RSTL is in a 3,400-square-foot building on a 1/4-acre lot. The fenced lot is filled with vans and trailers that performed more than 70 pre-meet inspections at 53 racetracks in 2023. The lab no longer just performs standard tests but develops tests in collaboration with the University of Kentucky and racetrack operators, researchers, and graduate students from Europe, Latin America, and Australia. Fifteen years ago, surface standards for horse racing in the United States lagged behind other racing jurisdictions and sports. Today, thanks to a combination of federal legislation and a unique gift, horse racing in the United States has the potential to become an international model for safety and consistency across sport surfaces.

The beginning of the shift started with a 2019 gift from The Jockey Club which enabled the RSTL to take over existing on-site testing and the maintenance database. The single set of equipment previously available for pre-meet inspection had been based in Maine and later in Lexington to serve all racetracks in the United States. The gift provided funding for equipment to be located in Lexington as well as on the West Coast.

With this equipment, the RSTL could perform pre-meet testing at racetracks across the United States and respond quickly if concerns arose. Laboratory material testing was modernized with new equipment, which allowed critical testing to be performed in less than an hour instead of over several days. The existing database was replaced by a new system hosted by The Jockey Club, which started the RSTL on a path to more comprehensive data storage and provided a modern interface for the racetracks to enter maintenance data. The timing could not have been more auspicious. Demand was poised to far outstrip the testing capabilities that existed prior to receiving the gift from The Jockey Club.

When the HISA Safety Regulations went into effect in July 2022, pre-meet inspection, material testing and daily measurements were required at all covered racetracks. As a result of these regulations, the Maintenance Quality System protocols developed over the previous decade had become more than suggestions followed by a few of the most progressive racetracks. Using the new equipment, pre-meet inspections were immediately implemented by the RSTL for HISA. Today, after only one and a half years, test data is available from all covered racetracks. Updated information infrastructure from The Jockey Club forms the backbone of a system that feeds data to HISA in real time. Epidemiological models of horse injuries can now begin to include quantitative racetrack surface data.

Work remains. Dirt, turf and synthetic racetrack surfaces need continuous improvement. Complete daily monitoring of the tracks exists at only a few racetracks. Real-time race surface data is needed by superintendents and researchers. However, the data infrastructure and regulatory framework is in place. New information can be fed to racetrack maintenance personnel. The commitment of the RSTL is unchanged. The design of equipment and testing protocols are all publicly available and subject to peer review. Data from the tracks is widely shared among other racetracks. No other racing jurisdiction and very few other sports have combined research with transparency to build surfaces that are consistent, from day to day, and throughout the United States and Canada.

Michael “Mick” Peterson, Ph.D. is the Director of the Racetrack Safety Program and Professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Kentucky. He is also the Executive Director and a co-founder of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory. Wayne McIlwraith is the founding director of the Orthopaedic Research Center, a University Distinguished Professor in orthopaedics and holds the Barbara Cox Anthony University Chair in Orthopaedic Research at Colorado State University.

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Letter To The Editor: Actions Detrimental Or An Inconvenient Truth?

by Brent J Malmstrom

“Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.”-Thomas Jefferson

I was made aware The Jockey Club published an article “HISA is Necessary” which appears to be a direct response to my letter to the Editor Actions Detrimental.

I would like to thank all the various industry participants who have reached out in support of what I shared and the concerns which were raised.

The Jockey Club is a breed registry. The author perhaps without knowing has acted as an agent for the Authority and or the person most knowledgeable and your commentary can only be interpreted as an on-the-record factual basis.

A more appropriate response could have been, `we appreciate you raising your concerns, we appreciate your perspective as an owner, and we acknowledge despite best intentions things haven't always worked the way they are intended.' This could have been used as a learning moment for the betterment of the collective. Or, they could have said, `we disagree with your point of view.' The question remains: how many industry representatives need to come forward before constructive dialogue is allowed to occur?

According to the author, I should be ashamed for raising concerns regarding the implementation of this Act and the potential material consequences the integration represents to the industry and the participants. A little reminder that we live by the rule of law and protections where the government can't deprive any person of “life, liberty, or property without due process.”

Contrary to the representation raised by the author, I am not a party to or affiliated with any lawsuits pertaining to this integration and adoption. Also, as a point of fact, it wasn't my horse in question, as the author suggests. I just happen to own around 30 other racehorses. Also, to date there has been no email or communications from HISA or HIWU regarding what happens when one of your covered persons (i.e. your trainer) has been provisionally suspended.

The author suggests that it is not possible to have any contamination event and the presumptive position would be anyone taking any of these types of medications under the general care of their doctor should not be training and or be involved in this sport as the tolerance level is zero. (Trainers, owners, grooms, track employees, racing officials, anyone…)

We should recap the significant events since my article was published. The Authority changed the Provisional Suspension rule to not to take effect until the “B” sample results were complete. I believe they should have taken it one step further and waited until the provisional hearing; that would seem appropriate. Allow the labs to confirm the results and allow due process to the parties involved.

With regards to my statements about the permissibility of the medication in question, “Metformin”. I drew those statements from publicly available information: USADA;, WADA;, FEI (indeed, FEI even acknowledges some substances “are more likely to have been ingested by Horses for a purpose other than the enhancement of sport performance, for example, through a contaminated food substance); ARCI (see links below).

Why is all of this important? There is a subset of medication that is common within our environment and the list of Atypical Findings as well as the “Banned vs Controlled/Prohibited” lists should continue to be reviewed. At issue is the difference in how these determinations were made and how they are treated (a monetary fine, points on your record, a suspension). Gone are the days of a fine and a few days suspension – we are now saying you could be out of the industry for months and or years for a violation from a positive caused by an environmental transfer. Why when these concerns are raised, must the attitude be, “you are anti-HISA” vs “it's in everyone's best interest to get this correct?”

What hasn't been discussed is what happens when the Authority doesn't follow their stated protocols i.e. Timelines for test samples, chain of custody of the samples (split samples not traveling together to the second lab), confirming the testing procedures are followed. Just because they say this happens doesn't necessary reflect what happens, unless the author is suggesting they will attest and stand behind this certification under penalty of perjury that everything is correct all the time. Remember the industry participants are paying four to five times more for these tests as it has been stated the costs were negotiated to ensure speed and accuracy.

There continues to be a significant lag when test results are returned vs. when horses competed. We continue to see issues related to results vs. claimed horses. In several examples the horse may have changed hands several times before an original test of an altered chemical finding was produced. The pervasive question continues to be now what?

The request from HISA and now The Jockey Club is to allow time for the failures to be corrected. The issues raised by my article were about the material impacts an altered chemical result could have on someone (any trainer). The suspension, the loss of income, the brand reputation risk of being labeled a cheater before any due process. Your asset being stranded and or impaired without any remedy and the inevitable issue of defending yourself with the IRS Section 185 the “Hobby Loss rule” just to name a few. Unattended consequences are particularly concerning as most if not all of this could have been predicted had the execution phase of this been well thought -out.

The Jockey Club statement asks us to give the Authority time because “this is a start-up,” as though we should just write a check and let the Authority learn the business and just trust them, they will get it correct. The inconvenient truth is a vast majority of this industry can't afford the pervasive “let me swing until I get it right” mentality.

The response simply ignored another concern raised the need for disclosures. Disclosures are the mechanism in place to ensure concerns raised are answered. To reiterate HISA representatives, continue to make representations about transparency and ethical conduct. I am struggling with this, given they make little to no disclosures around their overall operations. They are operating with an unchallenged budget with no certifications or disclosures. Perhaps this Start-up should understand the shareholder value proposition be accountable and be transparent to the collective.

If the talking point is correct there was collaborative engagement with all the various industry representatives, then why the roll-out challenges and the need for time to get this correct? Contrary to what The Jockey Club writer stated, it is the big-picture considerations which prompted my article. As I shared before, unless there can be balanced enforcement that affords equal protections to all parties we will continue to lack the necessary progress to move the industry forward.

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HISA Issues Updated Guidance On Intra-Articular Injections

The Anti-Doping and Medication Control Standing Committee (ADMC) of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (“HISA”) has re-considered the Intra-Articular injection rule and has issued new guidance regarding its enforcement.

HISA ADMC Rule 4222 prohibits Intra-Articular injections on Race Day, within 14 days prior to Post-Time and within seven days prior to any Timed and Reported Workout. Effective July 16, 2023, the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) will sanction the Responsible Person of any Covered Horse that violates the prohibition on Intra-Articular injections within 7 days prior to a Timed and Reported Workout as follows (within a 365-day rolling period):

1st violation: $3,000 fine.
2nd violation: $6,000 fine, 10-day suspension.
3rd violation: $10,000 fine, 30-day suspension.
4th violation: $20,000 fine, 60-day suspension.
5th violation: $25,000 fine, 120-day suspension.

Beginning July 16, 2023, Covered Horses will not be subject to a period of ineligibility for violations of the Intra-Articular injections Workout rule or Race Day rule, unless multiple violations involving the same horse are incurred within the 365-day period.

Until this new guidance takes effect on July 16, and in accordance with guidance previously announced on June 26, the prohibition on Intra-Articular injections within 7 days prior to any Timed and Reported Workout will continue to be enforced only against the Covered Horse through the imposition of a period of ineligibility of 30 days. The sanctions associated with the prohibition on Intra-Articular Injections within 14-days prior to Post-Time have not been modified, other than the fact that the Covered Horse may not be suspended.

The full language of today's issued guidance, which was approved by the HISA ADMC Standing Committee and the HISA Board, can be found on HISA's website.

Under Rule 4222, the day of administration is considered day 1. A horse may breeze on day 8 following administration and may enter to race at any time, provided the race is on day 15 or later.

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