therapeutic medications | Horse Racing Free Tips

Body Cams, Extra Testing, Dedicated Investigators: Breeders’ Cup Reveals Enhanced Security Measures For Baffert Trainees

The LA Times has revealed the specific heightened security measures Bob Baffert trainees will be subjected to in order to compete in the Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.

On Sept. 18, the Breeders' Cup said it would be conducting a review process to determine Baffert's status in the wake of a failed drug test by Medina Spirit after the Protonico colt finished first in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 1.

The Medina Spirit positive test for the corticosteroid betamethasone was the fifth failed drug test by a Baffert runner – and third in a Grade 1 race – over a one-year period dating back to May 2, 2020.

Since Wednesday, Oct. 20, a team of two investigators, three security officers, and one Breeders' Cup executive has been watching Baffert's barn at Santa Anita on a 24-hour basis. When his Breeders' Cup contenders are shipped to Del Mar, a security officer with a body camera will be assigned to each horse. There will also be 24-hour coverage by investigators assigned to Baffert's barn, who will have permission to confiscate medications and review daily treatment/billing records.

On Nov. 2, samples of blood, urine, and hair will be taken from each of Baffert's Breeders' Cup hopefuls. Additional random collections will be performed during the week leading up to the World Championships. Any horse testing positive for therapeutic medications, even those therapeutics within the window for legal use, will be scratched.

“We are happy to accommodate the transparency,” Baffert told the LA Times. “We will care for our horses as we always do and any testing or observation is welcomed.”

Indiana Trainers Express Concern About Testing In The Wake Of Earlier Post Times

Several trainers with horses entered at Indiana Grand on Wednesday and Thursday are concerned that the track's decision to move up post times, from 2:25 p.m. to 10:00 a.m., could cause their horses to test above the state's threshold for therapeutic medications.

Indiana Grand management officially announced the time change on Monday, due to projected high temperatures. By that point, however, trainers had already treated their horses with legal medications on Sunday, 72 hours out from the original post time for Wednesday's races.

That 4 1/2-hour difference in post times could prove to be significant in post-race testing — especially, trainers argued, considering the extremely small amounts at which the lab is able to test for therapeutic medications.

Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing at Indiana Grand, said that while he understood the trainers' concerns, there would be no special dispensation from the commission, and that the allowable thresholds for those medications would remain at their present levels. If trainers did not believe their horses would pass post-race testing, or were concerned, Halstrom indicated that there would be no penalty for scratching.

“In this heat, for the last couple of weeks, the stewards have been letting anybody out because of the heat,” Halstrom said. “I'm more than supportive of them scratching, if that's what they feel they need to do.”

Indiana Grand does have lights on the dirt course, but not on the turf, and a pair of state-bred turf stakes races scheduled for Wednesday's card would have to have been moved had the track chosen to push the post times back, instead of moving them up.

“Those people have been paying into those races, and they deserve the right to run in them as scheduled,” said Halstrom. “Essentially what it came down to, we were either going to have to cancel, or we were going to do this.”

Wednesday's card saw a total of 18 scratches from 101 entries. Four of those were main-track-only entrants, and two were from the also-eligible list. The average field size was 9.18 starters before scratches; after scratches, average field size decreased to 7.54 starters, a difference of 17.9 percent.

By way of comparison, Monday's card, which was held at the regularly-scheduled post time of 2:25 p.m., saw eight scratches, including two also-eligibles. The average field size was 8.2 starters before scratches; after scratches, average field size decreased to 7.4 starters, a difference of 9.8 percent.

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National Summary: 0.55 Percent Of All Racing Samples Tested Show Adverse Analytical Findings

US racing commissions sent 263,783 biological samples from horses participating in professional horse races to the testing laboratories.

Of those tests there were 1,461 adverse analytical findings accounting for 0.55 percent of all samples. 99.45 percent of samples tested were clear, indicating a high degree of compliance with anti-doping and medication rules based upon known information and data..

Of the adverse analytical findings, approximately three percent were clear attempts at doping as the substance detected had no reason to be present in the horse other than to provide a maximum enhancement of performance. Class 2 substances considered the next most serious level of substances that can affect performance accounted for 6.09 percent of all findings. Class 1 and Class 2 substances are generally considered “doping” and together they account for 9.03 percent of all 2019 detections.

As in prior years, the overwhelming substance detections (69.75 percent) involved therapeutic medications (Class 4 and 5 substances) that may affect performance to a lesser extent, but are still not permitted to be present in a horse when it races. With the exception of race day furosemide to mitigate or prevent bleedings, horse racing does not permit use of these substances with a therapeutic use exemption as defined in the World Anti-Doping Code.

21.83 percent of the detections involved Class 3 substances. These have a greater ability to affect performance and contain substances which may be therapeutic as well as those that might indicate a deliberate attempt to cheat.

This information represents the official testing results from all horse racing US jurisdictions, except Maine which did not respond to repeated requests for information.

Like the testing results in human and Olympic sport, these numbers should not lessen the resolve of the sport and its regulators to pursue substances that the labs are unable to test for. This is an ongoing challenge for the anti-doping programs in all professional sport and underscores the need for intelligence based efforts in this regard as well as intelligence based out of competition testing.

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