Presented at the
Kentucky Racing Commission
“Town Hall Meeting”
Dated June 5, 2012, Regarding Equine Medication
The National Horsemen’s
Benevolent and Protective Association (“NHBPA”) has been representing the
interests of horsemen, horsewomen, and horse racing in North America since
1940. There are over 30,000 owner and
trainer members of the NHBPA throughout the United States and Canada focused on
a common goal: the betterment of horse racing on all levels and a commitment to
the future of horse racing. From 2009 through 2011 owners spent over $2 billion
to purchase race horses. And they spent on average an additional $25,000
annually for the training and care of each horse.
The NHBPA has 30 affiliates
across the United States and Canada, including: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Canada,
Charlestown, WV, Colorado, Finger Lakes, NY, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Mountaineer Park, WV,
Nebraska, New England, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Tampa Bay, FL, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
The
NHBPA strongly takes issue with misstatements regarding the alleged misuse of
racing medication in the horse racing industry.
A feature article in the March 25, 2012 New York Times (“NYT”), “Mangled
Horses, Maimed Jockeys; A Nationwide Toll,” claimed there was rampant
illegal use of drugs in horse racing that caused injuries to both horses and
jockeys. The NYT reported from 2009
through 2011 trainers were “caught illegally drugging horses 3,800 times, a
figure that vastly understates the problem because only a small percentage of
horses are actually tested.” The article cited this as evidence of a state
regulatory failure to stop “cheating.”
The
NYT’s article prompted another call by some in the industry for federal
regulation of horse racing and a ban on all medication, including furosemide
(“lasix”) that prevents pulmonary hemorrhaging in race horses. However, an
analysis of regulatory data in thoroughbred racing states shows the NYT’s assertions
are badly flawed and seriously misleading. Likewise, the call for a medication
ban is premised on misconceptions by industry participants, including breeders,
who are perhaps putting their wallets ahead of horse and rider health and
safety.
According
to the Jockey Club fact book from 2009 through 2011, the average field size in
139,920 thoroughbred races run throughout the United States was 8.17 horses.
Because at least two horses in every race, the winner and another horse
selected by the stewards, are routinely tested for drugs 25% of all horses (2 out
of every 8) were tested. Statistically speaking, that is a representative
sample of all horses racing in the three year period. At the outset it is thus
fair to say the NYT was wrong in claiming post race
testing “vastly understates” the extent of “cheating.”
What
then were the results of drug testing in the NYT’s three year
period? Do they show rampant “illegal drugging”? The answer is a
resounding no. Based on data maintained by state racing commissions and
compiled by the Association of Racing Commissioners International, 99.26% of
nearly 300,000 post race tests were negative for evidence of drug or medication use. Those
percentages are not by any stretch of the imagination evidence of rampant drug
use. They should be the envy of every other sport that tests for drugs.
Horse
racing spends about $35 million a year on equine drug testing fees. The Association
of Racing Commissioners International notes the World Anti-doping Agency, which
conducts testing in human sports, in
contrast earmarks $1.6 million per year for testing fees. Laboratories
conducting testing for the horse racing industry include those at the
University of California/Davis, the University of Florida, the University of
Illinois, Iowa State University, Louisiana State University, West Chester
University, and Morrisville State College. Also involved are private ISO accredited
laboratories like Dalare Associates (Philadelphia, PA), HFL Sport Science
(Lexington, KY), and Truesdail Labs (Tustin, CA).
Granted
in the three years surveyed by the news article there were positive test
results, but only about half the 3,800 claimed by the NYT. Even so, nearly all were for therapeutic medication
concentrations above regulatory levels for therapeutic medication, like common non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. “bute”) similar to Aspirin, Advil, and Aleve
taken by humans.
Only
a handful of drug test positives (82 out of 279,922, or less than 3/100ths of
1%) were for illegal substances (“dope”) generally having no purpose other than
cheating, and only a handful of trainers were responsible for those positives.
Specifically, during the three year period, on average 5,800 trainers were
licensed annually by state authorities to train horses. Only 12 trainers (1/5th
of 1% of all trainers) can be considered to have possibly “doped” horses,
according to state regulatory data.
Clearly
the state racing
commission data disproves the NYT’s dramatic allegation about the
widespread misuse of drugs. It also demonstrates that race day administration
of furosemide is well regulated, with only 71 instances (2/100ths of 1%) in the
three year period where furosemide was administered in an incorrect dosage or
too close to post time. Even so, to avoid the appearance of any impropriety the
National HBPA believes only state regulatory veterinarians, and not private veterinarians, should be permitted to
administer furosemide on race day.
Unfortunately
furosemide use has been swept up in the media hysteria over alleged doping of
horses with illegal drugs. That has obscured these basic scientific and medical
facts supporting its continued race day use:
The
extreme physical stress of hard running causes nearly all horses to bleed in
their lungs during their racing careers, some more severely than others.
Bleeding robs horses of oxygen, causes progressive and irreversible scarring in
the lungs, makes breathing more difficult, and can cause instant death on the
race track.
Nearly
all bleeding remains internal and is only detectable by endoscopic examination.
Detection by an externally visible nose bleed is the rare exception, but is
usually the standard in other countries for determining whether a horse is a
“bleeder.”
Furosemide
prevents and lessens bleeding. It is safe and has been used effectively for
nearly forty years. Its use does not prevent the post-race detection of other
drugs, nor does it weaken a horse’s bones.
Furosemide
is not performance enhancing; rather it is performance optimizing. It does not
make a horse run faster than its God given talent. Furosemide allows a horse to
run up to the horse’s potential. On the
other hand, bleeding does make a horse run slower.
The
NYT piece also claims drug use is the
main cause of horses being injured and breaking down in races. Based on a
purported analysis of Equibase charts the NYT
reported an “incident rate” of 5.2 per thousand starts for 2009-2011,
which included both quarter horses and thoroughbreds and an expansive definition
of “injury incidents.” A subsequent Thoroughbred Times analysis of the
same charts found a 4.03 per thousand incident rate for thoroughbreds.
Once
again the facts are other than what the NYT
asserted. In 2009-2011, the data shows an overall medication/drug positive
rate of 1.8 per thousand starts. Assuming for the sake of discussion the highly
doubtful and unsupported premise that all drug use, whether illegal or
therapeutic, causes injuries and fatalities, the “incident rate” in the
three year period should be closer to 1.8, and not 4.03 or 5.2 per thousand
starts, depending on which analysis, if any, is correct. Simply put, the actual
data suggests something beside allowed therapeutic medication is primarily
responsible for racing breakdowns. For this reason the horse racing industry
has been conducting scientific research and analysis on racing surfaces to
better understand the role surfaces play in racing injuries in order to further
improve the safety of horse racing for both horses and jockeys.
The
NYT and many of those industry voices
calling for a ban on race day medication appear to labor under the
misconception that race day medication, in addition to lasix, is routinely
permitted in numerous racing jurisdictions.
The
NYT says “horses are permitted to
run on some dose of pain medication, usually bute.” But that is not true.
The “dose” the NYT article
hangs its hat on is not active medication, but rather a 24 hour or longer regulatory
threshold limit set, and permitted, for regulatory purposes.
For
example, in Virginia the current threshold for phenylbutazone (“bute”) is 2
micrograms per milliliter of plasma in post race testing. On race day that
small concentration has no medicinal, or performance enhancing effect on a
horse and a test showing that amount or less is regarded as negative. However, the
recent million fold increase in sensitivity of drug testing equipment makes threshold
limits like this necessary to avoid having positive test results based upon residual
concentrations of therapeutic medication lawfully administered before race day.
Or stated another way, “zero tolerance” testing without threshold screening
limits will result in false positives.
The
NYT compounded its error by implying
an increase in racing fatalities at Colonial Downs was caused in 2005 by the
Virginia Racing Commission increasing its bute threshold from 2 to 5
micrograms. But a study conducted with the assistance of the Virginia Racing
Commission demonstrated there was no statistically significant difference in
fatality rates tied to bute threshold levels.
Proponents
of a ban on medication point to Britain as an example the United States should
emulate. There NYT claims “breakdown rates are half of what they are
in the United States [and] horses may
not race on any drugs.” None of that is true. According to the British Horseracing Authority
(“BHA”), the central body that regulates racing in Britain, the fatality rate
in 2011 was about 2 in every thousand starts. In the United States the Jockey
Club calculated a 2011 fatality rate of 1.88 per thousand starts. Both rates
include steeplechase racing.
Further,
horsemen in England are allowed to and do administer the same therapeutic
medication used by American horsemen, including bute and lasix. But on race day,
like American horses (except for lasix) those in England may not compete under
the influence of active medication, and like the U.S. the BHA uses threshold
screening levels and post race testing to ensure that is so. The following
chart, comparing three years of post race testing in England (based on the most
recent data published by BHA) with the most recent U.S data compiled by the
Association of Racing Commissioners International, shows no significant
difference in drug positive results between the two countries. Both are essentially
drug free.
Starts Tests Negative tests
Positive tests
Britain(06-08) 286,343 27,753 99.84% 0.16%
(44)
United States(09-11) 1,144,495 279,922 99.27% 0.73 % (2066)
The
slight variance between countries may be accounted for by the fact that less
than 10% of British starters are tested while the U.S. tests 25% of all
starters, and the U.S. has four times the number of starts. Also, the British
select a horse for post race testing subjectively based on performance in a
race or “intelligence” available to the race stewards. In the U.S. selection in
each race of two horses for testing is more or less random at the outset. In
Britain only urine is routinely tested while in the U.S. both urine and blood
are examined.
The
sole difference in medication policy between the United States and Britain (as
well as the rest of Europe) is the use of lasix. In Britain lasix is used in
daily training to prevent or lessen pulmonary hemorrhaging, but not on race
day. From a horse welfare standpoint that makes no sense. No one disputes that
lasix prevents rather than causes injuries or fatalities in race horses, and
thereby protects jockeys as well.
We
end by stating our position regarding medication:
A)
The
National HBPA’s focus regarding medication has always been, and remains, the
health and safety of the horse, the safety of the jockey, and the safety of all
individuals coming into contact with the horse (i.e. grooms, assistant
starters, hot walkers, trainers and veterinarians).
B)
The
National HBPA believes an independent Racing Medication and Testing Consortium
of industry stakeholders, with input from appropriate medical and veterinary
professional bodies such as the American Association of Equine Practitioners,
should be the final evaluator of medical/veterinary science.
C)
RMTC
approved medication rules should be considered by the Association of Racing Commissioners
International on behalf of state racing commissions, and following a “due
process” evaluation with all industry stakeholders being heard, the rules
should be adopted or rejected by a majority vote.
D)
One
of the goals of the RMTC and the ARCI should be Uniform National Medication
Rules, which, in turn, should be implemented by means of a National Compact
among the states, and not imposed by the Federal Government.
E)
Approved
Uniform National Medication Rules must be based solely on published
scientifically determined regulatory thresholds, with published scientifically
determined withdrawal time guidelines, all based on and supported by data
published in the scientific literature.
F)
RMTC
and ISO-17025 accredited laboratories should perform all medication testing.
G)
Repeat
medication offenders, after “due process”, should be severely penalized,
including permanent exclusion from the industry.
