Wednesday, December 11, 2013

12/11/2013 3:54PM Racing symposium: Out-of-competition testing faces hurdles By Matt Hegarty

TUCSON, Ariz. – Out-of-competition testing will likely become more prevalent in U.S. horse racing jurisdictions as the next frontier in combating illegal drug use, but efforts to implement the programs continue to be haunted by issues involving privacy, jurisdiction, and the breadth of drugs that can be considered a positive, racing officials said Wednesday during the second day of the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing and Gaming.
Out-of-competition testing programs have been implemented in at least seven racing states over the past five years, including California, New York, and Kentucky, and regulators have generally been satisfied with the results of the programs. Although approximately 10,000 out-of-competition tests have failed to yield a single positive test in a Thoroughbred horse under the programs, supporters of the programs have said that they act as a deterrent to horsemen attempting to use illegal medications that can have effects long after they have cleared a horse’s system.
However, the programs also have faced pushback from some horsemen’s groups, most notably in New York. The groups have said that they support out-of-competition testing programs, but they have raised issues with the scope of the some of the existing regulations allowing for the testing, including complaints that some statutes have granted regulators powers that are so broad that they violate state constitutional protections on privacy and warrantless searches.
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