RMTC

It has been two years since the launch of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) anti-doping and medication control program. During that time, one of the struggles federal officials have been open about is getting all the laboratories onto the same page in terms of drug-testing approaches and methodologies, after decades of different state commissions requiring of their contracted laboratories a range of standards. In this regard, U.S. horse racing is years behind its counterparts in human athletics, which seriously grappled with the same issues around the turn of...

The European Athletics Championships of 1966 constituted the first major international sporting event where human athletes were officially drug tested. Driving this watershed moment was growing alarm that more and more athletes were turning to performance-enhancing drugs with near impunity and no small amount of personal risk. Several amphetamines were found in the system of Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen after he collapsed mid-race at the 1960 Rome Olympics, fracturing his skull. He later died in hospital. Seven years after that, British cyclist Tommy Simpson collapsed and died during the...

Over a month ago, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) and the University of Kentucky issued their respective reports into multiple alleged management and operational failures at the university's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (UK-EACL) under the leadership of its former director, Scott Stanley. Earlier this month, Stanley issued a response through his attorney. He categorically denied falsifying results and claimed many of the allegations leveled against him were made without evidence. At the same time, Stanley criticized the logistical challenges of running a lab under HIWU's regulatory oversight, including...

The nation's racetracks appear primed for compliance with the first set of uniform receiving barn cleanliness, maintenance and security regulations. Just how stringent these rules will be remains up in the air. Back in August, the TDN took a dive into the issues that stakeholders frequently raise about the nation's fleet of receiving barns. This included the potential for unclean stalls, or receiving barns in poor overall physical condition, to cause environmental contamination through left behind trace drug residues. Last month, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) issued for...

The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium's (RMTC) Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) has developed a withdrawal guidance for two additional substances, Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) and Pentosan (Zycosan) following an analysis of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) screening limits and detection times. "The intention is for the RMTC to provide the industry with scientifically derived information to aid attending veterinarians and horsemen in making medication decisions and to avoid preventable errors and promote compliance with HISA's regulations", said Dr. Michael Hardy, Executive Director, "The RMTC...

Last week saw the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Unit (HIWU) and the University of Kentucky issue their reports into alleged misconduct and mismanagement at the university's Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab (EACL) under the leadership of former director, Scott Stanley. The allegations levelled towards Stanley and the lab's operations include misrepresentation of its ability to test for specific substances such as erythropoietin (EPO), and the "intentional misrepresentations" of positive tests as negative. Questions arising from operations at HIWU's fleet of contracted laboratories isn't confined just to the UK Lab, however. At...

Though officials within the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority have already made huge strides forward in terms of across-the-board equine safety standards, one ongoing concern among stakeholders is that when it comes to the enforcement arm of the national program, an inflexibility in the way some cases are handled and sanctions meted out means the penalties don't always fit the crime. To discuss these concerns, the TDN recently spoke with Alan Foreman, chief executive officer of the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and national ombudsman on behalf of HISA and...

The list of trainers that have been informed by the Horse Racing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) that a horse they train has tested positive for the controversial drug Metformin has grown by two. According to postings on the HIWU website, Greg Foley and James Lawrence II have been notified that horses under their care had Metformin in their system. Lawrence's positive came from the  horse Cherished Wish (Mshawish) in a May 23 race at Penn National in which she finished second. The Foley horse to test positive was Camaro...

The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) has extended for another six months its accreditation suspension of the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. The RMTC initially suspended its accreditation of the laboratory back in March, following news that the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) had stopped sending samples to the lab due to "concerns with the performance" of the facility. Prior to that, the laboratory had been one of six drug testing facilities used under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug testing program. According to...

It has been two months since the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) stopped sending samples to the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory due to "concerns with the performance" of the facility. Prior to that, the laboratory had been one of six drug testing facilities used under The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) drug testing program. Since then, several key developments have unfurled amid limited public explanations. HISA and HIWU announced that they have opened an investigation into the UK Laboratory's performance, alongside the university's own investigation...

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...

The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) has suspended its accreditation of the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, according to the RMTC's executive director, Michael Hardy. This follows news last week that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) have 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....