CHRB bans almost all drugs after entry time

ARCADIA, Calif. – The California Horse Racing Board has enacted strict rules effective Sunday at all state racetracks that will greatly reduce the medications horses can be administered after entries are taken for races.

The changes, approved late Thursday, will eliminate the administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, phenylbutazone, flunixin, ketoprofen, electrolyte solutions, and amino acid solutions after a horse has been entered.

Horses can only be given hay, oats, and water from entries to post time with a few exceptions.

Horses can be administered the anti-bleeding medication Lasix on race day. Ulcer medications and injectable vitamins will be permitted after time of entry, according to Rick Arthur, California’s equine medical director.

The rule change states that a horse is considered entered to race on the midnight after entries are completed. For example, horses entered on a Wednesday morning for races on Saturday cannot be administered the aforementioned medications after midnight Thursday.

A memo from the racing board was electronically disseminated to trainers Thursday evening, leading to overnight confusion about whether horses entered to race this weekend would be affected. The racing board was scheduled to send out an advisory on Friday stating that the rule changes will go into effect for entries beginning on Sunday, according to a racing board official.

Santa Anita is scheduled to take entries on Sunday for racing on Friday, March 6, but officials said that the draw would likely be postponed until a later date, pending discussions Friday.

The new rules were given emergency status, Arthur said, to allow implementation after legal approval from state officials, which was received this week.

The proposed rule changes were approved at the racing board’s monthly meeting in Sacramento in January.

“No opposition was filed by anyone since then,” Arthur said.

The rule changes are part of a year-long trend in the state to reduce medications and create greater oversight of the daily training and racing of horses following a series of fatalities at Santa Anita in early 2019.

“This is all part and parcel of the process we’re going through to evaluate the status of California racing,” Arthur said.

Trainer Eoin Harty, president of the California Thoroughbred Trainers, said Friday that he spent considerable time through the morning discussing the rule changes with members of his organization.

Harty called for a 30-day moratorium on implementation to allow trainers time to understand the rules and alter procedures within their stables.

“We were blindsided by this,” Harty said. “How are you going to fill your races?

“I would think we need to take a step back and look at this for 30 days.”

Harty said he was particularly bothered by the terms of what foods horses can be fed between entries and race day.

“No sweet feed? How do you enforce it?” he said. “Do you have someone walking the barn looking to what goes into the feed tub?”