HIWU rescinds penalties on Pennsylvania lab TCO2 positives

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit has dropped all pending cases related to total-carbon dioxide overages arising out of tests performed at an accredited Pennsylvania drug laboratory after mandating that the laboratory switch to a different testing methodology.

Five trainers who had been sanctioned for an overage of total carbon dioxide due to results from the laboratory have had their penalties withdrawn, according to Alexa Ravit, a spokesperson for HIWU. The trainers – Jorge Diaz, Bernard Dunham, David Jacobson, William Martin, and Silvino Ramirez – served 30-day suspensions for violations of the rule.

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In addition, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which contracts with HIWU to run its anti-doping program, will return purse money that was not distributed due to disqualifications associated with the cases and will refund any incurred fines, HIWU said.

Any pending cases based on the lab’s results for total carbon dioxide have been dropped, HIWU said. Ravit said that nine cases were pending, but that HIWU did not announce some cases due to the review of the lab’s results.

In a release, HIWU said that the laboratory, the Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory, has switched to mass spectrometry in order to perform its detection of total carbon dioxide, which is a marker for the potential use of alkalinizing agents such as a “milkshake.” PETRL was previously using a clinical blood-gas analyzer.

HIWU’s three other accredited laboratories use mass spectrometry to analyze for elevated TCO2 levels. The tests are performed on blood samples taken from horses just prior to running.

HIWU’s regulation on total carbon dioxide is substantially similar to those that have been in place in many racing jurisdictions for decades, after it became clear that the pre-race use of solutions containing bicarbonate of soda and other alkalinizing agents had become widespread in racing. The rule sets a limit for the total amount of carbon dioxide in the blood, and any excess of that limit is treated as a violation.

HIWU said that it began a review of the PETRL’s procedures after the lab began reporting a “disproportionately high number of results of elevated TCO2 levels” when compared to the three other accredited laboratories. The instrumentation and methodology used by PETRL “had been used and accepted as valid” by the racing industry prior to HIWU’s takeover of drug testing in mid-2023, HIWU said.

“HIWU found no evidence of laboratory error or instrument failure by PETRL,” HIWU said. “However, the data from the administration study indicated that PETRL’s results did not correlate with those of the three other laboratories, which all used an instrument and methodology [mass spectrometry] different from PETRL’s.”

HIWU said that it began working with the state’s horsemen’s group after opening the review. The samples tested by PETRL could not be re-tested at other laboratories “due to the accelerated degradation of TCO2 samples,” HIWU said, so the group made the decision to drop the cases.

“I commend HIWU for taking action in response to the high rate of TCO2 findings at PETRL and ultimately facilitating the harmonization of TCO2 testing among Pennsylvania and other states,” said Jeffrey A. Matty, Jr., executive director of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “This process represents an example of how a national, uniform system helps horsemen and how we, HIWU, and HISA can work together for the benefit of the entire industry.”

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