Kentucky racing commission contracts with UK lab for drug testing

The full Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday approved a motion to contract with a revamped testing laboratory at the University of Kentucky for its future drug-testing programs.

The commission approved the decision 11 days after an offshoot of the commission, the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, recommended the move. The new lab is expected to take over the drug-testing duties from Industrial Laboratories in Colorado as of June 27, when the Ellis Park meet is scheduled to begin.

The University of Kentucky facility, called the Kentucky Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, is headed up by Dr. Scott Stanley, who was hired by the university in 2018 as part of a larger strategy to devote more resources to one of the state’s signature industries. Dr. Stanley told the KEDRC at its meeting that UK has spent $2.5 million to upgrade the laboratory, and that he expects the lab to be a “leader worldwide” in equine drug testing.

The drug-testing marketplace in the U.S. is expected to face significant changes in the next 18 months due to the passage late last year of a federal bill establishing a nationwide administrator for drug-testing policies and practices.