Louisiana adopts RMTC-supported medication rules

The Louisiana Racing Commission on Monday formally adopted a set of rules governing the use of medication in racing that is being pushed by a national coalition of industry organizations, with the rules becoming effective for Thoroughbred races in October, according to racing groups.

The vote on Monday to formally adopt the rules ends a nearly nine-month process to put the rules on the books. The state racing commission had issued a notice of intent to adopt the rules last November, leading to a public-comment period and regulatory review.

Officials of the state racing commission did not respond to phone calls by Monday afternoon.

Under the new rules, 26 therapeutic medications, subject to regulations, will be allowed to be administered to racehorses in the state, with all other drugs banned from appearing in post-race tests. The list of medications was determined by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, an industry group whose board includes representatives from a wide cross section of racing constituencies. The RMTC has been lobbying individual racing states to adopt the list.

According to the RMTC, Louisiana is the 16th state to adopt the list in part or in full. Nearly all major racing states have adopted the list or are in the process of adopting the list.

That list has been the subject of some controversy in the racing industry between those who support the ongoing effort to align regulations in racing jurisdictions on a state-by-state basis and those who support an effort to pass a federal bill requiring states to adhere to one set of regulations or lose the right to conduct interstate simulcasting.

Supporters of the federal bill contend that the RMTC list includes states that have not yet adopted the full list of 26 medications, which has been amended recently, and they also contend that many states have adopted the list with minor tweaks to the rules.

The rules adopted Monday in Louisiana, which will go into effect at the start of the Delta Downs meet Oct. 16, place stricter guidelines on the use of painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and the bronchodilator clenbuterol, among other changes. The only race-day medication allowed under the rules is the regulated anti-bleeding drug furosemide, which is legal to use on race day in all North American racing jurisdictions but banned on race day in most other countries.