Louisiana Racing Commission to hold second emergency meeting of the week

The Louisiana Racing Commission has called for a second emergency meeting this week, this time to consider rescinding its approval for an entire suite of amendments to its therapeutic medication rules passed in late April that are significantly more relaxed than those in most other racing states.

The meeting, scheduled for Friday afternoon, will be held three days after the commission voted to repeal relaxed regulations for two medications, clenbuterol and methylprednisolone, at a separate emergency meeting.

The Friday meeting was called less than 24 hours after the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which enforces medication and drug regulations in most U.S. states but not Louisiana, sent a memo to racetracks, racing officials, and horsemen saying that any shippers from Louisiana would be required to be placed on the vets’ list after their arrival at tracks outside of the state beginning June 9, the day after the new rules were set to go into effect.

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While the Tuesday meeting dealt only with the rules governing clenbuterol, a bronchial dilator that can have muscle-building effects when administered frequently, and methylprednisolone, a corticosteroid that is injected into joints, the agenda for the Friday meeting calls for discussion of “approval to rescind previous action to emergency adopt” all of the amendments to the therapeutic medication rules.

The HISA memo cited the commission’s actions on clenbuterol and methylprednisolone earlier this week, but it also said that the remaining amendments pose “significant risks to both equine welfare and the integrity of Thoroughbred racing” to justify its decision to require Louisiana horses to be placed on vets’ lists. The memo specifically cited relaxed guidelines for a non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug, flunixin, and another corticosteroid, betamethasone.

“These are only two of the serious concerns presented by the emergency rule,” the memo stated.

Horses placed on the vets’ list must perform a workout under the supervision of a regulatory veterinarian and test clear of any medications before being allowed to enter a race. The restriction will likely lead to less racing opportunities for Louisiana horses and reduce the number of horsemen willing to ship into the state to race, since that would land the horses on the vets’ list when they return to their home tracks.

Along with West Virginia, Louisiana is one of two states that are not covered by the national rules being enforced in most racing jurisdictions under HISA. In 2022, a U.S. District Court judge blocked HISA’s rules from going into effect in the two states after a coalition including horsemen’s groups and state officials joined together to challenge HISA’s constitutionality. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently considering the issues at the center of the challenge.

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