The Louisiana Racing Commission on Tuesday afternoon voted unanimously to rescind two rules that would have significantly relaxed the regulations governing the administration of clenbuterol, a bronchial dilator that has been widely abused in racing, and a potent corticosteroid that is typically injected into sore joints. The vote was a stark reversal for a commission that had defended the regulations in the past week as being necessary to protect the health and welfare of horses. Since then, the commission has been assailed by constituencies within racing and from outside animal-welfare groups, while also facing the prospect of severe restrictions on the movement of horses outside of the state and their eligibility to race in other states. In addition, on Sunday, 57 state legislators signed a letter urging the commission to reconsider its actions and table the new regulations, saying that the rules would make Louisiana an “outlier” in the national racing industry. The rules, which were adopted under emergency procedures in April, were set to go into effect on Saturday. The commission conducted the meeting on a video-streaming call that had at least 100 participants at the start of the meeting, including prominent jockeys such as Brian Hernandez Jr., a Louisiana native who won both the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks this year; everyday trainers and others with national operations, like Dallas Stewart; and prominent racing regulators. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Under the adopted motion, the regulations concerning clenbuterol and the corticosteroid, methylprednisolone, will go back to those in force prior to the adoption of the new rules. Whereas clenbuterol was going to be allowed to be administered up to 72 hours prior to a race, it will now go back to being banned within 14 days of a race. Methylprednisolone will go back to being banned within 21 days of a race, rather than seven days prior to a race, and the drug will continue to have much more stringent limits on its dosage and recommended threshold level in post-race blood tests. Clenbuterol, a bronchial dilator approved by the FDA for use in horses to treat airway obstruction, is one of the most notorious drugs in racing due to its ability to build muscle mass when administered frequently. Regulators have gradually tightened regulations on its use over the past two decades, to the point where it is largely banned without a prescription and a lengthy recovery period for the treated horse. Quarter Horse racing’s national organization has banned the drug altogether, including in Louisiana (the new rules do not affect Quarter Horses, only Thoroughbreds). “Clenbuterol is an excellent drug, and we all know it’s an excellent drug, but we all know it’s abused,” said Larry Findley Sr., a veterinarian who is on the commission, prior to the vote. Last week, officials said that the commission had consulted with veterinarians to devise the new rules, while horsemen in the state and nationally said they had not been consulted on the regulations. Methylprednisolone is one of a number of corticosteroids that can be used to reduce inflammation in joints. Regulators also have clamped down on corticosteroid use over the past decade under the belief that the drugs can interfere with pre-race veterinary inspections and mask injuries. Louisiana is one of two states that are not covered by the national rules being enforced in most racing jurisdictions under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. In 2022, a U.S. District Court judge blocked HISA’s rules from going into effect in Louisiana and West Virginia after a coalition that includes horsemen’s groups and state officials joined together to challenge HISA’s constitutionality. The attorney general in Louisiana at the time of the challenge was Jeff Landry, who is now the state’s governor. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently considering the issues at the center of the challenge. The motion on Tuesday will not affect other new rules that will relax regulations on administrations, dosages, or threshold levels of other so-called “controlled substances” – those that have a legitimate veterinary use in racehorses but remain regulated to prevent abuse. The loosening of the regulations on clenbuterol and methylprednisolone drew the most attention from critics. Despite the large number of participants on the conference call, only a commission member and a trio of representatives from Churchill Downs were recognized for public comment before the vote was taken. Churchill Downs, which owns Fair Grounds in New Orleans, had criticized the adoption of the rules in a public statement released late last week. “I wish we weren’t in this position to begin with,” said Ozar Shariff, the corporate counsel for Churchill Downs, who went on to compliment the commission on the motion to “walk back” the relaxations for the two medications. “But Churchill Downs wants to be on the record as stating that this entire emergency-making rule process that put us in this position is probably not the right way to go,” Sharif said. “The best way and the best approach for this commission is to re-examine this process though normal rule-making so that there is adequate time for public input, comment, and review from all the industry stakeholders . . . particularly as Louisiana starts to deviate from well-recognized and well-understood national standards.” Under state law, Louisiana racetracks are able to operate slot machines, and revenues from the machines are directed by state mandate to purses. The letter from the state legislators sent on Sunday represented an indirect threat to those statutes. The motion adopted Tuesday will require the commission to study the issues surrounding the drugs for 90 days prior to reconsidering the rules, according to Steve Landry, the executive director of the Louisiana Racing Commission. That will include discussions with the Association of Racing Commissioners International, an umbrella group for racing commissions that devises recommended rules for commissions to adopt. “We’ll continue to collect data and coalesce with ARCI and their membership and their scientists,” Landry said. While the vote was unanimous to rollback the clenbuterol and methylprednisolone regulations, a commission member and veterinarian, Travis Miller, said before the vote was taken that he had concerns about the commission’s decision. “My opinion is that we’re making decisions, we’re doing what is politically correct and not doing what’s best for the general population of the racehorses in Louisiana as a whole,” Miller said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.