Maryland Racing Commission approves tougher corticosteroid regulations

The Maryland Racing Commission has approved a motion to eliminate threshold levels for five corticosteroids after a number of horses tested positive for one of the anti-inflammatory medications, dexamethasone, over the past several months.

The move to eliminate the threshold levels, which was filed under an emergency regulation after being approved on Thursday, would align Maryland with a number of states that have put in place more stringent measures to regulate corticosteroids, which are used to reduce inflammation and mitigate pain in joints. According to Maryland racing officials, the elimination of the threshold levels is expected to go into effect on or around Nov. 1.

“That’s a ballpark estimate,” said J. Mike Hopkins, the executive director of the Maryland Racing Commission, on Friday.

Under the new regulation, positives for the five corticosteroids will be called at the “limit of detection,” a term used to describe the standards laboratories use when attempting to detect drugs. The current threshold levels for the five corticosteroids differ, as do recommendations for dosages, routes of administration, and withdrawal times.

Corticosteroids have become an issue of public discussion in racing recently due to the betamethasone positive of Medina Spirit following the colt’s win in this year’s Kentucky Derby. According to the colt’s trainer, Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit’s positive test contained a concentration of betamethasone at 21 picograms. Baffert has claimed that the horse tested positive due to the daily application of a skin cream containing the drug to treat dermitis.

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Betamethasone is one of the corticosteroids affected by the new Maryland regulation, along with dexamethasone, prednisolone, isoflupredone, and triamcinolone. Kentucky is also one of the states that has eliminated threshold levels for the drugs.

According to Maryland Racing Commission records, four horses tested positive for overages of dexamethasone during a 30-day period running from late May to late June at Pimlico Race Course.

The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association said in a release to horsemen that the Maryland Racing Commission’s Equine Health, Safety, and Welfare Advisory Committee discussed the recommendation at a meeting on Sept 8 “as a result of several dexamethasone positives and reports the corticosteroid was being regularly administered by some veterinarians at 48 hours before a race at a lower dose than recommended” by racing regulators. The recommended withdrawal time for dexamethasone is 72 hours.

Corticosteroids are highly regulated in racing due to their ability to mask pain in joints, which complicates efforts by regulatory veterinarians to detect unsoundness during pre-race exams.