Ohio racing commission funding studies on cobalt

The Ohio State Racing Commission has approved funding to conduct studies on the effects of cobalt on a horse, a decision that likely will delay significantly any rule in the state regulating the administration of the substance.

The commission voted on Tuesday to approve the funding, which is expected to total at least $100,000. The commission made the decision after conducting a hearing on cobalt use in horses, a topic that has resulted in many racing commissions exploring the implementation of rules establishing threshold levels for the mineral due to worldwide rumors of its abuse as a cheap blood-doping substance.

“This will be the most comprehensive, detailed series of studies of the effect of cobalt on racehorses to date in the country,” said Robert Schmitz, the chairman of the commission.

Just last week, the Association of Racing Commissioners International voted to urge its member commissions to establish a two-tier threshold level for cobalt concentration. Under the proposed rule, a horse who tested over a concentration of 25 parts per billion in the blood would be prohibited from starting until it tested below the 25 ppb threshold, and the trainer of any horse who tested over a concentration of 50 ppb would be suspended from 15 to 60 days.

Studies of the mineral have consistently shown that a horse’s natural range is well under 10 ppb, and studies conducted in jurisdictions that have announced that they have begun testing for the mineral have shown rapid declines in concentrations compared to samples that were tested prior to the announcement. That has suggested that horsemen were more aggressively administering supplements containing cobalt to horses prior to the official start of testing.

Many racing regulators have argued that existing data showing the natural range of cobalt concentrations constitute an adequate body of evidence to support a threshold. While cobalt is an essential mineral, it is only needed in trace amounts, and extremely high doses of the mineral can be toxic and lead to thyroid problems. More significantly, though no studies have conclusively demonstrated that high cobalt concentrations have a performance-enhancing effect, racing jurisdictions around the world have said that deliberate use of the mineral with the intent to gain an advantage should be a violation.

Standardbred interests, especially in Ohio, where the Standardbred lobby is more powerful than the Thoroughbred lobby, have argued that existing studies on cobalt have not generated enough data to support a rule. The studies that the commission agreed to fund likely will take at least a year to complete, delaying any consideration of a rule until after the studies’ findings have been released.

The studies will be conducted by the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Ohio Department of Agriculture Analytical Toxicology Laboratory, the OSRC said.

“There’s very little published data on [cobalt] currently, and we don’t want to duplicate information unnecessarily,” said Dr. Rustin Moore, the executive director of the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine. “We are trying to gather as much information, both published and unpublished, to help in designing the studies. When we get results, we want them to address the important questions and be scientifically sound and applicable.”