Prerace testing approved for Breeders' Cup

The New Jersey Racing Commission has approved rules that would allow for prerace testing of horses that are entered in the 11 races of the Breeders' Cup, scheduled for Oct. 26 and 27 at Monmouth Park.

The Breeders' Cup had asked the commission to pass the rules so that the company could conduct prerace tests for blood-doping drugs and draw samples to test for the anti-fatigue concoctions known as milkshakes. Blood-doping drugs and milkshakes, which are both prohibited, are difficult to detect after a race.

Under the rules, the Breeders' Cup will be allowed to ask regulators in other states and countries to draw blood from horses entered in its races, no matter where the horses are stabled.

According to Jim Gluckson, a spokesman for the Breeders' Cup, the organization intends to test the samples collected in this way for blood-doping drugs such as erythropoeitin and darbepoeitin, which are thought to increase the amount of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in a horse. Those tests will occur prior to the races, Gluckson said.

The Breeders' Cup will also be allowed to draw blood from horses up to 45 minutes prior to a race in order to test the samples for excessive total carbon dioxide.

Blood drawn from horses that are given milkshakes - concoctions of baking soda and electrolytes that are administered through a tube into a horse's stomach - will typically test above a certain level of total carbon dioxide. Those tests will not be performed until after the Breeders' Cup races.