Sale companies announce changes to medication, whip policies

Fasig-Tipton, Keeneland, and the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. have jointly announced changes to medication policies and the use of riding crops at under-tack preview shows for the upcoming 2-year-old sales season. This is the second major policy initiative North America’s three major sales companies have jointly taken in the last calendar year with Thoroughbred welfare issues in the spotlight.

Under revised medication policies, no more than one non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug may be administered to a horse, with “stacking” of NSAIDS prohibited. Bronchodilators, such as clenbuterol and albuterol, are prohibited. No medication may be administered within 24 hours of a juvenile’s breeze at an under-tack show.

An additional note in the release stated that the schedule for administration of permitted medication at Keeneland’s April 2-year-olds in training sale will be governed by the rules of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. In December, the KHRC approved a proposal to eliminate the race-day administration of furosemide, known as Lasix, in Kentucky 2-year-old races beginning in 2020, with affected horses allowed to receive the medication up to 24 hours prior to post time. The proposal is now subject to a legislative review process and a public commenting period before being implemented on the racetrack. John Forgy, the general counsel for the KHRC, indicated that this process typically takes anywhere from five to eight months, meaning it may not be in effect for this year’s 2-year-old races or Keeneland April sale.

Following discussions at racetracks around the country about the use of the riding crop in regards to animal welfare and the public perception of horse racing, all three sales companies will now prohibit the "excessive use" of a riding crop during breeze shows. Under the new guidelines, a rider may remove their hands from the reins and strike a horse once behind the girth only prior to the starting pole at which the horse begins to breeze. During the breeze, the rider may only use the crop while both hands are holding the reins, and not behind the girth, and the rider is prohibited from striking the horse in any manner beyond the finish line. In situations where the safety of the horse or rider is in jeopardy, the crop may be used in front of the girth. Spurs are not allowed. Infractions of the policy may result in “substantial fines” to be paid by the consignor, and chronic offenders may be banned from riding on the sales grounds.

The revised conditions of sale for all three companies take effect in March 2020, prior to the start of this sales season. OBS hosts three 2-year-old sales, in March, April, and June; Fasig-Tipton hosts a sale in April in Florida, in May in Maryland, and in June at Santa Anita; and Keeneland conducts its lone sale in the category in April.

Last year, Fasig-Tipton, Keeneland, and OBS announced a joint policy allowing buyers of young horses at their auctions to request purchases be tested for bisphosphonates and to return a horse in the event of a positive test, a move intended to stop off-label use of the drugs. Bisphosphonates are a class of drugs that are approved for use in older horses to treat osteoporosis but also have been rumored to have been abused in young horses headed for the sales ring. This followed the joint action, of a decade prior, to ban the use of anabolic steroids in sales horses.

“We continue to refine and adapt our policies with the overriding goal of protecting both the human and equine athletes while providing our customers the best opportunity for success at the racetrack,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr., Keeneland president and chief executive officer Bill Thomason, and OBS president Tom Ventura said in a joint statement included in a press release issued on Tuesday.

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