Thoroughbred Safety Coalition's new protocols would tighten restrictions on medication, racing

A group of racing companies seeking changes to racing rules and protocols has ratified eight new goals, a number of which pertain to oversight and regulation of horses while training.

The new goals, which were ratified by the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition’s Steering Committee, indicate that the group continues to broaden its focus and will seek more restrictions on how horses are medicated and treated prior to racing and training.

One of the goals, for example, includes pushing racing commissions to adopt rules that would ban the use of certain corticosteroids within seven days of a “high-speed” workout. Another would push tracks to modify the entrances to the entry and exit gaps on training tracks to “increase the safety of both horse and rider in the event of a collision or a loose horse on the track,” according to the group’s expanded platform.

Other goals include tighter regulations on the use of the bronchial dilator clenbuterol – which can be used to build muscle mass if used regularly – and a ban on all “external treatments, therapies, and musculoskeletal manipulation within at least 24 hours or a race.” That ban would apply to acupuncture and chiropractic procedures, according to the updated platform.

The Thoroughbred Safety Coalition was formed late last year in the wake of intense scrutiny of racing brought on by a spate of deaths at Santa Anita Park early in 2019. The coalition’s members include Breeders’ Cup Ltd., Churchill Downs Inc., Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Keeneland Association, the New York Racing Association, and The Stronach Group.

The coalition has no authority to promulgate rules aside from those that can be put in place at member tracks as a condition of entry or house rule, provided those rules do not conflict with existing statutes. Coalition members have said that the purpose of the group’s platform is to provide guidance to state racing commissions and members about the coalition’s priorities.

The coalition said that the additions to its platforms were supported by members of its advisory committee, which includes the American Association of Equine Practitioners and several leading owners’ groups.

The TSC has endorsed federal legislation that would create a national governing body for racing that would issue rules related to medication use, drug testing, and “safety” protocols. The legislation passed the House of Representatives in late September, and the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has said that he will press for the bill’s passage in the Senate by the end of this year.

The national governing body envisioned by the federal bill would have the authority to issue rules in the same areas advocated by the TSC. In a release, the TSC reiterated that it supports the federal legislation but that it “believes the work to advocate for these reforms at the state level must persist.” Most supporters of the federal legislation believe that it will pass this year.

Other additions to the platform would include strengthening entry and eligibility requirements for racing that “prevents horses that may have pre-existing conditions or are otherwise unfit to race from entering a race”; more stringent requirements before a horse can be removed from Veterinarians’ Lists; and giving owners the option of entering a horse in a claiming race without the horse being eligible to be claimed, as long as the horse fits certain criteria, including a requirement that the horse has not started in at least 180 days.

“This is designed to encourage owners and trainers to give unsound horses a break from training and racing without the risk of losing the horse in a claiming race immediately thereafter,” the group’s platform says.