RMTC
By Charles D. Brunt / Journal Staff Writer
Horse trainers charged with doping their horses will have a wider choice of laboratories they can use to challenge regulators’ findings, the New Mexico Racing Commission has decided.
Prior to Thursday’s action, trainers were limited to using only three commission-approved testing labs to challenge track stewards’ findings. That limitation is probably a key reason for the rising costs of testing horses for prohibited substances, horsemen told the five-member, governor-appointed commission, which is responsible for regulating horse racing in the state.
“In 2014 our expense for the split tests was $6,485,” New Mexico Horsemen’s Association president Larry Nichols told commissioners. “Our expense to date for 2015 is $18,411.”
There are two reasons for that, Nichols said. “One is, there are more tests being processed,” he said. But the second reason is that the three labs approved by the commission charge considerably more than other labs with identical certification.
When track stewards obtain blood and/or urine samples from racehorses for testing, the sample is split in two.
One of the split samples is sent to the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California-Davis for drug testing on behalf of the Racing Commission. The second split sample is stored at the state Health Department’s Scientific Laboratory Division for at least 90 days. A strict chain of custody is followed for both samples.
If a trainer opts to challenge the stewards’ findings by getting a second opinion from another lab, a Racing Commission investigator and a representative from the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association obtain the stored sample and ship it to a commission-approved lab that is certified by the International Organization for Standardization.
At the request of Nichols, commissioners on Thursday approved a list of 11 ISO-certified labs horsemen can now use for testing, and to review the list in a year.
ISO certification ensures that the labs follow accepted testing protocols and provide “quality assurance,” commission executive director Vince Mares told commissioners.
Having more labs to choose from should encourage competition and lower the costs associated with testing, Nichols said.
In other action at Thursday’s meeting, the commission approved a new rule that allows for fines of up to $2,500 for licensees who appeal commission rulings for unreasonable, frivolous or malicious reasons. That could include appeals designed to allow trainers facing sanctions to continue racing horses while the appeals process moves forward.
