Press Release:
After many years and court battles over New York trainers struggles in getting split samples in medication cases, horsemen in New York state were notified this week a guaranteed split sample program is in the works.
The announcement in the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association newsletter indicated the state’s gaming commission is in the process of finalizing a plan with NYTHA to mandate collection and storage of plasma samples to be kept in case a trainer requests a split sample for confirmatory testing after receiving notification of a positive test.
Split sample testing is part of due process in nearly all racing jurisdictions. Test barn personnel pull blood and urine from horses according to post-race procedures, and the testing laboratory for the state is expected to store the remaining plasma or urine sample until the sample is cleared. If a horseman is notified of an overage, he or she is typically given the option to order part of the remainder, the “split,” to be sent to an approved lab of their choosing for a second opinion.
