The CTS, established in 2013, was developed by the RMTC in consultation with the American Association of Equine Practitioner and included 24 therapeutic medications commonly used by veterinarians in caring for racehorses.
The CTS now includes 28 medications and provides regulatory thresholds and withdrawal guidance for controlling the use of these substances to protect the safety of racing horses and the integrity of competition.
The CTS:
- affords horses access to ethical and responsible veterinary care,
- promotes integrity by ensuring that a horse’s racing performance is not affected by medication,
- protects safety by ensuring that a horse’s health is not misrepresented by the effects of medication, and
- ensures consistent testing and enforcement in racing jurisdictions across the U.S.
The CTS is a living document and is updated as new science becomes available for listed substances, as new medications receive FDA-approval for use in the horse, or as warranted by evolving veterinary medical practices.
While the CTS does not include every medication used in the care of racehorses, the RMTC endeavored to include a representative from each class of medication that might warrant administration in relative proximity to a race. Each listed medication has withdrawal guidance—specific to dose, route of administration, and dosing schedule—allowing the veterinarian and trainer to make an informed decision about when a treated horse can return to racing.
Antibiotics (with the exception of procaine penicillin) and dewormers (with the exception of levamisole) are not regulated because they do not act on mammalian systems; RMTC-accredited laboratories do not report the presence of these substances to regulatory authorities.
Veterinarians are not restricted to using the substances listed in the CTS; they may use the medications they determine to be most appropriate for each individual patient provided that use is accordance with the rules of the local racing authority and in compliance with state and federal law. However, there is no withdrawal guidance available for non-CTS medications and the risk of a medication violation following their use is unknown. Moreover, the regulation of non-CTS medications can vary between racing jurisdictions; the extent to which that variation exists is largely unknown. For this reason, veterinarians are recommended to rely on CTS when possible to minimize the risk of medication violations. CTS medications are subject to lesser penalties under the Multiple Medication Violation Penalty system than non-CTS medications (including those with similar effects).
