The American Graded Stakes Committee announced Wednesday that it has voted to implement a ban of race-day medications, including the anti-bleeding drug Salix, for 2-year-old graded stakes races in 2012. The new policy will be re-evaluated at the end of next year. “There have been questions in many quarters about the integrity of the breed when so many of our horses race on medication,” said Dr. J. David Richardson, chairman of the committee. “We view this as a positive step for the elite level horses that will race in graded stakes, the ones most likely to perpetuate the breed. We are reaching out to the regulators and tracks in each of the six states that currently conduct two-year-old graded stakes races and look forward to working with them to implement this policy.” In 2011, there were 49 graded stakes races for juveniles.
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