The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium on Tuesday issued a mid-year update on its efforts towards uniform adoption of a national medication program.
“Working with jurisdictions to facilitate adoption of the National Uniform Medication Program is a top RMTC priority,” RMTC Executive Director Dr. Dionne Benson said in the release. “While we are encouraged by the progress made thus far, we anticipate even more progress in the upcoming months.”
A total of 15 racing states–representing over 70% of the national pari-mutuel handle–have adopted the Controlled Therapeutic Substances list, which establishes regulatory thresholds and provides withdrawal times for 26 specific medications that the industry believes to be necessary for the routine treatment of illness or injury in the horse. Last month, Minnesota joined Arkansas, California, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia in regulating therapeutic medications using the medication schedule.
In addition, 24 states utilize an RMTC-accredited lab–up from six 18 months ago–and nine commissions have implemented the multiple medication violation penalty system, up from three in January 2014. Commissions requiring third-party administration of furosemide on race day have risen from 13 in January 2014 to 16. States adopting the program in its entirety have now reached nine jurisdictions with the full implementation of the program in West Virginia last month.
“We continue to urge all U.S. horse racing jurisdictions to adopt the reforms in their entirely without further delay,” said Alex Waldrop, chairman of the RMTC and president and CEO of the NTRA. “Uniform adoption of the National Uniform Medication Program is critical to industry participants and fans alike, so we continue to make the RMTC and its very capable staff available to assist any state seeking to implement the program.”
The RMTC consists of 23 racing industry stakeholders and organizations that represent Thoroughbred, Standardbred, American Quarter Horse and Arabian racing.
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