It’s a new day in anti-doping enforcement in horse racing

WEKU | By Stu Johnson

Uniform regulations for anti-doping and medication control in horseracing are now officially in place. The person who heads oversight of these rules says it’s a new day as it relates to consistency.

With a restart of these drug-focused regs, the federal program preempts all state programs in 21 different states including Kentucky. Ben Mosier is the executive director of the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit. Mosier said the actual testing hasn’t changed but the analysis of samples will be under a uniform set of specifications at the labs.

“Meaning all horses in all states under HISA jurisdiction will be tested for the same substances at the same screening limits and thresholds,” said Mosier.

Mosier said, previously, nobody was aware of what every state was testing for individually. He stressed the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act will also mean uniform investigations. Mosier noted the anti-doping program was in place for four days earlier this year until a court challenge.

Mosier added the number of drugs tested in labs could change over time.

“They always have the ability to try to pick up and create new analysis for new substances, for emerging threats, emergency substances out there. So, that has always been there, but it’s never been like a uniform testing menu across the board,” said Mosier.

The implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act eliminates the jumping from one jurisdiction to another. As far as the spike in horse fatalities, Mosier said any type of drug use connection would be speculation at this time.

Here’s the entire interview with Ben Mosier:

https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s362/audio/2023/05/4hiwu.mp3

---

Photo: Ben Mosier-Executive Director of Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit. (HIWU)