R52-7-8. Veterinarian Practices, Medication and Testing Procedures

  1. Veterinary Practices - Treatment Restricted. Within the time period of 24 hours prior to the post time for the first race of the week until four hours after the last race of the week, no person other than Utah licensed veterinarians or animal technicians under direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian who have obtained a license from the Commission shall administer to any horse within the enclosure any veterinary treatment or any medicine, medication, or other substance recognized as a medication, except for recognized feed supplements or oral tonics or substances approved by the Official Veterinarian.

  2. Veterinarians Under Supervision Of Official Veterinarian. Veterinarians licensed by the Commission and practicing at an authorized meeting are under the supervision of the Official Veterinarian and the Stewards. The Official Veterinarian shall recommend to the Stewards or the Commission the discipline to be imposed upon a veterinarian who violates the Rules, and he or she may sit with the Stewards in any hearing before the Stewards concerning such discipline or violation.

  3. Veterinarian Report. Every veterinarian who treats any horse within the enclosure for any contagious or communicable disease shall immediately report to the official veterinarian in writing on a form approved by the Commission. The form shall include the name and location of the horse treated, the name of the trainer, the time of treatment, the probable diagnosis, and the medication administered. Each practicing veterinarian shall be responsible for maintaining treatment records on all horses to which they administer treatment during a given race meeting. These records shall be available to the Commission upon subpoena when required. Any such record and any report of treatment as described above is confidential; and its content shall not be disclosed except in a proceeding before the stewards or the Commission, or in the exercise of the Commission's jurisdiction.

  4. Drugs Or Medication. Except as authorized by the provisions of this Article, no drug or medication shall be administered to any horse prior to or during any race. Presence of any drug or its metabolites or analogs, or any substance foreign to the natural horse found in the testing sample of a horse participating in a Commission-sanctioned race which are outside of the approved drug threshold levels set forth by California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Rule No. 1844 (Effective 02/14/12), Authorized Medication, with sections (h)(2),(e)(9) and (f) exempted, hereby incorporated by reference. shall result in disqualification by the Stewards. Accordingly clenbuterol will be treated the same as all other drugs that are not specifically authorized. If the testing laboratory detects clenbuterol or its metabolites or analogs under the laboratory's standard operating procedures, the finding will be reported as a violation. When a horse is disqualified because of an infraction of this Rule, the owner or owners of such horse shall not participate in any portion of the purse or stakes; and any trophy or other award shall be returned. (See Drugs and Medications Exceptions, Section R67-7-13.)

  5. Racing Soundness Examination. Each horse entered to race may be subject to a veterinary examination by the official veterinarian or his authorized representative for racing soundness and health on race day.

  6. Positive Lab Reports. A finding by a licensed laboratory that a test sample taken from a horse contains a drug or its metabolites or analog, or any substance foreign to the natural horse shall be prima facie evidence that such has been administered to the horse either internally or externally in violation of these rules. It is presumed that the sample of urine, saliva, blood or other acceptable specimen tested by the approved laboratory to which it is sent is taken from the horse in question; its integrity is preserved; that all procedures of same collection and preservation, transfer to the laboratory, and analyses of the sample are correct and accurate; and that the report received from the laboratory pertains to the sample taken from the horse in question and correctly reflects the condition of the horse during the race in which he was entered, with the burden on the trainer, assistant trainer or other responsible party to prove otherwise at any hearing in regard to the matter conducted by the stewards or the Commission.

  7. Intent Of Medication Rules. It shall be the intent of these rules to protect the integrity of horse racing, to guard the health of the horse, and to safeguard the interests of the public and the racing participants through the prohibition or control of all drugs, medication, and substances foreign to the natural horse.

  8. Power To Have Tested. As a safeguard against the use of drugs, medication, and substances foreign to the natural horse, a urine or other acceptable sample shall be taken under the direction of the official veterinarian from the winner of every race and from such other horses as the stewards or the Commission may designate.

  9. Pre-Race Testing. The stewards may require any horse entered to race to submit to a blood or other pre-race test, and no horse is eligible to start in a race until the owner or trainer complies with the required testing procedure.

  10. Equipment For Official Testing. Organizations shall provide the equipment, necessary supplies and services prescribed by the Commission and the official veterinarian for the taking of or administration of blood, urine, saliva or other tests.

  11. Taking Of Samples. Blood, urine, saliva or other samples shall be taken under the direction of the official veterinarian or persons appointed or assigned by the official veterinarian for taking samples. All samples shall be taken in a detention area approved by the Commission, unless the Official Veterinarian approves otherwise. The taking of any test samples shall be witnessed, confirmed or acknowledged by the trainer of the horse being tested or his authorized representative or employee, and may be witnessed by the owner, trainer, or other licensed person designated by them. Samples shall be sent to racing laboratories approved and designated by the Commission, in such manner as the Commission or its designee may direct. All required samples shall be in the custody of the official veterinarian, his/her assistants or other persons approved by the official veterinarian from the time they are taken until they are delivered for shipment to the testing laboratory. No person shall tamper with, adulterate, add to, break the seal of, remove or otherwise attempt to so alter or violate any sample required to be taken by this Article, except for the addition of preservatives or substances necessarily added by the Commission-approved laboratory for preservation of the sample or in the process of analysis.

  The Commission has the authority to direct the approved laboratory to retain and preserve samples for future analysis.

  The fact that purse money has been distributed prior to the issuance of a laboratory report shall not be deemed a finding that no chemical substance has been administered in violation of these Rules to the horse earning such purse money.

  12. Laboratories Approved By The Commission. Only laboratories approved by the Commission may be used in obtaining analysis reports on urine, or other specimens, taken from the winners or other designated horses of each race meeting. The Commission and the Board of Stewards shall receive reports directly from the laboratory.

  13. Split Samples. As determined by the official veterinarian, when sample quantity permits, each test sample shall be divided into two portions so that one portion shall be used for the initial testing for unknown substances. If the Trainer or owner so requests in writing to the stewards within 48 hours of notice of positive lab report on the test sample of his horse, the second sample shall be sent for further testing to a drug testing laboratory designated and approved by the commission. Nothing in this rule shall prevent the commission or executive director from ordering first use of both sample portions for testing purposes. The results of said split sampling may not prevent the disqualification of the horse as per R52-7-8-4 and R52-7-8-6. All costs for transportation and testing of the second sample portion shall be the responsibility of the requesting person. The official veterinarian shall have overall supervision and responsibility for the freezing, storage and safeguarding of the second sample portion.

  14. Facilitating The Taking Of Urine Samples. When a horse has been in the test barn more than 1-1/2 hours, a diuretic may be administered by the Official Veterinarian for the purpose of facilitating the collection of a urine sample with permission of the stewards and the trainer or the trainer's authorized test barn representative. The cost of administration of the diuretic is the responsibility of the trainer. Prior to the administration of a diuretic, a blood sample may be taken from the horse.

  15. Postmortem Examination. Every horse which dies or suffers a breakdown on the racetrack in training or in competition within any enclosure licensed by the Commission and is destroyed, may undergo, at a time and place acceptable to the official veterinarian, a postmortem examination to the extent reasonably necessary to determine the injury or sickness which resulted in euthanasia or natural death. Any other horse which expires within any enclosure may be required by the official veterinarian to undergo a postmortem examination.

  A. The postmortem examination required under this rule will be conducted by a licensed veterinarian employed by the owner or his trainer in consultation with the official veterinarian, who may be present at such postmortem examination.

  B. Test samples may be obtained from the carcass upon which the postmortem examination is conducted and shall be sent to a laboratory approved by the Commission for testing for foreign substances or their metabolites and natural substances at abnormal levels. When practical, samples shall be procured prior to euthanasia.

  C. The owner of the deceased horse shall make payment of any charges due the veterinarian employed by him to conduct the postmortem examination.

  D. A record of such postmortem shall be filed with the official veterinarian by the owner's veterinarian within 72 hours of the death and shall be submitted on a form supplied by the Commission.

  E. Each owner and trainer accepts the responsibility for the postmortem examination provided herein as a requisite for maintaining the occupation license issued by the Commission.