Late last week, the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New York issued a release in regard to the New York State Court of Appeals’ 6-0 vote in favour of continuing to allow off-track testing for ‘illicit, speed-enhancing substances’ in racehorses.
An article on the decision by Newsday explains that the state’s racing and wagering board will still be allowed to test racehorses well ahead of the date that the horses are scheduled to perform in pari-mutuel dashes.
The contents of the SOANY release on the matter appears below.
N.Y. High Court Issues Limited Out-of-Competition Ruling
On Dec. 18, 2014, the New York State Court of Appeals issued a decision in the Matter of Mark Ford et al., v. NYS Racing and Wagering Board. In this case, the SOA and several individual petitioners challenged the constitutionality and legal validity of the Out of Competition Testing Regulations for Standardbred Racehorses that were issued in January 2009.
Because the Gaming Commission substantially amended these Out-of Competition Rules in August 2014, while the appeal on this matter was awaiting oral argument, the Court effectively ‘punted’ on petitioner's specific attacks on the Rules by concluding that the challenge before it was "pervasively mooted” by the amended rules and explicitly declining to "pass upon the particular provisions of the rule(s).” In affirming the determination of the Appellate Division, the Court of Appeals expressly cautioned that its determination holds "no more than that the Commission possesses the power to promulgate rules mandating warrantless, out-of-competition equine testing” for prohibited substances.
Earlier this month, the SOA and several other individual petitioners filed a petition in Schenectady Supreme Court attacking the legal validity of the amended rules. This petition is now scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court next month.