"The Numbers Don't Lie"

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Published: August 8, 2014 10:05 am EDT

The results of anti-doping drugs tests conducted in 2013 by state racing commissions, the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and the World Anti-Doping Agency are “virtually identical” according to an analysis of all pertinent testing results.

“The numbers don’t lie,” said Racing Commissioners International President Ed Martin, noting that U.S. racing commissions sent 340,932[1] biological samples to a network of professional drug testing laboratories in 2013.

99.65% of those samples were found to have no violation.

By comparison, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) performed 9,197 doping control tests in 2013.[2] Of the samples tested, approximately 99.55% were determined to have no violation.[3]

In 2013, testing authorities reporting to the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) performed 207,513 drug tests. Of that testing, 98.97% were found to have no adverse analytical finding.[4]

“The anti-doping testing effort of U.S. racing regulators is 60% larger than the entire world wide effort of WADA. Our program is thirty-seven times larger than the one operated by USADA,” Martin said.

“Drug testing oversight in racing is performed by government agencies not beholden to anyone but the public. We all have the same challenge and we are all combatting it the same way and our results are similar,” he noted. “All sports have a challenge with those who would deliberately rely on doping to affect performance. We must continue to be vigilant in detecting and developing tests for substances that emerge.”

In 2013, racing commissions cited a total of 1,140 medication rule violations. Of that number, 1.2% (14) were for the most egregious Class 1 doping substances; 5.9% (68) for Class 2 doping substances.

The overwhelming majority of violations - 60.3% (687) - were for overages of Class 4 and 5 substances considered therapeutic overages and not doping. 32.5% (371) of the violations were for Class 3 substances.

The following chart is a state by state breakdown of the results of racing commission drug testing conducted during 2013:

(ARCI)


[1] Government data provided by all official racing regulatory entities except Arkansas.

[2] USADA 2013 Annual Report, page 14.

[3] USADA 2013 Annual Report, pages 15 and 18.

[4] World Anti-Doping Agency, 2013 Anti-Doping Testing Figures, Table 1-Summary.

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