The Ontario Racing Commission has reminded all horsepeople to be very careful with the administration of antibiotic ointments to horses, as a number of ointments have recently resulted in Class II positive
tests.
To ORC's release on the subject appears below
The Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) advises horse people to be very cautious with the administration of antibiotic ointments to their horses. Trainers are reminded to read and carefully examine product labels to determine contents of all products and consult an ORC licensed veterinarian to inquire about the effect on the horse.
Recently, a number of positive tests were recorded for the Class II drug lidocaine, a local anesthetic agent.
In some of these cases, the explanation provided by trainers was that they had applied an antibiotic ointment to the horse.
According to ORC Veterinarian Supervisor Dr. Bruce Duncan, as a general rule, horse people need to be aware of all the ingredients being administered to their animals.
“Trainers need to be vigilant and check the labels of all products given to horses in their care. That’s a basic aspect of medication control.”
The Rules state that any horse with a positive for a Class I, II, III drug, or a substance determined to be non-therapeutic, shall then be declared ineligible to race in Ontario for a period of 90 days. As well, under Rule changes introduced in January 2008, a trainer of a horse with a positive test will be considered to have absolute liability for the offence.
Trainers are therefore reminded that by being aware of the contents of such products, they will be more likely to know if any ingredient will result in a positive test.
I concur with Blair.
I concur with Blair. Discretion is absolutely warranted. Penalties regarding a trainer "error/mistake" DOES NOT equate to a trainer who WILLFULLY attempts to manipulate the performance of a racehorse to gain unfair advantage. Considering the ORC suspension regarding the dishonest practices of a trainer who tests positive for MILKSHAKING their horses (TCO2) is ONLY 60 days, suspending a trainer for 90 days for using topical ointment (ex.polysporin) is totally unjustifiable.
If in fact that is how the
If in fact that is how the lidocaine got in the horse' s system then the penalty is ridiculous whether or not the ORC issue these warnings. The objective behind any penalty is for it to act as a deterrent for those that would willfully try to gain an advantage by administering a non-therapeutic substance. Since this does not appear to be the case then reason would dictate there should be some discretion, no matter what arbitrary number classification is attached to Lidocaine. Also it seems if it was absorbed topically then I am pretty certain a quantitative assessment can be made as to how much was in the horse's system and whether or not it actually made a difference to performance. Trainers, and in this case the owners of these socalled offending horses, are supposed to be penalized for REAL infractions and not for some simple mistake made in the shedrow. With the "trainer responsibility rule" there is far too much onus on the trainer. It is so encompassing that the pressure not to make a simple mistake is too great. A human athlete is in full control of what goes into his/her body, but a horse trainer with several horses cannot possibly be in total charge of their equine athletes 24/7. As great a care as might be given, there are many variables; grooms, feed processing, the environment etc. Surely there is some room for the pragmatist in these matters. After all, we are supposed to all be in this together.