LEXINGTON, KY - The
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Racing Commissioners
International (ARCI) announced today that a new committee will be formed to
work with individual commissions to complete the implementation of the ARCI
medication reforms. The reforms are embodied in the Model Rules, the
association’s recommended best regulatory practices and policies.
Mark Lamberth, who
also serves as a commissioner on the Arkansas State Racing Commission, made the
announcement following a Monday conference call with racing regulators. The
regulators asked to participate will be named in the near future.
The goal of the
committee is to complete implementation of medication reforms that were
developed by ARCI members and staff working with the Racing Medication and
Testing Consortium (RMTC). The committee will identify the jurisdictions that
have yet to adopt portions of the reforms and develop strategies to work with
the individual commission to advance the reforms.
“Racing regulators
working together with the racing industry have made tremendous strides over the
past few years in some of the biggest racing states to implement sound, uniform
medication policies in areas such as therapeutic medication use, laboratory
testing standards and accreditation, and increased penalties for repeat
offenders. There are some jurisdictions that have not implemented all of these
reforms, and the goal of the committee is to aid those jurisdictions in the
implementation process,” said Lamberth.
Lamberth said that
all racing regulators were uniform in prohibiting performance enhancing drugs,
and the ARCI is committed to resolving relatively minor differences in
regulations pertaining to testing thresholds for some therapeutic medications.
“Full adoption of the ARCI Model Rules, which have been thoughtfully and
carefully developed in conjunction with the RMTC, would accomplish that,” he
said.
Lamberth also said
that a model Request for Proposals for laboratory services was an important
reform and predicted that racing commissions will rely upon it as laboratory
contracts expire and future procurements are implemented.
“We know that the
racing industry is in a much better position today than it was just five years
ago when it comes to medication policy, and the regulators on this committee
want to continue that progress for the good of racing,” added Lamberth.
Lamberth said that
the committee will begin work immediately and report to the ARCI Board of
Directors in December.
