LEXINGTON, KY - Lexington, KY - RCI
President Ed Martin called the news that the United States Trotting Association
(USTA) will fund research into cobalt and help the New York drug testing
program gain access to equipment currently in use elsewhere by racing’s leading
testing labs a “positive, proactive development that underscores the ongoing
efforts of the racing industry and its regulator labs to counter efforts to
cheat”.
A number of racing states have
already been testing for cobalt, both in and out of competition, using advanced
ICP-MS instrumentation. (ICP-MS is the acronym for Inductively Coupled Plasma
Mass Spectrometer).
Such instrumentation is commonly
found in toxicology and veterinary diagnostic laboratories to detect metal
poisoning in livestock (e.g., lead in cattle). Recent concerns about possible
attempts to administer cobalt to affect performance have prompted several
regulatory jurisdictions to quietly commence efforts in this area.
Commissions have been collecting
samples for months. A research project being conducted by the Racing Medication
and Testing Consortium is scheduled for completion this summer to determine an
appropriate threshold for cobalt.
Cobalt is a naturally occurring
substance in the bodies of all mammals as well as being found in the
environment. “The challenge is to determine what is an appropriate and normal
level and the point in which it can be proven that cobalt levels had been
deliberately manipulated in an attempt to affect performance,” said Martin.
Martin noted that deliberate
administrations of cobalt could potentially harm a horse, if used in excess. In
2009, the Ontario Racing Commission issued the following notice:
“The Ontario Racing Commission
(ORC) advises horsepeople to be very cautious with the administration of the
substance cobalt sulphate to their horses. This mineral element is a
water-soluble cobalt salt with a variety of industrial and agricultural uses,
including being used as an ingredient in feed and mineral supplements.
“Used in safe and appropriate
formulations, the substance is known to have certain blood building qualities.
However, speculation about ‘performance enhancing’ qualities are doubtful.”
The ORC’s then Veterinarian
Supervisor, Dr. Bruce Duncan, noted that “when administered in appropriate
quantities, there is likely very little performance benefit. And when used in
excess, this element can be toxic to horses.”
Cobalt is a constituent of vitamin
B-12, and as a result, there is no recommended dietary allowance for it. Cobalt
is one of the microminerals important for blood cell formation. The microbes in
a horse's digestive system, particularly the large intestine, use the cobalt
from a normal diet to incorporate it into Vitamin B-12. This vitamin is then
used in conjunction with iron and copper in the formation and maintenance of
blood cells.
Although the USTA funded
Maylin-McKeever-Malinowski research project may appear redundant to the effort
currently underway by the RMTC, RCI’s Martin said that “the more data is
developed, our efforts to analyze the science and develop sound policies is
enhanced.”
