Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 35 - HORSE RACING › Part I - General Provisions › Chapter 17 - Corrupt and Prohibited Practices › Section I-1775 - Testing of a Split or Referee Sample

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The following procedure is hereby
				established for the testing of a split or referee sample.
1. After a horse has voided and its urine
				collected for testing, the volume of urine collected shall be split or divided
				into approximately equal parts, one being processed for initial commission
				laboratory testing for the detection of the presence of prohibited drugs or
				substances therein. The remaining part shall be identified as the split or
				referee sample to be processed for future testing under the procedures hereby
				established. If the urine is from a 2-year-old horse, the specimen tag shall so
				indicate.
2. Should blood be drawn
				at the test or retaining barn for testing, it shall be split or divided into
				approximately equal parts to be processed for testing by the initial commission
				test and the split or referee test. If the blood is drawn from a 2-year-old
				horse, the specimen tag shall so indicate.
3. Within 72 hours from the time the stewards
				notify a trainer that the initial commission laboratory test on a urine or
				blood specimen from a horse entered and raced by him was positive for the
				presence of a prohibited drug or substance, the trainer must request the
				stewards in writing to have the split or referee sample tested by an approved
				referee laboratory. The commission shall provide a list of referee laboratories
				which must be able to demonstrate competency for that drug or substance at the
				estimated concentration reported by the primary laboratory, from which a
				trainer must select one. At the time of his request the trainer must forward
				the necessary fees to cover all expenses to be incurred in shipping and testing
				the split or referee sample to the referee laboratory. Failure of a trainer to
				make a request to the stewards for a split sample within the required 72 hours
				constitutes a waiver of any and all rights to have the split or referee sample
				tested.
4. A trainer timely
				requesting a testing of a split or referee sample shall select one of the
				laboratories designated by the commission as referee laboratories to perform
				the testing. The trainer shall sign a hold-harmless agreement for a split
				sample laboratory and an agreement that the results of the split sample
				laboratory can be introduced as evidence in any hearing, said agreements shall
				remain with the stewards of the track at which the positive was
				reported.
5. If the split portion
				of the test confirms the findings of the primary laboratory, it shall
				constitute prima facie evidence of a violation of the applicable provisions of
				this Chapter.
6. If the split
				portion of the test does not confirm the findings of the primary laboratory the
				commission shall not consider the sample to constitute prima facie evidence of
				a violation of the applicable provisions of this Chapter and no penalty shall
				be imposed, except as provided in Paragraph 7 hereof.
7. If, through no fault of the commission,
				its agents or employees, a split portion of the sample cannot be tested because
				of loss, damage, or decomposition then, and in that event only, the findings of
				the primary laboratory shall constitute the prima facie evidence of a violation
				of the applicable provisions of this Chapter.
8. The identity of the drug or substance
				shall be revealed to the referee laboratory. Any communication between the
				primary and referee laboratory is limited to the exchange of the analytical
				method and threshold level used to confirm the identity of the drug or
				substance.
9. Primary laboratory
,
for the purpose of this rule, shall mean the laboratory
				selected by the commission to test urine or blood for the presence of
				prohibited drugs or substances.
10.
				Referee laboratory
,
for the purpose of this rule, shall be
				one of the referee laboratories approved by the commission to test split
				portions of urine or blood samples when timely requested by a
				trainer.