New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 13 - LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY › Chapter 71 - HARNESS RACING › Subchapter 23 - MEDICATION AND TESTING PROCEDURES › Section 13:71-23.15 - Out-of-competition testing (on non-race days and on race days pre-race) of racehorses for Erythropoietin (Epogen, EPO), DarbEPO, or other blood doping agents; penalties, procedures, and testing costs for positive test results for Erythropoietin (Epogen, EPO), DarbEPO, or other blood doping agents, as a result of out-of-competition testing; penalties, procedures, and testing costs for positive test results for Erythropoietin (Epogen, EPO), DarbEPO, or other blood doping agents, as a result of post-race blood sample testing (on race days) conducted pursuant to other provisions of this chapter

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a)
				The presence of Erythropoietin (Epogen, EPO), DarbEPO, or other blood doping
				agents in the racehorse is deemed adverse to the bests interests of harness
				racing, and adverse to the best interests of the racehorse in that such
				condition alters its normal physiological state. Accordingly, in addition to
				such substances being prohibited from being present in the body of a racehorse
				on race day pursuant to
				13:71-23.1 and 23.4, and in
				addition to elevated titers of anti-recombinant human EPO antibodies being
				prohibited from being present in the body of a racehorse on race day pursuant
				to 13:71-23.14, the presence of
				Erythropoietin (Epogen, EPO), DarbEPO, or other blood doping agents in any
				racehorse under the trainership of any licensed New Jersey trainer is hereby
				prohibited at any location and at anytime, including days where a race horse is
				neither entered to or scheduled to participate in a race.
(b) Racing Commission representatives may,
				without prior notice, appear upon off-track stabling facilities and permitted
				racetrack facilities subject to its jurisdiction, in furtherance of
				out-of-competition testing, that is, for the purpose of taking blood samples
				from racehorses on race days (pre-race) or on non-race days to test such
				samples (on the same date the sample is taken, or on a subsequent date) for the
				presence of Erythropoietin (Epogen, EPO), DarbEPO, or other blood doping
				agents. Upon arrival at such premises and if present, the Racing Commission
				shall advise the facility's owner, and the trainer of the racehorse or
				racehorses from which blood samples are to be taken, of its purpose.
				Additionally, the Racing Commission State Steward may require that any New
				Jersey licensed trainer stabled within New Jersey, at his or her cost, produce
				at a permitted New Jersey racetrack (as designated by the State Steward), and
				within 24 hours of a State Steward request, any racehorse under his or her
				custody and control for out-of-competition testing. Additionally, the State
				Steward may require that any New Jersey licensed trainer stabled outside this
				State, at his or her cost, produce at a permitted New Jersey racetrack (as
				designated by the State Steward), and within 48 hours of a State Steward
				request, any racehorse under his or her custody and control (which racehorse or
				racehorses competed in New Jersey in the same calendar year of the request, or
				which racehorse was intended or is intended to compete in New Jersey in the
				calendar year of the request), for out-of-competition testing. The State
				Steward may, in his or her discretion, and for good cause shown, extend these
				time frames for a trainer's requested production of the horse at a permitted
				New Jersey racetrack. In the event of the failure of any licensed New Jersey
				trainer or agent thereof to timely produce a racehorse for out-of-competition
				testing at a permitted racetrack facility as requested by the State Steward, or
				in connection with the Racing Commission's appearance on a premises subject to
				its jurisdiction for such purpose, the penalties set forth in (e) below shall
				be imposed upon the trainer and any responsible person where said failure to
				produce the horse is due to non-cooperation. Also, in the event of such
				non-production of a horse due the non-cooperation of the trainer and any other
				responsible person, the ineligibility restrictions as to the racehorse subject
				of the request for production, as set forth in (f) below, shall be
				imposed.
(c) In the event of a
				positive test for the presence of Erythropoietin (Epogen, EPO), DarbEPO, or
				other blood doping agent, as a result of out-of-competition testing, the
				following actions shall be taken by the Racing Commission Board of Judges:
1. The Racing Commission State Steward shall
				be notified, and upon such notification, the State Steward shall authorize a
				search of the New Jersey premises occupied by the stable pursuant to
				13:71-23.5;
2. The State Steward shall cause the horse to
				be immediately placed on the Steward's list pursuant to
				13:71-16.8 (thereby rendering the
				horse ineligible to compete), pending the conduct of a hearing by the Board of
				Judges;
3. The owner and trainer of
				the horse shall be notified in writing by the Board of Judges, by personal
				service or by mail sent to the address listed in their respective applications
				on file with the Racing Commission, of the initial out-of-competition testing
				result and of the horse's placement on the Steward's list pending the conduct
				of a hearing by the Board of Judges. The writing shall further set forth, in a
				designated space, the date it was mailed or personally served by the Board of
				Judges; and
4. The Board of Judges
				shall schedule a hearing, by written notice to the trainer and any other
				responsible person, which hearing notice sets forth the alleged violations of
				the Racing Commission's rules, as well as the date and time of the hearing. The
				hearing notice may be incorporated into the written notice provided pursuant to
				(c)3 above. Where the owner of the horse is not a subject of the hearing, the
				owner shall be provided a copy of the notice of hearing as an interested party.
				The written notice of hearing shall be by personal service or by mail sent to
				the address listed in their respective applications on file with the Racing
				Commission.