Pennsylvania Code › Title 58 - RECREATION › Part V - Harness Racing Commission › Chapter 183 - RULES OF RACING › MEDICATION, PRERACE AND POST-RACE TESTING, PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS › Section 183.351 - Prerace testing program

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
A prerace testing program may be established at a track
					 designated by the Commission. The Commission shall operate the field laboratory
					 located at the track and shall approve the reference laboratory affiliated with
					 the program. For prerace testing the following procedures shall apply; all
					 other testing regulations set forth in this section and not inconsistent with
					 the herein prerace testing provisions shall remain in full force and effect and
					 be used. Commission may charge fees to the associations for prerace testing.
(1) Blood samples shall be taken of
				  every horse programmed to race, prior to the race in which it is programmed,
				  for the purpose of determining the presence of any drug, stimulant, sedative,
				  depressant or medicine.
(2) Blood
				  samples shall be taken by the Commission veterinarian. The times at which the
				  horses in each race shall be delivered to the paddock for the taking of the
				  samples, as well as related procedures, shall be prescribed by the Commission
				  veterinarian.
(3) Permission for
				  the taking of prerace blood samples is mandatory and a horse may not be allowed
				  to race if the taking of the sample is refused unless the Commission
				  veterinarian, for good cause in his judgment, excuses the taking of the sample.
				  During the taking of a sample the trainer or groom must be in attendance to
				  manage the horse.
(4) Post-race
				  urine, saliva or blood samples will also be taken of winning horses and other
				  horses which may be designated under the provisions hereinafter set
				  forth.
(5) Urine or saliva samples,
				  or both may be taken of a horse whenever the prerace test is positive or when a
				  blood sample has not been taken, or a urine, saliva and blood sample may be
				  taken whenever, in the judgment of the Commission veterinarian or the Director
				  of the field laboratory, a urine, saliva and blood sample is required for
				  further analysis.
(6) Analyses of
				  samples, prerace and post-race, taken under this section, may be made at the
				  field laboratory and at the reference laboratory.
(7) Whenever there is a positive test result
				  of a prerace test, the director of the field laboratory shall immediately
				  notify the Commission veterinarian and the presiding judge and the presiding
				  judge shall scratch the horse. If said positive test result is the only test
				  result within 12 months prior to the present violation, the Judges presiding at
				  the racing program may impose a fine in the amount of not less than $100 nor
				  more than $250 dollars on the licensee and person, or both having control or
				  care or custody, or both, of the horse which has the positive test or the
				  person may be suspended and the matter referred to the Commission for hearing.
				  If the present positive test is the second violation or more within 12 months
				  prior to the present violation, the licensee and or person or persons, charged
				  with the violation shall be suspended and the matter referred to the Commission
				  for hearing. The horses being trained by any person suspended under this
				  section and §§
										183.352-183.363 may be assigned another
				  trainer approved by the Presiding Judge having jurisdiction over the racing
				  program or by the Commission.
(8)
				  In a laboratory analysis of a specimen or sample of saliva, urine or blood, a
				  positive result is the presence of a substance foreign to the natural horse
				  except where tolerances and standards for such substance is established by the
				  Commission.
(9) A person
				  administering a drug, stimulant, sedative or depressant which results in a
				  positive test shall be considered in violation of this section and §§
										183.352-183.363; subject to a fine or a
				  suspension, or both.
(10) As a
				  prerequisite to participating in a racing meet where prerace testing is in
				  effect, a declaration of acceptance is required. The signer consents, both for
				  himself or as the authorized agent of the owner of the horse, to permit a
				  licensed veterinarian to obtain blood sample in the paddock prior to the race
				  for the purpose of testing the sample before the race. The signer for himself
				  and as agent for the owner of the horse hereby directs and consents to the
				  scratching of the horse from the race in the event that the test is
				  positive.
This section cited in 58 Pa. Code §
												183.355 (relating to control of
						horse, presumption of knowledge); and 58 Pa. Code §
												183.361 (relating to winnings when
						rule is violated).