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WILLIAM S MILLER Member of the Illinois Racing Board and of Hie Stimula ¬ tion and Drugs Committee of the N ASRC and who made several suggestions re ¬ garding the proper identification of stimulants or depressants in the report of that committee NASRC Committee Report ReportSTIMULATION STIMULATION AND DRUGS DRUGSDr Dr Frank R Menne Oregon chairman William S Miller Illinois Allan M MacLeod Massachusetts and Jack Games Arkansas Your Committee on Stimulation and Drugs regrets the delay in the issuing of this reportTwhich was due to the resigna ¬ tion of Dr James Farquharson and the substitution of your present Chairman to fill the vacancy so created This Commit ¬ tee wishes therefore to have you consider this as a preliminary report with intended amplification in another year yearIt It would appear to us that the title of the Committee should be Committee on Drugs used for Stimulation and Depressing Racing Animals At first glance it would appear that the manner of utilizing extra ¬ ordinary means for the preparation of animals to be used in a race would be limited only to the utilization of drugs for the purpose of either augmenting the nat ¬ ural resources of an animal so as to render him temporarily more fit to run in a given race It seems to your Committee that the problem is much more comprehensive than is implied by the use of the terms It in ¬ volves the wider aspects of methods used that are not in accord with the efforts at good breeding good feeding and good care of animals For these latter methods there is no substitution It is hoped that in the future some of the broader aspects lead ¬ ing to the abnormal use of drugs and other methods may be fully studied and investi ¬ gated so as to bring up to the present level all of the motivations that are evident evidentReasons Reasons for Abnormal Procedures ProceduresThe The situations which usually lead to extraordinary abnormal procedures have to do with overenthusiasm to win eco ¬ nomic pressure and fraudulent criminal practices The utilization of drugs is only part of the general procedures which in ¬ clude chaining nerving and conditional reflexing by mechanical devices It is hoped that your Committee in the future may have the opportunity of issuing a complete report on the special phases of this assign ¬ ment namely on the use of types and kinds of stimulants together with something of the history of their usage and the physi ¬ ologic or functional effects upon both horses and greyhounds Commissioner Miller of Illinois makes the following suggestions concerning the proper identification of stimulants or de ¬ pressants 1 The urine collector should take cus ¬ tody of the horse from the veterinarian immediately after the saliva sample has been obtained This would reduce the possibility of failure to get the first voiding after the race and also provide direct con ¬ trol of the horse at all times 2 The horses tattoo number should be observed and recorded on the sample rec ¬ ord by the collector collectorUse Use of Bracelet on Foreleg 3 To avoid substitution of horses the veterinarian should affix a bracelet sealed with a coded crimped lead seal around the narrow portion of the horses foreleg The urine collector will remove the bracelet by cutting it and will submit it with his record of the sample to the veterinarian 4 Identification of all samples to the laboratory by tag number only Jagged or scalloped edges to be used as additional identifcation The laboratory stub should include only the printed number and writ ¬ ten date The tag stub should be affixed around the neck of the sample jar with wire and crimped lead seal 5 Each sample immediately after wit ¬ nessed collection and sealing should be placed in a small metal container and padlocked in the presence of the witness State chemist and State veterinarian should be the only ones to retain keys to these boxes 6 The locked boxes should be trans ¬ ferred to the custody of the veterinarian immediately after collection and should not be transported with the collector to other barns 7 The laboratory should employ a re ¬ liable and trustworthy agent to personally transport the samples from the custody of the veterinarian to the laboratory at the conclusion of each days activities at the track The transportation agent would not have keys to the various sample boxes which he transports transportsGames Games Recommendations RecommendationsCommissioner Commissioner Carnes a member of this Committee recommends that the National Association of State Racing Commissioners be apprised of a rule made by the Arkansas Commission to the effect that any party having two convictions on the record for drug stimulation shall be denied a license Commissioner Carnes further emphasizes his views by stating that the National As sociation should form a book of laws and rules that all tracks would endorse and the horsemen and I would include here the greyhounds since some of the Com ¬ missions include both horses and grey ¬ hounds would know that the same rules apply wherever they race raceNot Not having had an opportunity of a free exchange of views with the rest of the members of the Committee on Drugs and Stimulants I am not certain as to whether they would be in accord with our empha ¬ sizing the valuable role of a receiving barn It is my considered opinion that such a barn It is my considered opinion that such a barn would permit the officials charged with the conduct of racing under the re ¬ spective commissions to better control the whole question of stimulation It is almost impossible to adequately supervise the en ¬ tire barn area with trainers and attendants and other tradesmen etc going in and out It would almost require an officer at each individual barn If receiving barns are at hand sufficient to hold the horses scheduled for at least three races lasfc minute opportunities for abnormal prac ¬ tices undoubtedly could be interrupted Such barns need not be extraordinariljr costly and could be in the form of encircle ¬ ments similar to covered paddocks with a central house for the observing officer In our own conduct of races in the State of Oregon we now require that all persons in the barn area be licensed and that all vet erinarians not under the immediate control of the Racing Commission be required to be licensed and report to the Commission steward the object of their presence in the barn area and any medication administered to the horses We feel that the abolition of the 48 hour rule is a good one oneBreaks Breaks Down Cost CostWith With respect to the taking of samples from all of the horses in the money in a given race as well as some at random we wish to point out that this is eminently fair but that it should require additional additionalContinued Continued on Page FortyTwo NASRC Report Stimulation And Drugs Continued from Page Three Threestudy study before the National Association adopt a positive policy In the last report of the Association of Racing Chemists it is noted that in a total of 55089 specimens ex ¬ amined 41 were positive The cost per identification of a positive specimen there ¬ fore is considerable This would be tripled if first second and third horses were ex ¬ amined in this manner It may be neces ¬ sary therefore to hold this consideration in abeyance until your Committee on Drugs and Stimulation has an opportunity of evaluating the entire problem Great progress has been made by the Association of Racing Chemists in the methods and procedures utilized in the identification of all drugs The chemists are to be com ¬ mended for their extraordinary useful activity in this field It lias given to the identification a status of certainty which is necessary in justice to the owners of horses and the racing public Anything that can be done to make racing a cleaner sport above reproach will we are quite sure stimulate additional interest and be ¬ come very profitable to operators of tracks and the Thoroughbred Associations of the respective states
