Horse Racing

Racing Commission Confirms Post-Race Samples From Arkansas Derby Card Have Not Cleared


The results from the May 2 Arkansas Derby day card at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., could still be up for revision. A spokesperson for the Arkansas Racing Commission confirmed Tuesday that the commission is awaiting split sample tests on the May 2 closing-day card but could not provide further details, including which horse or horses tested positive in initial post-race tests.

Typically, complaints or rulings against horses and trainers are not made until after split sample results come back. A trainer informed of a positive test may request that a portion of the remaining blood or urine sample be tested by a different laboratory than the one that called the positive test.

The commission had previously used Truesdail Laboratories for post-race drug testing, but the spokesperson said Truesdail began routing Arkansas samples to a different facility after its accreditation from the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium was suspended in late March.

The Arkansas rule book for racing in 2020 states that split samples may only be tested by RMTC-accredited labs.

The May 2 card included two divisions of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby won by Charlatan and Nadal and the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap won by By My Standards, as well as 11 other non-graded races.

According to Arkansas regulations, “The stewards, the commission veterinarian or the executive director of the commission may order a blood test, hair test, or urine test, or all three, on a horse for the purpose of analysis.”

The regulations state that the winner and “any other horses designated by the stewards, the commission veterinarian or the executive director of the commission” may be tested.





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