Class 4 Diclofenac explained

Jag de Bellouet’s Elitlopp disqualification for a positive test for Diclofenac is causing headlines across Europe, but here in the United States the anti-inflammatory drug is considered a Class 4 by Associations of Racing Commissioners International. Dr. Scot Waterman, executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, told harnessracing.com Thursday afternoon that Diclofenac is considered the same as bute or banamine in the U.S.

“(Diclofenac) is a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug. It’s in the same general class as banamine, bute, Ibuprofen or Naproxen,” said Dr. Waterman. “It’d be like (a person) taking an aspirin, basically.

“(Diclofenac) is something we test for in the United States—we look for it—but maybe not to the concentration that they look for it in Europe,” he continued. “Partially that may have something to do with the fact that the only commercially available form of Diclofenac in the U.S. is Surpass, a topical cream that was just approved for use in a horse last year.”

Waterman noted that European drug standards are much more stringent, and that Diclofenac is more readily available across the Atlantic Ocean. “It has mixed popularity here, but in Europe there is an intravenous form and probably an oral form,” he said. “It’s just a more-available drug in Europe than it is here.”

One of the more well-known Diclofenac positives in recent years came at The Red Mile in Lexington, Ky., when trainer Steve Elliot was fined $500 and lost the $2,000 winner’s share of the purse when his 3-year-old trotter Yankee Slide had a positive after winning a late-closing event. Five starts later Yankee Slide won the $500,000 Breeders Crown at Woodbine.

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