NY board responds to Cohen

While the aminorex mystery continues, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board has written a letter in response to Andrew Cohen's Feb. 28 Wire To Wire column. The New York board's letter follows below.

To the Editor:
I would like to respond to recent columns that were submitted by Andrew Cohen, who posts weekly columns in your Wire-to-Wire section on harnessracing.com. In his columns Mr. Cohen portrays New York as falling behind other racing jurisdictions in dealing with the EPO issue. Frankly, nothing could be further from the truth and I contend that a number of items pointed out to him, during our exchanges, were either misconstrued or irresponsibly left out.

The use of EPO at New York State tracks is currently garnering considerable media attention. Therefore, I think it is incumbent upon Mr. Cohen to impart to your readers a better understanding of EPO regulation, enforcement, and its advancements in detection and testing in the State of New York.

New York State’s current medication rules are based on the time of administration of a substance (or “withdrawal time”) before the start of a race in which a horse is entered. Any substance that is not listed in these rules is considered a “seven day” drug or medication, meaning that it cannot be administered to the horse within seven days preceding a race. The only allowable medication on race day is Lasix and only to horses properly enrolled in the Lasix medication program as prescribed by the Board.

Research has found that certain drugs (i.e. EPO) can exert an effect on the horse beyond the surrounding days set forth in the Board’s drug rules. Methods of testing for the presence of EPO had not been available until 2003 when New York became the first state to conduct testing. Thanks to this testing, the Board can now determine the presence of antibodies for EPO drugs within a horse’s system on race day. The presence of the antibodies confirms that at some point in time EPO was in fact administered to a horse, and nothing more.

As a result of this test, the Board implemented the first of its kind rules banning the use of EPO within racing in New York, and is now one of only a handful of jurisdictions that have instituted the antibody test to date. Post-race samples are now taken for the drugs erythropoietin (e.g. EPO or Epogen) and darbepoietin (e.g. D-EPO or Aranesp). If a post race positive is found for one of these drugs the horse will not be disqualified, but will be placed on the steward’s list and will not be allowed to enter any subsequent race until the horse tests negative for either drug. Depending on the number of times and when the drug was administered, it can be months and possibly years before a horse will test negative.

It was explained to Mr. Cohen that since the exact time of administration of these drugs cannot be scientifically determined by means of an antibody test the trainer will not be subject to penalty; unless it can be proven through the investigative process that these substances were administered within seven days of the race in which the horse is entered. Mr. Cohen failed to mention this important point in his columns.

The Board is required to deal with evidence, scientific or otherwise, as it relates to the trainer’s responsibility and for Mr. Cohen to suggest that we waive evidence of an EPO antibody positive is simply incorrect. The antibody test has proven to be a vital and an effective tool, as well as a deterrent. However, New York, like many other racing jurisdictions, has long sought a definitive test for the blood-doping proteins of EPO rather than merely relying on a antibodies test.

The person responsible for the development of the EPO antibody test and the person Mr. Cohen neglected to contact despite my repeated recommendations is Dr. George Maylin. He and his staff at Cornell University are responsible for all equine drug testing in New York. They are now working with a direct EPO test known as the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test that can detect the administered drug. Since this test is still in its infancy, New York and other racing jurisdictions are currently developing implementation strategies.

The predominant problem, as Dr. Maylin can point out, is the time when the actual direct test must be administered for it to be effective. EPO remains detectable in blood plasma for less than 72 hours after administration. To detect the use of EPO, blood samples must be taken within this timeframe. Horsemen would typically inject EPO once or twice a month, not within 72 hours of race day, so out-of-competition testing would be required. At this time New York, and a majority of racing states in the country do not specifically have rules permitting this type of testing.

Aside from talking to our counterparts in other states, New York is working with Dr. Maylin and others in the scientific community and the industry, to determine a timeframe as to when a reliable ELISA test could come online. The state’s Administrative Procedure Act requires new rules to be written based on the research and feasibility of the test. More importantly, those who would be directly affected by implementation of new testing (horsemen, tracks, etc.) need to be heard before any rule would come into effect. There still needs to be open debate in terms of the effectiveness of the direct test within stallions, mares, and geldings and other discussions as to when a test should and should not be administered. While the state could rush in with an emergency rule which bypasses many of these legal requirements, the Board believes it is in the best interest of racing to get the science right first.

As Monticello has recently shown, this does not mean the industry has to stand still until the state can develop a rule. The management at Monticello instituted a policy for individuals found to be doping horses with illegal performance enhancing-drugs. They will face stiff fines and penalties and in cases where EPO is involved, a possible lifetime ban. Rather then letting the problem grow, Monticello is taking it head on and the Board applauds their efforts and would encourage other tracks to take similar action.

While there are still obstacles that need to be addressed and other research conducted before advancements can be made of direct EPO testing, this Board is confident that the solutions will be found within the short term, rather then the long. We are a regulator and as such are investing the appropriate time and attention this issue deserves.

Daniel Toomey
Public Information Officer
New York State Racing and Wagering Board

Editor’s Note: The Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory announced in August 2006 that it had become the first laboratory in the world to confirm the actual presence—not just the antibodies—of the drug EPO in the horse. The Pennsylvania lab was able to confirm laboratory readings from an ELISA test conducted in a Toronto lab on three racehorses in Ontario. Dr. Fuyu Guan developed a new method of breaking apart the protein of the human EPO molecules into smaller fractions (peptides), thus allowing the positives identification of the EPO itself.”

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