UF Racing Lab snags contract with Kentucky Horse Racing Commission

Before the horses line up at the gates at Churchill Downs on May 2 to run the Kentucky Derby, veterinarians will take samples of their blood and urine.

Those samples, along with ones taken from the winner and a few other horses after the race is complete, will make their way to the Florida Racing Laboratory at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine. There, lab employees will test and analyze them, looking for drugs that may have enhanced the horses' performances and unfairly altered the outcome of the race.

Within three working days of receiving the samples, the lab must submit preliminary results to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, the state agency that monitors the approximately 350 horse races that take place in Kentucky each year.

Full results must be turned in "within 10 working days of receipt of the samples," said Richard Sams, Ph.D., the lab's director and a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine's department of physiological sciences. Officials will not award prize money to the winner of the race until these results are submitted.

The UF racing lab was one of six labs that bid for the job of analyzing the samples taken before and after Kentucky's horse races. It is one of five labs in the nation accredited by ISO 17025 standards - established by the International Organization for Standardization.

The selection process required facilities to conduct proficiency tests to identify drugs present in samples, submit written proposals, participate in interviews and give presentations.

"We had a small group that is affiliated with the racing commission who reviewed all the candidates and University of Florida stood out as the best of the applicants we reviewed," said Lisa Underwood, executive director of the KHRC.

The contract is for one year but could be extended without repeating the bidding process. Sams said the job will require the lab to expand its staff and buy additional instruments.

In a tough economy, this increased revenue also helps the lab to stay open and continue providing services to Floridians, said Glen Hoffsis, D.V.M., M.S., dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

"It is quite an accomplishment to successfully obtain the contract from the state of Kentucky," Hoffsis said. "And it's a tribute to the people that operate and lead this laboratory. This has become one of the premier, truly high-quality leading laboratories that does this kind of work in the United States and in the world."

The lab already has tested samples from some races. Underwood said the KHRC was pleased with this work.

The lab also does some sampling work for private individuals and tests samples from horses and greyhounds for Florida's Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, a state agency that oversees racing in Florida.

Standards against drug use in racing horses are higher than those for Olympic athletes, according to Sams.

"Only two substances are permitted for administration within a 24-hour period before race time in Florida," Sams said.

Why such stringent regulations? He cited three reasons for the strict rules.

Safety is one issue. An injured horse receiving drugs before a race to mask pain could be hurt more than helped by the medicine.

"It may injure itself even more," Sams said, "possibly to the extent that there could be a catastrophic injury that not only could have consequences to the horse, but other horses, jockeys."

Another concern is the betting that surrounds horse and greyhound racing.

People placing bets need to believe the races are fair. Racehorse owners also are concerned about fairness for another reason.

"For those horses in the most prestigious races, those horses will become breeding animals," Sams explained. "The owners make very substantial investments in those horses, and a horse owner wants their horse to compete with other horses without any of those horses being treated with drugs."

Sams said there's a saying that "the horses should compete on hay, oats and water."

"Even a drug that you and I might take for relief of a minor ache or pain is prohibited in racing for those three reasons," he said.