With the exception of racing in the USA, where many states permit the use of substances such as bute (painkiller) and lasix/salix (stops internal bleeding), all recognised racing countries aim to run their sport completely drug free. In recent years several European racing authorities - primarily Britain, France and Ireland - have sought to harmonise their drug testing procedures so that whichever country a horse runs in, its dope testing sample receives exactly the same treatment.

Once selected, they are escorted away from the unsaddling area and taken to the dope-testing unit where they are identified from their passport and/or microchip and examined by a Veterinary Officer.

After being washed down, the horse is put into one of the dope testing unit’s stables until a urine sample can be provided. In the event of a horse being unable to provide a urine sample, a blood test may be taken. Urine is preferable however, as substances are much more easily identified in urine than they are in blood. Samples are taken by Veterinary Technicians, split into an A and B sample, and then safely packaged for transfer to the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory in Newmarket.

At the lab, the B sample is stored in a freezer in case it is required to confirm a positive test of an A sample. As soon as the A sample is confirmed as negative, the B sample is disposed of.

If a prohibited substance is found, connections of the horse are notified and the B sample is sent to another approved lab (around the world) for counter analysis.

If this B sample is also positive, the Security Department look into the source of the substance and the test ends up at a Disciplinary Panel hearing, with the horse being disqualified from the race and the trainer fined.

Most positive samples do have straightforward explanations and usually relate to stable error or veterinary treatments being administered too close to a race. Another interesting case was in the 2002/3 jumps season when there was a rash of positives traced to morphine found in a contaminated batch of feed.

The number of positives in British Racing remains low by comparison with most racing countries.

Substance includes the metabolites of the substance and the isomers of the substance and metabolites.

The British Horseracing Authority  gives notice that the following are Prohibited Substances under the Rules of Racing:

Substances capable of acting at any time on one or more of the following mammalian body systems:

• the nervous system
• the cardiovascular system
• the respiratory system
• the digestive system
• the urinary system
• the reproductive system
• the musculoskeletal system
• the blood system
• the immune system except for licensed vaccines against infectious agents
• the endocrine system;
• endocrine secretions and their synthetic counterparts

• Anti-pyretics, analgesics and anti-inflammatory substances
• Cytotoxic substances
• Antihistamines
• Diuretics
• Local anaesthetics
• Muscle relaxants
• Respiratory stimulants
• Sex hormones, anabolic agents and coricosteroids
• Substances affecting blood coagulation

There is no evidence or intelligence to suggest there is a problem with undetected drug abuse at present but by giving ourselves the option to test frozen samples retrospectively we establish a stronger deterrent for now and the future and increase the confidence of the public in the sport and the sport’s commitment to integrity.

We have no reason to believe that illegal performance-enhancing techniques are used in the training of British racehorses, but we do believe that it is vital that both the racing and betting public are reassured that this is the case. For this reason, we have routinely tested horses in training since January 1998 and from February 2002 the tests have been carried out following unannounced visits, averaging one trainer per month.

A blood sample is taken from all of the horses in a yard. The sampling process is very quick and causes minimal disruption to the yard’s normal routine. The samples are tested at the Horserace Forensic Laboratory in Newmarket, paying particular attention to those drugs which could possibly be used to try to manipulate a horse’s performance, such as erythropoietin (EPO). Currently, two tests are used to look for the use of EPO. The first can detect the administration of EPO in the previous few days and the second, identical to the test employed in the USA where a number of positive samples have been found, identifies historical evidence of the use of EPO. The results of both tests are kept under regular review.