Officials said all blood and urine samples collected from horses that competed in the Nov. 6-7 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park have come back clean.
The Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at UC-Davis completed the testing Nov. 10. The samples were couriered overnight to UC-Davis, located in Northern California, by the Maddy lab’s sample custodians, thereby allowing testing to begin within 24 hours of the final Cup race.
The California Horse Racing Board said all horses underwent pre-race testing for TCO2 levels--"milkshakes"--in blood. Post-race testing was performed for prohibited drugs on the first three finishers in all Breeders’ Cup races, plus random horses selected by the stewards consistent with CHRB protocol.
The Maddy laboratory’s standard protocols look for more than 45 anabolic steroids and hundreds of other prohibited drugs. Beyond expedited processing, Breeders’ Cup samples required no special handling from everyday CHRB testing requirements, which exceed those outlined by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association for graded stakes.
The CHRB said 25% of all horses pre-entered in Breeders’ Cup events were randomly selected for out-of-competition testing, which is used to detect blood-doping agents. Samples from European horses were analyzed at the French, English, and Irish racing laboratories for international competitors; samples from United States-based horses were analyzed at UC-Davis.
The out-of-competition samples cleared before Breeder’s Cup entries were taken Nov.3.
“The cooperation for the Breeders’ Cup’s out-of-competition testing program has been wonderful,” CHRB equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur said. "This was not a simple process. Veterinarians in four countries and four states participated in the sampling process and made sure the samples reached the four participating laboratories within the necessary time deadline.”