Edited press release
The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium received $100,000 contributions from the New York Racing Association and the United States Trotting Association, and $50,000 contributions from the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and the Hambletonian Society, the organization announced July 26.
“We believe in the mission of the RMTC and we will do whatever it takes to ensure the integrity of our races,” said Charles Hayward, president and chief executive officer of NYRA. “I think our $100,000 contribution to the RMTC is proof of that.”
“With the many challenges facing horse racing, the Standardbred industry recognizes that there is no issue more important, especially to owners and breeders, than a comprehensive and nationally uniform medication program for testing, rules and penalties,” said Tom Charters, president and CEO of the Hambletonian Society who also serves as RMTC treasurer. “The RMTC is an opportunity to meet that challenge and deserves the support of all horsemen, tracks and industry organizations, large and small.”
As part of its 2007 fund-raising efforts, the RMTC also has contacted industry organizations, racetracks and horsemen’s groups to ask for financial support and has received funding of varying amounts from such organizations as the Charles Town Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, Florida HBPA, Florida Standardbred Owners and Breeders, Keeneland Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Oak Tree Racing Association, The Jockey Club, and the Virginia HBPA. Tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. and Magna Entertainment Corp. also are continuing their financial support of the RMTC.
The RMTC consists of 23 racing industry stakeholders and organizations that represent Thoroughbred, Standardbred, and Quarter Horse racing. Over the course of its first five years, the RMTC has become an industry-wide consortium that has achieved substantial consensus and has become the focal point of efforts in drug detection and enforcement.
Meanwhile the RMTC has achieved significant success in Model Rules, uniform penalties, drug reclassification, targeted research on drugs of abuse, major racing event security, and the education of participants, racing officials and regulatory authorities.
The RMTC was originally funded by $2.5 million from three-year commitments from industry organizations, tracks, and horsemen’s groups in 2003-05. The RMTC’s current funding formula requests that horsemen’s groups and racetracks contribute according to a funding formula based on $1.25 per start this year in the first step of a graduated scale that will increase each year.
