The Maryland Racing Commission today issued guidelines clarifying the new state’s new rules regarding the use of clenbuterol.
Those guidelines — in actuality, merely a reiteration of the rules adopted in November — recommend a 14-day withdrawal time for the use of the bronchodilator as a result of new rules governing lasix, prohibiting adjunct bleeder medications, and limiting the types and dosages of other medications on racehorses.
However, the letter from Commission chair Bruce Quade says, “there is misinformation being circulated within the racing community” about whether the clenbuterol rule.
In fact, the Commission itself had suggested, at its last public meeting, that there would be what Commission executive director Mike Hopkins called “an adjustment period” as the rules were phased in.
In addition, sources have told The Racing Biz that some trainers had been told, or believed they had been told, by informed sources that the new rules would not be enforced in the first part of the year.
The letter seeks to put those concerns to rest. “So there is no misunderstanding, the Commission will enforce the new regulatory threshold for clenbuterol,” it says.
Full text of the letter is here.
