1. (a) Policy. The purpose of this section and § § 163.303—163.318 is to protect the integrity of horse racing, to guard the health of the horse and to safeguard the interests of the public and the racing participants through the prohibition or control of drugs and medications or substances foreign to the natural horse. In this context:

   1. (1) A horse participating in a race may not carry in its body a substance foreign to the natural horse except as otherwise provided.
   2. (2) A person acting alone or in concert may not administer or cause to be administered a substance to a horse entered to race by injection, oral administration, rectal infusion or suppository, or by inhalation within 24 hours prior to the scheduled post time for the first race, except as otherwise provided.
   3. (3) A person other than a veterinarian may not have in his possession equipment for hypodermic injection of a substance for hypodermic administration. A person other than a veterinarian may not have a foreign substance, within the area of the race track complex, which can be administered internally to a horse by a route, except for an existing condition and as prescribed by a veterinarian. The supply of the prescribed foreign substance, by a veterinarian, shall be limited by ethical practice consistent with the purposes of this paragraph.
   4. (4) A foreign substance may not be found in a test sample of a 2-year-old.
   5. (5) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), a person may have in his possession within a race track complex a chemical substance for use on his own person. If the chemical substance is prohibited from being dispensed by Federal or State law without a prescription, he shall possess documentary evidence that a valid prescription for the chemical substance has been issued to him.

2. (b) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section and § § 163.303—163.318, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

   Bleeder—A horse which hemorrhages from the respiratory tract during a race or within 1 hour post race, or during exercise or within 1 hour of the exercise.

   Bleeder list—A tabulation of bleeders to be maintained by the Commission.

   Chemist—An official racing chemist designated by the Commission.

   Foreign substances—Substances except those which exist naturally in the untreated horse at normal physiological concentration.

   Furosemide—4-chloro-N-(2-furylmethyl)-5-sulfamoylanthranilic acid.

   Horse—Horses registered for racing under the jurisdiction of the Commission or Board, and for the purposes of this section and § § 163.303—163.318 mean stallion, colt, gelding, ridgling, filly or mare.

   Hypodermic injection—An injection into or under the skin or mucosa, including intradermal injection, subcutaneous injection, submucosal injection, intramuscular injection, intravenous injection, intra-arterial injection, intra-articular injection, intrabursal injection, intraocular (intraconjunctival) injection.

   Race day—The 24-hour period prior to the scheduled post time for the first race.

   Security area—The area surrounding the security stall delineated by the Commission and controlled by it.

   Security stall—The stall assigned by the Commission to a horse on the bleeder list, for occupancy as a prerequisite for receiving bleeder medication, sometimes called the detention stall.

   Test level—The concentration of a foreign substance found in the test sample.

   Test sample—A body substance including but not limited to blood or urine taken from a horse under the supervision of the Commission veterinarian and in a manner prescribed by the Commission for the purpose of analysis.

   Veterinarian—A veterinary practitioner authorized to practice on the race track.

Source

The provisions of this § 163.302 amended July 3, 1980, effective July 26, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 2883. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (51667).

Notes of Decisions

In holding that the Commission correctly refused to disqualify from the purse, a horse which showed a prohibited level of phenylbutazone, the Court noted that the present drug regulations are contained in 58 Pa. Codes § § 163.302—163.312. Meyer v. Horse Racing Commission, 456 A.2d 1164 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1983).

The discovery of lidocaine in a horse’s urine following a race was sufficient to support the imposition of liability upon a trainer under this section and 58 Pa. Code § 163.303. Sipp v. Horse Racing Commission, 466 A.2d 296 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1983).

Possession of prohibited drug paraphernalia by a horse trainer was a violation of 58 Pa. Code § 163.302(a)(3) even though there was no evidence that the paraphernalia contained any trace of a prohibited drug. Paoli v. Horse Racing Commission, 473 A.2d 243 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1984).

Notwithstanding the fact that a urine sample test disclosed the presence of a prohibited drug, the court held that 58 Pa. Code § 163.302(a)(1) was not violated because there was no evidence verifying the chain of possession from the sample procured to the horse in question. Paoli v. Horse Racing Commission, 473 A.2d 243 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1984).

A horse is prohibited from participating in a race if it is carrying in its body a foreign substance with certain exceptions. Worthington v. Horse Racing Commission, 514 A.2d 311 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1986).

It was a violation of this section for a horse trainer to negligently allow a horse to ingest caffeine from discarded coffee and cola drinks in the barn; the trainer has a positive duty to protect his horses from the administration of a foreign substance. Yanofsky v. Horse Racing Commission, 537 A.2d 92 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1988).

Cross References

This section cited in 58 Pa. Code § 163.303 (relating to prohibition; prima facie evidence; disqualification); and 58 Pa. Code § 163.308 (relating to official laboratory).