The Racing Medication & Testing Consortium suspended its accreditation of the University of Illinois at Chicago Analytical Forensic Testing Laboratory on Sept. 3, leaving the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit with only four available laboratories for testing Thoroughbred racehorse samples.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program rules require that RMTC-accredited laboratories be used prior to the implementation of HISA Equine Analytical Laboratory accreditation standards that are to take effect in 2025.
Nonconformities associated with a section of the RMTC’s Laboratory Code of Standards triggered the suspension, Dr. Michael Hardy, executive director of the RMTC, wrote in an email.
“The Horserace Testing Laboratory Committee (HTLC), which is tasked with overseeing RMTC’s Laboratory Accreditation Program, will, upon receipt, review the laboratory’s response and associated corrective actions. Accreditation will not be restored until the laboratory is in full compliance with the Code.”
Earlier this year, the University of Kentucky Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory had its accreditation suspended, and HISA and HIWU launched an investigation into the laboratory. HISA and HIWU said its leadership met with those from UK this winter to “discuss concerns with the performance” of the lab.
The RMTC suspension has not yet been lifted. Hardy wrote that RMTC “acknowledges the good-faith efforts and level of cooperation” from the laboratory, and an extension was granted for it to meet the RMTC standards “not to exceed (six) months to afford additional time for the laboratory to achieve full compliance with the Code of Standards.”
The accreditation suspension of a second laboratory is likely to fuel criticism of the reliability and consistency of racehorse testing and the stiffer penalties that have been issued for violations under HIWU enforcement.
The ADMC Program was designed to establish a centralized testing and results management process and consistently apply uniform penalties for violations across all American Thoroughbred racing jurisdictions that HISA governs.
In a statement issued after the RMTC suspension of the University of Illinois laboratory, which Thoroughbred Daily News first reported, HIWU said the laboratory “is responsible for analyzing all samples collected in Illinois, which constitute approximately 3% of all samples collected to date” under its HISA’s ADMC Program.
HIWU said it is immediately diverting samples collected in Illinois to other laboratories. HISA and HIWU added they remain in communication with the RMTC and Illinois Racing Board, and declined further comment.
Hardy also declined comment beyond his issued statement.
