Why should you care about this?

[phystech]

Much of the steroids debate is beyond me at this time because I haven't taken the time to fully educate myself on all of the particulars. But as a claiming owner, I would have serious concerns about a hard "no steroid" deadline imposed with there seeming to be no provision in place to ensure that the horse I claim a few days before that deadline kicks in, is steroid free on claim day.

I keep seeing the date of, or about, April 1 for the Mid-Atlantic. Assuming that date, what happens if I claim one on Mar 30 and the horse received it's last dose on March 20? If indeed it takes 120 days to clear, if I run back in a few weeks, my horse will test positive. I lose a purse, my trainer gets days and a fine, and we pay a penalty for something we didn't do.

I would also then suffer a financial loss when I couldn't run for up to 120 days.

Of course, a solution to not risking a positive after a claim would be to pay for a test to see what I've got. Chuck, any idea what the cost for a bloodtest would be?