NYRA expands drug testing, ends detention barn

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

This is probably a question for Chuck, but the "enhanced" penalties cited in the press release deal with violations that are "Class A" violations under the RCI categorization. While the penalties discussed would be meaningful if actually imposed, are these the types of violations that we usually see? I was looking at the RCI site and recent high-profile positives have involved things like steroids and mepivicaine, but these are Class B violations under the RCI guidelines. I guess this is a long-winded way of asking whether I would be correct in assuming that, barring a trainer giving a horse something like snake venom or elephant juice, the enhanced penalties would probably never be imposed?

I think that the "enhanced" penalties are like saying that instead of getting 100 years for murder, you now get 150 years. In other words not really much other than PR. The fact is that if a large outfit were to get a class 1 positive they will appeal and then if they can't win the appeal, then go to court and tie it up until the state gets tired of fighting it. Class A's are really rare which is not to say that they aren't being used. But the problem with testing is that you be able to identify a substance before you can test for it. That and the fact there are thousands and thousands of potential drugs to test for.