Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association
Posted: Oct. 21, 2016
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association board of directors Oct. 19 approved several amendments to the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance, including a January 2019, deadline for compliance with the full National Uniform Medication Program.
The NTRA board in 2016 issued a Jan. 1, 2018, deadline for laboratory accreditation through the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. The latest deadline requires adoption of the Controlled Therapeutic Medication Schedule; third-party administration of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide, commonly called Lasix; and the multiple medication violation penalty system.
The board also approved annual certification of jockey weight scales and automated logging of weight data, and strengthening of totalizator protocols under Thoroughbred Racing and Protective Bureau guidelines. The alliance advisory board approved the measures, which will part of the code of standards effective Jan. 1, 2017.
Protocols regarding jockey weights are in place at several racetracks, the NTRA said, and are supported by the Jockeys’ Guild.
The totalizator and wagering amendments to the code of standards are as follows: sharing transaction audit files; updated protocols for confirmation of stop-betting mechanisms; automatic closure of wagering when data connections are lost at zero minutes to post time; dissemination of win odds cycles a minimum of 60 seconds from 10 minutes to post to three minutes to post, and a minimum of 30 seconds until post time; dissemination of “almost final” win odds within 10 seconds of the opening of the starting gate; posting of final win odds “as soon as available”; and authorization of the TRPB to collect wagering transaction data if notified of a suspected wagering incident.
In other business, the NTRA board said HorsePAC, its bipartisan federal political action committee, made contributions of $579,000 for the 2015-16 election cycle. Officials said it’s the third-largest total and up 28% from $452,500 for 2013-14.