A group of prominent organizations involved in Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and sales in North America has issued a statement in reaction to the British Horseracing Authority’s (BHA) enhanced Equine Anti-Doping Rules, which were published Feb. 24 after an extensive period of development.

The rules, which include a zero-tolerance approach to anabolic steroids, will be implemented March 2.

Details of the policy, the rules manual, and the official guide are available online. 

The new policy states, in part, that a racehorse must not be administered an anabolic steroid at any point in its life and that any horse administered an anabolic steroid will face a mandatory stand-down period from training for 12 months and will be ineligible to start in any race in Great Britain for 14 months