Horse racing’s anti-doping rules will continue to withstand legal challenge, according to conclusions reached at a meeting of regulatory attorneys convened by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI).

“A widely reported decision in Delaware not to pursue a prosecution in a singular case had mitigating factors that were unique,” said Mark Lamberth, ARCI chairman and a member of the Arkansas Racing Commission. “This has been thoroughly reviewed as have been the standards required for a successful prosecution and we are confident that the rules will continue to withstand any future challenge.”

Following press coverage intimating that rules based upon the recommendations of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) as embodied in the ARCI Model Rules might be vulnerable to legal attack, the meeting was convened to conduct a vulnerability assessment.

“I am not aware of any successful challenge to a drug prosecution based on science,” said Ed Martin, ARCI president, noting that the attorneys identified no vulnerability in current rules. “People will try and spend a lot money doing so, but in the end, the courts have upheld racing commission actions