Out-of-competition testing of racehorses has broad support, but important issues, such as the constitutional rights of licensees, have made use and enforcement difficult for regulators, panelists said Dec. 11 during the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing and Gaming.

Alan Foreman, chairman of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (THA) and an attorney, said out-of-competition testing rules are in place for 24 racetracks, most of them the larger operations in North America. But many industry stakeholders don’t understand how it works or the restrictions that go along with it.

"I don’t think in today’s sports world you can ignore the issue of out-of-competition testing," Foreman said. "You can’t ensure integrity without it. But it’s not illegal for a horse to have a substance in its system when it’s not racing."

Out-of-competition testing is designed to detect the use of substances such as blood-doping agents and "emerging drugs," such as peptide venoms that can have pain-killing effects, Foreman said. Horse racing’s program and resulting testing protocol is similar to the one used for the Olympics, he said