Education was the primary mission of the June 13 International Summit on Race Day Medication, EIPH (exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhaging) and the Racehorse held at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

"Our primary goal today is to inform," Alex Waldrop, president and chief executive officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), said as the two-day event opened. "If you are hoping for a debate on these topics, you may be disappointed. Today these discussions are designed to promote interaction with our colleagues around the globe."

The NTRA is one of three organizations that organized the summit in response to federal legislation filed the week of the Kentucky Derby by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky calling for a ban on all performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing and proposing a three-strikes-and-you’re-out-penalty system. The American Association of Equine Practitioners and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium are the other summit organizers.

More than 100 people representing nine countries on six continents attended the conference, which isn’t expected to bring about immediate changes in medication policy in the U.S. Widespread use of the legal anti-bleeding drug Salix, or furosemide, is the focus of the race-day drug debate