A recent New York Supreme Court ruling invalidating that state’s out-of-competition equine drug testing could have implications in other jurisdictions and in the Thoroughbred racing industry.

Out-of-competition testing is aimed at detecting prohibited substances–primarily blood-doping agents–that cannot be detected in post-race tests. Regulators say the drugs targeted by out-of-competition testing can be detected only for a short period of time, but can have a lengthy positive effect on a horse’s performance.

The regulations usually contain parameters on the location of the horses to be tested, the date range from a race during which they can be tested, and the types of drugs for which they can be tested. As with most other regulations, they vary from state to state.

The horses subject to the testing usually have not raced for a certain period, are located off the racetrack premises, and are being considered to return to competition at some point