The Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council has allotted $1.5 million over three years to partner with the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium on a research project to determine withdrawal guidelines and threshold levels of therapeutic medications.
Funding for the project begins Jan. 1, 2007, and will be reviewed annually by the drug council.

Connie Whitfield, chairman of the drug council said during an Oct. 9 meeting, that further details of how the project will operate, such as where the test horses will be housed and trained, and who will be in charge of overseeing the training, would be worked out later.

“Because this is a collaborative effort, three members of the drug council– Bill Napier, John T. Ward Jr., and Dr. Gary Levin– will meet with members of the consortium to flush out the details and then return to the full drug council with their recommendations,” said Whitfield, who added the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority would also review the partnership.

According to a budget put together by RMTC executive director Scot Waterman, DVM, and RMTC chairman Dan Fick, the annual cost of operation, including labor, stable and office expenses, insurance, and miscellaneous costs, will be near $442,000