Proposed regulations governing out-of-competition testing for racehorses in Kentucky have been approved for consideration by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission at its Sept. 7 meeting.

The regulations, which have been drafted, revised, and debated over the course of several months, were approved Sept. 2 by a 6-1 vote of the Equine Drug Research Council. The lone no vote was cast by state Sen. Damon Thayer, who favored a minimum 10-year ban. Two days earlier, the EDRC and the KHRC’s rules committee, which had been working on the regulations jointly, discussed the regulations at length before adjourning without taking a vote.

At that meeting, the EDRC and rules committee were divided over the penalty phase of the regulations, which are being sent on to the commission with a recommendation for a first-offense license revocation of between five to 10 years and a $50,000 fine. Now that the regulations have been approved by the EDRC, the rules committee will vote prior to the commission meeting.

Four states and Canada currently have out-of-competition testing, which allows the commission to conduct tests on horses regardless of location if there is a likelihood the horse ordered for testing will race in Kentucky. The tests are aimed at detecting prohibited substances, mainly blood-doping agents, that cannot be detected in post-race tests