The Thoroughbred racing industry is closer to uniformity in medication regulations and penalties than many admit, but agreement on race-day anti-bleeding drugs in a "toxic" environment will require some heavy lifting, officials said May 2.

A panel discussion on race-day medication was part of the first day of the University of Kentucky Equine Law Conference, which is held each year in Lexington the first week of May.

Furosemide, also known as Salix or Lasix, is the only therapeutic medication widely used–legally–on race day. Several states that allow adjunct bleeder medications are in the process of phasing them out under a model rule adopted in 2011.

Rumblings about Salix use began a few years ago, but they erupted last spring when the outgoing and incoming chairmen of the Association of Racing Commissioners International called for a five-year phase-out of its use on race day. Since then the issue has divided the Thoroughbred industry