The Virginia Racing Commission will offer free pre-race testing for anabolic and androgenic steroids in horses that race at Colonial Downs this year.

The commission, at its March 19 meeting, unanimously adopted regulations and penalties for steroids in racehorses. The regulations will be in place by the end of April and prior to the June 6 opening of the Thoroughbred racing season at Colonial Downs.

Pennsylvania and Delaware are the other two Mid-Atlantic states that will be testing for steroids this summer.

“We are very fortunate in Virginia to have horsemen’s organizations that are very supportive of our efforts to rid the industry of the use of steroids in our racing horses,” commission chairman Peter Burnett, also chair of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, said in a statement. “It behooves all of us on the regulatory side of horse racing to do the job and do it right — first for the good of the horse, and second to show the wagering public that the misuse and abuse of steroids and other drugs will not be tolerated in racing