The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) board of directors voted to approve several important recommendations from its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and Horseracing Testing Laboratories Committee at its Feb. 23 meeting at Gulfstream Park, in Hallandale Beach, Florida.

The board also received an encouraging report on the significant nationwide adoption progress of the National Uniform Medication Program, highlighted by the update that states which have implemented the Controlled Therapeutic Substances (CTS) list now represent more than 90% of the U.S. handle.

Board members unanimously approved SAC recommendations for revised thresholds based on recently completed research for three medications currently on the CTS list: the sedatives/analgesics xylazine and detomidine and the gastric ulcer medication omeprazole. Research on these substances was performed at the University of California, Davis; Kentucky Equine Research, and the University of Florida. The thresholds and withdrawal guidance for these substances can be found on the CTS list page of the RMTC website. 

“The CTS list is a living document, as evidenced by the addition of a number of medications since it was first enacted,” stated RMTC Executive Director Dionne Benson, DVM. “In this instance, the RMTC and its stakeholders, through the SAC process, revised three historic regulatory thresholds by funding and executing scientific research to ensure horsemen had the best information available to make decisions