Security, drug testing increased for Derby week
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After acknowledging horse racing has a "very serious'' drug problem, officials have increased security and added more testing for performance-enhancing substances heading into Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
"It's a very serious problem, and the public perception is that it is a huge problem,'' said C. Steven Duncker, chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's Graded Stakes Committee. "I don't know if you can put a dimension on how widespread it is because, like in every other sports, our testing seems to be a step behind the cheaters.''
The comments in The New York Times on Monday coincide with beefed up measures to catch cheats. The newspaper reported that for the first time at the Derby, top finishers will undergo a test that will screen for hundreds of drugs and metabolites.
Churchill Downs already has instituted tougher drug testing, requiring pre-race blood tests used to detect stamina-enhancing "milkshake'' concoctions.
A "milkshake'' is made of baking soda, sugar and electrolytes, and is believed to increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in a horse's bloodstream and lessen lactic acid buildup, warding off fatigue.
Failure to comply will result in the horse being scratched from the race and will count as a violation of the policy, the track said last month.
Starting Thursday, Louisville police officers and Jefferson County sheriff's deputies will take up posts on Churchill Downs' backside, along with private-security guards hired by the track. An independent team of investigators from the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau and the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority will also be watching the barns of Derby horses, the Times said.
Recently, several horses in California have tested positive for drugs, and New York trainer Gregory Martin has been charged with using a "milkshake'' to fix a race at Aqueduct in 2003.
Dancer's Image, in 1968, is the only horse in the history of the Kentucky Derby ever disqualified after the illegal drug butazolodin (bute) was detected.
Watch the Kentucky Derby on NBC (Saturday at 5 p.m. ET).
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press
