Virginia Administrative Code
Title 11 - GAMING
Agency 10 - VIRGINIA RACING COMMISSION
Chapter 180 - MEDICATION
Section 11VAC10-180-60 - Medications and prohibited substances

1. Class 1. Substances found in this class have no generally accepted medical use in the racehorse and have a very high pharmacological potential for altering the performance of a racehorse. These substances should never be found in the horse's system through postrace testing or in the possession of any holder of a permit within the enclosure of a horse racing facility licensed by the commission. Such substances are potent stimulants of the nervous system including opiates, opium derivatives, synthetic opioids, psychoactive drugs, amphetamines and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Schedules I and II controlled substances.

2. Class 2. Substances in this class have a high potential to affect the outcome of a race. Most are not generally accepted as therapeutic agents in the racehorse. Many are products intended to alter consciousness or the psychic state of humans and have no approved or indicated use in the horse. Some, such as injectable local anesthetics, have legitimate uses in equine medicine but should not be found in a racehorse through postrace testing. The following groups of substances are in this class:

3. Class 3. Substances found in this class may or may not have an accepted therapeutic use in the horse but have a potential to enhance performance, and their presence in the horse's system is prohibited on race day. The following groups of substances are in this class:

4. Class 4. Substances in this class are primarily therapeutic medications routinely used in racehorses. These may influence performance, but generally have a more limited ability to do so. The following groups of drugs are in this class:

5. Class 5. Drugs in this class are therapeutic medications for which concentration limits have been established as well as certain miscellaneous agents. Included specifically are agents that have very localized action only, such as anti-ulcer drugs and certain anti-allergenic drugs. The anticoagulant drugs are also included.

1. In issuing penalties against individuals found guilty of medication and drug violations a regulatory distinction shall be made between the detection of therapeutic medications used routinely to treat racehorses and those drugs that have no reason to be found at any concentration in the test sample on race day.

2. The stewards or the commission may use the most recent revision of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI) Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances and the Multiple Violations Penalty System as the guideline in the penalty stage of the deliberations for a rule violation for any prohibited substance.

3. If a licensed veterinarian is administering or prescribing a drug not listed in the RCI Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances, the identity of the drug shall be forwarded to the commission veterinarian to be forwarded to RCI for classification.

4. Any drug or metabolite thereof found to be present in a pre-race or postrace sample that is not classified in the most recent RCI Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances may be assumed to be an RCI Class 1 Drug and the trainer and owner may be subject to those penalties as set forth in schedule "A" unless satisfactorily demonstrated otherwise by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, with a penalty category assigned.

5. Any permit holder of the commission, including practicing veterinarians, found to be responsible for the improper or intentional administration of any drug resulting in a positive test may be subject to the same penalties set forth to the trainer.

6. Any veterinarian found to be involved in the administration of any drug carrying the penalty category of "A" shall be referred to the respective state licensing board of veterinary medicine for consideration of further disciplinary action and/or license revocation. This is in addition to any penalties issued by the stewards or the commission.

7. Any person who the stewards or the commission believe may have committed acts in violation of criminal statutes shall be referred to the appropriate law-enforcement agency. Administrative action taken by the stewards or the commission in no way prohibits a prosecution for criminal acts committed, nor does a potential criminal prosecution stall administrative action by the stewards or the commission.

8. Pursuant to 11VAC10-60-70 E, all horses in the care of a trainer who is suspended for more than 10 days must be transferred to another trainer approved by the stewards. During the period of suspension the suspended trainer shall have no communication with the new trainer, the new trainers' staff, or the horse owner; shall not benefit financially from transferred horses in his stable during the time of suspension; and shall not be permitted on the grounds except with the permission of the stewards.