May 24 - To crackdown on the use of anabolic steroids in the Kentucky horse racing fraternity, Florida vet, Dr. Mary Scollay has been appointed by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA) as the state's first equine medical director.

Dr. Scollay has worked as a senior veterinarian at Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course respectively for the past 13 years, and has recently completed an extensive national investigation into the breakdown of racehorses. She will take on an advisory role as to whether Kentucky should impose routine steroid tests.

The appointment by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority has come at a time when Kentucky officials, as well as those in various other US states, have been widely criticized for failing to implement a widespread ban on the use of anabolic steroids in the sport of horse racing.

Currently only ten US states have instituted compulsory steroid testing in horse racing. Although horses are regularly tested for various performance-enhancing drugs, only recently have steroids become a focus area following a congressional investigation into the use of steroids in other sports.

Dr Scollay has been charged with the responsibility of introducing ways to prevent the continued use of illegal horse medications in the sport, as well as ways to improve the procedures involved when race horse autopsies are performed.

Said KHRA executive director, Lisa Underwood, 'I only wish Dr. Scollay has started two weeks ago', referring to the scrutiny of medical facts surrounding the tragic death of Eight Belles, the filly that broke down and was subsequently euthanized after coming second in the Kentucky Derby earlier this month.

This was confirmed by incoming Kentucky Horse Racing Authority chairman, Robert Beck Jr, who reiterated how the Eight Belles tragedy had heightened the sensitivity of illicit drug use in the Kentucky horse racing industry.

But not everyone in Kentucky is for the rapid banning of steroids.

Said KHRA board member, Foster Northrop, 'I support the regulation of anabolic steroids in the state, but as far as our testing procedures are concerned, we are not ready. As such, we should not pass this rule too early.'

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2012/04/02 06:42:55 AM