Steroids

[Riot]

Listening to ATR ... not only are these tracks going to have to test EVERY horse that is claimed, at time of claim, for the FDA-approved steroids; what these tracks ought to do is what they did with TCO2 testing - over the next few months (before the "not a ban, but it really is, ban" goes into effect), is offer to test for free any horse a trainer wants tested after a race for steroid only (the not-very-accurate urine test they will be using).

This would be good for two reasons: first, trainers can get a handle on how long a particular steroid lasts in a horse so he won't get an unintentional positive. Secondly, the track may learn something about steroid withdrawal times - something they don't know now, and think is 2-4 months depending upon the steroid, while at the same time enacting a "30-day withdrawal" period.