in-20261014-IR-071260381FNA: PRERACE EQUINE BLOOD GAS TESTING

TITLE 71 INDIANA HORSE RACING COMMISSION Notice of First Public Comment Period LSA Document #26-381 PRERACE BLOOD GAS TESTING PURPOSE OF NOTICE The Indiana Horse Racing Commission (commission) is soliciting public comment on adding, amending, and repealing rules at 71 IAC 8-2 concerning a new method of prerace equine blood gas testing. ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS Regulatory Analysis: 20261014-IR-071260381RAA Notice of Public Hearing: 20261014-IR-071260381PHA CITATIONS AFFECTED: 71 IAC 8-2 AUTHORITY: IC 4-31-3-9; IC 4-31-12-2; IC 4-31-12-8 OVERVIEW Basic Purpose and Background The purpose behind these amendments is to fulfill a request of the horsemen and the racetrack to implement a new method of prerace equine blood gas testing. The implementation costs of the proposed rule are not expected to exceed the threshold set in IC 4-22-2-22.7(c)(6). For purposes of IC 4-22-2-28.1, small businesses affected by this rulemaking may contact the Small Business Regulatory Coordinator: For purposes of IC 4-22-2-28.1, the Small Business Ombudsman designated by IC 5-28-17-6 is: Resources available to regulated entities through the small business ombudsman include the ombudsman's duties stated in IC 5-28-17-6, specifically IC 5-28-17-6(9), investigating and attempting to resolve any matter regarding compliance by a small business with a law, rule, or policy administered by a state agency, either as a party to a proceeding or as a mediator. REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS The commission is soliciting public comments on the proposed rule. Comments may be submitted in one of the following ways: COMMENT PERIOD DEADLINE All comments must be postmarked or time-stamped no later than November 13, 2026. The rule, Regulatory Analysis, appendices referenced in the Regulatory Analysis, and materials incorporated by reference (if applicable) are on file at the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, 1302 North Meridian Street, Suite 175, Indianapolis, Indiana and are available for public inspection. Copies of the rule, Regulatory Analysis, and appendices referenced in the Regulatory Analysis are available at the Indiana Horse Racing Commission office. If the commission does not receive substantive comments during the public comment period or public hearing, the rule may be adopted with text that is the same as or does not substantially differ from the text of the proposed rule published in this notice. PROPOSED RULE Sec. 1. An excess level of total carbon dioxide (TCO2) or base excess (BE) shall be deemed to have an adverse effect on the horse by changing the normal physiological state of the horse. Excess levels of total carbon dioxide TCO2 or BE in the horse are deemed to be contrary to the best interests of standardbred racing and to the best interests of the welfare of the equine participants and shall be a violation of these rules. Sec. 2.1. (a) To assist in the detection of prohibited substances in a horse entered to race, the commission may conduct prerace blood sampling and prerace testing with the use of an accepted, reliable testing instrument, including but not limited to a blood gas analyzer, for measuring base excess (BE) levels in blood samples. (b) The commission shall adopt standard operating procedures documenting the calibration procedures for the blood gas analyzer, sampling procedures, initial testing and retesting procedures, methods used by personnel, and positive test notification processes. (c) The judges shall determine which horses will be selected for BE testing by random lots or by predetermined selection based on previous elevated levels found in horses from a particular trainer or owner, probable cause, or a trainer or owner's conditional license status. All horses selected to be tested shall remain in their designated paddock prerace stall for the prerace testing before the horse's first warm-up. (d) In accordance with commission procedures, a designated commission employee shall draw blood samples from a horse which will then be tested using a blood gas analyzer or similar machine for the purpose of obtaining an initial BE level. Should the initial testing indicate a level of BE in the horse in excess of the levels listed in subsection (h), the owner, trainer, or other licensed delegate of the owner or trainer present shall be notified of the horse's elevated levels. (e) If the initial testing indicates a level of BE in the horse in excess of the levels listed in subsection (h), a designated commission employee shall: (f) The horse's second blood sample shall be tested three (3) times using the same procedures and blood gas analyzer machine as the horse's initial blood sample. If the horse's three (3) retests still indicate a BE level in excess of the levels listed in subsection (h), it shall be considered a positive test and the following shall occur: (g) If any of the three (3) retests fall below the levels listed in subsection (h), it shall be considered a negative test and the horse shall be permitted to race. (h) A horse's blood sample tested pursuant to this section shall not be in excess of the following BE levels: These levels do not include the four-tenths (0.4) millimoles per liter of blood level of uncertainty with the test, which shall be included when determining whether a test is positive. Sec. 3. Any owner, trainer, or other licensed delegate of any owner or trainer who refuses or fails to permit any horse or horses to be tested in accordance with this rule when a demand or demands for such testing has been made by an authorized commission official shall have the applicable horse or horses scratched or disqualified by the judges. Sec. 4.1. For any horse whose levels equal or exceed the levels set forth in section 2 2.1(h) or 2.5(c) of this rule, it is presumed that the levels are not physiologically normal for that specific horse if the horse: The prior results shall constitute a finding that excessive levels are not physiologically normal for that horse. Sec. 5. (a) The quarantine provisions of this section shall apply only to horses who have not been found under section 4.1 of this rule to have physiologically normal levels beneath the levels established in section 2 2.1(h) or 2.5(c) of this rule. (b) If a test sample from a horse contains levels of substance equal to or in excess of the levels in section 2 2.1(h) or 2.5(c) of this rule, the owner or trainer of that horse contending that such levels are physiologically normal for that specific horse may request the horse be held in approved quarantine on the grounds of the association. Such quarantine shall be in accordance with policies and procedures adopted by the commission and shall be for a period determined by the executive director or the judges, but not greater than five (5) days, and is at the sole expense of the owner or trainer requesting the quarantine. Quarantine security shall be provided by the association per the instruction of the judges. During the quarantine, the horse shall be retested periodically, but it shall not be permitted to race. In addition, during the period of the quarantine the horse may be exercised and trained at times prescribed by the commission. Removal of a horse from quarantine without the permission of the judges shall constitute a waiver of any claim of normally high levels for that specific horse. A request for quarantine shall be made within seventy-two (72) hours of notification of a violation of this rule. (c) Subsequent to the horse being quarantined and retested, if the commission is satisfied on the basis of clear and cogent evidence derived from the testing of the horse's blood that such levels are physiologically normal for that specific horse, the judges may waive the provisions of this rule and permit the horse to race. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b), the judges shall assess the expense of quarantine to the association if they determine that high blood levels are physiologically normal for that specific horse. In addition, no disciplinary action will be pursued by the judges or the commission against the trainer of any horse found, after quarantine, to have physiologically normal levels in excess of the levels established in section 2 2.1(h) or 2.5(c) of this rule. (d) For purposes of this section, clear and cogent evidence shall mean continued and repeated levels in excess of the levels established in section 2 2.1(h) or 2.5(c) of this rule during the period of quarantine. Documents Incorporated by Reference: None Received by Publisher Small Business Regulatory Coordinator: David Rothenberg, General Counsel, Indiana Horse Racing Commission, 1302 North Meridian Street, Suite 175, Indianapolis, IN 46202, (317) 232-0399, Drothenberg@hrc.in.gov