Churchill Downs threatens to cancel Louisiana Derby

Churchill Downs Inc. threatened to cancel the Louisiana Derby if the Louisiana State Racing Commission does not rescind recent changes to its medication rules.

In a letter to the commission’s executive director, Stephen Landry, on Thursday, CDI CEO Bill Carstanjen said that because of the uncertainty created by the rule changes, “there is a strong likelihood that we will not hold the Risen Star, Lecomte, or the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds, to name but a few key races.”

Perhaps in response, the commission scheduled an emergency meeting for Friday at 3 p.m. EDT. 

The letter was reported earlier by Paulick Report, and a copy was obtained by Horse Racing Nation.

The Louisiana State Racing Commission recently approved rules that, among other things, would have reduced withdrawal periods for the bronchial drug clenbuterol and on the pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory steroid Depo-Medrol.

After widespread criticism, including from CDI, the commission reversed itself on those two measures but left other changes intact.

Carstanjen said in his letter that CDI “remains concerned” other recent emergency rules that weren’t addressed or reversed in this week’s meeting, saying they “establish a new set of weakened controlled therapeutic medication standards inconsistent with every other racing jurisdiction in the country. In essence, the Louisiana Thoroughbred racing medication standards no longer comply with any nationally or internationally recognized standards.”

Carstanjen said CDI representatives at the meeting attempted to raise concerns with the remaining Rules but that the commission limited them to comments regarding Clenbuterol and Depo-Medrol.

Carstanjen also cited a decision announced Wednesday by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority that the changes didn’t go far enough and that it would require horses shipped from Louisiana to tracks in other states to be placed on the HISA veterinarian’s list as “medically compromised and unfit to race.”

“It is our belief that the substantial impediment of automatic placement of horses on the vet’s list will cause many owners and trainers to elect not to send horses into Louisiana for the meet at Fair Grounds,” Carstanjen wrote.

“For example, in Kentucky there are already significant delays in the multi-week process of clearing horses currently on the vet’s list, a backlog that will only increase when a large volume of horses is added. We believe this challenge will leave trainers with little choice: come to Louisiana with fewer horses, leave the state early enough to ensure time to clear the vet’s list to compete in other states, or not race in Louisiana at all.”

HISA said it determined that the modified rule “poses significant risks to both equine welfare and the integrity of Thoroughbred racing.”

“Some of the changes contemplated in the emergency rule contradict the weight of scientific evidence and long-established industry standards for medication controls,” HISA said in its memo.

The memo said that, among its “serious concerns,” a new threshold for Flunixin “would mask unsoundness and jeopardize the safety and welfare of the horse.”

The memo also said the rule’s “dosage specification for Betamethasone deviates significantly from existing ARCI Guidelines developed based on studies funded by the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium and others.”