National Horseracing Authority Press Release
๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ, ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ โ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ-๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฎ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐โ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฟ๐ณ๐ณ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ (๐ง ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐) ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ฌ.
A total of 55 horses were tested before they raced on Saturday at Turffontein and all, bar Prime Example in Race 10, were found to have blood TCO2 levels below the accepted published threshold of 36.0 mmol/L.
While the NHA has been testing pre-race TCO2 levels in randomly selected runners on racedays for some time now, a new testing procedure was recently implemented by the NHA. All stakeholders in the South African Raing Industry were notified of the new procedure and reminded of the accepted thresholds of TCO2 levels via a General Notice, on 15 March 2024, which can be viewed on our website. The new procedure allows for the immediate analysis of any pre-race blood samples, before any of the horses from which the specimens are collected, participate in the races they have been carded to run in.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น?
Trainers will be officially notified, on racedays, as to which of their runners need to be presented for the collection pre-race blood specimens. Should a Trainer refuse to allow a blood specimen to be taken, the horse in question will be scratched, as per Rule 75.3.2. The blood specimen will be collected 50 minutes prior to the start of the race the horse is carded to run in, and it will be analysed immediately. Should the analysis of the specimen show that the horse has a TCO2 concentration of more than 35.0 mmol/L, a second blood specimen will be collected, between 10 and 15 minutes later. If the TCO2 concentration of the second blood specimen is ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ.๐ฌ ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐น/๐, the Stewards will scratch the horse from the race it is carded to run in and detain that horse for additional specimen collection. Under these circumstances, a third blood specimen will be collected 30 minutes later. If the TCO2 concentration of that third specimen is less than, or equal to, the international threshold of 36.0 mmol/L, no penalty shall be imposed on the Trainer. The horse in question may also have further specimens taken for the full analytical testing of all Prohibited Substances.
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ-๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฎ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐?
The pre-race administration of alkalinising agents before a race is of concern to racing authorities across the world, because the resulting alkalosis of the horseโs system may enhance performance and could interfere with the detection of any Prohibited Substances in post-race urine samples. The pre-race administration of sodium bicarbonate to a horse running in a race is a practice widely known as โmilkshakingโ. It is thought by some that giving this treatment, either by oral route or via a naso-gastric tube between 3 to 5 hours prior to a horse running in a race, that the horseโs perfomance may be enhanced, due to increasing the blood buffering capacity and enhancing the clearance of lactate from the muscles, delaying the onset of fatigue in a horse during strenuous activity. The ingestion of sodium bicarbonate in the hours immediately prior to strenuous activity or vigourous exercise maintains blood pH, by acting as a buffer, thus preventing metabolic acidosis. For this reason, the administration of sodium bicarbonate in the hours prior to racing, is generally viewed as performance enhancing. The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) has determined that the threshold limit for pre-race blood TCO2 levels is 36.0 mmol/L and anything above that, regardless of cause, will be a violation of both IFHA and NHA Rules.
๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐
๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ:
๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ : ๐ง๐๐ฟ๐ณ๐ณ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป : ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ฌ :
๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐:
a) PRIME EXAMPLE was selected for the taking of specimens (TCO2) testing.
The initial specimen, which was tested at 16H19, revealed a reading above 35 TCO2
mmol/L. Trainer Zackey was interviewed and advised that, in terms of the Procedure for Total Carbon Dioxide (TCO2) analysis on Raceday, a second blood specimen would be taken and if this specimen confirmed a level of more than 36.0 mmol/L, PRIME EXAMPLE would be withdrawn from its race. During the interval between Races 9 and 10, Trainer T Zackey was interviewed again and was informed that the second blood specimen had confirmed a level of above the international threshold of 36 mmol/L and that consequently PRIME EXAMPLE would be scratched from this race in terms of the provisions of Rules 72.1.23; 4.2.14 and 4.2.18.
