Los Angeles News

E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Board Bans Steroid Use On Racing Horses

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

Recipient E-mail:*
- Your Name:*
- Your E-mail:*
Add a Message:
Send me a copy of this e-mail.

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

Print Share + Comments

Jul 19, 2008 2:59 pm US/Pacific

Board Bans Steroid Use On Racing Horses

DEL MAR, Calif.

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Racing horses will now be monitored for steroid use, according to a ban announced Saturday by the California Horse Racing Board.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Close

numSlides of totalImages

The California Horse Racing Board announced Saturday it has banned the use of anabolic steroids on racing horses, a practice blamed for causing injuries leading to the euthanasia of horses after injuring themselves.

The board's newest members, including actress Bo Derek, joined in the unanimous vote at the board's monthly meeting Thursday at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's track in Del Mar, the board announced Saturday.

"There is no place for anabolic steroids in competition sports, human or equine," said board chairman Richard B. Shapiro.

The new law will take effect after its language is approved by the governor's office, when horse trainers statewide will be warned that testing will start to detect such types of steroids as testosterone.

The board also banned horses from competing if their owners had surgically deadened the hooves of the animals, a procedure called digital neurectomy or "heel nerving." A board news release said that move is much more controversial than the steroid ban, as it is supposedly opposed by horse owners associations.

Steroid use and the deadening operation supposedly make horses feel less pain and run faster, but are blamed for an increased number of high-profile broken legs and horse killings.