Regulation & Governance

231.  Any person who administers or allows, incites, causes, attempts or connives with another to administer a horse which has been entered for a race any prohibited substance which is referred to in Rule 232 shall be guilty of an offence under the rules.

232.  The following are prohibited substances –
(a)     Substances capable at any time of causing either directly or indirectly an action or effect, or both an action and effect, within one or more of the following mammalian body systems: –
i)       the nervous system;
ii)      the cardiovascular system;
iii)     the respiratory system;
iv)     the digestive system;
v)      the urinary system;
vi)     the reproductive system;
vii)    the musculoskeletal system;
viii)   the blood system;
ix)     the immune system, except for licensed vaccines against infectious agents;
x)      the endocrine system.

(b) Substances falling within, but not limited to, the following –
acidifying agents; adrenergic blocking agents; adrenergic stimulants;
agents affecting calcium and bone metabolism; alcohols; alkalinising agents; anabolic agents; anaesthetic agents; analgesics; antianginal agents; antianxiety agents; antiarrhythmic agents; anticholinergic agents; anticoagulants; anticonvulsants; antidepressants; antiemetics; antifibrinolytic agents; antihistamines; antihypertensive agents; anti-inflammatory agents; anti-nauseates; antineoplastic agents; antipsychotic agents; antipyretics; anti-rheumatoid agents; antispasmodic agents; antithrombotic agents; antitussive agents; blood coagulants; bronchodilators; bronchospasm relaxants; buffering agents; central nervous system stimulants; cholinergic agents; corticosteroids; depressants; diuretics; erectile dysfunction agents; fibrinolytic agents; haematopoietic agents; haemostatic agents; hormones (including trophic hormones) and their synthetic counterparts; hypnotics; hypoglycaemic agents; hyperlipidaemic agents; immunomodifiers; masking agents; muscle relaxants; narcotic analgesics; neuromuscular agents; plasma; volume expanders; respiratory stimulants; sedatives; stimulants; sympathomimetic amines; tranquillisers; vasodilators;
vasopressor agents; vitamins administered by injection; oxygen carriers;

(c)     Agents that are capable, at any time, of directly or indirectly causing an action or effect on, and/or manipulating, gene expression in any mammalian body, including but not limited to gene editing agents with the capacity to alter genome sequences and/or the transcriptional, posttranscriptional or epigenetic regulation of gene expression.

233.  Prohibition of Genetic Therapy, Gene Editing and Genome Editing where: –
(a)     Genetic Therapy is defined as including any therapy, method or process which involves the use or administration of: –
(i)      oligomers or polymers of nucleic acid
(ii)    nucleic acid analogues
(iii)    genetically modified cells

(b)     Gene editing agents which are capable, at any time, of directly or indirectly causing an action or effect on, and/or manipulating, gene expression in any mammalian body, including but not limited to gene editing agents with the capacity to alter genome sequences and/or the transcriptional, post-transcriptional or epigenetic regulation of gene expression and are prohibited.

For the avoidance of doubt, the following are not defined as a Genetic Therapy for the purpose of the IABRW: –
(i) the use or administration of autologous conditioned serum or
(ii) “platelet-rich plasma” treatments which do not involve the transfer of whole cells / DNA;

        
(c)     Exempted Genetic Therapy: –
(i)      Genetic Therapy may be used or administered to a specific horse with the express prior approval of a Racing Authority if that Genetic Therapy is used to treat an injury or disorder formally diagnosed by a veterinarian, and
(ii)    is not capable of modifying a horse’s heritable genome;
(iii)    does not pose a threat to the welfare of horse;
(iv)    does not pose a threat to the integrity of racing, either by having the potential to enhance or harm the performance of a horse in a race.

(d)     Control and recording: –
(i)      The owner or trainer has the responsibility to inform and obtain the approval of
the Stipendiary Stewards of any intended Genetic Therapy to a horse prior to such treatment, irrespective of whether it is to be administered before, in or out of training.
(ii)     The owner or trainer must maintain full and accurate records of all such therapies – which must be kept for a minimum of five years and be readily available for inspection by regulatory officials when requested.

(e)     Prohibition on Gene Editing and Genome Editing: –
(i)      Gene Editing is defined as any process or treatment in respect of a horse which
involves the insertion, deletion and/or replacement of DNA at a specific site in the genome of the horse including any process or treatment in respect of a horse which involves the insertion, deletion and/or replacement of DNA in the genome of the horse.
(ii) The use on, or administration or application to, any horse of Gene Editing or Genome Editing is prohibited at all times.

 

234.  Any medicine, drug or related substance that has been prescribed by a Veterinarian and, notwithstanding the manufacturers’ label, must also contain a further label indicating at least the following: –
(a)     the name, qualifications and address of the veterinarian by whom the medicine, drug or related substance was prescribed;
(b)     the name, qualifications and address of the veterinarian or pharmacist by whom the medicine, drug or related substance was dispensed;
(c)     the name and signature of the person or persons administering and/or authorising the treatment;
(d)     the name of the horse to which the medicine, drug or related substance is to be administered;
(e)     the dosage, route of administration, date and frequency of administration, of the medicine, drug or related substance;
(f)     the name of the person to whom the medicine, drug or related substance is dispensed;
(g)     the name of the treatment (brand name of active constituent).
These may not be actionable if a legitimate treatment is appropriately recorded within 24 hours of treatment being administered.

235.  Save for a licensed Veterinarian, any person who attempts to obtain and/or is in possession of a prohibited substance as specified in the rules or a metabolite, artifact or isomer of such substance, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to any penalties provided under Rule 11(d).

Any person who contravenes any of the rules set out above shall be liable to any of the penalties provided for under Rule 11(d).

 

ILLICIT SUBSTANCES
235B. Except for a substance authorised below, no anti-bleeding substance shall be administered to a horse on a racing day.
 
236. The following illicit substances, including other substances with a similar chemical structure or similar biological effect(s), are not to be administered to racehorses at any time in their career: –

(a)     Non-approved substances
Any substance not addressed by any of the subsequent classes of substances, and which has no current approval by any government regulatory authority for veterinary use, or any substance not universally recognized by veterinary regulatory authorities as valid veterinary therapeutic treatment.

(b)     Anabolic agents
(i)      anabolic androgenic steroids,
(ii)     other anabolic agents, including but not limited to selective androgen receptor
modulators (SARMs),
(iii)    beta-2 agonists, unless the substance registered in Mauritius, approved for use in
the equine and is prescribed by a veterinarian licensed by the Horse Racing Division as a bronchodilator at the appropriate dose,

(c)     Peptide hormones, growth factors and related substances
(i)      erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, including but not limited to erythropoietin (EPO), epoetin alfa, epoetin beta, darbepoetin alfa, and methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta, peginesatide, hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) stabilisers and HIP activators.
(ii)     growth hormones and growth hormone releasing factors, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and other growth factors,
(iii)    synthetic proteins and peptides and synthetic analogues of endogenous proteins and peptides not registered for medical or veterinary use,

(d)     Hormones and metabolic modulators
(i)      aromatase inhibitors,   
(ii)     selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERMS) and other anti-estrogenic
substances,
(iii)    agents modifying myostatin function, including but not limited to myostatin
inhibitors,
(iv)    insulins,
(v)     peroxisome proliferator activated receptor δ(PPAR)δ agonists, including but not limited to GW 1516,
(vi)    AMPK activators, including but not limited to A1CAR (5-aminoimidazole-4- carboxamide-1β-D-ribofuranoside).

237. Any bisphosphonate is not to be administered to a racehorse: –
(a)     under the age of three years and six months as determined by its recorded date of birth;
and
(b)     the day of the race or on any of the 30 days before the day of the race in which the horse is declared to run.

The Horse Racing Division may determine at any time any addition to this list of substances in the paragraphs above.