Do horses have to pee in a cup after a race?

Question

I was just wondering because athletes can't use steroids and Nascar drivers aren't allowed to use certain vehicle parts so are there certain things horses are not allowed to have?

Answer 1

depends on the race.

Answer 2

Sadly, there have been cases of race horses being "doped" and being disqualified from racing and it is their owners that are hit with heavy penalties which I think includes cruelty to animals.

Blood tests are done on race horses to see if there are any drugs in the animal's system.

Answer 3

THEY GO TO THE RELEASE STABLE,

Answer 4

i dont think sooo....

Answer 5

They probly cant shoot there knees with cortizone or really anything that would enhance their performance--now, wheather or not they accually pis in a cup before or after the race, I dont know--perhaps the horse has to have a mnth or wekly log of UA's? Who knows good luck on the answer...

Answer 6

yes and i like to drink it.

Answer 7

They have blood drawn on a routine basis to test for varoius substances that are illegal in horse racing.  Blood tests are more accurate than are urine tests, but this is yet another way in which we mistreat animals.  Humans get the right, to say no to that blood draw, either on their own or as a part of a contract or collective bargaining agreement.

Answer 8

no, they just use blood tests

Answer 9

Not unless there is a super large cup used. I believe a blood test is more efficient.

Answer 10

Of course. The difficulty is how they hold the cup steady with those little hooves! Neighhhhhhh!

Answer 11

Yes, urine is collected from horses after races- in a stall that is called the "spit box" at most tracks. The top 5 finishers in all the major races have both their urine collected and also have blood samples drawn to test for illegal or banned substances. There is a long list of banned substances for racehorses, and this list varies considerably from state to state and track to track. A simple example is the drug Lasix, which is legal in Kentucky, but is banned in both Maryland and New York, where the Preakness and Belmont are run. Horses that need to be on Lasix to control bleeding when they run can only race in those states with a special permit. ( Some horses will bleed from their lungs or nose when they race, and this can lead to decreased performance- which is why lasix was developed.) There are many, many other such drugs and medications which are banned or are classified as performance enhancing, and which can't be used in racehorses. Penalties for the use of a banned substance can range from suspension to revocation of a trainer's or jockey's license, to forfeture of any purse or prize money, and in some cases, a prison term and heavy fines. The penalties also vary widely from state to state. Horses aren't the only ones who get tested, either- the jockeys are also routinely tested for drugs, and they can be charged and prosecuted as crimminals if they test positive for illegal or illicit drugs, or they have excessive amounts of alcohol in their systems.  Hope this answers your question.

Answer 12

Certain vehicle parts?¿

Last time I checked, there is no comparison between a horse and a human other than we all have to go potty eventually.

um, Steroids aren't allowed in any sport without having dire consequences. As for horses, they aren't allowed to be interviewed with out a jockey present.

Answer 13

They have to pee in a cup, from exactly 13 feet. If they miss, they are disqualified.

Also, they are not allowed to use wings, if they have them, boom boxes, sports shoes, roller blades, head lights and blue jeans.

Answer 14

Some do, if they're pregant

Answer 15

only the top 5 that get purse money get their blood taken after the race....if you watch close after a race at Santa Anita, the top 5 horses go back thru the tunnel, and go back to the receiving barn to be tested, while the rest go back to their barn by way of the grandstand track side. while i was in Germany i was told when a favorite in a race did not ran in the top 3, they would put an inquiry up to view what had happen, and he along with the top 5 placing would all have their blood

taken.

Answer 16

Racehorses do indeed have to submit a urine specimen after a race.  I think the number of horses tested per race varies with jurisdiction, but I believe the most common program is to test all horses that have finished in the money, plus one horse at random;  and the stewards of course have the option of testing any horse they choose.

The list of forbidden substances that will result in disqualification of a horse varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  Some substances are not allowed to be present in any quantity at all, some substances have a maximum tolerance, and some substances aren't on the list of banned substances at all.

There have been some really interesting court cases that have resulted from post-race testing.  Because the drug tests (ELISA spot-tests) are so sensitive that they can detect substances in the parts per million, there have been a number of cases where trainers challenged results.  There was a rash of cocaine positives out here in California some years back;  it caused a real uproar, because some of the trainers involved were people like Charlie Whittingham and other trainers who no way would be doping horses.  It turned out that someone in the receiving barn who was in some way involved in the collection of specimens had a little "nose candy" problem, and contamination from his hands as the sample was collected was part of the problem.  There was another set of positives that resulted from contamination of bedding material with jimson weed, which resulted in a positive for (I think) belladonna or some such thing.  

There was also a case of a number of horses being disqualified for presence of caffeine in their post-race samples because they had been fed a supplement that contained cocoa, which contains caffeine.  I remember the case because the woman who sold the supplement to trainers had assured them it contained no banned substances, and she was very tearful in saying that she didn't know cocoa contains caffeine.  (FWIW, I've heard apocryphal stories of more than one horse earning a DQ post-race for caffeine because someone innocently fed the horse a chocolate bar as a treat before a race.)

Right now there is a move afoot to try to get uniform medication rules across the country, because there is so much variance from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  There are also attempts being made to try to define maximum tolerances for all forbidden drugs, because some trainers feel, with a lot of justification IMO, that it isn't fair to DQ a horse that has substances in its system that are below what is considered to be pharmaceutically significant.  The ELISA tests are so sensitive that they can detect drugs and their metabolites in quantities that are so small that they have no significance to the performance of the horse.

In a very wistful, pipe-dream way, I would love to see racing go to a hay-oats-water policy that bans ANY medication in the system of racehorses, in any quantity;  but that just isn't going to happen.  In default of that, I would like to see a uniform policy that's reasonable and works to the benefit of the horse and the wagering public, not to the benefit of people who train out of a pharmacist's office and stay just one step ahead of the dope patrol.

Answer 17

They do have blood tests.

Answer 18

First and second place finishers have to a urine sample collected and have blood drawn too.  So yes first and second place horses have to pee in a cup.  This is done in what is called a test barn where the first and second place horses report to immediately after the race.  The urine collected by someone who works for the state vet and the blood is collected by the state vet.  Once collected the urine is divided into two cups to be sent off with two vials of the horse's blood to a lab off track.  The second cup of urine and vial of blood is in case a trainer request that the tests be done again to verify the results of the first test.  There are two witnesses one on behalf of the trainer and the person who collects the urine. Both witnesses have to sign a card that shows they were both present when the urine and blood was collected to help insure that there is no tampering with the urine and blood samples before going to the lab.  Once the lab results are confirmed only then does the track release the money earned to the trainers, owners, and jockeys of the first and second finishers.