Schwarzenegger Signs TCO2 Testing Bill by Blood-Horse Staff Date
Posted: 9/8/2005 1:08:57 AM  (from California State Legislature
release)  The CHRB's testing authorization has been held up by
state regulations requiring split samples. The bill, by
Assemblyman Jerome E. Horton (D-Inglewood), changes the split-
sample requirement for drug testing as it pertains to TCO2
testing. It also designates the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine
Analytical Laboratory at University of California-Davis as the
primary blood gas testing laboratory for the CHRB.  Mandatory
testing for all Thoroughbreds in the state was instituted at
last winter's Santa Anita meeting and has continued under the
authority of horsemen's groups and racing associations who
formed a committee to oversee the program. The bill allows the
CHRB, which adopted a rule in January for TCO2 testing, to take
control.  The tests determine whether an alkalizing substance
was administered to improve a horse's performance in a race, a
practice known as "milkshaking," a mixtu