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"Our racing industry thrived in a time prior to permitted race-day medications," said Casner, who also took the pledge.
Race-day use of furosemide is a divisive issue in horse racing.
About half of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's board members joined in the pledge, said Andy Schweigardt, an official with the group. The issue came up at a board meeting this spring, he said.
"It's quite a hot-button issue for everyone," he said.
Kentucky horse racing regulators recently approved an eventual ban on race-day use of furosemide in graded or listed stakes races, making it the first state in the nation to take such action.
The measure still needs the approval from state lawmakers.
The measure would take effect Jan. 1, 2014. It would prohibit use of furosemide less than 24 hours before post time for 2-year-olds competing in graded or listed stakes races. The ban would apply to 2- and 3-year-old horses competing in those races in 2015. The Kentucky Derby, run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, is for 3-year-old horses.
In 2016, the ban would apply to any horse entered to race in graded or listed stakes races in Kentucky.
Graded or listed stakes races amount to a fraction of all races in Kentucky but carry the biggest prize money and attract the upper-echelon horses.
Meanwhile, legislation proposed in Congress would ban race-day medication in horse racing. Top horse racing industry figures took competing sides at a recent Senate committee hearing on whether the sport needs federal oversight to ban doping.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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