List of Banned Substances in Harness Racing

In the sport of harness horse racing, horses pulling drivers in two-wheeled carts called skulkies race in a particular gait, such as trotting or pacing. Racing regulations ban the use of substances that would give a horse an unfair competitive advantage. The substances banned in harness racing are also banned in other forms of horse racing.

  1. Propantheline Bromide

    • Propantheline bromide, or "Blue Magic," increases blood flow to muscles by acting as a relaxer. Charges have been brought in several cases for its use in harness racing.

    Narcotic Analgesics

    • Narcotic analgesics are intended for pain relief but they also act as a stimulant in horses.

    Etorphine

    • Etorphine, or "Elephant Juice," is a large animal tranquilizer. It acts as a stimulant rather than as a tranquilizer when used in horses in the right doses.

    Butazolidin

    • Butazolidin is anti-inflammatory and pain-killing so it would be used to improve the performance of a horse with pain due to an injury.

    Bicarb

    • Bicarb is common baking soda. It absorbs lactic acid, which is a waste product of muscle exercise, allowing the horse to sustain the same level of exertion for a longer period of time. Bicarb is allowed up to a threshold level.

    Caffeine

    • Caffeine used to be a popular stimulant but it is easily detected by modern tests so it has given way to newer drugs.

    EPO

    • EPO (erythropoeitin) hasn't emerged onto the harness racing scene as it has in the human scene but it is prohibited.

    Anabolic Steroids

    • Anabolic steroids became very popular in the late 1980s but have mostly become a thing of the past because they are so easily detected with current testing methods.

    Aminocaproic Acid

    • Two New Zealand harness trainers were temporarily disqualified in September 2009 for presenting horses dosed with aminocaproic acid, a medication used to control bleeding in human hemophiliacs.