Go-Fast Drug

Strange that the NHA have announced ITTP is ilegal? ()


The National Horseracing Authority has reaffirmed its stated commitment to drug-free horseracing in South Africa.

NHA CEO Rob De Kock announced today that the sport’s policing body was aware that the drug ITTP, which is not registered for use in this country and is a prohibited substance, is available within South Africa.

According to a statement by the NHA, ITTP is a drug that allows the haemoglobin in the blood to release significantly more oxygen than normal into the body, thereby enhancing physical performance.

The NHA’s laboratory has been in contact with and exchanged information with international racing laboratories over the past month. It has developed a methodology for testing ITTP which will now be introduced into its routine screening.

Our internet research shows that the drug was formulated in France, and is labelled amongst others, as a high-octane milkshake in a syringe. It does suggest that there is currently no test available to regulatory laboratories that will detect the presence of ITTP in horses.

Other sources suggest that Myo-Inositol TrisPyroPhosphate, more commonly known as ITTP, which is thought to be widely abused in horse racing, has a bleak future and its day’s are numbered. The University of Kentucky has been able to synthesize the drug and create a certified reference standard which is needed to proof the presence of the drug in blood samples. With a standard developed, the appropriate testing protocols are being developed.

Editor’s note: There appears to be some confusion over the use of the acronym ITTP, which also appears to substitute as ITPP.

So if this ITTP is unproven and aparently does nothing according to many above statements why is it being banned in SA ?
And if there is no test currently avaliable which shows it's presence why would people stop using it ?

Why would you use something if you dont even know what it does? It's all just based on theory. The NHRA rules generally don't list individual drugs in their rules and regulations. Their definition is: any substance acting on: the musculo-skeletal system, the cardio-vascular system, the respiratory system, the urinary system the lymphatic system, etc. or any susbstance that has antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, etc. , is a "Prohibited Substance. (That is an extract, and NOT the full rules!) They dont list them as individual substances, like Phehylbutazone or flunixin meglumine or prednisilone etc. In this case, little or nothing is known about ITTP/ ITPP, and so it has been named specifically as a prohibited susbstance.

The FEI list of Prohibited substances was updated very recently (to be all in order for London 2012) and in my opinion is the clearest set of guidelines that have been issued in any equine sport, for Prohibited Substances. The are the world's largest equine federation, and the govern nearly all non-racing equine sports.

zsuzsanna04 Wrote:

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> The NHA actually issues guidelines with regard to
> the therapeutic drugs so that they won't show up
> in a race day test. Interpret that any way you
> like.

In the NHRA's case this is usually based on the European Horserace Scientific Liaison Committee (EHSLC) detection times. The detection times are a scientific measure of the time at which a drug in the system will lose it's pharmacological effect. In the past there have been many cases where increasingly sophisticated technology has allowed meaningless traces of medications to be detected at racetime. Trainers have then been unfairly labelled as cheats. Detections times are vital for vets and trainers as they then know when treating a horse how long they must wait before racing the horse again. Not having detection times is like driving down the road without knowing the speed limit.

It should also be noted that regulatory bodies are now also distinguishing between the control of illicit substances (doping control) and the control of therapeutic substances (medication control).

There is a problem though in that different authroities around the world have different rules.

In the USA, for example, every state is allowed to make their own rules.

In this regard the International Federation Of Horseracing Authorites (IFHA) was founded in 1993 in order to, among other things, coordinate and harmonise the rules of the member-countries regarding breeding, racing and wagering.

However, the member countries are unable to reach consensus on medication control.

The aim of Article 6 of the IFHA is to protect the integrity of horseracing, through controlling the use of substances capable of giving a horse an advantage or disadvantage in a race, contrary to the horse’s inherent merits.

However, only 35 of the member countries are full signatories to Article 6, which has 19 sections, and 17 are partial signatories.

Is it just me or are the big stables that were so adamant about what they were going to win suddenly gone a bit quiet ? How is it in the Met we saw a 80-1 win and a 20-1 come second and numerous other big races seeing better priced horses winning !