§ 205.172. Duties and responsibilities of the Commission Veterinarian.
(a) The Commission’s Veterinarian, among other things, shall:
(1) Inform the Judge that a horse has been deemed unsafe to race, or inhumane to allow to race and shall place that horse on the Veterinarian’s List;
(2) Conduct pre-race inspections (racing soundness examination) on all potential Starters on race day under the Pre-Race Examination Protocol as established and amended by the Commission. The examinations shall be conducted in or near the stall to which the horse is assigned;
(3) Inspect any horse when there is a question as to the physical condition of the horse regardless of the horse’s entry status;
(4) Be present in the paddock and on the racetrack during the post parade;
(5) Recommend to the Judges the scratching of any horse that is, in the opinion of the Commission Veterinarian, injured, ill or otherwise unable to compete due to an apparent medical or health-related condition;
(6) Inspect any horse which appears in physical distress during the race or at the finish of the race and shall make a report of the horse and the suspected cause of the distress to the Judges, if the initial inspection was done by the racetrack veterinarian;
(7) Maintain a continuing health and racing soundness record of each horse so examined;
(8) Be authorized, in an emergency scenario, to humanely destroy any horse deemed to be so seriously injured that it is in the best interests of the horse to so act;
(9) Report to the Commission the names of all horses humanely destroyed or which otherwise expire at the meeting and the reasons therefore;
(10) Maintain the Veterinarian’s List of horses ineligible to race;
(11) Supervise and control the test barn and the procedures to be implemented therein;
(12) Supervise the taking of all biological specimens, including but not limited to blood, urine or any other bodily fluid taken from the horse for pre or post-race testing according to procedures approved by the Commission;
(13) Maintain the proper administrative safeguards to protect the chain of custody handling of all laboratory specimens to prevent tampering, confusion or contamination and assure sample integrity;
(14) Have jurisdiction over the practicing licensed veterinarians within the racetrack enclosure for the purpose of these rules;
(15) Cooperate with the racetrack veterinarian, practicing licensed veterinarians and other regulatory agencies to take measures to control communicable or reportable equine diseases, or both.
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