It was announced on Wednesday by International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) Chairman Louis Romanet, following the approval of the IFHA’s Executive Council, that five analytical laboratories have each been appointed as an “IFHA Reference Laboratory”.

The five laboratories are the following:

• (Australia) Racing Analytical Services Limited

• (France) Laboratoire Des Courses Hippiques

• (Great Britain) LGC Group, Sport & Specialised Analytical Services

• (Hong Kong) Hong Kong Jockey Club Racing Laboratory

• (USA) Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, University of California at Davis

As part of the application process, the five laboratories successfully satisfied criteria that included but not limited to the scale of operations, resourcing, research activity and capability to detect the use of prohibited substances, including the major doping agents (MDAs).

“The integrity of horseracing is the chief matter for all racing authorities all over the world, and clearly of most significance to the IFHA," said IFHA Chairman, Louis Romanet.

“The primary funding mechanism for our sport is betting, further growth and development can only take place if punters and spectators perceive racing as being totally clean. In addition, the commercial decisions made by breeders, owners, trainers, and other stakeholders are completely reliant on the results of fair competition.

"Racing bodies everywhere should be aiming for the strictest doping controls which include bringing our analytical laboratories to their highest standards possible, and implementing them for the most important horse races around the globe.”

“I congratulate the five laboratories who have met a harmonized standard of assessment under the IFHA Laboratory Reference Appointment application. The process is now open to any analytical laboratory that wishes to apply and I look forward to seeing racing bodies around the world utilizing these labs to safeguard the integrity of the most critical races worldwide.”

As part of this announcement, two committees were formed. A Reference Laboratory Appointment Committee (RLAC) was created and will decide on the appointment, suspension and revocation of appointment as an IFHA Reference Laboratory for applicants and those wishing to keep their appointment status. The Reference Laboratory Technical Committee (RLTC) was also formed to train assessors appointed by the RLAC and act as a source of counsel to assessors and the RLAC on individual assessments, as well as to provide advice on revisions to the application process.

The makeup of those two committees is as follows:

Reference Laboratory Appointment Committee (RLAC)

• Andrew Harding (RLAC Chair, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Executive Director, Racing Authority, Executive Director IFHA)

• Matt Iuliano (Executive Vice President and Executive Director US Jockey Club)

• Yves Bonnaire (RLTC Chair, Vice-Chairman, IFHA Advisory Council on Equine Prohibited Substances and Practices)

• Ed Houghton (Chairman, IFHA Advisory Council on Equine Prohibited Substances and Practices)

• One AORC nominee (To be confirmed)

• One WADA nominee (To be confirmed)

RLAC Secretary: Asian Racing Federation (to be confirmed)

Reference Laboratory Technical Committee (RLTC)

•Yves Bonnaire (RLTC Chair, Vice-Chairman, IFHA Advisory Council on Equine Prohibited Substances and Practices)

•Terry Wan (Hong Kong Jockey Club Racing Laboratory)

•Ludovic Bailly (Laboratoire Des Courses Hippiques)

•David Batty (Racing Analytical Services Limited)

•Clive Pearce (LGC Group, Sport & Specialised Analytical Services)

•Scott Stanley (Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, University of California at Davis)

Permanent RLTC Secretary: Emmie Ho (Hong Kong Jockey Club Racing Laboratory)