In a remarkable decision, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a Tax Court opinion dealing with a Thoroughbred racehorse owner’s activities.

The show season is just starting to heat up, and big money has already been awarded to some of the top maiden three- and four-year-old horses on the breed circuits. With continual support, especially from entities like The Equine Chronicle and Hylton Quarter Horses, many trainers are giving their horses more time to mature, both physically and mentally, in order to prepare for the show pen, and it’s paying off big-time.

“The long-acting tranquilizer panel that we recently added stems from an equine pre-purchase drug screen that we began offering just over a year ago. That particular drug screen includes more than 30 non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as well as three tranquilizers that are considered long-acting in veterinary medicine—at least in equine use. These include fluphenazine, fluoxetine and reserpine. The pre-purchase drug screen encompasses all of these drugs, but we felt it would be beneficial to give veterinarians the ability to test just for the tranquilizers in situations where they weren’t necessarily concerned about the NSAIDs,” says Mays.