A. A person administering, attempting to administer or conspiring with others to administer to a racehorse a drug, chemical, stimulant or depressant or other performance-altering substance defined as a class 1 or class 2 penalty class A drug by the association of racing commissioners international, incorporated, or a successor organization or, if none, by another nationally recognized organization that has published substantially similar guidelines that are generally accepted in the horse racing industry as determined by the commission whether internally, externally or by injection for the purpose of stimulating or depressing the racehorse or affecting the speed or stamina of the racehorse during a horse race or workout is guilty of a fourth degree felony and upon conviction shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.
B. A person who uses, attempts to use or conspires with others to use during a horse race or workout an electrically or mechanically prohibited device, implement or instrument, other than a commission-approved riding crop, is guilty of a fourth degree felony and upon conviction shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.
C. A person who sponges the nostrils or trachea of a racehorse or who uses anything to injure a racehorse for the purpose of stimulating or depressing the racehorse or affecting the speed or stamina of the racehorse during a horse race or workout is guilty of a fourth degree felony and upon conviction shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.
D. It is prima facie evidence of intent to commit any of the crimes set forth:
(1) in Subsection A of this section for a person to be found within the racing grounds of a racetrack licensee, including the stands, stables, sheds or other areas where racehorses are kept, who possesses with the intent to use, sell, give away or otherwise transfer to another person a drug, chemical, stimulant or depressant or other performance-altering substance defined as a class 1 or class 2 penalty class A drug by the association of racing commissioners international, incorporated, or a successor organization or, if none, by another nationally recognized organization that has published substantially similar guidelines that are generally accepted in the horse racing industry as determined by the commission, to stimulate or depress a racehorse or to affect the speed or stamina of a racehorse;
(2) in Subsection B of this section for a person to be found within the racing grounds of a racetrack licensee, including the stands, stables, sheds or other areas where racehorses are kept, who possesses with the intent to use, sell, give away or otherwise transfer to another person an electrically or mechanically prohibited device, implement or instrument, other than a commission-approved riding crop; and
(3) in Subsection C of this section for a person to be found within the racing grounds of a racetrack licensee, including the stands, stables, sheds or other areas where racehorses are kept, who possesses with the intent to use, sell, give away or otherwise transfer to another person paraphernalia or substances used to sponge the nostrils or trachea of a racehorse or that may be used to injure a racehorse for the purpose of stimulating or depressing the racehorse or affecting its speed or stamina during a horse race or workout.
History: Laws 2007, ch. 39, § 28; 2013, ch. 103, § 4.
ANNOTATIONS
Delayed repeals. — For delayed repeal of this section, see 60-1A-29 NMSA 1978.
The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, provided a nationally recognized classification of prohibited substances; in Subsection A, added the language between “depressant or other” and “whether internally, externally or by injection”; in Subsection B, after “implement or instrument, other than”, deleted “an ordinary whip” and added “a commission-approved riding crop”; in Paragraph (1) of Subsection D, after “depressant or other”, deleted “foreign substance not naturally occurring in a racehorse” added between “depressant or other” and “to stimulate or depress a racehorse”; and in Paragraph (2) of Subsection D, after “instrument, other than”, deleted “an ordinary whip” and added “a commission-approved riding crop”.
Participants’ fraud not covered. — Disputes involving losses through the fraud of one participant in a claiming race against another participant were never intended to be settled by the track authorities under this section or any rule adopted pursuant thereto. Grandi v. LeSage, 1965-NMSC-017, 74 N.M. 799, 399 P.2d 285 (decided under former law).