Testosterone Threshold Rule

• 187 samples were taken from greyhound bitches not on any prescription medication in Australia and New Zealand. The samples were taken by a Control Body representative, and validated against a populated collection sheet clearly identifying individual samples, prior to being sent to Racing Analytical Services limited for analysis.
• Of the 187 bitches studied more than 80% of bitches showed no 5b-androstane-3a,17b-diol (BaB) at all, with a maximum of 1.03 ng/mL found.
• This information was exchanged internationally with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain and their testing laboratory, namely the LGC Group’s HFL Sport Science who were undertaking a similar exercise.
• A study by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain of bitches in oestrus showed very low levels of BaB throughout the cycle. Therefore, it is not expected that a bitch coming into oestrus or inadvertently racing while in oestrus would return a prohibited level of BaB.
• To further validate the threshold level, trials were also undertaken on 6 bitches by a professional research company SCEC Pty Ltd in conjunction with the NSW accredited laboratory, the Australian Racing Forensic Laboratory. This trial involved administration of Testosterone Propionate, with levels of BaB peaking at over 100 ng/ml and remaining over the 10 ng/mL limit from under one hour after administration:

•  Brynn Hibbert, Professor of Analytical Chemistry, University of NSW was then engaged to undertake statistical modelling and to validate the Australian/New Zealand and international research.
• A review of a draft of the proposed rule by a nationally recognised firm of lawyers occurred prior to consideration and adoption by the members of GA.
• GA’s evaluation of the analytical and statistical studies by highly qualified experts, locally and internationally, enabled the establishment of a statistically-robust testosterone threshold level, set at above 10.0 ng/mL for the testosterone metabolite BaB.