What is a detention barn, test barn, receiving barn?
The detention barn, much like the receiving barn, is used prior to the races for those running that day at the racetrack. Most horses that run at a track are already stabled at that track. For some of those tracks (like the New York tracks) the horses are required to be at the detention barn a fixed period of time before their race (six hours for New York). Those horses that ship into the track to race (all Fair Hill horses would need to ship to a track to race) will ship into the receiving barn prior to the race. This barn serves the same purpose as the detention barn. After a race the winner, and usually one other horse, are selected to go to the test barn and cool out there. This is where post race tests are run to make sure the horses are not carrying any illegal substances in their system.
