By Bill Finley
Jamie Ness, a prolific winner in the Mid-Atlantic states and the third-leading trainer in the country in wins, has been handed a six-month suspension by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission after a horse he trained tested positive for Bufotenine.
Ness was also fined $5,000. The suspension is scheduled to begin Sept. 5 and runs through March 3, 2023.
Ness, who is being represented by attorney Andrew Mollica, has appealed the suspension.
“We are in the process of appealing,” Mollica said. “We will take this the whole way. He obviously vehemently denies any wrongdoing. The law and the facts are on our side.”
The positive test occurred in a Feb. 23 race at Parx and involves the horse Crabs N Beer (Blofeld). The 3-year-old gelding won the race, a starter-optional claimer by 2 1/2 lengths as the 3-5 favorite.
According to britannica.com, Bufotenine is a “weak hallucinogenic agent active by intravenous injection, isolated from several natural sources or prepared by chemical synthesis. Bufotenine is a constituent of toad poison, the poisonous, milky secretion of glands found in the skin on the back of the animal.” Bufotenine is often referred to as a toad venom and, in humans, is used as a hallucinogen with properties similar to mescaline and mushrooms.
Mollica provided the TDN with a document issued by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) that lists Bufotenine as a substance that has “no effect on the physiology of a racing animal except to improve nutrition or treat or prevent infections or parasite infestations…”
The document also notes that the substance is found in reed canary grass and may be found in the urine of horses eating this grass.
“We already know it's a contaminant, not because I say so, but because ARCI says so,” Mollica said, “ARCI went out of their way to carve it out and say it should not result in a positive. I thought this was pretty straight-forward. I am shocked we are here. How this got to this level is unfathomable to me. Our position is quite clear.”
Mollica also questioned why Pennsylvania regulators were relying on a blood test but did not conduct a urine test. He said that if the substance had shown up in a urine test, that would not have resulted in a positive.
Ness is enjoying another banner season. Through Friday, he had 198 wins on the year from 711 starters, for a winning rate of 28%. He has been particularly dominant at Parx, where he has run away from the pack in the race for leading trainer. Ness's 107 wins at Parx puts him 67 wins in front of runner-up Louis Linder, Jr. Ness also runs regularly at Laurel, where he six wins on the meet.
Ness, who been training since 1999, has 3,703 winners and a career winning percentage of 25%.
In 2012, his Tampa Bay Downs barn was searched. It appears that nothing illegal was found.
“It's something I'm not used to, but it comes with the territory of being on top, I guess,” he told the Paulick Report at the time. “The higher your win percentage is, the more detractors you get. But I sleep well at night, and not because I'm tired. I know everything gets done right and it doesn't bother me when I walk through the grandstand and hear people say, 'Oh, they're cheating,' but it bothers the people who work for me, and that's what I care about. I'm used to it, but some of my grooms get very defensive when somebody says, 'You guys are cheaters,' or something like that.”
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