Trainer Joe Taylor, a longtime fixture at Parx and the leading trainer there in 2019, has received an eight-year suspension handed down by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), after he had two horses test positive for banned substances.
The story was first reported by Matt Hegarty of the Daily Racing Form.
Taylor received a pair of four-year suspensions, one for each horse. According to postings on the HIWU website, the Taylor-trained Classy American (Uncle Lino) tested positive for Methylphenidate and Clenbuterol following a June 20 race at Parx. The same drugs were found in the Taylor-trained Cajun Cousin (Cajun Breeze) in a June 18 race. He was also fined $50,000 for each offense.
Methylphenidate is better known as Ritalin, a stimulant many Americans use to combat attention deficit disorder. Clenbuterol is a bronchial dilator that is believed to act like steroids in that they can build muscle mass in horses.
The suspensions were issued by a HIWU arbitrator after Taylor filed an appeal.
According to the DRF, both horses were disqualified for 14 months, beginning in June 2023. After each had one more race in Pennsylvania, then they were shipped to West Virginia, which is not under HISA/HIWU control. Both horses made five starts in West Virginia after testing positive, but neither has run in the past six months. Cajun Cousin ran at Charles Town for trainer Michael E. Jones. Also racing over that same surface, Classy American ran for trainer Crystal Pickett.
Taylor has 327 winners for his career and a 16 percent win rate. In 2019, he was an easy winner of the Parx training title sending out 103 winners, which was 34 more than runner-up Scott Lake.
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