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.
When reached by the TDN, Taylor insisted that he had done nothing wrong and that his horses were tampered with by his ex-wife or possibly her sons. Taylor said he only recently wrapped up divorce proceedings and described his relationship with his ex-wife as acrimonious. He said that he had filed for a protection order against his ex-wife prior to the positives.
“I was going through a divorce and the divorce was going on four years,” Taylor said. “The judge ordered the sale of the house and told my ex-wife she had to be out at a certain time. So I sold the house. That was on June 15. Then bang, June 18 and June 20, my horses come up positive for Clenbuterol and this time they put Ritalin in.”
Taylor argued that the use of Ritalin to dope horses is unheard of.
“In my hearing, we asked the lead counsel have you ever heard of Ritalin or Adderall being given to a thoroughbred race horse?” Taylor said. “Their answer was 'never.' I don't understand why they think it would benefit a horse to give it Ritalin. It's obvious that someone was taking advantage of the situation to damage my business and my career, which they were threatening to do.”
Taylor said he agrees that some penalty is in order, but not an eight-year suspension.
“I know I have responsibilities as the trainer,” he said. “I have cameras in my barn, but we couldn't find anything. I deserve some kind of penalty because I did not protect my horses when I knew they were at risk. But years and $120,000 in fines? They want to end my career. Come on. You can't get any more unconstitutional than that.”
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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