cobalt

A report issued by Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) into HIWU's investigation of the University of Kentucky Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (UK-EACL) cites multiple failures on the part of the lab and the lab director, Dr. Scott Stanley, including "intentional misrepresentations" of positive tests as negative. In a press conference Tuesday, HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said that HISA was "cooperating" with federal law enforcement, and that possible criminal charges could be leveled against Stanley for some of the alleged offences detailed in...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Monte Gelrod has been suspended for 18 months and fined $12,500 after his trainee, Ratified, tested positive for cobalt salts after winning at Parx Racing on Feb. 19. Gelrod's suspension started Apr. 17. HISA classifies cobalt salts as a banned substance. Cobalt has been proven to stimulate the production of red blood cells (erythropoiesis) which explains why some have turned to it as a...

Parx-based trainer Monte Gelrod has been notified by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) that a horse he trains named Ratified (Constitution) tested positive for Cobalt after racing Feb. 19 at Parx. His suspension has been put on hold while HIWU awaits the results of a B sample test. If the B sample also shows the presence of Cobalt, Gelrod faces a suspension of up to two years. Gelrod's positive was the second recorded at Parx in a short period of time. On Feb. 6, the Patricia Farro-trained Deplane...

News out of Churchill Downs last week that two of trainer Saffie Joseph Jr's horses had collapsed and died within days of each other has reignited talk around one of the most confounding--and by extension, frustrating--issues in racing: sudden equine death. More than four years ago in response to the death of GI-placed Bobby Abu Dhabi (Macho Uno)--what was initially suspected a sudden cardiac-related event--the TDN took a lengthy dive into the issue. In a nutshell, sudden cardiac deaths oftentimes leave no discernable physical sign for pathologists to piece together...

Trainer Mujeeb Rahman, based at Sharjah in the UAE, has been banned two years by Emirates Racing Authority stewards after a horse in his care returned a positive test for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. The Rahman-trained Storyboard (Medaglia d'Oro) came on stewards' radar last May when, during an inspection of Rahman's stable medical records, it was discovered the then 6-year-old gelding had been treated with intra-articular injections to both front fetlocks within five days of racing-rules state that the minimum withdrawal period is eight days. Rahman was fined AED10,000 for...