drug positive

Philip Serpe, a licensed trainer since 1984 who has maintained a nearly violation-free record while campaigning graded stakes winners up and down the East Coast, is fighting "banned substance" sanctions involving the alleged detection of clenbuterol in an Aug. 10 Saratoga Race Course winner he trained by suing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in federal court. Serpe's Oct. 17 lawsuit in United States District Court (Southern District of Florida) cites the purported unconstitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), "because, first,...

According to the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), a horse from the barn of veteran trainer Phil Serpe tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol on Aug. 10. The alleged positive occurred in a $30,000 claiming race at Saratoga, which was won by the Serpe-trained Fast Kimmie (Oscar Performance). The horse has been banned from competing for 14 months from the time of the violation. Serpe's status is on hold since he has the right to request that the B Sample is analyzed. If that sample also comes back...

On May 21, the Horse Racing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) reported on its website that the filly Devil Pays in Gold (Uncle Lino) tested positive for the banned substance Metformin in a race contested on Mar. 8 at Laurel. However, the ruling does not list a trainer, and for good reason. David Howard was listed as the trainer for the race, but he passed away seven days later, dying of a heart attack at age 45. He would not have known at the time that Devil Pays in Gold...

According to the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) a horse trained by New York-based conditioner George Weaver has tested positive for the banned substance metformin. Weaver has asked for a test on a split sample and will be allowed to continue to train pending the results of that test. The horse in question is Anna's Wish (Dailed In) and the alleged violation occurred after she was tested following the March 16 Cicada S. at Aqueduct in which she finished third.  Metformin is listed as a banned substance by HIWU,...

Trainer Rusty Arnold has been suspended seven days and fined $1,000 after the 2-year-old filly he trains, Figgy (Candy Ride {Arg}), tested positive for a metabolite of Tramadol. "I received notification and today am accepting the penalties for a horse in my care testing for a controlled substance under current HISA/HIWU regulations," said Arnold in a letter circulated by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. "To be clear," continues Arnold, "I have no issue that I have a positive post-race test. The problem is why it is a positive....

The ruled-off trainer John Pimental said Wednesday that he and his wife, Diana, have been "blown away" by the support and offers of assistance they have received in the five days since a TDN story highlighted the life-altering ramifications of John's signing an "admission of rule violations" and "acceptance of consequences" document to settle Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) allegations stemming from a methamphetamine positive in one of his Monmouth Park trainees. While being served notice on July 28 of the meth positive, HIWU agents conducted a Monmouth barn...

Trainer Peter Miller has been fined $5,000 and assessed one half (1/2) point in accordance with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) multiple medication violations rule as a result of Mr. Dougie Fresh (Ghostzapper) testing positive for phenylbutazone after working at San Luis Rey Downs on Sept. 13, according to a Los Alamitos board of stewards ruling Sunday. Phenylbutazone--more commonly referred to as just "bute"--is a class 4, category C drug. This constituted Miller's third class 4 medication violation in California in 365 days. On Sept. 2, Miller was fined...

Trainer John Gosden has said that it was contamination "through an employee" that led to the ketamine positive returned by Juddmonte filly Franconia (GB) (Frankel {GB}) after her win in last June's Listed Abingdon Fillies' S. at Newbury. Gosden told a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel on Thursday that Franconia had been handled at the races that day by a stable worker who subsequently admitted to using ketamine recreationally. Franconia was disqualified from the win and Gosden was fined £500. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Friday morning,...

The Texas Racing Commission (TxRC) will conduct Friday's GII Sam Houston Futurity, a Quarter Horse event held at Sam Houston Race Park, as a non-wagering event after a number of the qualifiers tested positive for Clenbuterol and/or Albuterol in advance of the race. Participants will compete for purse money only and future entries from those trainers whose horses tested positive will not be accepted. Both Clenbuterol and Albuterol are prohibited in Texas. Two separate testing methods were conducted with post-race blood and urine samples drawn May 7 and 8, the...

Following the news Sunday morning that last week's GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) had tested positive for the corticosteroid betamethasone, Churchill Downs issued a statement, notably saying that it would not allow trainer Bob Baffert to enter runners at its track pending a full Kentucky Horse Racing Commission investigation. The statement read: "It is our understanding that Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit's post-race blood sample indicated a violation of the Commonwealth of Kentucky's equine medication protocols. The connections of Medina Spirit have the right to request a test...

Trainer Doug O'Neill has been fined $7,500 and handed a 10-day suspension, starting Monday, Mar. 8, for a positive Lidocaine finding in a past-race sample from last October, as first reported in the Los Angeles Times. According to the Times, O'Neill negotiated a settlement agreement with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) requiring him to serve only 10 days of a 30-day suspension, on the proviso he doesn't incur any further medication violations for a year. The positive concerned Howbeit (Secret Circle), second at Santa Anita Oct. 9, who was...

Two 3-hydroxylidocaine positives detected in separate horses six days apart at Canterbury Park in August and September have resulted in a $5,000 fine and 60-day suspension for trainer Robertino Diodoro. The suspension part of the penalty has been stayed so long as Diodoro does not incur a Class 1 or 2 or Penalty Category A or B medication violation before Jan. 31, 2021. Lidocaine is classified as a Class 2, Penalty Category B substance on the Controlled Therapeutic Medication Schedule compiled by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI). For...