gabapentin

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, an independent arbitration panel suspended trainer Jason DaCosta for 15 days (starting on Mar. 22) and fined him $1,000 after his trainee, Poker Partner, tested positive for Gabapentin when winning at Presque Isle Downs on July 18 last year. Gabapentin is a class B controlled medication under HISA that is an FDA human-approved anticonvulsant used to treat conditions like epilepsy, postherpetic neuralgia and in the...

The news last week that leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has been suspended for 15 days and fined $500 by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission—pending appeal—after one of his trainees tested positive for the substance gabapentin after winning a graded stake at Presque Isle Downs last September, led to a collective head scratch. What exactly is gabapentin? "It is a drug that is used as an anti-convulsant in people. It is also used for neurotrophic pain—in other words, pain originating from nerves," said former California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) director, Rick Arthur. "For...

In a settlement agreement and mutual release with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), leading California trainer John Sadler has been fined $15,000 and handed a 60-day suspension--45 days of which are stayed--for three medication violations dating from 2019. The suspension runs June 29 through June 13. As part of the agreement, Sadler has been placed on probation for one year, ending June 28, 2021. If he incurs any medication violations during that period, the 45 days of stayed suspension will be imposed following a noticed hearing. As first reported...