trainer suspension

According to a posting on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) website, top California trainer Phil D'Amato has had a horse test positive for the banned substance methamphetamine. The 4-year-old filly Thebestisyettobe (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) tested positive following an Aug. 1 workout at Los Alamitos. Before HIWU/HISA made changes to its rules regarding its Anti-Doping Medication and Control program, D'Amato would have been facing a suspension of up two years. Over time and in the face of criticism that it was charging trainers who had horses test positive for...

The multiple-stakes-winning trainer Nevada Litfin, who has been licensed for 24 years and primarily competes in the Midwest, has been suspended five years and fined $2,500 for his role in a "paper trainer" violation under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rules. The penalties stem from a period last summer and fall when Litfin was suspended for a separate Horseracing Integrity Welfare Unit (HIWU) infraction and asked at least two subordinates to help operate his Canterbury Park-based racing stable in name only while Litfin continued to execute the day-to-day business....

When Jimmy Corrigan was informed after an Oct. 7 race at Belterra Park that his horse Stay Lost (Bernardini) had tested positive for the banned substance methamphetamine he was shocked. The native of Ireland had been training in the U.S. since 1992 and had never had a drug positive of any kind. He said he is careful who he hires and that he's sure that no one in his barn had ever touched the drug. But, at least initially, these things don't matter under the rules of the Horseracing Integrity...

Attorney Drew Mollica understands that his client trainer Doug Nunn violated Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) Rule 3313, which prohibits trainers from running a horse within 14 days of an intra-articular joint injection or working them within seven days of the injection. What he doesn't understand is why his client has been suspended while at least 15 other trainers have been let off the hook for the same violation. "This is the height of hypocrisy," Mollica said. "He has been victimized by a system that is flawed." On June...

Trainer Doug O'Neill has been suspended 60 days, fined $10,000, and put on probation for one year stemming from a medication positive by his starter Worse Read Sanchez (Square Eddie) at Golden Gate Fields May 1, according to a ruling posted on the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) website. The 3-year-old gelding finished third in Golden Gate's Silky Sullivan S., his only start at the Northern California track. Worse Read Sanchez, who is owned by Reddam Racing LLC, has since made five additional starts at Santa Anita and Del Mar,...

Trainer Juan Vazquez has been granted a stay of a recent suspension handed down by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission, which will allow him to continue to race at the NYRA tracks for the time being. He has three horses entered on Thursday's card at Aqueduct. However, NYRA issued a statement Saturday in which it said it will consider filing charges against Vazquez, which could lead to his being banned. Vazquez received two consecutive 15-day suspensions after two of his horses tested positive for the dewormer levamisole in races at...

Trainer Fabrice Vermeulen, who was banned for six months by France Galop for alleged ownership record falsifications for a dozen horses in his care, has opted to appeal the decision, the Jour de Galop reported on Thursday. Half of the sentence was suspended for five years. "I am appealing the decisions because I don't understand them, quite simply...I think it's just [a] misunderstanding," Vermeulen said. Vermeulen's assistant Jeremy Para who was banned for a year with six months suspended, has not appealed as of Thursday evening. Para's company, SAS Le...

Trainer Wesley Ward has been suspended 30 days and fined $500 as a result of Averly Jane (Midshipman) testing positive for the diabetes medication metformin after winning the Kentucky Juvenile S. at Churchill Downs on Apr. 28 last year, according to a recent Kentucky stewards ruling. Fifteen of those 30 days have been stayed, however, due to Ward's overall record and number of violations, and on condition that the trainer receives no Class A or Class B medication violations over the next year. Ward will serve the other 15 days...

As a result of standard out-of-competition testing, Gulfstream Park has taken immediate action to suspend five trainers that have been found to be in violation of the racetrack's clenbuterol restrictions. The five suspended trainers are Georgina Baxter, Gilberto Zerpa, Peter Walder, Rohan Crichton and Daniel Pita, according to published reports. Gulfstream Park enacted the restriction on clenbuterol as a house rule at the beginning of the 2019/2020 Championship Meet to further address and implement improved safety, transparency and accountability standards. A total of 10 barns at Gulfstream Park were randomly...