Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings

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, several provisional suspensions have been handed out in cases pending a formal hearing. This includes trainers Frederico Villafranco and Diana Morici, who have been issued provisional suspensions for separate alleged methamphetamine positives. Trainer Francisco Ramos remains provisionally suspended with two additional alleged clenbuterol positives to go with four prior pending clenbuterol cases. Five of these cases--including the two most recent--were from out-of-competition tests. The other...

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, Ohio-based veterinarian Scott Shell has been suspended for two years, fined $25,000 and ordered to pay $10,000 in arbitration costs for administering a substance called "Hemo 15" 228 times to 37 horses in his care between May 29, 2023 and Oct. 19, 2023. His suspension started on Jan. 8, 2024 According to the final decision, Shell submitted a letter prior to the May 28 evidentiary hearing outlining...

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 Adolfo Macias has been suspended 18-months and fined $12,500 for the possession of levothyroxine, a banned substance under HISA. Levothyroxine is a synthetic thyroid hormone used to treat ailments like hypothyroidism. Due to its metabolic properties, levothyroxine is believed to aid recovery in performance horses and help weight loss. There is also a possible link between levothyroxine and equine sudden cardiac death. There is currently no detailed...

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...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) -elated rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Pavel Matejka has been suspended seven days for four separate cannabidiol (CBD) positives. The four cases occurred between Feb. 17 and Mar. 15. Under HISA, CBD is classified a Class B controlled substance. The massive proliferation in CBD products for humans has spilled over into the equine world. The purported benefits from CBD use in horses include treatment of inflammation, ulcers, laminitis, colic,...

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, the focus once again has been on intra-articular injections before workouts. As it stands, HISA imposes a seven-day prohibition of any inter-articular injection of any joint prior to a timed workout, and a 14-day ban prior to a race. Proposed rules currently before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would add additional wrinkles to this rule. These proposed rules would bar a horse treated with any corticosteroid intra-articular injection of the...

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...

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 Daniel Franko has been suspended seven days after his trainee, Misty's Cat, tested positive for caffeine, when winning at Golden Gate Fields on Dec. 1 last year. He was also fined $1,000. Caffeine is a Class B controlled substance under HISA. The case was resolved without a hearing.   NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through...

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 Jonathan Wong has been suspended for two years and fined $25,000 for a post-race metformin positive from last June. Wong told the TDN he has appealed the ruling which could now go before the Federal Trade Commission, head to federal court, or both. He also said that he would seek a temporary injunction against the ban. Trainer Kari Craddock was issued a seven-day suspension...

Trainer John Pimental has been handed a 15-month suspension and a fine of $10,000 for possession of banned thyroid medication, Thyro-L. Though Pimental had a prescription to administer the drug to his pony, the possession of a banned substance is classed an anti-doping rule violation under HISA. That news was one of the rulings posted this week among Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Pimental's case was resolved without a final hearing after he accepted the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) sanctions. Pimental's case...

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, the seven-day prohibition on intra-articular injections prior to a timed workout continues to trip up stakeholders. Six new individuals are facing possible sanctions for violations of this rule, to go with the 30 individuals whose cases have already been resolved. A typical first-time violation comes with a $3,000 fine. One of the trainers in question is Ignacio Correas, whose trainee Didia violated the intra-articular injection rule prior...

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 Daniel Kenney has been banned18 months and fined $12,500 for possession of the thyroid drug, Levothyroxine, which HISA has listed a banned substance. Kenney's ban began on Oct. 5, 2023. In a brief explainer on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) website, HIWU Investigators allegedly found the Levothyroxine—otherwise known as Thyro-L—in one of Kenney's tack rooms at Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colorado on Aug. 25, 2023....