By T. D. Thornton
The stewards at Charles Town Races on Wednesday issued a ruling that will not impose penalties against the licensure of trainer Justin Nixon after deeming that a “trace level” of a cocaine metabolite detected in a winning first-time starter he trained in March was the result of “inadvertent exposure” to that drug.
West Virginia, along with Louisiana, are the only two states in America where Thoroughbred medication testing and enforcement are not subject to oversight by the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) and the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU). That's because of a preliminary injunction that is in effect while a lawsuit against HISA plays out in federal court.
Under HISA and HIWU rules, benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite of the human street drug cocaine, is a “banned” substance that is never to be present in any covered horse at any time.
Under West Virginia's rules, benzoylecgonine is a Class 1 drug, carrying a Category A penalty, the most severe classification.
Yet despite the differences in jurisdiction, the Wednesday ruling by the Charles Town stewards is similar to how HIWU handled two cocaine metabolite positives in 2023.
All three cocaine positives–the two under HIWU's jurisdiction last year and Nixon's positive in West Virginia–involved detections via blood samples, although the Charles Town stewards' ruling noted that urine testing was also utilized in Nixon's case.
Back on Nov. 7, 2023, HIWU issued a press release that stated, “Recently, Covered Horses trained by Keri Brion and R. McLane Hendriks tested positive for [the cocaine metabolite] in blood. While controls in urine for [benzoylecgonine] have long been established, no corresponding testing specifications existed for blood.
“These circumstances prompted HIWU to lift each trainer's Provisional Suspension and review scientific literature to determine appropriate testing specifications for blood such that it would correspond to existing controls in urine…. As a result of this investigation, HIWU concluded that the levels of [cocaine metabolite] detected in the blood samples for Hendriks' and Brion's horses will not be pursued as Adverse Analytical Findings,” the release stated.
The Charles Town stewards' ruling from Sept. 4, 2024, explained the initial positive and subsequent split-sample positive detected after Tempest (Twirling Candy)'s win at 9-10 odds in his Mar. 23, 2024, maiden special weight debut:
“Benzoylecgonine, confirmed to be present in Tempest's body while it was participating in a race, is a drug or medication for which no acceptable threshold concentration has been established by the West Virginia Racing Commission. Additionally, as the trainer of Tempest, Justin J. Nixon is the absolute insurer of and responsible for the condition of the horse…
“[However], there are mitigating factors which cause the Stewards to impose no penalty against Mr. Nixon's permit in this matter. Those factors are as follows: Mr. Nixon's past record as a permit holder is good in that he has never had a medication violation in any jurisdiction since his first license in 1994. The amount of benzoylecgonine found in the horse is a trace level which lends credibility to the probability that the horse was inadvertently exposed to the drug in some manner.
“Based upon an evaluation of the evidence, the Stewards conclude that the positive is attributable to inadvertent exposure. There is no reason to believe that Mr. Nixon knew of or caused the drug to be administered to the horse.
“Pursuant to [a state rule], the Stewards are to determine medication violations on a case by case basis and may determine to impose no penalty against a trainer's permit, if warranted. Weighing and balancing these factors, the Board of Stewards find that while Mr. Nixon is held responsible for the positive in this case, the Stewards shall impose no penalty against Mr. Nixon's permit.
“Therefore, the standard penalty for a first offense Class A medication violation (one-year suspension/$10,000.00 fine) is not imposed in this matter. In addition, the Stewards do not impose the 6 Multiple Medication Violation points that would typically be imposed,” the ruling stated.
Tempest was, however, disqualified and the purse winnings were forfeited.
On May 4, Tempest started at Laurel Park in a NW2L claimer (at the time, the colt was still considered a winner). He finished last in a field of eight.
Relegated back to the maiden ranks because of the pending ruling, Tempest started in-and won-his next start, a maiden-claiming race at Colonial Downs on Aug. 29.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
