Trainer Chris Block will serve a 20-day suspension over the finding of the Class A substance temazepam in his trainee Knockyoursocksoff after the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes (turf) at Keeneland on Oct. 7, 2022, according to a ruling issued by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
The ruling, dated April 21, 2023, indicates that Knockyoursocksoff was disqualified from her second-place finish, that Block was fined $500, and that the trainer's original 45-day suspension will have 25 days stayed contingent upon Block not being assessed a Class A or B medication violation for one year from the date of the ruling.
Block's suspension will be served from May 7-26. The full ruling can be viewed here.
Knockyoursocksoff, a 2020 daughter of Kitten's Joy, is owned by Town and Country Racing. She returned from the Jessamine to finish second in the G2 Golden Rod Stakes on dirt at Churchill in November, but has not hit the board in two starts as a 3-year-old.
“I conducted an exhaustive inquiry into how the horse might have encountered temazepam, but found no clear answer,” Block told bloodhorse.com. “I strongly feel she came into contact with the substance in her environment. Indeed, such cases of environmental contamination appear to be on the rise as testing becomes highly precise and is flagging trace elements. But given the range of possibilities, environmental contamination is nearly impossible to prove.”
The positive test was reported by the University of Kentucky Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory and confirmed by the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratorγ.
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