Eclipse Award-winning colt Forte has a drug positive still pending from his juvenile season, according to a report May 9 from the New York Times.
The Times' Joe Drape reported that two sources close to the situation say the positive is from a post-race test taken after Forte's win in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga in September. Drape's sources indicated the substance in question was “used to relieve pain and reduce inflammation” but was not specifically named.
Adjudication of the positive has dragged on, and now trainer Todd Pletcher is scheduled to have a hearing on the matter Wednesday. A spokesperson for the New York State Gaming Commission told Drape the delays were “sought by the trainer's counsel.”
After his win in the Hopeful, Forte went on to capture the G1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, followed by the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, earning him the 2022 Eclipse Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Colt.
Although he had been projected as the morning-line favorite in the G1 Kentucky Derby, Forte was scratched the morning of the race by Kentucky state veterinarians after his connections said he had been battling a foot bruise for several days. His status for the Preakness remains in doubt, because a veterinary scratch triggers an automatic entry to the vet's list for 14 days and requires a workout and blood test for removal from the list.
Read more at the New York Times
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