Trainer Jonathan Wong has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit after one of his horses tested positive for a banned substance.
Heaven and Earth, an Indiana-bred Gormley filly who won a maiden race at Indiana Grand on June 1, has tested positive for metformin, a commonly used prescription drug that treats type 2 diabetes in humans. The notice was posted on the HIWU website.
Wong said he was notified on Saturday that he would be suspended at midnight and that all of his horses would have to be moved to another trainer. He currently has about 110 horses divided between Kentucky and California.
“I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and have been on metformin since last year,” said Wong. “It was prescribed by my doctor.”
Wong said he informed HIWU officials that he takes the medication. “I told them, but it doesn't matter,” he said. “They don't care, and that's the problem.”
Wong has retained attorney Alan Pincus, who said the trainer faces up to a two-year suspension and $25,000 fine.
Trainer Wesley Ward has had two metformin positives, one in Kentucky in 2021 and one in New Jersey in 2022. Each violation led to 15-day suspensions from state racing commissions.
On May 22, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control program went into effect in most U.S. racing states, with much harsher sanctions for drug violations. HIWU is HISA's drug testing and enforcement arm.
The HISA/HIWU program puts drug violations into one of two categories: controlled medication substances that are permitted for therapeutic purposes, and banned substances. Individuals covered under HISA receive automatic provisional suspensions when charged with possession of or positive tests for banned substances. Controlled medication cases go through a hearing process before any sanctions are issued.
Wong's attorney, who has asked for a provisional hearing and a split sample on behalf of his client, blasted the newly created national regulatory agency.
“You bring a bunch of people in who have now said that racing commissions are incompetent,” Pincus said. “I don't believe that for a second. These are very good people who know the game. And they (HISA/HIWU) supersede them and take over testing, using the same labs, but they have to show they are worth the billion dollars they are taking out of the game. To justify their existence they're going to show how punitive they are.
“The system is unconstitutional on many levels,” Pincus continued. “It doesn't give a person a chance to defend himself. They charge you $4,000 or more for a provisional hearing and more than that for an evidentiary hearing. There's a $2,000 charge for a split sample that should cost no more than $750. You're putting up $20,000 just to get your due process. And 98 percent of trainers in the U.S. can't even afford to defend themselves. You throw somebody out on day one, take away his livelihood, make him lose his owners, and destroy his life. This is un-American.”
Wong has horses entered at Pleasanton, Los Alamitos, Presque Isle Downs and Belterra Park over the next several days and those horses are expected to be scratched.
Owner of multiple training titles at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California since 2018, Wong has branched out in recent years with stables based in Southern California and Kentucky. Since taking out his trainer's license in 2014, he's won 1,194 races from 5,098 starts, scoring his lone Grade 1 victory in 2020 with Keeper Of the Stars in the Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita. Last year, Wong started 1,108 runners, winning 217 races.
Wong said he has yet to make arrangements to transfer his horses.
“I've been dealing with lawyers all day,” he said.
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