It took seven minutes for Todd Pletcher-trained Mind Control to be elevated by the stewards from second place to victory in the 2022 Parx Dirt Mile Stakes and 11 months for the Stay Thirsty colt to be disqualified from the win for a positive drug test.
Second under the wire, beaten a neck at 3-5 odds by 12-1 longshot Far Mo Power in the $200,000 race last Sept. 24, Mind Control was awarded the win after stewards disqualified the first-place finisher for interference in the stretch. Officials denied Far Mo Power's connections – trainer Louis Linder Jr. and owner Joseph E. Sutton – an opportunity to appeal the decision, but they ultimately wound up getting the win after Mind Control tested positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide at the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission's official laboratory. A split sample confirmed the presence of the drug in plasma.
According to an article from the University of California-Davis school of veterinary medicine, hydrochlorothiazide can be used as a treatment for hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP) by reducing the amount of potassium in the blood. The Association of Racing Commissioners International lists it as a Class 4 drug with a Class B penalty.
A hearing at Parx Racing before the board of stewards was conducted 45 weeks after the race, on Aug. 9, 2023, with Pletcher appearing by telephone and his attorney, Karen Murphy, in person
After considering all the testimony and evidence, stewards ruled on Aug. 18 that Mind Control be disqualified and placed last, with Pletcher suspended 15 days and fined $500. Mind Control's owners, Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stable, will be required to forfeit the first-place purse of $114,000, with Far Mo Power now declared the winner, Dontmesawithme, second, and New Commission third.
The disqualification does not affect pari-mutuel results.
The case preceded the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and its Anti-Doping and Medication Control program as the national oversight agency for medication issues.
Pletcher said an appeal has been filed in the case. The ruling called for his suspension to run from Aug. 30-Sept. 13 but it is expected he will receive a stay.
The Hall of Fame horseman is now facing three separate suspensions from 2022: 14 days for a July 30 positive test for phenylbutazone in the horse Capensis at Saratoga, and 10 days for a Sept. 5 positive test for meloxicam in Forte, winner of the G1 Hopeful at Saratoga. Those violations are also being appealed and Pletcher has received a stay of the suspensions.
Mind Control, a Grade 1 winner of the Hopeful at 2, the H. Allen Jerkens at 3, and the Cigar Mile at 6, was retired at the end of 2022 and is standing at stud in New York.
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