On Feb. 1, nearly a year after the races were run, the Maryland Racing Commission ruled that John Salzman trainees Big Hambone (second at Laurel on Feb. 12, 2021) and Sick Pack Sara (winner at Laurel on March 13, 2021) would be allowed to retain their original placings despite testing positive for phenylbutazone, reports The Racing Biz.
The commission's reasoning? At the time each of the horses' samples were tested by Truesdail Laboratory, the lab had lost its accredited testing lab status for horse racing. The commission has since switched its testing to Industrial Laboratories.
“Through the testimony, it is determined that Truesdail Laboratory, at the time of this testing, was not appropriately or properly accredited,” Commission chairman Michael Algeo said. “Given that, it is the unanimous decision of this Commission that we cannot rely upon the test results that were provided by the Truesdail Laboratory since they were, in fact, not accredited.”
In Maryland, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory commonly known as “bute” is permitted on race day at “not more than 0.3 micrograms per milliliter of the blood plasma.” Big Hambone's test showed a level of .399, while Sick Pack Sara's was .513 mcg per milliliter. Salzman contended that the two horses had been treated by his veterinarian between 48 and 55 hours prior to the race, which was his standard practice that had not previously yielded positive tests.
According to thoroughbredrulings.com, Salzman's record includes previous positive tests for clenbuterol (Maryland, 3/20/2010), dexamethasone (West Virginia, 10/7/2017; Maryland, 2/22/2019; Maryland, 6/23/2019; and Maryland, 6/5/2021), and phenylbutazone (Maryland, 7/31/2020).
Read more at The Racing Biz.
