Category: Horse Racing News

Sadler Fined $15,000, To Serve 15-Day Suspension For Three 2019 Medication Violations

California Horse Racing Board stewards have fined trainer John Sadler $15,000 and suspended him for 60 days, with 45 days of the ban stayed, for three medication violations in April and May 2019.

The ruling, dated Sunday, was the result of a settlement agreement and mutual release between Sadler and the CHRB that stayed 45 days of the suspension provided he has no additional Class 1, 2 or 3 violations during a probationary year that ends June 28, 2021.

Cited were violations of CHRB Rule 1887 (trainer or owner to insure condition of horse) and 1843 (prohibited drug substances: gabapentin and clenbuterol.

The horses that tested positive were Field Bet, fifth as the favorite in a $50,000 maiden claiming race at Santa Anita on April 14, 2019; Jasikan, third in the $100,000 Singletary Stakes at Santa Anita on April 28, 2019; and Sneem, first in a maiden special weight race at Golden Gate Fields on May 10, 2019.

The ruling does not address whether the horses will be disqualified and any purse money won will be redistributed. All three horses were owned by Hronis Racing LLC.

Gabapentin is commonly used to treat shingles or neurologic conditions in humans, but also as an analgesic for pain management for aging horses or those with laminitis. It is classified as Class 3/Penalty B under Association of Racing Commissioners International guidelines. Clenbuterol is a bronchodilator classified by RCI as Class 3/Penalty B. Since the dates of the violations, the CHRB has further tightened use of clenbuterol in horses.

Sadler issued the following statement about the sanctions:

“Trainers are liable for the condition of their horses regardless of the acts of third parties. The imposition of the trainer insurer rule requires only the detection of a prohibited substance in an official sample and identification of the trainer of the horse. The trainer insurer rule is not based on actual administration of a drug or negligent care. Fault is not an element of liability under the trainer insurer rule.

“The incidents covered by the settlement agreement and the penalties imposed under the agreement reflect the fact that these incidents resulted from circumstances beyond my control but which nonetheless are my responsibility. Two of these cases involved the passive transmission by a groom of a medication prescribed for his own medical condition. The other involved detection of a prohibited substance in a horse over which I did not have actual custody or control.

“I want to thank the CHRB for their consideration of the mitigating circumstances underlying these complaints in reaching this agreement. My decision to enter into the settlement agreement was based upon the costs involved in defending against these allegations and recognition of the impact of the trainer insurer rule. Over my 40 years as a trainer, I can unequivocally state that I neither administered nor had knowledge of the administration of any prohibited substance to any of my horses.”

According to ThoroughbredRulings.com, hese are the first medication violations for Sadler since he was fined $500 for a positive test for the Class 4 muscle relaxant dantrolene on Dec. 1, 2017. Prior to that he was fined in 2013 for a flunixin overage and twice in 2011 for methocarbamol violations.

Sadler's 15-day suspension begins Monday, June 29 and runs through July 13.

A licensed trainer since 1978, Sadler has won 2,551 races from 15,419 starts. His biggest career victory came in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Classic with Accelerate, who was voted an Eclipse Award as that year's champion older male racing on dirt.

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Not One Size Fits All: Paper Outlines Findings From Newmarket Fetlock Injury Symposium

While the racing industry has made important strides forward in detecting horses at risk of suffering catastrophic injuries before they occur, that system is far from perfect. But better use and understanding of the various diagnostic tools at our disposal could help to plug those existing gaps–that’s the main takeaway from a recent article published in the Equine Veterinary Journal.

The seven-page paper provides a summary of the findings that came from a symposium held this past March at Newmarket, during which various veterinarians and experts shared their research into fracture risk assessment of the fetlock–the most common catastrophic injury site in racehorses.

For so long, the industry has been looking for “that one” diagnostic imaging technology “that solves all our problems,” Ryan Carpenter, a Santa Anita-based private veterinarian who gave a presentation at the symposium, told TDN. “The reality is, we’re not there yet,” he added.

“More importantly, we have to acknowledge that there are strengths and weaknesses to the whole modalities. It’s not a one size fits all,” Carpenter said. “But I think when you use them in conjunction with one another, and you recognize their strengths and weaknesses, I think you can make some serious headway.”

Many of the pre-existing injuries that end up proving catastrophic are extremely subtle and therefore difficult to detect. Indeed, this study found that 90% of horses fatally injured in Hong Kong displayed no noticeable clinical signs of injury during a pre-race veterinary inspection.

Experts have identified a range of race, horse and management-related factors that can be used to identify horses at serious risk of suffering catastrophic injuries on the track.

But as the paper points out, the statistical models these factors can be plugged into still aren’t especially effective at predicting catastrophic injuries, partly because of the low prevalence of these sorts of injuries anyway, and the dearth of relevant data.

Indeed, one study which encompasses some 2,000,000 starts and 4,000,000 workouts had a 65% success rate at predicting which one of only two horses was about to sustain a fracture–odds only marginally higher than that of a coin toss.

Which is where imaging can come in.

The paper finds a direct relationship between “serial testing”–what is a more systematic way of monitoring problem areas–and a higher probability of targeting pathology at the site of a potentially catastrophic injury.

Let’s zero in on radiography, what the paper says remains the most “important imaging modality in fetlock bone risk assessment,” but is nevertheless a “relatively untapped resource that through education of primary care vets could immediately have a profound impact on injury mitigation.”

What does the paper mean by “untapped”? This study on the effect of intraarticular joint injections on the risk of subsequent fracture found that prior imaging on the injected site had been done in less than 8% of cases.

Under the serial testing model, however, a clinical examination that identifies a problem area in the fetlock joint would lead to a second diagnostic test, like a radiograph, to get a better understanding of the issues at play.

If the veterinarian suspects further issues brewing in the fetlock than is visible on the radiograph, they have the option of ordering additional tests using a more sensitive imaging modality, like a positron emission tomography (PET) or an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.

And why isn’t that done more often as it is? “I think a lot of people are,” said Carpenter. “But I think some people aren’t.”

These are “multifactorial issues,” he added, stressing the need for trainers and their staff to flag sore horses in the first place, at the same time pinpointing the pressure put on trainers from owners and the racing office. “There’s a lot of these other factors that come into play that may or may not lead to good decisions.”

Nevertheless, as the paper points out, “there is no diagnostic test with 100% accuracy,” nor any one clear consensus of how the images are interpreted. To help in that regard, the paper has broken down into a table the pluses and minuses of each available imaging technology.

“Our goal was to basically condense a lot of information into a very useable reference,” said Carpenter.

Each technology–radiography, nuclear scintigraphy, computed tomography (CT), MRI and PET–is rated within the confines of these four categories: strengths, clinical information obtained, practical and technical limitations, and current knowledge gaps.

For nuclear scintigraphy, for example, large areas can be imaged but with low specificity. CT can be done quickly with high spatial resolution images, but there’s currently a knowledge gap in differentiating between active abnormalities in the bone and “static” long-term changes.

But knowledge is only useful when placed into the right hands, and the racing industry, the paper says, would be wise to take some lessons from human medicine, particularly when it comes to regulatory transparency and the sharing of relevant information. From a bird’s-eye viewpoint, the globalization of horse racing could be a more streamlined affair.

“Whilst veterinary assessment and regulatory pathways are in place in many racing jurisdictions globally, transparency about the process and standardization across countries is lacking,” the paper says.

But individual practitioners too must be more willing to share veterinary information that could have a bearing on that horse’s fate on the track, the paper similarly stresses. “Equally, owners, trainers and other stakeholders must understand their obligation to comply with the risk assessment process if they wish to enter a horse in a race.”

The paper also pinpoints several “actionable items” resulting from the symposium. These include:

  • A best practice guide on fetlock radiography.
  • The creation of trainer manuals to help them both identify the warning signs of serious fatigue injury and understand how these injuries progress.
  • The creation of an international, anonymized data repository, into which goes information like racehorse clinical and imaging data, and exercise and racing history.

This repository would then be used as a research tool.

“I don’t think anybody expected this symposium to solve all our problems, but what it did was lay a very nice foundation for the work that will come from this,” said Carpenter. “I think you’re going to look back in three to five years at a lot of good things that came out of this starting point and have a significant impact on this industry.”

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Midnight Bisou in the Classic? Why Not?

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley

There was no word Sunday from the camp of Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) regarding where their mare would run next and what the long-term goals are for the season. But we know this much: Midnight Bisou is outstanding, her connections took on males once, in the Saudi Cup, and the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic is a lot bigger deal than the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Does that add up to her starting in the Classic? Fans of this sport can only hope that it does.

Midnight Bisou destroyed her competition in last Saturday’s GII Fleur de Lis S. at Churchill Downs, which was no easy assignment. She hadn’t raced since the Feb. 29 Saudi Cup and was facing at least one horse who, on paper, looked like she might beat her. Serengeti Empress (Alternation) is at her very best when able to get loose on the lead and, as expected, that’s the trip she got Saturday. But no filly was going to beat Midnight Bisou on this day. With Mike Smith never asking for her best, the champion won by 8 1/4 lengths.

One race later, perhaps the best older male in training, Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike), was also an impressive winner, cruising to a 4 1/4-length win in the GII Stephen Foster S. He completed the mile and an eighth in 1:47.30 and got a 109 Beyer figure. Midnight Bisou ran the same distance in 1:48.99 and her Beyer number was a 93.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean he is the better horse or had the better day. For Midnight Bisou to have run as fast as Tom’s d’Etat, she would have to have won by about 16 1/2 lengths. With the race wrapped up when she made her ground-gobbling move on the far turn, there was no reason for Smith to ask for anything extra in the stretch.

Rather than worrying about who was better, maybe the right thing to do is to concede that both Midnight Bisou and Tom’s d’Etat were very good and that there is no fair way to compare their races.

Midnight Bisou will be stabled at Saratoga. A start in the Aug. 1 GI Personal Ensign S. makes the most sense for her. But the bigger question is where will she run in the Breeders’ Cup? The safe thing to do would be to run in the Distaff. The more adventurous, potentially more rewarding spot is the Classic. It’s worth $7 million. The Distaff goes for $2 million. A filly that wins the Classic becomes an immortal. A filly that wins the Distaff may find it hard to stand out among the other 33 fillies or mares who have won the race. Unless Tiz the Law (Constitution) wins the Triple Crown, there will likely be a handful of Horse of the Year candidates racing on the Breeders’ Cup card. A win by Midnight Bisou in the Classic might just put her over the top, giving her the Horse of the Year title she lost out on in 2019.

Here’s another thing to consider: if Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) and Gamine (Into Mischief) run up to expectations throughout the year, might the Distaff be a tougher assignment than the Classic?

Whenever a top filly faces the boys, it turns a race into an event. It’s good for the sport and something we don’t see nearly enough. Bob Baffert has said there is an outside chance that Gamine goes in a traditional Triple Crown race. Let’s hope that she does. Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) was very impressive winning the GI Just a Game S. Saturday at Belmont. Afterward, trainer Chad Brown said races against males could be on her schedule. That’s terrific news.

Jeff Bloom of Bloom Racing has plenty of time to make up his mind. But he shows every sign of being someone who is not afraid to aim high. He brought Midnight Bisou back when she was five and sent her halfway around the globe to compete against males in the Saudi Cup. My guess is she will run in the Classic. It would be great if I am right.

Good News and Bad News on Canterbury Pick 5

When Canterbury Park announced that it was going to offer a Pick 5 with a 10% takeout at this meet, no one knew what to expect or how horseplayers would react. The hope was that by offering the lowest takeout bet in the sport, Canterbury would lure gamblers that otherwise wouldn’t have paid any attention to their simulcast.

Seven racing days into the meet, there’s little doubt that customers will react to the pricing of bets. With a June 18 card canceled after three races, there have been seven days at the meet in which a Pick 5 was offered and the average handle on the bet is $95,261. That may not seem like a lot, but it is for a B-level track racing only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

It’s not easy comparing that to past years, as the Pick 5 between 2017 and 2019 was a jackpot style bet. In 2016, the total pool was usually less than $10,000.

Canterbury’s experiment has been a success, but it was not a good sign that the three lowest Pick 5 pools of the meet all occurred last week, when the average pool fell to $78,825. That probably means there were a lot of curiosity seekers the first week and some have moved on.

Canterbury may not have the class and quality of Santa Anita, Belmont and Gulfstream, but gamblers need to support this bet. Why shouldn’t it handle $300,000 or $400,000 a day? We spend a lot of time complaining about how high the takeout is. The best way to get the industry to change is to bet more on the lower takeout bets like Canterbury’s Pick 5 and less on the ones that gouge you at 20% or more.

Firenze Fire Back In Winner’s Circle for Breen

Firenze Fire (Poseidon’s Warrior) threw in a dud in the June 6 GI Carter H., finishing fourth. That it was his first start for Kelly Breen after racing for Jason Servis was obviously notable. In March, Servis was indicted and charged with using performance-enhancing drugs on his horses. It was easy to conclude that Firenze Fire couldn’t do as well for Breen as he did for Servis because he would be running without performance-enhancers for his new barn.

The story took another twist Saturday in the GII True North S. at Belmont. The old Firenze Fire was back. The 11-10 favorite, he won by 1 1/2 lengths.

It’s hard to say why he ran so much better in the True North than he did in the Carter. But what is clear is that the majority of horses that had been trained by Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro that have run back have fared better than most expected. That doesn’t mean that Servis and Navarro weren’t doping their horses. But why are these horses running so well for “clean” programs? That’s anyone’s guess.

A Toast to Dean Martini

For no other reason than his name is so clever, it would be fun to see GIII Ohio Derby winner Dean Martini (Cairo Prince) win a few more big races. For now, though, the connections should enjoy a big win and pat themselves on the back for reading the tea leaves when it comes to the 3-year-old races.

Tom Amoss claimed Dean Martini for $50,000 out of a May 17 maiden claimer at Churchill. He came back to finish second in a June 12 allowance at Churchill. Not many trainers would have come back in 16 days, but Amoss realized the $500,000 Ohio Derby purse was there for the taking. Against the level of competition he faced, Dean Martini didn’t even need to improve to win.

In this strangest of years, we went from having too few races for 3-year-olds to having too many. The second tier 3-year-old races all figure to come up weak and may be won by more Dean Martinis of the world.

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