California Horse Racing Board commissioners (Board) voted during closed session Sept. 15 to dismiss a complaint against trainer Jeff Metz pertaining to a positive test last year for a bisphosphonate in one of the horses in his care, Camino de Estrella.
The Board believed it would be unfair to punish Metz when both testing and investigation revealed that the bisphosphonate administration occurred in 2018, well before Metz ever trained the horse.
The complaint (posted on the CHRB website since December) stated that the Maddy Laboratory at UC Davis detected Tiludronic Acid (Tildren, a bisphosphonate) in the urine sample taken from Camino de Estrella after he finished sixth in the third race at Santa Anita on Sept. 27, 2020. The presence of the Class 1 drug prompted the stewards at Del Mar to later disqualify Camino de Estrella and order the redistribution of the purse. The disqualification remains in force and is not affected by the dismissal of the complaint against Metz.
The Board dismissed the complaint pursuant to Business & Professions Code 19577 (d): “Any recommendation to the board by the executive director to dismiss the matter shall be by mutual agreement with the equine medical director. The authority for the disposition of the matter shall be the responsibility of the board.”
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