Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen plans to appeal the 30-day suspension handed down last week by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, attorney Clark Brewster told the Daily Racing Form this week.
Brewster said Asmussen will file a petition in Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky, arguing that he followed well-known standards for oral administration of the sedative Acepromazine and that the original hearing officer applied the “wrong burden of proof” in the case.
“There are a number of issues here that I think are important to the industry and horsemen in general,” Brewster told DRF.
The case dates back to 2018, when two Asmussen trainees showed post-race positives for metabolites of the sedative Acepromazine: Thousand Percent after winning the second race at Churchill Downs on June 28, 2018; and Boldor after winning the sixth race at Keeneland on Oct. 25, 2018.
In late 2019, following a formal hearing before the stewards, the KHRC issued Asmussen a 30-day suspension and total $3,500 fine. An additional 30 days were stayed due to mitigating circumstances (number of violations due to overall record), pending no further violations for 365 days. Asmussen subsequently appealed.
A hearing on that appeal was conducted in August last year by hearing officer Jim Howard, who left the Public Protection Cabinet before making a recommendation. Hearing officer Eden Davis Stephens succeeded Howard, and based on the existing record she recommended a 30-day suspension for Asmussen in October of 2022.
Last week's KHRC decision to approve the hearing officer's recommendation did not come with a set date for Asmussen to serve the 30 days; the KHRC order did note that the action could be appealed in civil court.
Read more at the Daily Racing Form.
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