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National Summary: 0.55 Percent Of All Racing Samples Tested Show Adverse Analytical Findings

US racing commissions sent 263,783 biological samples from horses participating in professional horse races to the testing laboratories.

Of those tests there were 1,461 adverse analytical findings accounting for 0.55 percent of all samples. 99.45 percent of samples tested were clear, indicating a high degree of compliance with anti-doping and medication rules based upon known information and data..

Of the adverse analytical findings, approximately three percent were clear attempts at doping as the substance detected had no reason to be present in the horse other than to provide a maximum enhancement of performance. Class 2 substances considered the next most serious level of substances that can affect performance accounted for 6.09 percent of all findings. Class 1 and Class 2 substances are generally considered “doping” and together they account for 9.03 percent of all 2019 detections.

As in prior years, the overwhelming substance detections (69.75 percent) involved therapeutic medications (Class 4 and 5 substances) that may affect performance to a lesser extent, but are still not permitted to be present in a horse when it races. With the exception of race day furosemide to mitigate or prevent bleedings, horse racing does not permit use of these substances with a therapeutic use exemption as defined in the World Anti-Doping Code.

21.83 percent of the detections involved Class 3 substances. These have a greater ability to affect performance and contain substances which may be therapeutic as well as those that might indicate a deliberate attempt to cheat.

This information represents the official testing results from all horse racing US jurisdictions, except Maine which did not respond to repeated requests for information.

Like the testing results in human and Olympic sport, these numbers should not lessen the resolve of the sport and its regulators to pursue substances that the labs are unable to test for. This is an ongoing challenge for the anti-doping programs in all professional sport and underscores the need for intelligence based efforts in this regard as well as intelligence based out of competition testing.

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Serrano’s Drug Test Raises Questions About How Racing Will Deal With Medical Marijuana Cards

The legalization of medical marijuana has been spreading across the United States for the past several years, and on July 27, stewards at Mountaineer Park faced a decision that racing jurisdictions around the country will likely see more of in the near future.

Jockey Keivan Serrano underwent a random drug test on July 26, and was found to have THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, in his system. (THC is the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana.)

Serrano possesses a medical marijuana card, though it was obtained in Ohio. Mountaineer is located in New Cumberland, W.V. and Ohio's medical marijuana office does not have any reciprocity agreements with other states.

West Virginia passed a medical cannabis bill three years ago when Senate Bill 386 was signed into law on Apr. 19, 2017. The bill's language set a goal of having infrastructure such as dispensaries, medical marijuana cards, etc., in place within two years, but it still hasn't happened.

“Medical marijuana is legal in West Virginia,” said West Virginia attorney Harley Wagner. “The legislation has been passed, it's just that the components to it actually coming to fruition aren't in place yet.”

Until then, any individual caught with marijuana in their possession in West Virginia is still able to be cited by police. Wagner explained that for a small amount of marijuana, the case could be taken to court and the citation could be expunged after six months if the person does not accrue any similar citations.

Serrano did not have any marijuana in his possession when he was tested by the stewards at Mountaineer. At the time of his testing — after the races on July 26 — Serrano said he was straightforward with the testing agent about his medical marijuana card, and included the information on the official testing report.

Serrano said stewards called him the following morning to tell him he'd tested positive for THC, as he'd expected. They asked about Serrano's card, and why he had the prescription.

“I use it to sleep at night,” Serrano said. “We race at night, and sometimes I don't get home until 11:30 at night, then I'd have to get up again at five the next morning. So it helps me sleep.”

Serrano said the stewards asked him to send them the documentation he had in his possession, because West Virginia racing rules indicate that a licensee testing positive for a prescription drug is not subject to penalties, under rule 178-1-24.3.v. He also said that the stewards told him this was their first time dealing with a medical marijuana card held by a licensee.

It was Serrano's second positive test for THC in 2020 — he also tested positive at Fonner Park in Nebraska back in March.

Serrano found out via the ARCI website on July 29 that he had been summarily suspended by the stewards, pending a hearing scheduled for Aug. 5.

According to Joe Moore, executive director of the West Virginia Racing Commission, Serrano was suspended because he “did not produce a document which identified the amount or dosage of medical marijuana that was permissible for him to ingest in appropriate and specified intervals, nor did he produce a document that would have allowed the Stewards to determine whether the amount of THC in his system was consistent with a prescribed dosage.”

The level of THC in Serrano's system at the time of the test was not made public in the official ruling.

Serrano made waves on social media after the suspension became public, announcing he was leaving the sport of horse racing, but the 22-year-old said his retirement from the saddle had been on the horizon for a while.

“I've always struggled with my weight, and I always told myself that if I ever got scared or if I got too heavy, that I would stop,” Serrano said. “I don't want to not give owners and trainers 100 percent, because that's something I pride myself on.”

Serrano plans to return to school in Puerto Rico. He'll attend pre-med classes online beginning in August with the goal of one day becoming a neurosurgeon.

“I had a good run,” said Serrano, who retires with 105 wins from 1,129 starts. “I don't have any regrets.”

In the meantime, the West Virginia racing commission has not officially made a determination regarding the use of medical marijuana in licensees, including jockeys.

“The West Virginia Racing Commission has not addressed medical marijuana in its rules inasmuch as the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WVDHHR), the state agency responsible for administering West Virginia's medical marijuana program, has not implemented the program and rules in West Virginia,” Moore explained. “It remains to be seen how the state of West Virginia will address the recognition of other state programs and other state medical marijuana authorization cards. Until such time as the Racing Commission has more direction and guidance from the WVDHHR, it is premature to make amendments to the rules of racing.”

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Sadler Fined, Suspended for Medication Violations

In a settlement agreement and mutual release with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), leading California trainer John Sadler has been fined $15,000 and handed a 60-day suspension–45 days of which are stayed–for three medication violations dating from 2019. The suspension runs June 29 through June 13.

As part of the agreement, Sadler has been placed on probation for one year, ending June 28, 2021. If he incurs any medication violations during that period, the 45 days of stayed suspension will be imposed following a noticed hearing.

As first reported in the Paulick Report, the CHRB stewards delivered their ruling Sunday, June 28.

The three violations occurred in April and May of last year. Jasikan (Ire) (Bated Breath {GB}), who finished third in the Singletary S. at Santa Anita Apr. 28, and Field Bet (Sidney’s Candy), fifth in a maiden claiming at Santa Anita Apr. 14, both tested positive for gabapentin. Sneem (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}), who won a maiden special weight at Golden Gate Fields May 10, tested positive for clenbuterol.

The Association of Racing Commissioners International lists both gabapentin and clenbuterol as Class 3/Penalty B medications.

Sadler finished the recently concluded six-month Santa Anita meet in sixth place on the trainers’ standings, with 18 wins and over $1.7 million in earnings, including the $360,000 that Combatant earned for winning the GI Santa Anita H.

Sadler provided the following statement on the CHRB stewards ruling:

“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.”

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