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CHRB Settlement: John Sadler Fined $5,000 Over 2020 Bisphosphonate Positive

Trainer John Sadler has been fined $5,000 by the California Horse Racing Board, according to a ruling published on Friday, relating to his trainee Flagstaff testing positive for clodronic acid, a bisphosphonate sold under the brand name Osphos, in a post-race sample after finishing second in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes on Sept. 27, 2020, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.

Bisphosphonates are a class of drug approved by the FDA in 2014 and prescribed to prevent bone loss in people and to treat navicular syndrome in horses, a common cause of forelimb lameness. The drug is not approved for horses less than four years old.

Equine surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage of Rood & Riddle warned about the use of bisphosphonates Osphos and Tildren in young horses during a client education seminar in 2018, saying the drug can have unintended, detrimental side effects. Many racing states moved to ban the drugs.

The CHRB banned bisphosphonates effective July 1, 2020, saying that any horse administered the drug in the previous six months – effectively a cutoff date of Jan. 1, 2020 – was prohibited from stabling on CHRB regulated grounds.

When the positive test was first made public in May, Sadler's attorney Darrell Vienna said Flagstaff was legally treated with Osphos on an unspecified date “late in 2019,” when Flagstaff was 5 years old. Vienna cited the extended half life of Osphos as an explanation for the positive test, saying it can linger in a horse's system for many months or even longer than a year.

Flagstaff was ordered unplaced in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship by a ruling released on June 19, 2021.

Friday's ruling specifies that Sadler entered into a settlement agreement with the CHRB, and that the fine is for violation of rule #1867.1(b), which states: “No licensee shall bring into a CHRB enclosure a horse known to have been administered a bisphosphonate within the previous six months.”

At the time the positive was announced, clodronic acid was not included on the CHRB's current list of prohibited substances, so under the regulatory body's rules it automatically falls under the most severe drug category, Class 1. Today, current CHRB regulations list bisphosphonates as Drug Class C, Penalty Category A.

Penalty Category A requires a one-year suspension, absent mitigating circumstances, along with a minimum fine of $10,000, again absent mitigating circumstances. Owners face loss of purse and potential placement of a horse on the vet's list for up to 90 days.

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New York To Begin Testing For Bisphosphonates Oct. 26; Penalties Include $25,000 Fine, Loss Of License

An advisory from the office of the New York State Gaming Commission's Equine Medical Director was disseminated on Monday:

As of Oct. 26, 2021, the New York Drug Testing and Research Program will commence testing of biologic samples for the presence of bisphosphonates. Absent written Commission approval of a valid Therapeutic Use Exemption, detection of bisphosphonate compounds in biologic samples obtained from 2-year-old and 3-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses will be considered by the Commission to be evidence of a violation of 9 NYCRR 4043.12(c) for which a fine of $25,000 and loss of occupational license may be imposed.

Horses testing positive for bisphosphonates will not be permitted to race until such time as they are re-tested and found to be clear of bisphosphonate compounds.

Background

On March 28, 2019, the Office of the Equine Medical Director issued two advisories regarding the use of bisphosphonates. The first advisory recommended that no bisphosphonate be administered to a racehorse that is less than four years old.

The second advisory warned that Thoroughbred horse owners, trainers, and/or veterinarians had a responsibility to guard against an impermissible administration of a bisphosphonate to a racehorse under potential penalty.

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UK Rules of Racing Changes Confirmed By BHA

Several changes to the British Rules of Racing were confirmed by the British Horseracing Authority on Thursday. These changes, which will come into effect in the coming months, were approved by the BHA Board, following engagement with and feedback from participants and stakeholders. The changes are as follows:

All horses entered to run in a race in Britain must be signed out of the human food chain via its passport by Jan. 1, 2022.
The UK's equine influenza vaccination requirements were updated to bring them in line with other European racing nations.
The rules regarding bisphosphonates were updated to bring them in line with other European racing nations.

For more information on these changes to the Rules of Racing, please click here.

James Given, Director of Equine Health and Welfare for the BHA, said, “The sport's Veterinary Committee made the decision to exclude racehorses who run in Britain from the food chain in January of this year. It was subsequently put out to consultation with the racing industry prior to being approved by the Rules Committee and finally by the BHA Board in September.

“British racing has in place a euthanasia code of practice to aid trainers and owners with end-of-life decisions. The guidance is clear that whenever possible, euthanasia should be performed at home or in suitable surroundings.

“The transporting of horses to an abattoir to be sold for consumption should not, in my view, be classed as euthanasia and is not an approach that we should tolerate in our sport, which is why a rule preventing this practice is a positive step. I am confident that most British trainers and owners agree with me on this and already observe this principle.”

The post UK Rules of Racing Changes Confirmed By BHA appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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CHRB Dismisses Bisphosphonate Complaint Against Jeff Metz

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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