Tag: cocaine

HIWU Changes Enforcement of Provisional Suspensions And Public Disclosure Protocols For Select Banned Substances

Following discussions with HISA's ADMC Committee, HIWU will no longer impose Provisional Suspensions on Covered Persons upon the service of an Equine Anti-Doping Notice for an Adverse Analytical Finding (i.e., positive test result) for Banned Substances that are recognized as substances of abuse in humans, the unit said in a release Friday.

Examples that fall under this category include cocaine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

If a Covered Horse's A Sample tests positive for one of these Banned Substances, a Provisional Suspension will not be imposed on the relevant Covered Person until B Sample analysis confirms the presence of the Banned Substance or B Sample analysis has been waived by the Covered Person.

Consequently, in compliance with Rule 3610(b), such cases will not be published on the HIWU website's Public Disclosures page until after these steps occur. This change to the Public Disclosure protocol is consistent with current procedures for presence violations (i.e., positive tests) for Controlled Medication Substances.

This policy applies retroactively to current pending cases, and Provisional Suspensions have been lifted on all Covered Persons who have not been charged and are waiting for B Sample results to be issued.

This update is intended to address concerns within the industry that the names of Covered Persons were being publicly disclosed in cases involving the aforementioned types of substances before the Covered Persons had an opportunity to determine the source of the substance at issue, including whether it was the result of unintended human transfer.

The post HIWU Changes Enforcement of Provisional Suspensions And Public Disclosure Protocols For Select Banned Substances appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Trainer Keri Brion Provisionally Suspended By HIWU

Trainer Keri Brion, whose stable includes both flat and steeplechase horses, has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) after a horse she trained allegedly tested positive for cocaine following a Sept. 19 race at Presque Isle Downs. The horse, Chasing After You (Speightstown), won the race, a $25,000 claiming event.

Provisional suspensions can result in suspensions of up to two years. The suspension has been postponed because Brion has yet to either request a split sample or inform HIWU that she has waived her right to have a split sample tested. Brion had one starter Saturday, sending out Crabs N Beer (Blofeld) to a fifth-place finish in the Maryland Million Turf S. at Laurel.

Brion took to X Friday to proclaim her innocence.

“For those of you who know me know that this is not an accurate depiction of my operation,” she tweeted. “I have retained a lawyer & we will fight to the end to clear my name. She came back w/a lvl under 200 PICOgrams–clear contamination. I'm hopeful facts/common sense will prevail.”

 

Brion has hired attorney Drew Mollica.

“We are in the process of evaluating the evidence and will have more to say next week,” Mollica said. “We intend a vigorous defense of the case.”

The Brion matter was posted to the HIWU website Friday. Mollica said he was under the impression that HIWU suspensions would not be made public until after the results of a split sample had been received.

“I am surprised that before any B sample came back this became a public issue,” Mollica said.

Brion is the second trainer to be provisionally suspended for a cocaine positive in little more than a month. HIWU has charged that the R. McLane Hendriks-trainee Princess Javoncia (Animal Kingdom) tested positive for cocaine after an Aug. 16 race at Penn National.

Brion was a long-time assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard before going out on her own in 2021 when Sheppard retired. She has won 73 races from 585 career starters. Her accomplishments include finishing one-two-three in the 2021 Jonathan Sheppard S., named for her mentor.

The post Trainer Keri Brion Provisionally Suspended By HIWU appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Two Grooms at Saratoga Arrested for Felony Cocaine Possession

Two licensed grooms were arrested Thursday on felony charges of cocaine possession and intent to sell after a police investigation of the Saratoga Race Course backstretch.

The Saratoga Springs Police Department's Special Investigations Unit–who worked in tandem with the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office and New York Racing Association (NYRA) security–arrested Jose Hidalgo, 59, and Guadalupe Montesdecoa-Aguilar, 36, for possession of
over 200 grams of cocaine.

According to the Times-Union, the employees have worked for trainer Charlton Baker, who is not implicated in any criminal activity.
Hidalgo and Montesdecoa-Aguilar have been arraigned in Saratoga Springs City Court and held without bail, according to police.

The post Two Grooms at Saratoga Arrested for Felony Cocaine Possession appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Baggage Handler To Horse Racing Millionaire: Industry Regulators Not Able To Keep Criminals Out?

Australian horse racing authorities have come under fire for allowing alleged cocaine kingpin Damion Flower to operate at the sport's highest level, according to an investigation printed by abc.net.au.

The former airline baggage handler was denied a license as a groom in August of 2013 because of his history of violence and bankruptcy, but four years later regulators accepted Flower's check for $1.8 million to help create one of the world's richest horse races, The Everest.

It was apparently Flower's part-ownership of Australian Group 1 winner and leading sire Snitzel that helped convince the regulatory body, Racing New South Wales.

“In the circumstances, it could not be reasonably suggested that a person who made many millions of dollars from selling shares in a horse that cost him $260,000, while retaining an ongoing revenue stream in Australia's No.1 performing stallion, is not a person of considerable means,” Racing NSW general counsel Pete Sweney said in a statement to abc.net.au.

Flower was arrested in May of 2019, and eventually pleaded guilty to importing 228 kilograms of pure cocaine from South Africa on 12 flights since 2016. At his sentencing hearing last Friday, Flower's attorney told the court Flower was “weak but not beyond redemption.”

“Mr Flower failed to have the fortitude to withdraw from the enterprise,” Francis said, according to news.com.au. “This was an isolated breach in criminality.”

Flower and his co-conspirator John Mafiti are due to be sentenced in February 2022.

According to Nick McTaggart, Australia's most senior operational officer investigating money laundering until he retired in 2016, organized crime has a long history with horse racing.

“The criminals are able to operate in plain sight,” McTaggart told abc.net.au. “The beauty about the horseracing game is that you can either buy such assets individually, or you can buy them with a group of other people, which doesn't diminish your wealth, but doesn't allow asset confiscation groups to make a complete claim on your assets.

Between 2013 and 2019, Flower purchased over $30 million of Thoroughbreds between Australia's auction houses, Inglis and Magic Millions. He would follow those purchases by selling off shares to investors.

McTaggart also said that racing's regulators are not in a position to be able to stop criminals like Flower.

“It's not within Racing NSW's bailiwick or charter to be doing background checks on the individuals involved in horseracing, unless they have a suspicion that these individuals are actually doing something by way of illegal activity with a horse or fixing races or issues like that,” McTaggart told abc.net.au. “So, their ability to be able to scrutinize activity is fairly limited in its terms.”

Read more at abc.net.au and news.com.au.

The post Baggage Handler To Horse Racing Millionaire: Industry Regulators Not Able To Keep Criminals Out? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights