Tag: dan patch award

Hall Of Fame Trainer Fighting Testosterone Positive For Harness Racing Champion

Perfect Sting, named 3-year-old male pacing champion of 2021 by the U.S. Harness Writers Association when Dan Patch Award winners were announced on Dec. 20, was subsequently found to have failed a drug test from the $148,332 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Meadows that took place six months earlier.

The ruling, published  at the United States Trotting Association website on Dec. 31 and reported at HarnessLink.com, stated that Perfect Sting tested positive for testosterone at a level of 3,765 pg/ml. A split sample subsequently confirmed the finding at a level of 3,635/pg/ml.

Trainer Joseph Holloway has been suspended 15 days from Jan. 17, 2022, through Jan. 31, 2022, and fined $500. Perfect Sting, who was elevated to first place in the Pennsylania Sire Stakes via disqualification of the original first-place finisher, has been disqualified from his win, with $74,166 in purse money ordered returned and redistributed.

Perfect Sting, also the champion 2-year-old pacer in 2020, was harness racing's richest performer in 2021 (prior to this ruling). Holloway, a member of the Harness Racing Museum Hall of Fame, was recipient of the Dan Patch Good Guy Award in 2021.

Holloway, who has appealed the ruling, contends Perfect Sting was never given testosterone, according to a report in HarnessLink.com. Instead, he suggests, the testosterone level of Perfect Sting – an intact horse – may have spiked naturally through proximity to an in-heat mare or other reason. Levels for testosterone for females and gelded males are more predictable than full colts and stallions.

“Stallions can have seasonal highs and lows for testosterone levels,” said Dr. Mary Scollay, executive director and chief operating officer of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. “That's why RMTC does not recommend a threshold level for testosterone.”

Pennsylvania may be the only racing state that has a threshold level for testosterone for intact male horses, apparently set at 3,000 pg/ml.

Holloway told HarnessLink.com he has sent hair samples from Perfect Sting to a laboratory in the United Kingdom that he said “can tell whether the testosterone at that time was given to him, or  it is just natural in his system at such a high level.”

Read more at HarnessLink.com

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Bittersweet Ending To The Season For Trainer, Co-Owner Of Top Pacer Bettor’s Wish

For Chris Ryder, the next few weeks are going to be bittersweet.

Bettor's Wish, a moderately priced pacing colt Ryder picked up as a yearling for $20,000, will end his racing career. After more than 20 wins and $2.4 million in earnings, Bettor's Wish will head off to stud at Diamond Creek Farm in Pennsylvania in 2021.

Sunday's Potomac Pace Invitational at Rosecroft will be one of the 4-year-old's last starts.

“Oh, it's going to be tough,” said trainer and co-owner Ryder. “He's part of the family. He's a beautiful horse to have around the barn. He's never any trouble, always does everything right. He's been a real gift.

“What do you say? He shows up every week. He's a horse of a lifetime.”

“He's like an old mate,” said driver Dexter Dunn.

Along with victories this year in the Sam McKee Memorial, Dayton Pacing Derby and the Allerage Open Pace, where he set a track record, Bettor's Wish finished second Oct. 31 in the $500,000 Breeders Crown Open.

Recipient of the 2019 Dan Patch Award for best 3-year-old male pacer, Bettor's Wish has rewarded Ryder and his connections with some special memories. Last year Bettor's Wish won the Art Rooney Pace, the Matron Stakes, and a division of the Tattersalls Pace. His second-place finishes came in the North American Cup, Meadowlands Pace, Messenger Stakes and TVG Series Open Pace.

Not bad for a $20,000 yearling. “I guess he slipped through the cracks,” Ryder said.

“He's such a gutsy horse,” said Dunn before the Breeders Crown in October. “His attitude is amazing and makes my job easy because he's so versatile. It's not an easy move [from ages 3 to 4], but you know he's going to go out there and give you 100 percent.

“I'll miss him, that's for sure.”

Considered the top older pacer this year, Bettor's Wish enters the Potomac Pace after finishing behind Century Farroh in the Breeders Crown as the betting favorite. Bettor's Wish, who drew post 9 in the Breeders Crown, will leave from Post 5 Sunday evening while Century Farroh leaves from Post 4. Backstretch Shadow (third in the Breeders Crown) and This Is The Plan (fourth in the Breeders Crown), both trained by Ron Burke, will also leave inside Bettor's Wish.

Despite the loss in the Breeders Crown, Ryder is optimistic heading into the Potomac Pace.

“He's doing fine and came out of the Breeders Crown fine,” Ryder said. “The post killed us [in the Breeders Crown]. The horse who beat us is a good horse and had a good trip. We're looking forward to the race at Rosecroft. Hopefully, we'll get a good trip.”

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