Daniel Werre | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has vacated the sanctions it imposed on trainer Joe Sharp following five positive tests for levamisole in horses who ran at Churchill Downs in November 2019. A KHRC ruling issued Thursday and first reported by Blood-Horse, read, “Due to the de-classification of levamisole in August 2015 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, all penalties previously assessed to Owner/Trainer Joe Sharp in Stewards' Rulings #21-0006, #21-0008, #21-0010, #21-0011 and #21-0012 are hereby vacated.”

Sharp was suspended 30 days and fined $2,500 by the KHRC last January for the levamisole positives. The trainer also had eight horses test positive for the drug at Fair Grounds and was issued $1,000 fine for each horse, but not suspended for the Louisiana violations. He blamed the levamisole positives on an over-the-counter dewormer he had purchased and used to treat his horses.

While announcing his client was appealing the KHRC decision last January, attorney Clark Brewster told TDN, “The stewards sent out this notice saying [levamisole] is a class B drug. Not only is it not a class B, it's not listed at all. They held a hearing where I strongly urged them to dismiss this and they got real quiet. Then they returned a suspension of 30 days and fines. It was truly astonishing. We expect public servants to apply the law based on what is set forth.”

Brewster said that levamisole is only prohibited when it metabolizes into the drug aminorex, which he said did not happen in the case of Sharp's horses. He also pointed to a 2015 case in which the KHRC suspended trainer Daniel Werre for a full year after a levamisole positive. The suspension was reversed by the Franklin Circuit Court, which cited its finding that the KHRC had improperly classified the drug at the time. Werre was eventually given a seven-day suspension.

The post KHRC Vacates Levamisole Rulings Against Sharp appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Trainer Joe Sharp has been hit with a 30-day suspension and fined $2,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) after five horses he trained tested positive for the medication levamisole during a 16-day period at Churchill Downs in November, 2019.

Sharp has said that the levamisole was found in an over-the-counter dewormer he purchased and used to treat his horses. He said he consulted with veterinarians before using the product and was told that it complied with pertinent racing and medication regulations.

In addition to the Kentucky positives, eight Sharp-trained horses tested positive at the Fair Grounds around the same time. For the Louisiana violations, Sharp was not suspended, but did have to pay a $1,000 fine for each horse.

The Kentucky commission could have suspended Sharp 150 days, or 30 days for each positive, but decided not to do so because Sharp was not notified of the initial positive before the others occurred.

Sharp's suspension is scheduled to run from Feb. 12 through Mar. 13. However, his attorney, Clark Brewster said that an appeal will be filed and he expects to get a stay of the suspension before Feb. 12.

According to the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) website, levamisole is a Class 2 drug and carries a B penalty. With Class B medication violations, the minimum penalty suggested by the ACRI is a 15-day suspension and a $500 fine for the first violation.

Brewster's defense will rest on his contention that levamisole itself is not a banned substance in Kentucky. Brewster said that levamisole is only prohibited when it metabolizes into a more serious drug, aminorex, which, he said, did not happen in the case of Sharp's horses. Aminorex is a stimulant and, under ARCI classifications is a Class 1 drug.

Brewster also cited a 2015 cause in which the KHRC suspended trainer Daniel Werre for a full year after a levamisole positive. The suspension was reversed by the Franklin Circuit Court, which cited its finding that the KHRC had improperly classified the drug at the time. Werre was eventually given a seven-day suspension.

“The stewards sent out this notice saying [levamisole] is a class B drug,” Brewster said. “Not only is it not a class B, it's not listed at all. They held a hearing where I strongly urged them to dismiss this and they got real quiet. Then they returned a suspension of 30 days and fines. It was truly astonishing, We expect public servants to apply the law based on what is set forth.

Brewster continued, “He was initially denied stalls at the Fair Grounds and owners pulled horses from him. That's all because the stewards issued a notice of positives on him and didn't even understand what was and was not on their list. Once they took that course, they weren't courageous enough to look back and make the right call.”

The five Sharp-trained horses who tested positive in Kentucky are Street Dazzle (Street Sense), Blackberry Wine (Oxbow), Chitto (Into Mischief), Zero Gravity (Orb) and Art Collector (Bernardini). All five have been disqualified. Blackberry Wine and Art Collector won the races in questions, Art Collector was later taken away from Sharp and turned over to Tom Drury. He went on to win the GII Blue Grass S. and the Ellis Park Derby.

The post Joe Sharp Handed 30-Day Suspension, Will Appeal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post