In response, the CHRB have denied a stay of the stewards' decision but stated that it will “assign a Hearing Officer in this matter where the issue of timeliness of the appeal and appeal itself will be heard and a proposed decision submitted to the Board for consideration,” according to an order issued by the CHRB Tuesday.

The plaintiffs in the appeal are owners China Horse Club International Limited, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, WinStar Farm, jockey Mike Smith and trainer Bob Baffert.

After the New York Times first reported that Justify had tested positive post-race for scopolamine, Mick Ruis, owner-trainer of the runner-up that day, Bolt d'Oro, sought to have the result of the race overturned with Bolt d'Oro declared the winner.

Ruis alleged that the CHRB failed to follow its own rules when it decided not to pursue penalties after Justify's positive test. The CHRB argued that Justify should not be disqualified because the positive test was the result of contamination linked to jimson weed.

At the end of last year, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered the CHRB to set aside the stewards' 2020 decision and issue a new ruling disqualifying winner Justify from the Santa Anita Derby.

Early in March, the CHRB reached a separate settlement that called for the agency to pay Ruis $300,000, and to order a redistribution of the $1-million purse.

In last week's notice, Amanda Groves, who represents Justify's connections, argued that grounds for an appeal included how the plaintiffs were not a party to the lawsuit between Ruis and the CHRB, leading to “Procedural irregularities and denial of due process and/or a fair and impartial hearing.”

Groves also reiterated the CHRB's original claim, writing that “it is undisputed that the positive scopolamine test was a result of environmental contamination due to inadvertent exposure to jimsonweed in hay/straw.”

BloodHorse reported that Ruis's attorneys had filed a response arguing that none of the grounds raised in the appeal are relevant.

When asked about the contents of the letter, Darrell Vienna, who represents Ruis, told the TDN that the CHRB issued the disqualification order “because they were ordered to do so by the court.”

The court did not demand that the CHRB hold another hearing on the matter, Vienna added. “It just issued an order to disqualify the horse, Justify, and to redistribute the purse,” he said.

“If the Justify parties have issue with that, that issue should be addressed at the Superior Court, in my opinion,” said Vienna. “If the court orders a subordinate agency to do something, they must do it.”

According to last week's notice of appeal, Justify's first-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby accrued the owners a combined $585,000, while Smith and Baffert each received $58,450.

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Between June 2 and July 4 last year, seven different Pineda-trainees tested positive for Diisopropylamine—a banned substance under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)—after running at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos. During that period, the Pineda-trained Bella Renella (Clubhouse Ride) ran and won twice at Santa Anita.

The ruling followed a full in-person evidentiary hearing at the JAMS Resolution Center in Irvine, California, on Feb. 27, presided over by arbitrator Nancy Holtz.

“One of the arguments that I made but that I believe in is that the punishment should fit the violation or the crime. But in this case, there is no connection between the conduct or the alleged conduct of Mr. Pineda and the 15 years and the nearly $200,000 in fines,” said attorney Darrell Vienna, who represented Pineda.

“This is just another example of the overreach and the unfairness of HISA and HIWU,” said Vienna, adding that he was unsure whether Pineda would appeal the decision.

Holtz's ruling is by far the harshest penalty meted out since the federal ADMC program went into effect last May.

HIWU classifies Diisopropylamine (DIPA) as a vasodilator, which is a substance that dilates the blood vessels to allow blood to flow more freely through them. Diisopropylamine is also found in several everyday items like tobacco and beauty products, and hand sanitizer.

Indeed, according to the final ruling, Pineda argued that he had “never knowingly or intentionally administered DIPA to his horses,” and that the positive tests likely resulted from the use of certain feed supplements, or cross-contamination through the use of hand sanitizers by official testing barn personnel at Santa Anita Park or Los Alamitos.

Among other claims, Pineda argued that the chain of custody of certain samples “was not done in a way to preserve the integrity of the samples,” and that the testing conducted on one of Bella Renella's B-Samples “was not properly conducted” either, according to the final ruling.

Holtz dismissed these arguments.

“Mr. Pineda has failed to establish no fault or negligence or no significant fault or negligence,” the ruling states, arguing that Pineda failed to prove that the “source was contamination of feed supplements,” and that “there is unrefuted evidence that the hand sanitizer at the test barn of Santa Anita Park and Los Alamitos was not used” by the official personnel.

Holtz also found that Pineda's challenges to the proper chain of custody of the samples failed “at the first step, as he has not established any departure from the Laboratory Standards,” and that questions surrounding the validity of Bella Renella's B-Sample analysis is moot due to the positive findings of the other samples.

A maximum first anti-doping rules violation under HISA for a Diisopropylamine positive is two years. Holtz determined that the seven separate rules violations came to 14 years to be served consecutively.

On the back of his provisional suspension, Pineda transferred care of his horses to trainer Salvador Naranjo, who in turn hired Filberto Alvarado, a former employee and groom of Pineda.

Holtz's rulings finds Pineda guilty of “program training” in breach of his provisional suspension, for which HIWU sought an additional one year ban and $5,000 fine for aggravating circumstances.

“There is evidence that Mr. Pineda has flagrantly disregarded the ADMC Program by breaching his Provisional Suspension and prior Ineligibility, and also exhibited deceptive or obstructive conduct by refusing to allow HIWU investigators to search his phone,” the rulings states.

“Throughout his Provisional Suspension (September 15, 20, 22, 26 and October 19), Mr. Pineda was seen on multiple occasions attending at Los Alamitos watching his Covered Horses train and meeting with both Mr. Naranjo and Mr. Alvarado,” the ruling states.

According to the final ruling, Pineda admitted that he went to the track regularly, “but not to 'program train' (i.e. not to provide instructions to Mr. Naranjo or Alvarado on how to train his former horses), but rather only to pass the time.”

Aside from Bella Renella, the other six Pineda trainees who tested positive for Diisopropylamine were Flatterwithjewels, Big Splash, Chollima, Catbernay, Keep Your Coil and Wegonahaveagoodtime.

These trainees all won the respective races for which they subsequently tested positive, except Flatterwithjewels, who finished second at Santa Anita on June 9 last year.

Holtz fined Pineda $180,000 and ordered him to pay $15,000 towards HIWU's share of the arbitration costs of the proceedings. His 15-year suspension began Mar. 12.

Pineda has worked in the racing industry as a groom, exercise rider, pony rider, assistant trainer, and trainer for most of his life, the ruling states. According to Equibase, Pineda has been training since 2019, winning 49 races from 333 runners.

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At issue was a report in the New York Times that revealed that Justify had tested positive for the substance scopolamine in the Santa Anita Derby. At the time, scopolamine was on a list of substances that, when found in a horses's system, required that the horse be disqualified. According to reports and Ruis's lawyer, the CHRB acted on recommendations from then-executive director Rick Baedeker and equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur. It was their call that Justify should not be disqualified because the positive test was the result of contamination linked to jimson weed.

Had the New York Times not broken the story some 17 months after the Santa Anita Derby, probably, no one would have ever known that the horse had tested positive. Once the story was brought to light, Ruis went to work and hired attorney Darrell Vienna. Ruis stood to make $400,000, the difference between first and second-place money in the $1-million Santa Anita Derby.

There are, however, a few remaining questions:

1) Is this the final word or may there be still more appeals and fights in the courts?

“There is the potential for appeal,” Vienna said. “My understanding of the judge's order is that the stewards must now issue an order to disqualify Justify. There's the potential that the stewards' ruling can't be appealed. That's kind of confusing because they're under the order of the court. Now, is there going to be an appeal to the judgment of the Superior Court judge. They could appeal to the stewards, the court, one or the other or both. Hopefully, there will be no more appeals and we can just move on.”

2) All of the qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby that Justify picked up came from the Santa Anita Derby. Had the California stewards disqualified him from that race and did so in a timely manner, he would not have been eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby and obviously wouldn't have won the Triple Crown. Do the owners of the horses who finished behind Justify in the Triple Crown races have a case and could, say, Good Magic (Curlin) eventually be declared the winner of the 2018 Derby?

“I don't think so,” Vienna said. “I am aware of a case in California in which there was the appeal of a winner of a race who had subsequently been disqualified from a qualifying race that got him into the race he won. In that case, the California courts held that the horse's eligibility was determined at time of nomination and participation. Under those circumstances, I don't believe there will be any change in the order of the Kentucky Derby or the other Triple Crown races.”

A spokesperson for Churchill Downs told Horseracing Nation that the track has no plans to alter the result of the 2018 Derby.

3) How did this ever become the mess that it did? And why didn't the CHRB follow its own rules?

Vienna maintains that if the California Horse Racing Board followed it own rules the case would have been cut and dried and dealt with promptly. He maintains that the rules were simple and not open to interpretation. He says that any horse that tested positive for a prohibited substance had to be disqualified.

“It's all very simple,” he said. “All they had to do was follow their own rules. There was never any real determination of what happened after the closed session. The closed session lacked finality and lacked all the indices of true decision making.  There was no notice to the involved parties. There were no witnesses. All you had was Dr. Rick Arthur making the argument that scopolamine was the result of contamination. The problem is the rules in California at the time called for the disqualification of a horse who was positive for a prohibited substance that was in classes 2 through 3, which scopolamine was. They could have correctly absolved Mr. Baffert or any one else of any responsibility and still under law be required to disqualify the horse. That was the gist of our case. That's all we ever asked for. Our case was based solely on the fact that there was prohibited medication in that horse's system and, as a result of that, the rules called for the horse to be disqualified. I don't think it was very confusing at all.”

4) The process dragged on for some 4 1/2 years and if not for the New York Times report, it may never have been known that Justify tested plosive for the substance. Was the CHRB trying to sweep this under the rug?

“I think that is the case,” Vienna said. “In one executive session, they were provided with one side of the story and they wanted it to go away. There is a process in California law that provides for dismissal of a complaint, but if you look at the history of the statute in California it really applies to charges against a trainer and not the dismissal of a disqualification. That would conflict with another statute in California that says that no horse can benefit if they are carrying a degree of a substance in his system.

“Mick, like all of us is worn out, but he is pleased. This happened in 2018 and no one knew anything about it until 2019. That's a tremendously long journey for something. It could have been settled right away if horse racing board simply decided to follow their owns rules.”

Can Full-Brothers Win the Derby Back to Back?

With his win in the GII Remsen S., Dornoch (Good Magic) is on his way to the GI Kentucky Derby, where will try to pull off something that has never been done. He is a full-bother to GI 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and siblings, either full-brothers or half-brothers, have never teamed up to win the Derby.

To show just how difficult that feat is, take Secretariat. His dam, Somethingroyal, produced four foals who made it to the races after Secretariat. They combined to win three races with total earnings of $38,241.

There have been a couple of dams who produced more than one win in a Triple Crown races. Thanks to research done by Randy Moss of NBC Sports, we know that the dam Leisure produced two Preakness winners in Royal Tourist (1908) and Holiday (1914). Better Than Honour was the dam of 2006 GI Belmont S. winner Jazil (Seeking the Gold) and 2007 winner Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy).

As for Dornoch, a lot will have to go right for him to win the 2024 Derby, but at this point in the game, he's far ahead of where Mage was at the same point. The Remsen was Dornoch's fourth career start and with the Remsen, he has added a graded stakes win to his record. Mage didn't start until Jan. 28 of this 3-year-old year and had not won a stakes race coming into the Kentucky Derby.

Noble Indy Makes It Home

Remember the story of Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy), the winner of the 2018 GII Louisiana Derby? He never ran back to that race and wound up being sent to Puerto Rico, where racing can often lead to the worst possible outcomes. Well, Fred Hart, who owned the dam of Noble Indy, Noble Maz (Storm Boot) was determined to bring him back home. Working together with Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare Inc., he has made that happen and Noble Indy landed at Old Friends last week. It's worth noting that Mike Repole and WinStar Farms, who were two of his owners during his prime racing days, foot the costs required to transport the horse back to the U.S. It's good to see owners accept the responsibilities that come with providing a good life for their horses after their careers are over.

The post The Week in Review: Takeaways from Justify-Scopolamine Verdict, and Other Thoughts appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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In addition, trainer Phil D'Amato was fined $1,000 and owners Scott Anasstasi, Jimmy Ukegawa and Tony Valazazz had to forfeit $194,000 in purse earnings. D'Amato and the owners waived their right to a formal hearing.

The Blood-Horse was the first to report the story.

Mofebutazone is a drug used for joint and muscular pain, but is not approved by the Federal Drug Administration for use in any species. Because it is not FDA approved, it is considered a banned substance under the Horse Racing Safety and Integrity Act (HISA). However, HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program did not go into effect until May 22. Had HISA rules been in place, D'Amato could have been charged with using a banned substance, which can result in a suspension of up two years and a $25,000 fine.

At deadline for this story, D'Amato's attorney Darrell Vienna had not returned a phone call from the TDN. He told the Blood-Horse, “We presented some evidence and it was reviewed by the stewards,” Vienna said. “Based upon the specific facts and circumstances in the case, the stewards reached what in my opinion was a fair and appropriate decision. What we're talking about is a substance that is essentially very weak (phenylbutazone). The substance, to my client's knowledge, he neither administered nor caused it to be administered. It was basically of unknown origin.”

This was the third disqualification from a race run during Kentucky Derby week due to a drug positive. In 2020, Gamine (Into Mischief) was disqualified after crossing the wire third in the GI Kentucky Oaks after testing positive for betamethasone for trainer Bob Baffert. The following year, the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit (Protonico) also tested positive for betamethasone after crossing the wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby. Owner Amr Zedan is still contesting Medina Spirit's disqualification in court.

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The Paulick Report was first with the story.

The infraction occurred in a five-furlong maiden special weight race on the turf with the gelding Insanity It Seems (Tale of the Cat), who won by 2 1/4 lengths. The horse, who is also owned by Ward, has not run back since.

Ward said he did not consider filing an appeal.

“What are you going to do?” he said. “When you appeal and go down that road things can get tough and you wind up paying a lot in lawyer bills.”

Because there were positives for two drugs, the penalties could have been more harsh, but, according to co-counsel Drew Mollica, the Monmouth stewards concluded that the presence of metformin in and of itself did not warrant a significant fine or suspension.

“The science proved that the metformin was at such a trace amount that they concluded there were mitigating circumstances,” said Mollica, who was co-counsel along with Darrell Vienna. “They took into account that metformin was a derivative of contamination. The penalty is indicative of the finding that only the naproxen was an issue and that the metformin was a result of contamination. Without the mitigation, the penalty could have been much harder. So we are appreciative of the New Jersey Commission paying attention to the science and buying into our argument.”

Naproxen, also known as the over-the-counter analgesic Aleve, is a regulated anti-inflammatory drug. According to the website Equimed.com, it can be used in horses to treat lameness,  musculoskeletal pain from soft tissue injury, muscle soreness and bone and joint problems. Metformin is a human drug prescribed for type II diabetes. In horses, it may be prescribed if a horse cannot exercise due to laminitis, or if insulin levels are very high.

Ward said he did not know how the naproxen got into the horse's system.

“I shipped to Monmouth to another trainer's barn and his staff ran the horse for me,” he said. “He's a great friend of mine and when the results came back, I was surprised to hear what happened. I know the rules are rules and the stewards have to do what they have to do. I'm just going to try to keep doing the best I can.”

The Monmouth race marked the second time Ward has had a positive for metformin. His Averly Jane (Midshipman) tested positive for the drug in the April 28, 2021 Kentucky Juvenile S. at Churchill Downs. That offense resulted in a 15-day suspension.

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Last week, trainers Wesley Ward and Larry Rivelli issued a letter through the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) critiquing various aspects of the national program for “too many flaws, missteps and costs that could have been averted with true inclusion and transparency in its development.”

Earlier this week, HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus conducted a zoom conference with Ward, along with attorney and former trainer Darrell Vienna, to grapple with the points raised in Ward's letter.

Issued Wednesday, Vienna released his own open letter to Lazarus, addressing six main points that he said were discussed during Monday's zoom conference.

The topics cover Vienna's thoughts on the financial assessments, the way in which therapeutic and illegal substances have been divided, the new system of detection times and screening limits vs. the old system of withdrawal guidelines and thresholds, HISA's environmental contamination policy, industry input into HISA's working framework, and the new whip rules.

Substantively speaking, Vienna's letter overlaps the contents of an open letter Charles Scheeler, the chair of the HISA board of directors, issued Tuesday addressing what he sees as “misinformation” about the law, in the process arguing that HISA's drug testing program protects “good-faith horsemen,” that HISA's rules “seek to protect” small racetracks and racing jurisdictions, and that HISA has “consistently sought feedback from horsemen” across the country. Read Scheeler's full letter here.

In his open letter, Vienna writes that there is “an apparent and obvious inequity” in the way HISA has calculated its fee assessments.

“For example,” writes Vienna, “Charles Town's annual purse money ($35,000,000) and Keeneland's annual purse money ($32,000,000) are similar; however, Keeneland's HISA Assessment is half of Charles Town's HISA assessment.”

Vienna also takes issue with HISA's environmental contamination protocols, which appear to include only a slim number of substances.

“The vast majority of prohibited substances are not subject to the Atypical Findings Policy. The Policy only applies to initial findings of HISA specified substances, endogenous substances, ractopamine, zilpaterol, and substances not listed on the Prohibited Substances list,” Vienna writes.

“Contrary to HISA's assertion of trainer friendliness, HISA's policy is among the most trainer unfriendly contamination policies in horseracing because it excludes a vast number of substances from the Atypical Findings Policy,” Vienna adds.

Ultimately, writes Vienna, “HISA rules have not been so tested and do not appear superior to ARCI model rules. Rather than rewriting the book, it may be better to see those model rules adopted and enforced uniformly throughout racing jurisdictions. If there was a concerted effort toward that goal, I believe that uniform racing and medication rules would already be the law of the land.”

Read Vienna's full letter here.

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Among the top horses raced by the Cohens–sometimes in partnership–were GISWs Janet (GB) (Emperor Jones), River Boyne (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), and Dr. Schivel (Violence). The stable most recently took the leading owner title at the 2022 Santa Anita fall and winter meets and is currently leading the Del Mar meet. Their most recent win came in the final race Saturday at Del Mar in an optional allowance with Percolate (Ire) (Sir Percy {GB}). The operation often bought ready-made racehorses in Europe and had success in bringing them to compete stateside.

According to his son, Tim Cohen, Jed Cohen had been involved in horse racing for about 61 years and was brought to the sport through his own father's pocket-change forays in the Big Apple.

“His father loved horse racing,” said Tim. “His father and three other people would pool 50 cents together to make a $2 bet in New York.”

A backbone of the California racing industry for decades, Jed Cohen's “greatest achievement,” said Tim, was the “the achievement of others. He was always immensely happy with everyone associated in the victories. His greatest victory was the joy of others.”

That, “and he just had this genuine love of people and horses,” said Tim. “We never wanted the last race out of a horse. We always wanted them treated the right way. If there was a problem, we stopped. He never wanted a horse to run if it wasn't exactly right.”

Former trainer Darrell Vienna, who enjoyed tremendous success with horses racing in Cohen's colors, concurs.

“He was the perfect owner. If a horse needed rest, he absolutely insisted on it. His attitude was, 'let's do the best by the horse,'” said Vienna, who estimated that he had known Cohen for more than 30 years.

“He was just a really special person,” Vienna said. “After I retired from training, we kept in close contact. We spoke regularly about racing, about life and politics.”

Though an astute handicapper, Cohen kept it small–like his own father. “A big bet for him would be $20. He just loved analyzing races,” said Vienna. “I'll miss having access to his wisdom and his kindness. He was an exceptional listener–he was always paying attention. He was just a unique, extraordinary person. He's a big loss to horse racing but an even bigger loss to anyone who knew him.”

Cohen is survived by his wife, Bobbie; as well as his children Tim, Mark, and Linda; and two grandsons.

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Fifteen of those 30 days have been stayed, however, due to Ward's overall record and number of violations, and on condition that the trainer receives no Class A or Class B medication violations over the next year.

Ward will serve the other 15 days of the suspension between Jan. 26 and Feb. 9.

Averly Jane was also disqualified and all purse monies are forfeited, according to the stewards ruling dated Jan. 25.

Not an equine medication, metformin is among the most commonly prescribed human medications in the U.S. It is used in the treatment of type II diabetes, reducing glucose production in the liver and the uptake of glucose by the intestine.

The Association of Racing Commissioners International classify it a Class 2B drug.

According to Ward's attorney, Darrell Vienna, Ward had not administered metformin to Averly Jane and that all the evidence suggests it was a case of environmental contamination.

As such, Vienna said that he presented the following question to the stewards.

“What is more plausible: That a trainer like Ward with an international reputation would have administered or caused to be administered an easily detectable substance with no impact on performance in minute quantities? Or that it resulted from contamination of feed, hay, human contact?”

According to Vienna, “there was not a single bit of evidence on the regulatory side other than the detection of a small amount of this substance in the horse's system.”

That amount, Vienna said, was in the parts per billion.

According to Vienna, the nature of the violation didn't warrant a suspension.

“I searched all the records in the United States and I found two prior cases [of metformin positives] that resulted in $1,000 fines,” Vienna said.

Vienna also explained that in 2019, the Kentucky legislature approved a rule change essentially modifying the trainer absolute insurer rule “by permitting trainers to introduce what they deemed substantial evidence of mitigating circumstances for which a lesser or no penalty would be appropriate.”

The mitigating circumstances in this case, Vienna argued, further supported the rendering of a fine only.

After her win in the Kentucky Juvenile S., Averly Jane had two easy victories in the Skidmore S. at Saratoga and in the Indian Summer S., at Keeneland.

Her last racecourse appearance was a fifth-place finish in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Averly Jane is owned by Hat Creek Racing, a partnership led by Keeneland's vice president of racing, Gatewood Bell, himself a former Kentucky Horse Racing commissioner.

Over the last 10 years and comprising 4,615 starts, Ward has been penalized for two other medication violations, according to the Thoroughbredrulings website.

The KHRC issued Ward a $500 fine when Arcelor tested positive for methocarbamol after finishing first in the fifth race at Turfway Park on Dec. 2, 2016.

Prior to that, the New York State Gaming Commission served Ward a 30-day suspension and $1,000 fine after Sunset Time tested positive for clenbuterol after finishing third in the second race at Belmont Park on June 20, 2012.

“It happened and that's it,” said Ward, at the time. “I'm responsible for whatever the stewards give me. It is what it is. There are a lot of reasons it took so long for this to get resolved. It's for a medication I used to use to keep the lungs clean and everything working good. Unfortunately, this particular filly went over the permitted level. The rules are different now, and I don't use it at all.”

In June of 2020, the Florida Division of PariMutuel Wagering issued Ward a written warning after Summer Sangria tested positive for omeprazole sulfide, otherwise known as the ulcer medication Gastrogard.

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What to do? D'Amato assigned Say the Word to Paulina Cano, a groom with almost three decades of experience.

Burgoo Alley had gone winless through three starts in Ireland and D'Amato was downcast when he first laid eyes on her early last year. The unsettling overseas journey to the United States had taken a toll on the 3-year-old. She had dropped so much weight her ribs were visible.

What to do? He again turned to his go-to caretaker, the 59-year-old Cano.

“In terms of being a groom, Paulina is like the horse whisperer,” D'Amato said. “You can give her any kind of horse, ones with more cantankerous attitudes or quiet ones. She just has a way of making them happy. She finds a way to their heart.”

The once-antsy Say the Word responded last season with two wins and a pair of second-place finishes in seven starts. He set career highs for earnings with $353,500 and for earnings per start with 50,500 on behalf of Mark Martinez's Agave Racing Stable and breeder-owner Sam-Son Farm. Say The Word was plenty good in the spring, winning the Elkhorn Stakes (G2) at Keeneland last April and placing second in the Shoemaker Mile (G1) at his Santa Anita home base in his next start. He retained his form until the end of the season, rallying from last to bring home the Hollywood Turf Cup (G2) and help D'Amato to his first training title at Del Mar's fall meet.

Burgoo Alley also quickly thrived under Cano's care.

“Within a week or two flat, you'd be amazed at how much weight she put on and how good her coat was,” D'Amato said. “It was all that hard work that she put into the filly to feed her and take care of her and make sure she was happy.”

Owned by CYBT, Michael Nentwig and Ray Pagano, Burgoo Alley emerged as a turf standout. She broke her maiden going six furlongs on June 20 at Santa Anita in her second U.S. start. She easily handled the move to a mile on grass, prevailing in an allowance optional claiming race during Del Mar's salty summer meet in mid-August. She emerged as a graded-stakes winner on turf when a late rush allowed her to edge Spanish Loveaffair by half a length in the one-mile Autumn Miss Stakes on Oct. 30 at Santa Anita.

Cano points to Echo Eddie as her greatest success. He debuted by running for a $12,500 claiming tag at Bay Meadows on Oct. 3, 1999. By the time his career was over at the end of the 2003 season, the former claimer turned multiple stakes winner had banked more than $1 million in purses for trainer Darrell Vienna.

Not surprisingly, Vienna did everything possible to retain Cano. They were together for 24 years before Vienna retired in the spring of 2016.

D'Amato was ecstatic when he was able to hire her.

“Good grooms are extremely hard to come by. It's starting to become a lost art,” the trainer said. “It's a very skilled profession and it takes someone who can extend TLC to them and try to find all of the little things without them talking to you. It's just all about body language and taking care of their needs.”

Cano grew up with horses and cows at her family's farm in Santa Rosa, Guatemala. Her husband, Jose Dolares, ventured to the U.S. in 1993 to begin a career as a groom that is ongoing. He works at a nearby barn at Santa Anita for trainer Richard Baltas. At Dolares' urging, Cano followed a year later.

“It was a better life. I could make more money. I loved the United States since the first day I got here,” Cano said during a phone interview, with assistant trainer Rudy Cruz acting as interpreter.

Cano's work ethic and attitude have everything to do with her success. She is one of the first to arrive at the barn from her home in Duarte, Calif. She always comes bearing treats of all kinds.

“I try to never bring problems here,” she said. “I try to always be nice to horses. I love them and am kind to them and they are nice to me.”

According to Cano, in a career that has also taken her to Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana and even Singapore, she has never encountered a Thoroughbred she could not manage.

“Maybe the first day it's kind of difficult to get along with one, but I find a way,” she said. “By being nice and being patient, it gets better and better.”

She and her husband have one son, Luis Alfonso Salazar Cano, 44. He built a career as a surgeon's assistant at a California hospital.

Cano became a U.S. citizen 15 years ago and said: “I am very happy and thankful to be an American citizen.”

She feels relatively secure financially.

“I don't need that much money,” she said. “I saved my money, so it's good.”

As physically demanding as her job can be, she has no plans to retire. When that time comes, she intends to maintain her emotional ties to the barn.

“If that happens one day, and I know it's going to happen, I'd ask Phil about coming back and feeding the horses when I can,” she said.

D'Amato, another participant in the call, assured her she would always be welcome.

The post Kirkpatrick & Co. Presents In Their Care: Groom Paulina Cano ‘Just Has A Way Of Making Them Happy’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Ruis Racing owned Bolt d'Oro, the Santa Anita Derby runner-up, who would have been in line for the race's $600,000 first-place purse (he earned $200,000 for second).

Press Release:

This morning, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff overruled the CHRB's attempt to have the purse disqualification matter dismissed involving the horse Justify and allowed the matter to go forward. Ruis Racing LLC has alleged that the CHRB's failure to disqualify Justify from the 2018 Santa Anita Derby after testing positive for a prohibited substance was a violation of its own mandatory rules.

Ruis Racing attorneys Carlo Fisco and Darrell Vienna were encouraged by today's decision and look forward to finally bringing this matter to trial. Carlo Fisco stated: “We have a long way to go but are pleased that the court confirmed our client's undeniable claim in pursuing this case. Today was a technical hurdle introduced by the CHRB in attempt to escape its responsibility for the Justify debacle. We remain confident that the trial on this matter will expose the legal improprieties of the former CHRB Board and its former Equine Medical Director as well as the utter refusal by the CHRB Board of Stewards to correct an obvious injustice.”

Trial is expected to occur in mid-2022.

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