jonathan wong | Horse Racing Free Tips

Schoenthal Meth Case Resolved With 15-Day Suspension

The Phil Schoenthal pair of methamphetamine positives at Laurel Park, announced by HIWU on April 9, have been resolved with a 15-day sanction for the trainer, eight days of which have already been served, according to HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus.

Schoenthal was issued a provisional suspension after two of his horses, Prodigy Doll and Determined Driver, tested positive at Laurel on January 28 and February 9.

“I was informed today by HIWU that they took all of his evidence into consideration,” said HISA chief Lisa Lazarus, who said that the groom who took each horse in the paddock and an exercise rider in his barn both tested positive for meth, and that Schoenthal had already pre-emptively instituted a workplace program to warn employees about the dangers of environmental contamination.

“The HIWU team was really impressed with that,” said Lazarus. “What we've said was that if you made efforts to reduce your risk, that would mitigate your sanctions. That was essentially the rationale.”

Said Schoenthal, “I am pleased at the outcome. There were some very tenuous moments here in my week that were very trying for me, but I believed from the onset that common sense would dictate the outcome and I'd get a fair and equitable outcome, and I did.”

Schoenthal said that substance abuse on the backstretch was something that everyone in racing had to deal with. “I think the takeaway from my case, if it can serve to help others, is that you can't stop bad things from happening one hundred percent around your horses,” he said. “The onus is on us to be able to prove to HISA and HIWU that we did all that we could do to prevent this from happening and if you can prove that you did, I believe they're going to be fair with you.”

Schoenthal said that he had taken some valuable lessons away from the Jonathan Wong ruling, in February. Wong was suspended for two years and fined $25,000 after one of his horses tested positive for metformin. Had he not read the entire ruling, said Schoenthal, he would have made the same mistakes. “Obviously, as a concerned industry participant I've read every ruling and case that comes down the pike, and his ruling was a 50-page document that was posted on the website. I never met him, but I read his defenses, and it occurred to me if it were me, I'd have all the same defenses.”

“He took a polygraph test. I would have googled nearest polygraph expert and thought I was doing the right thing. He had a sworn affidavit saying his assistant told them not to pee in stalls. That wasn't good enough, and I would have done the same thing. I read that, digested it, and realized, `you know what? In the old regime, you would walk into the stewards' office and talk to a retired trainer or jockey who knew how the backstretch worked and were understanding with those things and believed you.' HIWU was given a set of rules they did not write. Their only their job is to enforce them. They are white-collar, smart, educated people, and come from a world where an employer has drug policies and HR policies. For the last 100 years, they have not been part of our world.”

“I sat down that weekend, and typed up a whole manual for my employees. Don't take your prescription medications at the barn, and if you have to, wash your hands. Don't pee in the stalls. Don't allow friends, families, and strangers to touch the horses. We bought some pizzas, and went through all of these things in English and Spanish, and had everyone sign the paper that they understood. We also put up signs that said don't pee in the stalls and tried to take a very proactive approach to the things that were in our control to mitigate the risk.”

Lazarus said that the manual and the meeting went a long way to prove that Schoenthal had taken steps to lessen his risk. Schoenthal said he called Alan Foreman right away, had everyone in the barn tested, and found the groom and the exercise rider tested positive for meth. “As such,” he said. “I could prove a clear path.”

“I have had a wonderful experience dealing with HIWU,” said Schoenthal. “They have been nothing but professional and helpful. I spoke with Lisa Lazarus and Ben Mosier several times. I told Lisa, `look, at the end of the day my employees tested positive for meth. I'm not trying to say here I deserve zero punishment and should be exonerated. I accept and admit that there is some part that my failures played in this.' I was prepared to take some days. The investigators who served me with the notice of the first positive were nice guys who treated me with respect and fairness. I do understand the rules are the rules and they're just enforcing the rules, but we still need to have some further conversation about what rules need to be changed. We need to get together as horsemen to see how we can make this better.”

In the end, said Schoenthal, his story should serve as a warning to others, just as Wong's did to him.

“This can happen to anybody,” he said. “There is nobody who is immune to a horse coming up positive. There's a lot of work to be done and I believe from talking to HISA that they are open to it. I was very grateful to HISA and HIWU, Lisa Lazarus, and their general counsel that they were very willing to listen to me.”

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Weaver Trained Horse Tests Positive for Metformin

According to the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) a horse trained by New York-based conditioner George Weaver has tested positive for the banned substance metformin. Weaver has asked for a test on a split sample and will be allowed to continue to train pending the results of that test.

The horse in question is Anna's Wish (Dailed In) and the alleged violation occurred after she was tested following the March 16 Cicada S. at Aqueduct in which she finished third. Metformin is listed as a banned substance by HIWU, which means Weaver faces a possible suspension of up to two years. The “banned” category is the most serious class of drug offences under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) rules.

Metformin is a drug used to treat diabetes in people. With more than 20 million patients taking it, metformin ranks as the nation's third-most-prescribed human medicine, according to the consumer healthcare website Healthgrades.

Weaver joins Mike Lauer, Jonathan Wong and four other trainers who have had horses test positive for metformin. The metformin positives have been controversial because of the number of people who take it for diabetes, which raises the possibility of environmental contamination.

“This is a clear case of external contamination,” said Weaver's attorney, Drew Mollica. “The facts will show that Mr. Weaver had no hand in this and bears no fault for the alleged violation. We will seek a split sample and once those results are in we believe we will be able to offer clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Weaver bears no fault. At some point, HISA slash HIWU must accept the fact that these universally prescribed medications exist in the environment. The attempt to destroy a man's career predicated on a prevalent substance and in a case where he bears no fault should not only shock the conscience, but it should also shock the entire racing community.”

According to Mollica, Anna's Wish's groom takes metformin.

“The groom who cares for the horse is on the medication,” he said. “This is a clear case of contamination. The consequences that HIWU seeks to impose are career killers with no basis in reality.”

A former assistant to Todd Pletcher, Weaver has been on his own since 2002. According to The Jockey Club's online rulings database, Weaver has had just two prior positives, one for acepromazine and the other for promazine sulfoxide. In both instances, he was not suspended but was fined $300.

For his career, Weaver has had 6,467 starters and has won 983 races. His career earnings are $50,753,128.

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Jonathan Wong Still Searching For First Win In Louisiana

Trainer Jonathan Wong, who was hit with a two-year suspension by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) for a metformin positive, has resurfaced in Louisiana, where he has 15 horses at a private training center but has yet to visit the winner's circle. Wong sent out his first starter in Louisiana on Feb. 13. But the same trainer who had one of the biggest stables in Northern California has struggled there, sending out just five horses without a winner.

The plaintiff states of Louisiana and West Virginia won a preliminary injunction in federal court in July that will keep the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority's rules from being implemented in those two states until a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of HISA gets decided in full. Because he was not under a suspension issued by the Louisiana Racing Commission, Wong is being allowed to compete in the Bayou State.

Fair Grounds, which is owned by Churchill Downs Inc., did not give Wong any stalls but is allowing him to race.

Wong did not start a horse between July 1 and Feb. 13, when he sent out his first Louisiana runner, Desoto's War (Warrior's Reward). He has made just four starts at Fair Grounds and one at Delta Downs.

According to one of his owners, Brent Malmstrom, who is helping with Wong's legal fight, Wong had 141 horses before he was suspended.

Malmstrom and Wong have maintained that the trainer is innocent because the positive for the drug, which is used in humans to treat Type II diabetes, was a matter of environmental contamination.

Wong did not return phone calls from the TDN seeking comment.

“Jonathan Wong may have done some things in the past,” he said. “I can't speak to that. All I can speak to is this: he didn't do this. We don't know where the drug came from. It's odd that at point in time when all this happened almost half of the metformin positives occurred at Horseshoe Indianapolis.”

The horse that tested positive was Heaven and Earth (Gormley) and the positive was found after the filly won a June 1 maiden special weight race at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Malmstrom acknowledged that this has been a difficult situation for Wong.

“The sad thing about this whole thing is that this cost him his marriage,” he said. “He's got four little children. He's doing whatever he can to survive as I, along with our lawyers, work on the legal side to figure out how to get relief.”

Malmstrom said that most of the horses Wong trained before the suspension have been sent to other trainers.

“He lost his entire business,” he said. “The bulk of the horses he has in Louisiana are mine. I don't turn my back on people when they're at their lowest point in life. Louisiana has been incredibly welcoming and we thank them. People deserve an opportunity to defend themselves and should have the right to earn a living while they are defending themselves. That's a fundamental thing.”

The Fair Grounds meet ends on March 24. Malmstrom said that after Fair Grounds closes Wong will focus on the meet at Evangeline Downs, which opens April 7.

Wong has been training since 2014 and has 1,194 career wins. His best year came in 2021, when he saddled 236 winners and won at a rate of 23%.

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Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings, Feb. 6 – Feb. 12

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related rulings from around the country.

Among this week's rulings, trainer Jonathan Wong has been suspended for two years and fined $25,000 for a post-race metformin positive from last June.

Wong told the TDN he has appealed the ruling which could now go before the Federal Trade Commission, head to federal court, or both. He also said that he would seek a temporary injunction against the ban.

Trainer Kari Craddock was issued a seven-day suspension for a post-race Methocarbamol positive. Methocarbamol is a Class C controlled medication, a first offense for which comes a possible $500 fine and loss of purse. This was Craddock's second Methocarbamol-related violation since HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program went into effect.

Trainer Ismael Bahena has also been provisionally suspended after Bahena's trainee, Color Field, tested positive for methamphetamine–a banned substance under HISA and a ubiquitous drug of human abuse–when winning at Horseshoe Indianapolis on Oct. 30. HIWU has now brought 11 methamphetamine-related cases for adjudication since the ADMC program went into effect.

NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS

The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU)'s “pending” and “resolved” cases portals.

Resolved ADMC Violations

Date: 01/06/2024

Licensee: Monte Gelrod, trainer

Penalty: Written reprimand. Admission.

Explainer: For the presence of Omeprazole-Controlled Medication (Class C)-in a sample taken from Salto de Tigre. This was a possible violation of Rule 3312-Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers (Post-Race/Vets' List).

Date: 01/13/2024

Licensee: Jay Nehf, trainer

Penalty: A fine of $3,000; imposition of 3 Penalty Points. Admission.

Explainer: A possible violation of Rule 3314-Use or Attempted Use of a Controlled Medication Substance or a Controlled Medication Method-on the horse, Customer List. This was also a possible violation of Rule 4222-Intra-Articular Injections Within Seven (7) Days of Timed and Reported Workout.

Date: 01/21/2024

Licensee: Fernando Abreu, trainer

Penalty: A fine of $3,000; imposition of 3 Penalty Points. Admission.

Explainer: A possible violation of Rule 3314-Use or Attempted Use of a Controlled Medication Substance or a Controlled Medication Method-on the horse, Sugar N Spice. This was also a possible violation of Rule 4222-Intra-Articular Injections Within Seven (7) Days of Timed and Reported Workout.

Date: 01/07/2024

Licensee: Jose Delgado, trainer

Penalty: Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Admission.

Explainer: For the presence of Dexamethasone-Controlled Medication (Class C)-in a sample taken from Buff Hello, who finished third at Gulfstream Park on 1/7/23. This was a possible violation of Rule 3312-Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers (Post-Race/Vets' List).

Date: 11/20/2023

Licensee: Kari Craddock, trainer

Penalty: 7-day period of Ineligibility, beginning on February 14, 2024; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $1,000; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Admission.

Explainer: For the presence of Methocarbamol-Controlled Medication (Class C)-in a sample taken from Ekati's Hit, who finished second at Remington Park on 11/20/23. This was a possible violation of Rule 3312-Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers (Post-Race/Vets' List).

Date: 12/13/2023

Licensee: Darien Rodriguez, trainer

Explainer: For the presence of Dexamethasone-Controlled Medication (Class C)-in a sample taken from Charlotte the Brit, who finished second at Tampa Bay on 12/13/23. This was a possible violation of Rule 3312-Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers (Post-Race/Vets' List).

Date: 06/01/2023

Licensee: Jonathan Wong, trainer

Penalty: 2-year period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on July 1, 2023; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $25,000; payment of $8,000 of HIWU's arbitration costs. Final decision by arbitral body.

Explainer: For the presence of Metformin-a banned substance-in a sample taken from Heaven and Earth, who won at Horseshoe Indianapolis on 6/1/23. This was a possible violation of Rule 3212-Presence of a Banned Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers.