natalia lynch | Horse Racing Free Tips

Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings: Nov 7-13

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

Among the key rulings from the last seven days, trainer Natalia Lynch has been handed down a combined four-year suspension by an arbitrator, and a combined $55,000 in fines and arbitration costs.

Lynch had faced sanctions for two separate issues. One was for the possession of banned thyroid drug, Levothyroxine. The other was a positive test for another banned substance, Altrenogest—a synthetic progestin used in horses for the purpose of suppressing estrus—from Lynch-trainee, Motion to Strike.

Lynch's attorney told the TDN Monday that the trainer plans to appeal the arbitration result to a Federal Trade Commission administrative law judge.

An interesting wrinkle in the case is how in a series of proposed rule changes now headed out for public comment, HISA is seeking to alter the status of Altrenogest from a substance banned at all times to a controlled substance, permitted for use within certain criteria. Controlled substance positive findings are significantly leaner than those for banned substances.

Also this past week, trainer David Reid has been banned four months and fined $4,125 after his trainee, Maligator, tested positive for the banned substance, Venlafaxine. The case was resolved without a merits hearing.

Reid had previously provided proof to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Unit (HIWU) that his assistant of over 30 years had been prescribed Venlafaxine for 15 years.

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) established “by a balance of probability” that Maligator's positive finding was brought about by consuming hay contaminated as a result of the assistant relieving herself in the horse's stall.

NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS

The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal and through the HIWU's “pending” and “resolved” cases portals.

Resolved ADMC Violations

Date: 10/20/2023

Licensee: Antonio Sano, 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, Il Miracolo. This is also a possible violation of Rule 4222—Intra-Articular Injections Within Seven (7) Days of Timed and Reported Workout.

Date: 9/08/2023

Licensee: Clarence King, trainer

Penalty: A fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final decision of the internal adjudication panel (IAP).

Explainer: For the presence of Dimethylsulfoxide—Controlled Medications (Class C)—in a sample taken from Indirectly. This is a possible violation of Rule 3312—Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers (Post-Race/Vets' List).

Date: 08/15/2023

Licensee: Jeffrey Crozier, 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. Final decision of the IAP.

Explainer: For the presence of Phenylbutazone—Controlled Medications (Class C)—in a sample taken from Orb of the Boro, who won at Belterra Park on 8/15/23. This is a possible violation of Rule 3312—Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers (Post-Race/Vets' List).

Date: 09/28/2023

Licensee: Ruben Gomez, trainer

Penalty: 7-day period of Ineligibility, beginning on November 2, 2023; a fine of $1,000; imposition of 2 Penalty Points. Admission.

Explainer: For the presence of Acepromazine—Controlled Medications (Class B)—in a sample taken from Blue Cloud. This is a possible violation of Rule 3312—Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers (Post-Race/Vets' List).

Date: 08/29/2023

Licensee: Kevin Fletcher, trainer

Penalty: 7-day period of Ineligibility, beginning on November 4, 2023; a fine of $1,000; imposition of 2 Penalty Points. Admission.

Explainer: For the presence of Caffeine—Controlled Medications (Class B)—in a sample taken from Ruby Layne. This is a possible violation of Rule 3312—Presence of Controlled Medication Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers (Post-Race/Vets' List).

Date: 08/03/2023

Licensee: Angel Castillo Sanchez, trainer

Penalty: 18-month period of Ineligibility, beginning on October 12, 2023; At least a 60-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Horse beginning on August 28, 2023 and subject to a Negative Finding in a Re-Entry Test; 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 $12,500. Admission.

Explainer: For the presence of Metformin—a banned substance—in a sample taken from Pylon who won at Delaware Park on 8/3/23. This is a possible violation of Rule 3212—Presence of a Banned Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers.

Date: 07/20/2023

Licensee: Natalia Lynch, trainer

Penalty: 24-month period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on July 20, 2025; a fine of $25,000; payment of $2,500 of arbitration costs. Final decision of arbitral body.

Explainer: For the possible presence or possession of Levothyroxine, a banned substance. This is a possible violation of Rule 3214 (a)—Presence of a Banned Substance or a Banned Method.

Date: 07/20/2023

Licensee: Natalia Lynch, trainer

Penalty: 24-month period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on July 20, 2025; a fine of $25,000; payment of $2,500 of arbitration costs. Final decision of arbitral body.

Explainer: For the possible presence or possession of Levothyroxine, a banned substance. This is a possible violation of Rule 3214 (a)—Presence of a Banned Substance or a Banned Method.

Trainer Lynch Plans Appeal After HIWU Arbitrator Imposes 4-Year Banned Substances Suspension

Natalia Lynch, a Belmont Park-based trainer who has been licensed since 2020, has been penalized with a four-year suspension and a $50,000 fine after a Nov. 9 Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) arbitration judgment found her to be in violation of two separate anti-doping rules, one for the presence of a banned substance (Altrenogest) in a horse, and another for possession of a different prohibited drug (Thyro-L).

Lynch's attorney, John Mac Hayes, told TDN Monday that the trainer plans to appeal the arbitration result to a Federal Trade Commission administrative law judge.

A post-race drug screening revealed Altrenogest in Motion to Strike (Competitive Edge) after Lynch shipped the gelding to Monmouth Park for a June 24 race.

Motion to Strike ran fourth as the 7-10 favorite, and a $5,000 claim was subsequently voided after the HIWU test results came back positive.

Altrenogest is sold under the several brand names, including Regu-Mate. It is used in veterinary medicine to suppress or synchronize estrus in female horses and pigs.

The website of the National Library of Medicine states that Altrenogest is “a commonly used progestogen for the suppression of oestrus and associated distracting behaviors that interfere with training and performance of female racehorses.”

The website also notes that Altrenogest is “structurally similar to the anabolic androgenic steroid.”

However, Matt Hegarty of DRF.com, who was first to report on Lynch's penalties, pointed out a notable coincidence regarding Lynch's Nov. 9 arbitration judgment and a separate document released by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Nov. 13 regarding proposed changes to the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program: The HISA Authority, Hegarty wrote, wants to reclassify Altrenogest as a controlled substance instead of its more severe “banned” status, “with recommended penalties starting at a fine of $500.” (The status change for Altrenogest was just one among numerous proposed rules changes outlined here.)

According to the decision written by arbitrator Bernetta Bush, a retired judge, when a HIWU investigator met Lynch at Belmont on July 20 to notify her of the Altrenogest adverse analytical finding, a search of the vehicle Lynch was driving revealed a container of Thyro-L, which is also banned under the ADMC rules.

Lynch had argued that the Altrenogest positive was cross-contamination as a result of Regu-Mate lawfully being administered to a filly that was supposedly housed in the stall next to Motion to Strike.

As for the Thyro-L, Lynch stated that earlier in the spring, she attempted to discard that newly banned substance by giving it to her mother. Yet she did not realize the drug had remained in her mother's vehicle instead of being thrown away. According to the arbitrator's report, Lynch said she was only driving her mother's vehicle on July 20 because she had lost the keys to her own car.

The arbitrator didn't buy the reasoning in either argument.

“Taken as a whole, Trainer Lynch has presented mere speculation, rather than competent evidence, regarding the source of the Altrenogest,” Bush wrote.

“[T]he uncontested evidence provided by Gregory Pennock, an investigator for the Agency whose testimony the Arbitrator credits as consistent with the record and not disputed with competent evidence, establishes that [the filly] was several–five to seven–stalls away from the Covered Horse, and that [the filly] had not been administered Altrenogest for five days before the day the sample was collected from [Motion to Strike],” Bush wrote.

“The record establishes that Altrenogest is administered orally and would have to be administered directly into the horse's mouth for contamination to occur, and that the amount detected in the sample is consistent with ingestion within 24 hours.”

Bush's ruling continued: “In connection with attempting to skirt liability, Trainer Lynch appears to have made many misrepresentations or inconsistent statements of fact which detract from the overall credibility of her testimony…. More specifically, regarding the Rules, the Arbitrator finds that Trainer Lynch bears significant fault for the presence of Altrenogest. This is not a case of simple negligence.

“Not only has Trainer Lynch failed to show any benign manner in which the substance entered the Covered Horse (a critical failure), but even if she had, Trainer Lynch had (and breached) a clear and unmistakable duty to protect the Covered Horse from any cross-contamination and otherwise comply with the Rules. No evidence presented mitigates the responsibility placed on Trainer Lynch by the Rules she is charged with disobeying.”

Taking up the charge of the Thyro-L, the arbitrator noted that Lynch had argued that her possession was not intentional, that she “wasn't trying to cheat,” and that none of the horses under her care had ever tested positive for that substance.

“Trainer Lynch offers many arguments to escape liability or mitigate the consequences of her unlawful possession, but none are persuasive such that she can carry her burden,” Bush wrote.

Hayes, Lynch's lawyer, classified the arbitrator's penalties as “unreasonably harsh.”

In a series of emailed bullet points, Hayes told TDN that the arbitrator “improperly discounted” expert testimony that was presented in Lynch's defense.

Hayes wrote that the arbitrator allegedly also “ignored the Federal Rules of Evidence and Civil Procedure” that have been established by the U.S. Supreme Court and instead “relied on International Law wholly inapplicable in federal court proceedings.”

Hayes also wrote that Regu-Mate is “not a doping agent” and that “no evidence of doping exists.”

Hayes added that the arbitrator allegedly “completely ignored” a different Regu-Mate positive “in a different horse who resided in the same barn where Natalia's horse had stood before racing.”

Hayes further claimed that “HIWU's own expert testified HIWU should have investigated the two positives coming from the same barn to determine if they might be related.”

According to a 2020 profile written by the Monmouth Park press office, Lynch, a Maryland native, had been enrolled in nursing school at Towson University when she started galloping horses a few years ago.

Lynch originally wanted to become a jockey, but switched her aspirations to training, the profile stated. She worked as an assistant to Brittany Russell, Jeremiah Englehart, and Ray Handal prior to getting licensed as a trainer, going out on her own three years ago when owner Al Gold offered to let her train nine horses from his Gold Square, LLC, stable.

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Four Additional Trainers Handed Provisional Suspensions By HIWU

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) has updated its list of trainers that have been provisionally suspended after their horses have allegedly tested positive for banned substances, and the new names are Natalia Lynch, David Reid, Javier Morzan and Mary Pirone.

Lynch, who is based in New York and had a winner Sunday at Saratoga, was sanctioned for allegedly having a horse test positive for Altrenogest. According a 2018 press release from the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC), Altrenogest is a progesterone receptor agonist used to control estrus in fillies or maintenance of pregnancy in mares. It is marketed in the United States as an oral formulation known as ReguMate. According to the National Library of Medicine's website, Altrenogest is structurally similar to the anabolic androgenic steroid, trenbolone.

The horse in question is Motion to Strike (Competitive Edge), who tested positive after finishing fourth in a $5,000 claimer at Monmouth June 24. The horse was claimed from that race by owner-trainer Silvino Ramirez. Ramirez now has the option of having the void claimed and returning the horse to Lynch.

According to Equibase, Lynch has been training since 2020 and has had 21 winners from 214 starts. She is 5-for-56 on the year.

In regards to Lynch, NYRA issued the following statement Friday: “NYRA has been alerted via HIWU that a horse under the care of trainer Natalia Lynch has tested positive for the banned substance Altrenogest. Per HISA rules, Lynch is now under a provisional suspension nationally and cannot participate in any activities at NYRA tracks. HISA/HIWU rules allow for Lynch to request a formal hearing and the analysis of a split sample. Lynch had occupied four stalls at Saratoga Race Course and 11 stalls at Belmont Park. Horses under Lynch's care are being transferred to a covered person who is not affiliated with Lynch as required by HIWU.”

Also new to the list, trainer Mary Pirone was also provisionally suspended for an Altrenogest positive. Based at Emerald Downs, Pirone has been training since 1987. She has won just two races since 2020, going 2-for-31 over that time. Pirone's Benny the Jet (Bernardini) tested positive after finishing fifth in a $2,500 claimer at Emerald Downs June 24. He was also claimed out of that race and in his next start he won for trainer Jorge Rosales and owner Dawn Spillman.

Trainer McLean Robertson, the dominant trainer at Canterbury Park, was also provisionally suspended by HIWU for Altrenogest.

Trainer Javier Morzan was provisionally suspended after his horse Lady Liv (Bal a Bali {Brz} tested positive for Metformin. Top Northern California trainer Jonathan Wong was also provisionally suspended for Metformin. Metformin is commonly used in humans to combat type 2 diabetes. While Metformin is a permitted medication by the U. S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for humans in athletic competition, the National Institutes of Health published a study indicating it has an effect on athletic performance. In a study of 10 men, they determined that “time to exhaustion was significantly higher after Metformin than placebo ingestion,” and that “Metformin improved performance and anaerobic alactic contribution during high-intensity exercise.”

Morzan is currently racing at Delaware Park. He is 5-for-60 on the year and has won 18 total races during a career that began in 2020.

HIWU's list also includes trainer David Reid, who was provisionally suspended after a horse he trained tested positive for Venlafaxine. In humans, Venlafaxine is used to treat depression. It is also used to treat general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Reid, who is based at Hawthorne, has a career record of 36 wins from 184 starters.

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Hello Beautiful, Wendell Fong Score Winter Carnival Victories At Laurel

Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful picked up where she left off in 2020 while punching her ticket for a return to graded-stakes competition with a front-running victory in Saturday's $100,000 What a Summer at Laurel Park in Maryland.

The 35th running of the What a Summer for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 25th edition of the Fire Plug for 4-year-olds and up, both sprinting six furlongs, were among six stakes worth $550,000 in purses on a Winter Carnival program that opened Maryland's 2021 stakes calendar.

It was the fifth career stakes victory for Hello Beautiful ($2.40), third in a row and third of the day for jockey Sheldon Russell, following Gale in the $75,000 Geisha and Wendell Fong in the $100,000 Fire Plug. The winning time was 1:10.67 over a main track rated good.

Russell's wife, trainer Brittany Russell, and the connections are hoping to use the What a Summer as a stepping-stone to the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3), contested at seven furlongs Feb. 13 at Laurel.

“To be fair, I think she's better going seven-eighths,” Sheldon Russell said. “So, she has options. She showed us last time I rode her that she can rate. Hopefully she can keep progressing and we can have some fun with her this year.”

Breaking from Post 3 in a field of eighth as the 1-5 favorite, Hello Beautiful was quickly on the lead and kept busy through a quarter-mile in 22.22 seconds and a half in 45.54 by 10-time winner Malibu Mischief, who moved within a half-length on the turn as their rivals lagged behind.

“It almost seems like in the races she runs in now there's always one or two [horses] that have a lot of speed, but me and Brittany sit down the night before every time she runs and people forget, our filly's fast, too,” Sheldon Russell said. “She's extremely fast out of the gate and coming into the race she was very fresh and she was doing well.”

Maryland-bred Hello Beautiful, by Golden Lad, opened up again with little urging from Russell to take a four-length advantage into the stretch and was never threatened while geared down as 10-1 long shot Club Car closed for second.

“I always ride her the same way. I bounce her out of there and if somebody wants to get crazy or get me outrun, I'll have to go to Plan B. But, she's free-rolling filly so I just jump out and leave her alone,” Russell said. “She gets comfortable in front and she's very easy to ride. A great job to Brittany and her team. I'm just very happy she won again for us.”

Club Car, fourth in the Willa On the Move Dec. 26 at Laurel, was 8 ½ lengths ahead of 23-1 long shot Bridlewood Cat in third. They were followed by Escapade, Malibu Mischief, Tarawa, New York Groove and Cause I'm Edgy.

Hello Beautiful improved to 7-0 lifetime at Laurel, including stakes wins at 2 in the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship, and 3 in the Maryland Million Distaff and Safely Kept, the latter two to cap her 2020 campaign.

Now 7-for-13 lifetime with earnings approaching $400,000, Hello Beautiful was sixth behind Frank's Rockette in her only previous graded-stakes attempt, the six-furlong Prioress (G2) last September at Saratoga.

The What a Summer honors the Eclipse Award-winning sprinter of 1977, bred in Maryland and a winner of 18 of 31 lifetime starts. Trained by the late Bud Delp and Leroy Jolley, both Hall of Famers, she won nine stakes including the Fall Highweight Handicap and Silver Spoon Handicap twice, and the Black-Eyed Susan.

Wendell Fong Gives Lynch First Winner in $100,000 Fire Plug
Gold Square's Wendell Fong came with a steady run on the far outside to run down Grade 3 winner Share the Ride approaching the wire and give trainer Natalia Lynch her first career victory in the $100,000 Fire Plug.

Wendell Fong ($15.80) ran six furlongs in 1:10.01 over a main track rated good to earn his second career stakes victory and second of the day for jockey Sheldon Russell following Gale in the $75,000 Geisha. Lynch had gone winless in her first 16 starts as a trainer dating back to last summer.

“It was me and my mom and my son watching it at home and we were screaming and crying. It was amazing,” Lynch said by phone. “I think it's been holding off until this horse. I really think it was. He just means more to me than the world. To have it with him, I'll never forget it.”

Lynch, 26 is a native of Maryland who began galloping horses while attending Walter Johnson High School in Montgomery County. She has a long association with Wendell Fong going back to when she was working as an assistant to trainer Jeremiah Englehart, overseeing his Laurel string. Lynch helped prepare the now 5-year-old son of Flat Out for his debut, which he won in the final month of 2018, as well as his lone prior stakes victory in the 2019 Gold Fever at Belmont Park.

After getting a class break in his last two starts, Wendell Fong returned to stakes company and rewarded Lynch's devotion and dedication. Lynch was winless with four seconds from 16 starters since going out on her own last summer; Wendell Fong was No. 17.

“I had spoken to Talie last night and she pretty much said to just sort of leave him alone, sort of don't send him and don't take him back,” Russell said. “He's a professional horse. Drawing from the inside I didn't really have any options but to stay quiet, and to be fair I actually clipped heels so he took a little stumble and I was probably a little further back than I wanted to be. What a cool horse to ride. He was ready today. Great job to Talie and her team. I'm very happy to get Talie her first win as a trainer.”

Breaking from the rail inside his six rivals, Wendell Fong clipped heels with 2020 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) winner Laki shortly out of the gate and trailed the field as Maryland Million Sprint winner Karan's Notion and multiple stakes winner Lebda alternated through fractions of 22.17 and 45.24 seconds. Wendell Fong began gaining ground on the turn and was set down once straightened for home, getting up by a neck in the final jump.

“It just felt like they were going really fast early on and he just got so comfortable down the backside. At about the three-eighths pole I was just showing him a little bit of daylight on the outside and he started picking them up,” Russell said. “At the top of the stretch he just jumped on the bridle and was really trying. He was well-prepared today. Great job to Talie and her team.”

Share the Ride was second, 2 ¼ lengths ahead of Lebda. It was another 2 ¼ lengths back to 2-1 favorite Laki in fourth, followed by Karan's Notion, Arthur's Hope and Penguin Power.

Wendell Fong had not won since the Gold Fever. With Lynch staying home, trainer Brittany Russell saddled the horse. Russell was one of several trainers Lynch worked for before going out on her own.

“It's really cool because I worked for Brittany and Sheldon and I wouldn't have wanted to do it with other people than them. It's just as rewarding that it was with them as well,” Lynch said. “Everyone kept calling me and telling me congratulations, but I'm more happy for him than myself. He really deserves it. It's good to see his confidence back. It's been a while.”

The Fire Plug is named for the popular gelding that won or placed in 49 of 54 lifetime starts, mostly sprinting, and registered 14 stakes victories including at least one every year from age 3 to 7. He retired in 1991 with 28 wins and $705,175 in purse earnings.

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