Originally charged with administering Clenbuterol to his horse and facing a possible two-year suspension, trainer Jeffrey Englehart was cleared Friday by the Horse Racing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU).
The positive was found in an unraced, unnamed horse out of the mare Fast Heart that Englehart purchased for $14,000 at the OBS auction on June 15. He argued that he did not give the horse the drug and that it was had to have been given to the horse prior to his purchase at OBS. Englehart and his attorney requested that HIWU perform a segmented hair test colt, which can provide a time line for when a drug is administered. HIWU had the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California, Davis perform the segmented test and it revealed that the Clenbuterol was in fact administered before Englehart became the trainer.
Friday, HIWU issued a statement, which read: “Following a positive test result for Clenbuterol in hair collected from Fast Heart 2021, trainer Jeffrey Englehart requested B Sample analysis and provided a formal explanation to HIWU that he believed that Clenbuterol was administered to the horse prior to his becoming the horse's Responsible Person. The right to request B Sample analysis and submit an explanation for an alleged violation is available to all Covered Persons subject to a potential violation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program.”
“Segmented analysis was performed on the B Sample of the hair by the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California, Davis. The results of this analysis indicated that clenbuterol was administered to Fast Heart 2021 before he became a Covered Horse and before Mr. Englehart became his trainer. Thus, Mr. Englehart's explanation was confirmed, and HIWU withdrew the Equine Anti-Doping Notice that had been served on him. The case was dropped before a Provisional Suspension was imposed on Mr. Englehart or a Charge letter was served on him.
“This is great news,” said an emotional Englehart who said he did not know that the charges had been dropped until being told so by the TDN. “I'm so happy I'm shaking right now. I'm very emotional and very happy that HIWU did the right thing. The sport needs their oversight and I'm glad that in my case they decided to do the right thing.”
The colt, who was by Classic Empire, broke down on Nov. 21 at Finger Lakes and had to be euthanized. It is standard procedure for HIWU to perform tests on any horse that has to be put down, and those tests confirmed the presence of Clenbuterol, which is a banned substance. However, Clenbuterol is known to stay in a horse's system for as long as a year, which meant there was a possibility that someone gave it to the horse before he was purchased at Ocala.
The colt was purchased for $4,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearling Sale Oct. 26, 2022. The purchaser was Juan Centento, who entered the horse back in the Ocala Sales.
Centeno, who sells under the name of All Dreams Equine, has not responded to numerous phone calls, texts and emails from the TDN seeking comment. Englehart said he got Centeno on the phone for about 20 seconds before he hung up on him
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