raymond handal | Horse Racing Free Tips

McLean Robertson Latest Trainer To Be Suspended By HIWU

McLean Robertson, a top trainer in the Midwest whose accomplishments include a pair of training titles at Canterbury Park, has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) after a horse he trained allegedly tested positive for Altrenogest. The ruling was posted to the HIWU website Monday.

It's been a busy few days for HIWU. On Saturday, it was reported on the HIWU website that New York-based trainer Raymond Handal has been provisionally suspended after an alleged positive for Zeranol. On Sunday, the website included a ruling against trainer Jonathan Wong, whose stable includes divisions in Kentucky and California. He has also been provisionally suspended after an alleged positive for the prescription drug metformin, a type 2 diabetes treatment.

All three positive were for drugs on HIWU's banned substance list. In those cases, trainers who have had horses test positive receive automatic provisional suspensions, which go into effect once the positives are made public.

The ruling on Robertson came under HIWU Rule 3212 which covers the presence of a banned substance and/or its metabolites or markers.

Altrenogest is sold under the names Swinemate, Altren and Regumate and is used in veterinary medicine to suppress or synchronize estrus in horses and pigs. According to the website of the National Library of Medicine 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 report on the website also notes that Altrenogest is “structurally similar to the anabolic androgenic steroid.”

The horse in question, Johnny Up (Majesticperfection) is not a filly or mare but a gelding. The alleged positive occurred in a June 4 race at Canterbury, a $10,500 claimer in which Johnny Up won by 6 1/4 lengths.

By mid-afternoon, Robertson had not returned a phone call seeking comment. Robertson has 1,544 career wins from 7,108 starters.

The post McLean Robertson Latest Trainer To Be Suspended By HIWU appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Raymond Handal Provisionally Suspended After Alleged Positive Test for Zeranol

Trainer Raymond Handal has been provisionally suspended by the Horse Racing Welfare and Integrity Unit after his horse Barrage (War Dancer) allegedly tested positive for the banned substance zeranol after finishing second in an optional claiming allowance at Belmont May 28.

Handal's provisional suspension starts July 1. Under the regulations, Handal has the right to request a provisional hearing and the analysis of the B sample, but must do so by July 5.

The ruling was posted on the HIWU website Saturday morning. No further details were given.

Zeranol is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen, approved for use to promote growth in livestock, including beef cattle. It is sold under the brand name Ralgro by Merck Animal Health in the U.S. It is used to increase weight gain and improve feed efficiency. According to the U. S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), zeranol is banned in humans due to its presumed anabolic effect, and appears on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list.

Handal has won 28 of 130 races in 2023, good for a win percentage of 22%, and his horses have earned just over $1.5 million. He is currently seventh in the Belmont Park leading trainer standings, with 12 wins from 42 starts.

“NYRA has been alerted via HIWU that a horse under the care of trainer Ray Handal has tested positive for the banned substance Zeranol,” said NYRA Vice President of Communications Patrick McKenna. “According to HISA rules, Handal is now under a provisional suspension nationally and cannot participate at NYRA tracks effective today.”

Handal's suspension comes under HISA rule 3212–Presence of a Banned Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers.

A first-offense violation of rule 3212 carries up to two years suspension and up to $25,000 or 25% of the total purse (whichever is greater), and payment of some or all of the adjudication costs and HIWU's legal costs.

Handal had two horses entered at Belmont Park Saturday; Certified Loverboy (Mendelssohn) in the fifth race and Daddy Knows (Scat Daddy) in the seventh. He had also entered Promiseher America (American Pharoah) in the GIII Delaware Oaks. Those horses have been scratched.

This story will be updated.

The post Raymond Handal Provisionally Suspended After Alleged Positive Test for Zeranol appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Longtime Handal Assistant Jose Mejia Suffers Severe Injuries In Morning Spill At Turfway Park

Longtime assistant to trainer Raymond Handal, Jose Mejia suffered severe injuries in a Sunday morning spill at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

According to Handal's Facebook post and a GoFundMe page, Mejia's mount stumbled and went down, landing on top of him. The 33-year-old assistant had to be airlifted to the hospital and was found to have incurred 10 broken ribs as well as four broken vertebrae in his spine.

Mejia underwent surgery to fuse the spine with rods and screws, and still has no feeling below his ribcage. Doctors are unsure whether that feeling will return.

“Anyone that is familiar with Handal Racing knows that Jose Mejia has been an integral part of the operation from almost the very beginning,” Handal wrote. “He's a hard worker, a team player, and most recently has been the ring leader of our strings on the road at Monmouth and Turfway.”

On Handal's website, Mejia is listed as the “Traveling Assistant” in charge of ensuring that “horses are safe and happy when they are required to travel away from their home track in order to race,” and the man in charge of the barn's shed row at Saratoga Race Course.

On Steve Byk's At The Races show Wednesday, Handal explained the incident further.

“It was just an unfortunate incident,” Handal said. “The track had closed for a couple days, and the first day that it reopened he was just doing a routine gallop with one of the horses there at Turfway. The horse switched to his right lead down the backside right around the three-quarters, took a funky step and stumbled. Jose tried to kind of take his head up a little bit, to try to help him recover like you would, but he just had too much momentum going forward. He went down and rolled over on top of him. It was a pretty horrific scene.”

The horse escaped the incident unscathed, getting to his feet and shortly thereafter was corralled by the outriders.

Mejia, however, did not move, and wound up requiring an airlift to the hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“He's been with me since the beginning, since I started training,” Handal explained (his career began in 2014). “He's just devoted himself and given so much to me and to our team and to so many different horses over the years, he's just gone above and beyond.”

Mejia's 7-year-old daughter, Callie, was staying with her mother in Connecticut over the weekend.

The Jockey Club's Safety Net Foundation responded to Handal's social media post, explaining that the organization is available to help fund Mejia's recovery.

The GoFundMe page to aide in Mejia's recovery is available here.

Source of original post

Barn Fire At Belmont Claims The Lives Of Two Horses

Two horses are dead after a barn fire at Barn 60 at Belmont Park on Tuesday evening. According to the New York Racing Association (NYRA), security responded to reports of a barn fire at 6:05 p.m. and was assisted by backstretch employees in the removal of 58 horses stabled there with trainers Wayne Potts and Jeffrey Englehart.

The Elmont Fire Department responded, and witnesses said the fire was extinguished quickly. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation by the New York State Fire Marshal and Nassau County officials.

The horses killed by the fire were both trained by Potts. Their identities were not released NYRA, which was still in the process of notifying connections as of Tuesday evening.

Surviving horses from both trainers were scattered around the Belmont backstretch, housed temporarily in barns that had extra space. Trainer Raymond Handal, who bases out of Barn 41, said he saw a social media post from fellow trainer Robert Falcone Jr. who sounded the alarm about an active blaze. He immediately called Falcone.

“He said that they need help and he just hung up the phone,” Handal said. “It was like something out of a movie. It was horrible.”

Handal and his assistant grabbed lead shanks and ran to Barn 60, but found the fire was already contained and most horses were en route to temporary stabling. Handal began helping bed down stalls in Brad Cox's barn, where he estimated 20 horses are being housed. Several horses did run loose for a period of time, Handal said, but as far as he was aware all were captured without injury.

“Everybody from the racetrack came there,” he said. “Every assistant and trainer you can think of was there moving hay, water buckets and straw.

“It's so scary. When I heard it was Barn 60, it's just across the tunnel from me, and it really puts things into perspective.”

Handal was especially grateful the fire was handled so quickly since there are neighboring barns located very close on either side which could have become endangered also.

Sources say the horses in Barn 60 had been checked at evening feed time, just over an hour earlier, and all had been well in the barn.

No humans were injured in the fire.

“The tragic loss of both horses will be deeply felt by the hard working women and men of the New York racing community, who dedicate themselves to the sport and to the care of these equine athletes,” said Dave O'Rourke, NYRA President & CEO. “That collective dedication and sense of community was on display this evening, when the heroic and selfless response of so many prevented further loss and saved the lives of dozens of horses.”

The post Barn Fire At Belmont Claims The Lives Of Two Horses appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post