Trainer Marco Flores was issued a 1 1/2-year suspension and a $15,000 fine by the New Mexico Racing Commission this week, according to a recent ruling posted on the Association of Racing Commissioners International website. The penalties were handed down due to a positive post-race test for clenbuterol in Quarter Horse “Stand In The Sun,” following the mare's win in a Sunray Park allowance race on May 3, 2019.
Stand In The Sun has run 16 times under five different trainers, thrice under Flores' name but primarily (nine times) under the name of Jesus Soto. The mare raced under Soto's name on Feb. 1, 2019, with Soto listed as owner, then next appeared under Flores' name on May 3, 2019, with Julio Islas listed as owner. In her next start, she ran under the name of trainer Raul Vega on Dec. 15, 2019.
Flores is required to pay the $15,000 fine before Jan. 23, and his suspension will run from Jan. 1, 2021 through July 1, 2022. Flores' Quarter Horse training record includes 18 wins from 166 starts, though he has not had a starter since May 10, 2019. He was summarily suspended by the NMRC beginning May 11, 2019, for another Clenbuterol positive in the post-race test of “Bonafide Hero” on April 19, 2019 at Sunray.
Most recently, Stand In The Sun ran under the name of Jesus Soto as both owner and trainer, finishing eighth in an allowance race at Zia Park on Dec. 8, 2020. Soto's training record includes 88 Quarter Horse wins from 595 starts.
The post New Mexico: Quarter Horse Trainer Fined $15,000, Suspended 1 1/2 Years For Clenbuterol Positive appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
