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Trainer Reed Gets 5-Day Suspension For Bute Positive At Turfway

Trainer Eric Reed has been penalized with a five-day suspension and a $1,000 fine for a phenylbutazone positive in a $15,000 claiming winner last month at Turfway Park.

According to a Feb. 1 Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) stewards' ruling, the 2022 GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer waived his right to a hearing and will serve his days Feb. 10-14 without lodging an appeal.

The ruling stated that the offense was Reed's second for a Class C positive within the past year. The KHRC classifies drugs on an A (most severe) to D (least severe) scale.

Phenylbutazone, also called Bute, is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. The test reported a finding of .62 micrograms per milliliter. According to rules posted on the KHRC website, bute is permitted on race day in concentrations at or less than three-tenths (0.3) micrograms per milliliter.

The disqualified winner was Golden Text (Danza), who wired the field in the fourth race Jan. 19, got claimed from owner Jackie Willoughby, Jr., and then had the claim voided because of the drug ruling.

Reed responded to a Friday voicemail request asking for his side of the story by texting that he had already issued statements to two other publications and did not wish to comment further.

Reed told Horse Racing Nation's Ron Flatter earlier in the week that, “I waived my rights because I know I gave the horse Bute paste [which takes longer to clear a horse's system]. I apologize to my friend Jim Willoughby, who owns the horse and had the win taken away. I also apologize to the racing industry. I used a Bute paste instead of the injection because he's the kind of horse who fights you every time you give him a shot.”

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French Gaming Police Ask For Soumillon’s Licence To Be Withdrawn “Indefinitely” Or That His Ban Be Lengthened

According to information obtained by Jour de Galop, France's Gaming Police mailed a letter to France Galop earlier this week requesting that suspended jockey Christophe Soumillon's licence be withdrawn indefinitely or that his ban be lengthened, the paper writes in its Sunday edition. Soumillion was suspended for two months after elbowing fellow jockey Rossa Ryan out of the saddle during the running of the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon on Sept. 30.

“The fall (of Rossa Ryan) was not accidental, but was caused by Christophe Soumillon. This behavior is voluntary and dangerous,” the Gaming Police writes in the letter, according to the JDG. They report that the letter goes on to say that in May, they had asked Soumillion to modify his behavior, which they described as “risky” for other jockeys. “Instead,” the letter reads, “the deliberate, dangerous behavior of Mr. Soumillon, in the middle of the race and at a high speed in the stretch, presents a serious risk to the public order within horse racing.”

The JDG reports that the letter goes on to say that the incident garnered international attention, which portrayed French racing in a bad light. The police ask that France Galop either increase his suspension to a maximum of six months, or to withdraw his license altogether pending further investigation. The Jour de Galop notes that they have followed the same procedure used to ban jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot this past Tuesday.

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Parx-Based Trainer Pearce Hit With 1,950-Day Suspension

Trainer Penny Pearce has been issued a suspension of 1,950 days and fined $23,500 by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission after six horses under her care tested positive for clenbuterol during out-of-competition tests.

The penalties were announced after her barn at Parx was inspected June 22. During the inspection, investigators also found hypodermic needles, syringes and injectable substances. The suspension is scheduled to run from Sept. 11, 2022 through Jan. 12, 2028.

The Paulick Report was first with the story and has also reported that Pearce has filed an appeal.

Pearce began training in 2012 and, prior to 2021, never won more than 16 races in a year. During the 2012-to-2020 period, her winning rate was 11%. That changed in 2021 when she went 32-for-137 (23%). Her success has continued this year as she has posted a record of 23-for-84 (27%).

In June of 2021, Pearce reportedly hired former trainer Ramon Preciado as a groom. In 2016, Preciado's owner and trainer licenses were revoked after a horse he trained named Purcell (Jump Start) tested positive for clenbuterol in a post-race test. In the ruling covering Purcell, the racing commission noted that Preciado had a record of “multiple medication violations.” Despite Preciado's record of violations, the racing commission decided to grant him a groom's license and he went to work for Pearce.

The Pearce-trained horses that tested positive for clenbuterol were Mischievous Jones (Smarty Jones), Musamaha (Jack Milton), Relativlea (Lea), Call Me GQ (Weigelia), Market Maven (Super Ninety Nine) and an unnamed horse. Had there been just one clenbuterol positive, Pearce would have received a suspension of just 30 days. Instead, the commission used an escalating scale, with the number of days she was suspended increasing with each subsequent positive. For the sixth positive, she was suspended for 960 days.

“In accordance with ARCI medication and penalty guidelines, based upon the number of medication positives, the board of stewards finds aggravating circumstances in these matters,” the ruling reads.

In June, Monmouth Park stewards suspended Pearce for 15 days and fined her $500 after a horse she trained tested positive for clenbuterol following a May 29 race at the Jersey Shore track.

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Ness Receives Six-Month Suspension in PA; Has Appealed

Jamie Ness, a prolific winner in the Mid-Atlantic states and the third-leading trainer in the country in wins, has been handed a six-month suspension by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission after a horse he trained tested positive for Bufotenine.

Ness was also fined $5,000. The suspension is scheduled to begin Sept. 5 and runs through March 3, 2023.

Ness, who is being represented by attorney Andrew Mollica, has appealed the suspension.

“We are in the process of appealing,” Mollica said. “We will take this the whole way. He obviously vehemently denies any wrongdoing. The law and the facts are on our side.”

The positive test occurred in a Feb. 23 race at Parx and involves the horse Crabs N Beer (Blofeld). The 3-year-old gelding won the race, a starter-optional claimer by 2 1/2 lengths as the 3-5 favorite.

According to britannica.com, Bufotenine is a “weak hallucinogenic agent active by intravenous injection, isolated from several natural sources or prepared by chemical synthesis. Bufotenine is a constituent of toad poison, the poisonous, milky secretion of glands found in the skin on the back of the animal.” Bufotenine is often referred to as a toad venom and, in humans, is used as a hallucinogen with properties similar to mescaline and mushrooms.

Mollica provided the TDN with a document issued by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) that lists Bufotenine as a substance that has “no effect on the physiology of a racing animal except to improve nutrition or treat or prevent infections or parasite infestations…”

The document also notes that the substance is found in reed canary grass and may be found in the urine of horses eating this grass.

“We already know it's a contaminant, not because I say so, but because ARCI says so,” Mollica said, “ARCI went out of their way to carve it out and say it should not result in a positive. I thought this was pretty straight-forward. I am shocked we are here. How this got to this level is unfathomable to me. Our position is quite clear.”

Mollica also questioned why Pennsylvania regulators were relying on a blood test but did not conduct a urine test. He said that if the substance had shown up in a urine test, that would not have resulted in a positive.

Ness is enjoying another banner season. Through Friday, he had 198 wins on the year from 711 starters, for a winning rate of 28%. He has been particularly dominant at Parx, where he has run away from the pack in the race for leading trainer. Ness's 107 wins at Parx puts him 67 wins in front of runner-up Louis Linder, Jr. Ness also runs regularly at Laurel, where he six wins on the meet.

Ness, who been training since 1999, has 3,703 winners and a career winning percentage of 25%.

In 2012, his Tampa Bay Downs barn was searched. It appears that nothing illegal was found.

“It's something I'm not used to, but it comes with the territory of being on top, I guess,” he told the Paulick Report at the time. “The higher your win percentage is, the more detractors you get. But I sleep well at night, and not because I'm tired. I know everything gets done right and it doesn't bother me when I walk through the grandstand and hear people say, 'Oh, they're cheating,' but it bothers the people who work for me, and that's what I care about. I'm used to it, but some of my grooms get very defensive when somebody says, 'You guys are cheaters,' or something like that.”

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