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New Mexico: Quarter Horse Trainer Summarily Suspended Over Class 1 Positive For Nikethamide

Quarter Horse trainer Martin Orona, Jr. has been summarily suspended by the New Mexico Racing Commission after one of his trainees tested positive for Nikethamide, according to a ruling posting on the Association of Racing Commissioners International website. The stimulant, classified by the ARCI as the highest-level Class 1, penalty A drug, was originally intended for use to treat overdoses of sedatives, especially barbiturates, but it has since been replaced with safer treatments.

There is no permissible concentration of Nikethamide allowed to appear in any official sample in New Mexico.

Nikethamide is listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a banned substance. Use of Nikethamide, or nicotinic acid diethylamide, was more prevalent in the 1980s. According to the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, it is considered “very dangerous” in horses since there is a possibility of complications that could result in death, but it is believed to have been a widely abused drug in horse racing in the 1960s and '70s because it quickly metabolized and was difficult to detect in post-race testing.

In South America and Europe, Nikethamide is commonly available in lozenge form as a respiratory stimulant. but the RMTC told bloodhorse.com it is not aware of any U.S. company that manufactures or distributes it for human or veterinary use.

Orona's trainee Mi Gentee, a 3-year-old gelding by Jesse James Jr, won the sixth race at Ruidoso Downs on July 16, 2022, prior to testing positive for the drug. The race was one of five trials for the Zia Derby, a $175,000 stakes scheduled to be run on Saturday, Aug. 6; Mi Gentee was not entered in the race.

Orona is a multiple graded stakes-winning Quarter Horse trainer with 119 lifetime wins and over $2.2 million in earnings, according to equibase.com.

A hearing before the board of stewards has been scheduled for Aug. 6 at 9:00 a.m. at Ruidoso.

In 2017, the NMRC issued a $75,000 fine and four-year suspension to trainer Jose Alfredo Gonzalez, who had had two Thoroughbred trainees test positive for Nikethamide.

NMRC executive director Ismael “Izzy” Trejo told the Thoroughbred Daily News in 2017: “It's a very unusual drug that has no place to be in a horse, ever. The most infamous approach to describing what this drug is [is that] it was a drug they once used on Adolf Hitler to revive him after a drug-induced overdose.”

In 2013, leading mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred trainer Chris Grove was handed a $5,000 fine and six-month suspension by the West Virginia Racing Commission after one of his trainees tested positive for Nikethamide.

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Jockeys’ Guild Tries To Ban HISA Enforcement Nationwide, Seeks Contempt Charge For CEO Lazarus

The Jockeys' Guild has delivered on its promise to take “immediate action” against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority if the newly created national regulatory agency continued to enforce riding crop rules following a federal judge's order for an injunction blocking HISA from operating in Louisiana and West Virginia.

The injunction, ordered July 26 by U.S. District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty in the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division, limited the HISA ban to the states of Louisiana and West Virginia, but added the phrase “and as to all plaintiffs in this proceeding.”

Jockeys' Guild, Inc., interpreted Doughty's ruling to mean that all members of the Jockeys' Guild are exempt wherever they are riding. HISA interpreted the language as applying only to the organization as a plaintiff and not its individual members. One Guild member, Gerard Melancon, was listed as a plaintiff.

The California Horse Racing Board issued a statement concerning the injunction on July 29. It reads: “Unless and until a federal court clarifies an earlier ruling by indicating otherwise, the California Horse Racing Board will continue to honor its agreement with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority by enforcing HISA safety rules, including the rules covering use of the riding crop, as the CHRB has been doing since HISA rules went into effect on July 1. California stewards are notifying all thoroughbred jockeys in the state of this decision.”

Kate Swearengen, general counsel for the Jockeys' Guild, issued a statement saying, “Should HISA, or any of its designated representatives, attempt to enforce any of the enjoined rules against a Guild member in any state, the Guild intends to take immediate action to ensure compliance with the Court's order.”

A statement from HISA said the Authority would continue to enforce its rules outside of Louisiana and West Virginia.

On Tuesday, Aug. 2, the Jockeys' Guild and other plaintiffs in the lawsuit against HISA, asked the court to deny a request by HISA and other defendants in the lawsuit to clarify the original injunction, claiming the court no longer has jurisdiction because HISA has taken the case to the Court of Appeals.

A separate filing from the Jockeys' Guild and its fellow plaintiffs asks the court to enforce the preliminary injunction and asks for an order to show cause why Lisa Lazarus, president and CEO of HISA, should not be held in contempt of court for “willfully violating” the order.

A declaration from Terry Meyocks, president and CEO of the Jockeys' Guild, cited three instances since the July 26 injunction that Guild members have been sanctioned for violating HISA's riding crop rules: Drayden Van Dyke at Del Mar July 29; Miguel Vazquez and Edwin Gonzalez, both at Gulfstream Park on July 31.

The plaintiffs have asked the court for an expedited decision on their motion to enforce the preliminary injunction.

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Lone Star Park Owner Files Lawsuit Challenging HISA’s Constitutionality

Lone Star Park owner Global Gaming LSP LLC is among four plaintiffs that filed a lawsuit in Texas challenging the constitutionality of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

The suit, filed July 29 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division, is the fourth effort to derail the Authority, created through the December 2020 Congressional passage of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act.

A previous federal suit filed in Texas and a separate suit filed in Kentucky were dismissed by District Court judges and are under appeal. A third lawsuit, filed in Louisiana in June, led to a federal judge to issue an injunction barring the Authority from enforcing its regulations in Louisiana and West Virginia. That injunction is being appealed by HISA.

The latest filing was submitted by four entities, including the Chickasaw Nation's Global Gaming, owner of Remington Park racetrack and casino in Oklahoma City, Okla., and Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie.

Lone Star Park was ordered by the Texas Racing Commission to cease interstate simulcasting of its live races after HISA went into effect July 1, effectively freeing the track from having to follow HISA regulations. According to reports, wagering on Lone Star's races fell by more than 80 percent as a result.

The other three plaintiffs are:

-Gulf Coast Racing LLC, which operated a defunct greyhound racetrack in Corpus Christi and claims it is working with the Texas Racing Commission to re-designate its license as a Class 2 horseracing track. It currently offers simulcast wagering.

– LRP Group Ltd., which claims to be working toward operating a racetrack in South Texas. LRP Group held a license to operate Laredo Downs as long ago as 2008 but is inactive.

-Valle De Los Tesoros Ltd., which claims to be working toward operating a racetrack in McAllen. It applied for racing dates in 2009 and is inactive.

The suit claims that the three non-operating tracks have had business plans “stymied due to HISA's implementation and the regulatory chaos and confusion that has resulted.”

It's not clear what breed of horses Laredo and Valle De Los Tesoros would run if they were to seek racing dates. HISA Authority rules only apply to Thoroughbreds.

The latest suit alleges the creation of HISA is unconstitutional on many levels, from the appointment of a board of directors to the creation of regulations by a non-government entity, and violations of Seventh Amendment right to a fair trial and Fourth Amendment privacy rights.

Several of the allegations appear to overlap segments of previously dismissed lawsuits.

Calling the role of the Federal Trade Commission, which oversees HISA, “essentially ministerial,” the suit claims that if HISA is allowed to stand, Congress will have created “a new branch altogether, a sort of junior varsity Congress.”

The suit asks for preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting enforcement of HISA regulations.

A HISA spokesperson issued the following statement in response to the latest litigation: “HISA will defend itself in court while the Authority's focus remains on implementing the Racetrack Safety program and finalizing Anti-Doping and Medication Control rules for implementation in January 2023. The majority of racing participants support HISA's mission to protect those who play by the rules and hold those who fail to do so accountable in order to keep our equine and human athletes safe and the competition fair. The immense collaboration with state racing commissions, stewards, veterinarians, racetracks, trainers, and other horsemen that has taken place to date is evidence of this support, and we intend to continue to fulfill our mandate and work to make the industry safer.”

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Medina Spirit Case: Maylin Ordered To Disclose Research Records Of Otomax Study

New York Supreme Court Judge Elizabeth Aherne has granted the enforcement of a subpoena served on Dr. George Maylin, director of New York's Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory, to produce the research records connected to his study of Medina Spirit's post-Kentucky Derby positive test for betamethasone, according to bloodhorse.com.

Trainer Bob Baffert's attorneys have claimed that Maylin's research proves Medina Spirit's positive test was a result of the topical application of Otomax ointment to a skin lesion, but experts have questioned those results and Maylin has refused to turn over his research pursuant to a subpoena issued by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on April 8.

Maylin was deposed by the KHRC on June 10, but he only provided his own summary of the research he did studying whether non-injection administrations of betamethasone could result in a positive test.

During the deposition, we learned that Maylin said he administered Otomax to just two horses, but it turns out with one of them, researchers smeared the product in the horse's mouth, trying to mimic what may happen if a horse had Otomax on a skin lesion and subsequently licked the area – something that hasn't been suggested in the Medina Spirit case, as his skin lesions were limited to one hindquarter in the days just before the Derby.

Maylin's researchers only applied the substance topically to one horse. In that case, Maylin said Otomax was applied every day for four days to an area on the hindquarters of a mare. The skin was not damaged prior to application, and the mare's hair was not clipped. Maylin said the mare had a one-gram tube applied a day for four days. (Otomax doesn't appear to be available commercially in one-gram containers.) Maylin said components of Otomax, including clotrimazole and betamethasone valerate, were found in urine samples collected from both horses 24 hours after administration.

Maylin argued that turning over the full results of his two-horse study would risk his ability to publish it in a scientific journal down the road, though he admits that more subjects would be needed before the study could be sent to a journal.

Craig Robertson, attorney for trainer Bob Baffert, and Maylin's attorney Joseph Farraldo, filed a brief in Judge Aherne's court arguing against the enforcement of the subpoena, but the judge sided with the KHRC. The order directs Maylin to turn over documentation of his research study.

If Maylin does so, it's likely that the KHRC would need more time to examine those documents and the appeal hearing might be delayed. If Maylin declines, it's possible that KHRC attorney Jennifer Wolsing could ask hearing officer Clay Patrick to disregard Maylin's opinions from the evidence in Zedan and Baffert's appeals over the Medina Spirit disqualification.