Tag: The Biz

Trainer McLean Robertson has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit after one of his horses tested positive for a banned substance.

Johnny Up, a 5-year-old gelding who won a claiming race at Canterbury Park on June 4, 2023, has tested positive for altrenogest. Altrenogest belongs to the class of drugs called progestins and is used to suppress estrus (commonly called “heat” or “season”) in mares (female horses). It requires a veterinary prescription and is marketed under several brand names, including the equine products Regumate, Ovamed and Altren.

The notice was posted on the HIWU website.

HIWU rules ban the use of altrenogest in geldings, intact males, and spayed females.

On May 22, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control program went into effect in most U.S. racing states, with much harsher sanctions for drug violations. HIWU is HISA's drug testing and enforcement arm.

The HISA/HIWU program puts drug violations into one of two categories: controlled medication substances that are permitted for therapeutic purposes, and banned substances. Individuals covered under HISA receive automatic provisional suspensions when charged with possession of or positive tests for banned substances. Controlled medication cases go through a hearing process before any sanctions are issued.

Under ARCI rules, altrenogest was a Drug Class 4, Penalty Class C in male horses only; there was no restriction in female horses. Class C penalties consisted of a minimum fine of $1,000, absent mitigating circumstances, as well as loss of purse and disqualification.

Robertson, a perennial leading trainer at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., has saddled over 1,500 winners in his career. He could not be reached for comment.

The post Top Canterbury Trainer McLean Robertson Provisionally Suspended For Altrenogest Positive In Gelding appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Trainer Jonathan Wong has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit after one of his horses tested positive for a banned substance.

Heaven and Earth, an Indiana-bred Gormley filly who won a maiden race at Indiana Grand on June 1, has tested positive for metformin, a commonly used prescription drug that treats type 2 diabetes in humans. The notice was posted on the HIWU website.

Wong said he was notified on Saturday that he would be suspended at midnight and that all of his horses would have to be moved to another trainer. He currently has about 110 horses divided between Kentucky and California.

“I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and have been on metformin since last year,” said Wong. “It was prescribed by my doctor.”

Wong said he informed HIWU officials that he takes the medication. “I told them, but it doesn't matter,” he said. “They don't care, and that's the problem.”

Wong has retained attorney Alan Pincus, who said the trainer faces up to a two-year suspension and $25,000 fine.

Trainer Wesley Ward has had two metformin positives, one in Kentucky in 2021 and one in New Jersey in 2022. Each violation led to 15-day suspensions from state racing commissions.

On May 22, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control program went into effect in most U.S. racing states, with much harsher sanctions for drug violations. HIWU is HISA's drug testing and enforcement arm.

The HISA/HIWU program puts drug violations into one of two categories: controlled medication substances that are permitted for therapeutic purposes, and banned substances. Individuals covered under HISA receive automatic provisional suspensions when charged with possession of or positive tests for banned substances. Controlled medication cases go through a hearing process before any sanctions are issued.

Wong's attorney, who has asked for a provisional hearing and a split sample on behalf of his client, blasted the newly created national regulatory agency.

“You bring a bunch of people in who have now said that racing commissions are incompetent,” Pincus said. “I don't believe that for a second. These are very good people who know the game. And they (HISA/HIWU) supersede them and take over testing, using the same labs, but they have to show they are worth the billion dollars they are taking out of the game. To justify their existence they're going to show how punitive they are.

“The system is unconstitutional on many levels,” Pincus continued. “It doesn't give a person a chance to defend himself. They charge you $4,000 or more for a provisional hearing and more than that for an evidentiary hearing. There's a $2,000 charge for a split sample that should cost no more than $750. You're putting up $20,000 just to get your due process. And 98 percent of trainers in the U.S. can't even afford to defend themselves. You throw somebody out on day one, take away his livelihood, make him lose his owners, and destroy his life. This is un-American.”

Wong has horses entered at Pleasanton, Los Alamitos, Presque Isle Downs and Belterra Park over the next several days and those horses are expected to be scratched.

Owner of multiple training titles at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California since 2018, Wong has branched out in recent years with stables based in Southern California and Kentucky. Since taking out his trainer's license in 2014, he's won 1,194 races from 5,098 starts, scoring his lone Grade 1 victory in 2020 with Keeper Of the Stars in the Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita. Last year, Wong started 1,108 runners, winning 217 races.

Wong said he has yet to make arrangements to transfer his horses.

“I've been dealing with lawyers all day,” he said.

The post Leading Northern California Trainer Jonathan Wong Provisionally Suspended For Diabetes Drug Positive appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) on Saturday announced post times for the 40-day summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course, which will include 71 stakes worth $20.8 million in total purses.

Highlighted by the 154th edition of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 26 and the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on August 5, the 2023 summer meet will open on Thursday, July 13 and continue through Monday, September 4.

Following the four-day opening weekend, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from the final week, when the meet will conclude on Labor Day.

First post time is 1:10 p.m. (ET) with the exception of Whitney and Travers Days and throughout Closing Weekend. Admission gates will open for live racing at 11 a.m. for all but the Travers Day card when gates will open at 7 a.m.

The Travers Festival, which offers six Grade 1s from Wednesday, August 23 through Saturday, August 26, is headlined by the 154th edition of the 1 1/4-mile Travers on Saturday, August 26.

The lucrative Travers Day card, which will have an 11:40 a.m. first post, features five Grade 1 stakes and an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup to the winner of the Grade 1, $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer [Turf] and Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina Handicap [Filly and Mare Sprint.]

In addition to the Travers, the stacked card will also include the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego, a seven-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and upward, and the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs.

Whitney Day on Saturday, August 5, which offers a 12:35 p.m. first post, provides a trio of Grade 1 events, led by the Whitney at 1 1/8 miles for older horses offering an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic on November 4 at Santa Anita.

Completing the Grade 1s on Whitney Day will be the seven-furlong $500,000 Test for sophomore fillies and the $600,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational, at 1 3/16-miles on turf for sophomores. Whitney Day will also include the Grade 3, $300,000 Troy for older turf sprinters, and the restricted $135,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure at 1 1/16-miles on turf for older horses.

Closing Weekend of the Saratoga meet from Saturday, September 2, through Monday, September 4, will offer a 12:40 p.m. post time.

The Saturday, September 3 card includes a pair of Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” events led by the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup [Classic] at 10 furlongs for 3-year-olds and up and the Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl [Filly and Mare Turf], an 11-furlong turf test for fillies and mares. Also featured that day is the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress for sophomore filly sprinters and the $150,000 Harvey Pack for older turf sprinters.

On Sunday, September 3, juvenile fillies will sprint seven furlongs in the Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway as part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen series.

Closing Day on Monday, September 4, will feature the $150,000 Bernard Baruch along with the Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful for 2-year-olds going seven furlongs to conclude the 2023 Saratoga meeting.

For details, visit NYRA.com/Saratoga.

The post NYRA Sets Post Times For Saratoga Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Trainer Raymond Handal has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit after Barrage, second-place finisher in a Belmont Park allowance/optional claiming race on May 28, tested positive for the banned substance zeranol. Approved for use as a growth promoter in livestock, zeranol is banned as an “anabolic agent” by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, whose Anti-Doping and Medication Control program went into effect in the U.S. on May 22. HIWU is the enforcement and testing arm of HISA.

Zeranol is also banned in human sports because of its supposed anabolic effects.

Handal confirmed that he was notified of positive tests on Friday for zeranol and a second substance, a controlled medication regulated under HISA rules that he did not immediately recall the name of. All of his horses entered this weekend were ordered scratched by the stewards and his stable has been turned over to trainer Hollis Ferry while he contests the suspension. Handal said officials tested every horse in his barn.

“We are working with (attorney) Clark Brewster on getting all the information together to show this is clear-cut contamination,” Handal said. “There's a lot of science between these two substances being found in food and corn and a bunch of different products. It's like a fungus.”

Handal apparently was referring to mycotoxins that can be found on corn or grain and which produce zearalenone. Zeranol is a metabolite of zearalenone.

Handal expressed surprise that the case was not handled under HISA's Atypical Findings Policy that may exonerate trainers if there is a convincing case made that the positive test resulted from contamination. “I thought there was a protocol for contamination,” he said.

Zeranol positives are extremely rare in equine and human sports. In one case, an American female 800-meters runner contested a positive test, saying meat she ate must have come from cattle who were fed the drug. In another, a Swiss mountain biker who tested positive had his provisional suspension lifted after four months after extensive followup testing failed to identify the drug.

“This could happen to anybody at any time,” said Handal. “I've never had a positive test and played by the rules. It sucks.”

Handal, who began training in 2014 after previously working for trainers Jonathan Sheppard, Michael Matz, Kenny McPeek, Christophe Clement, and Anthony Dutrow, has recorded 236 victories from 1,481 starts. He was on pace to having the best year of his caree in 2023, with 28 wins and earnings in excess of $1.5 million.

 

 

 

The post Trainer Handal, Provisionally Suspended For Banned Substance, Calls Positive Test ‘Clear-Cut Contamination’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post