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Diodoro Fined $5K, Gets Stayed 60-Day Suspension for Lidocaine Positives

Two 3-hydroxylidocaine positives detected in separate horses six days apart at Canterbury Park in August and September have resulted in a $5,000 fine and 60-day suspension for trainer Robertino Diodoro.

The suspension part of the penalty has been stayed so long as Diodoro does not incur a Class 1 or 2 or Penalty Category A or B medication violation before Jan. 31, 2021.

Lidocaine is classified as a Class 2, Penalty Category B substance on the Controlled Therapeutic Medication Schedule compiled by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI).

For a first offense, the ARCI’s recommended Category B penalties are a “minimum one-year suspension absent mitigating circumstances [and a] minimum fine of $10,000 or 10% of total purse (greater of the two) absent mitigating circumstances.”

The positives were reported in lower-level claiming horses that ran second and sixth.

According to a Nov. 30 Minnesota Racing Commission ruling, Diodoro back on Nov. 18 had “waived his right to a formal hearing and agreed to accept a Board of Stewards ruling calling for a 60-day suspension effective Dec. 1, 2020 through Jan. 30, 2021, and a $5,000 civil penalty.” Another stewards’ phone conference with Diodoro on Monday preceded the release of the ruling.

That ruling continued: “Due to mitigating factors, the Board of Stewards ordered a stay of the 60-day suspension for 365 days beginning Dec. 1 providing Diodoro has no Class 1 or Class 2, Category A or B medication violations within that timeframe. If Diodoro is the subject of a Class 1 or Class 2, Category A or B medication violation within the timeframe, the 60-day suspension will be reinstated immediately…”

The ruling did not address specifics of the mitigating factors.

The first positive came from Hey Kitten (Haynesfield) who ran second as the 9-10 favorite Aug. 26 in a $10,000 claimer for owner Heads Up Racing. The 3-year-old filly was claimed that day and hasn’t started since, although she shows recent workouts at Turfway Park. According to the ruling, her 3-hydroxylidocaine finding was reported at 58.4 pg/ml (the threshold is 20 pg/ml).

On Sept. 1, Catty Krys (Discreet Cat) ran sixth as the 23-10 second favorite in a $7,500 claimer for owner Empire Racing Stables, LLC. She too was claimed by a new outfit, and has since started four more times at Remington Park and Charles Town Races without cracking the top three placings. According to the ruling, the 6-year-old mare’s 3-hydroxylidocaine finding was reported at 56.6 pg/ml.

According to the ruling, “The Board of Stewards took into consideration that the second violation occurred before the first violation was reported to the Stewards and was not known by the trainer. Therefore, the Board of Stewards treated the two violations as one, which is standard practice.”

The ruling stated that Diodoro requested split-serum sample testing for confirmation and the presence of 3-Hydroxylidocaine was recorded “in both split sample serums well above the threshold level,” the ruling stated.

Both horses were disqualified for purse and placing purposes only. The ruling did not address the status of the claims made by new owners on the days both tested positive.

Around the same time that Diodoro’s two Canterbury horses returned the Class 2 positives, the trainer had four other horses disqualified for Class 4 positives that turned up earlier in the year at Oaklawn Park and Will Rogers Downs.

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Newby, Merz Appointed To New Roles At Santa Anita

Officials at Santa Anita have announced that Nate Newby has been promoted to the position of general manager, while Chris Merz will add racing secretary to his current role of director of racing.

Newby has most recently served Santa Anita as its senior vice president and general manager and comes as Aidan Butler transitions to his new position as chief operating officer of 1/ST Racing and president of 1/ST Content in Florida. Butler previously headed California operations for Santa Anita’s parent company The Stronach Group. Newby, who has been at Santa Anita for nearly 20 years, has been the vice president of marketing since 2013. A hands-on horseman, Newby also is a skilled tournament director and handicapper.

Merz returned to Santa Anita earlier this year after a short stint as racing secretary for the Maryland Jockey Club. He also served as the stakes coordinator at Santa Anita and Del Mar, and the assistant racing secretary at Los Alamitos, prior to joining the Maryland Jockey Club.

“These well-deserved promotions are a reflection of the great bench strength in place at Santa Anita,” said Craig Fravel, CEO of 1/ST Racing, in making the announcement. “Both Nate and Chris helped guide Santa Anita through a very difficult time and, with Aidan now heading up our company’s East Coast operations, we are fortunate to maintain the continuity of the team.”

Steve Lym, who has served as Santa Anita’s vice president of racing since late 2018, has been appointed senior VP for racing development for 1/ST Racing and will be assisting Butler in his new role.

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Breeders’ Cup Extends Late Foal Nomination Deadline to Feb. 28

In advance of the major Thoroughbred auctions scheduled in January and February of next year, the Breeders’ Cup announced Monday that it has extended the late nomination deadline for all 2020 North American foals to Feb. 28, 2021. This late foal nomination will be the last opportunity for horsemen to nominate weanlings of 2020 to the Breeders’ Cup program at a fee of $1,500.

The $1,500 nomination entitles each foal with lifetime racing eligibility to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships and the Breeders’ Cup racing programs. All foals sired by a fully-nominated North American Breeders’ Cup stallion are eligible for nomination to the Breeders’ Cup program in their year of birth and now up to Feb. 28 of their yearling year.

“We want to provide buyers and sellers the Breeders’ Cup Advantage for yearlings, either sold or purchased in January and February, to become fully-nominated individuals to the Breeders’ Cup program,” said Dora Delgado, Breeders’ Cup Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Officer.

Nomination fees for 2020 foals not nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program by Feb. 28 will be increased to $12,000 for an individual sired by a Breeders’ Cup-nominated stallion and to $18,000 for an individual sired by a non-nominated stallion before July 15 through the racehorse nomination program.

For more information and to nominate online, visit members.breederscup.com.

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New York Advances Clenbuterol Restrictions

The New York clenbuterol clampdown that was foreshadowed earlier this month by New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) equine medical director Scott Palmer, VMD, has been codified into a series of proposed rule amendments that advanced Nov. 30 by a unanimous 5-0 commission vote.

The new clenbuterol regulations follow a model rule of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) that was approved last August. After publication in the New York State Register and a public commentary period, the commission will have to vote again to formally adopt the changes.

According to a brief written by NYSGC general counsel Edmund Burns that was included in the informational packet for Monday’s meeting, “The proposed rule amendments would require the attending veterinarian to receive written approval of the Commission’s Equine Medical Director of a clenbuterol treatment plan for an identified horse prior to the start of such treatment.

“The proposal would also require horses treated with clenbuterol to be placed on the veterinarian’s list and not be removed until a workout for a regulatory veterinarian is performed and the horse is found to be negative for clenbuterol in blood and urine…

“In addition, horses on the veterinarian’s list for clenbuterol use would be required to submit to periodic tests while on such list to ensure that no more clenbuterol is administered to the horse than necessary to complete the pre-approved treatment regimen and to ensure that muscle-building and fat-reducing effects have dissipated before the horse is removed from the veterinarian’s list.”

Over the course of about two decades, clenbuterol in Thoroughbred racing has devolved from being a legit drug administered to effectively treat airway diseases to a substance of performance-enhancing abuse that is now more often intentionally given to bulk up horses, allowing them to gain a pharmaceutical edge that makes the animals stronger and faster.

Speaking during a Nov. 11 video press conference hosted by stakeholders and regulators who make up an alliance of Mid-Atlantic racing interests, Palmer described the abuse of clenbuterol in this manner as “basically an end-run around on our anabolic steroid ban.”

Beyond the NYSGC, the Maryland Racing Commission, Gulfstream Park, and Oaklawn Park are among the jurisdictions and racetracks that have recently or are in the process of tightening clenbuterol rules to some degree. On May 1, the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency started banning clenbuterol 28 days out from race day at tracks country-wide. Back on Jan. 1, the California Horse Racing Board enacted clenbuterol rules that are similar to New York’s proposal.

Additionally, NYSGC executive director Robert Williams told commissioners Monday that “Pennsylvania has indicated that it will soon commence regulatory change, and it is expected that Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia will also consider the rule proposal.” West Virginia, he said, needs to change its clenbuterol rules via the state legislature.

Also on Monday, the commission unanimously adopted 13 new rules during the monthly meeting, with six pertaining specifically to Thoroughbred racing. They were:

A rule to restrict the administration to Thoroughbred horses of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) “such that only one clinical dose may be administered during the week before the horse races. The proposal would limit the administration to the intravenous route, and adopt stricter thresholds for the two most commonly used NSAIDs, flunixin and phenylbutazone, as has been recommended by the RMTC and adopted as a model rule by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI). The proposal also reduces the list of NSAIDs that could be administered lawfully within one week before the horse races to only three by eliminating the NSAIDs that are not widely used and for which the appropriate lab threshold is unclear.”

A rule requiring trainers to maintain a record of serious bleeding episodes, kept for up to four years, unless given to a subsequent trainer or owner or reported to the NYSGC. The commission will establish a reporting system to collect such information, and a trainer will be permitted to delegate this duty to the treating veterinarian.

A rule to allow a horse eligible for furosemide administrations to be removed from the furosemide list for the limited purpose of running in a race whose conditions forbid the administration of furosemide.

A rule requiring Thoroughbred trainers “to keep a record of equine drug administrations not recorded in veterinary records, including the drug, dose, and date and time of administration.” This requirement will create a record of drugs that are administered after having been dispensed by veterinarians, and will make such records available for inspection for a period of six months.

A rule to revise the Thoroughbred out-of-competition (OOC) sample collection rule, “intended to conform our existing rule to [the ARCI] model rule [that] has received widespread industry support. The new rule will authorize “an effective collection program that protects the constitutional rights of horse owners and trainers when a regulatory jurisdiction seeks to collect” OOC samples.

A rule to “strengthen the health and fitness protections and upgrade the licensing requirements for jockeys, apprentice jockeys, exercise riders and outriders who ride a Thoroughbred horse,” which also mandates a baseline concussion assessment for all licensees who horseback.

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