Trainer Todd Pletcher and the connections of Forte are awaiting a decision from hearing officer Clark Petschek after a day-long July 20 adjudicatory hearing in Schenectady, N.Y., over the New York State Gaming Commission’s finding of meloxicam in the colt’s system after a victory in the 2022 Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
The hearing was attended by Pletcher and attorney Karen Murphy, representing Pletcher and Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, which own Forte, and representatives of the NYSGC and Gulfport , who was second in the Hopeful.
“We’re still waiting to hear what they decide,” said Mike Repole of Repole Stable. “They might have made a decision and haven’t told us. Who knows with them? The Gaming Commission is clueless.”
Bill and Corrine Heiligbrodt were also in attendance and their attorney Clark Brewster spoke on behalf of the ownership group of Gulfport, who will be credited with the grade 1 win if Forte is disqualified.
Gulfport, trained by Steve Asmussen, is owned by the Heiligbrodts along with Jackpot Farm, Whispering Oaks Farm, and Coolmore Stud.
After Petschek delivers his recommendation, the NYSGC may accept, modify, or reject it in announcing its final ruling on the matter. In December, the NYSGC rejected findings by hearing officers that recommended dropping sanctions against clocker Richard Gazer and trainer Orlando Noda.
Five hundred picograms per milliliter of meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug often used by humans to treat arthritis, was detected in Forte’s blood after his victory in the Sept. 5 Hopeful. Dr. Steven A. Barker, a chemist retained by the Forte connections, said the amount of the drug in Forte’s system would have no impact on performance and was likely due to contamination, but at the time there was a zero tolerance for it under NYSGC rules.
“There’s an absolute certainty that the amount of meloxicam (in Forte) has no effect on performance and it was probably a result of contamination,” Barker said on May 11 when the finding was announced.
Bill Heiligbrodt said the decision for the NYSGC should be “easy” because of the zero tolerance regulation.
“I think the NYSGC has handled it fairly well,” he said. “It’s a question of whether rules are rules, because the drug, regardless of how it got there, is not allowed in the horse in any quantity.”
Pletcher said Forte was never treated with meloxicam and none of his employees use the medication.
Aside from disqualifying Forte, the NYSGC suspended Pletcher for 10 days and fined him $1,000.
Repole, in a July 26 interview, said he still intends to file a lawsuit if the decision is not overturned.
“I’ve spent $20 million buying horses,” he said in May. “I’ll spend $20 million fighting it in court.”
Brad Maione, director of communications for the NYSGC, said there was no timetable for a final decision.
