The disqualification of Forte from his win of the Hopeful Stakes (G1) is on hold following the entry of a temporary restraining order in a New York court Dec. 21.
The temporary restraining order was first reported by Thoroughbred Daily News. According to previous reporting by BloodHorse, in addition to Forte‘s disqualification, which amounts to a loss of prestige and $165,000 in purse money, trainer Todd Pletcher was suspended from training for 10 days and fined $1,000.
At the time, Pletcher said that Forte was never treated with the medication and that he planned to appeal the decision. The case was subsequently reviewed by the New York State Gaming Commission, and the stewards’ ruling was upheld.
That led to owners Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stables, along with Pletcher, filing suit in Schenectady County Supreme Court in New York seeking to overturn Forte’s disqualification. According to attorney Andrew Mollica, who spoke to BloodHorse by telephone late Thursday afternoon, he will seek a preliminary injunction blocking the disqualification and Pletcher’s license suspension for the duration of the case at a hearing Jan. 9. Their ultimate goal is to have the NYSGC decision reversed.
The penalties stem from a post-race test positive for meloxicam after the 2022 running of the Hopeful at Saratoga Race Course. Forte won the race and went on to be voted champion 2-year-old male of the year in the Eclipse Awards.
Mollica, who was not involved in hearings before the stewards or the NYSGC, said the commission departed from 40 years of precedent, or case law, to pursue this regulation. “When I read the transcript (of the hearing), I couldn’t believe what I was reading,” he said.
The meloxicam positive was detected by the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory, which has been headed by Dr. George Maylin for decades.
“Dr. Maylin testified for the defense for the first time,” Mollica said. “All of a sudden, Scott Palmer, a veterinarian, his testimony trumps Maylin. They didn’t call Maylin as a witness. Palmer was used to introduce the evidence through business records, which we also challenged.”
According to Mollica, meloxicam, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication, is not a banned substance in New York but cannot be administered within seven days of race day. “Dr. Maylin testified the level was so low it could not have been ingested within seven days,” Mollica said. “For the first time in 40 years they tried to introduce it as zero tolerance. We look forward to an appellate review in this matter.”
“There is no schedule for this drug,” Mollica said. “There are 19 banned substances, this is not one of them. Maylin said the level was so low he could not testify it was ingested within seven days.”
