Horseracing’s Welfare and Integrity Unit recently announced the temporary suspension of six Purebred trainers based on alleged drug use.
HIWU, the enforcement arm of the Equestrian Integrity and Safety Authority, announced the temporary (immediate) suspension of the following trainers after allegedly failing post-race tests detected the presence of a prohibited substance (or its metabolites or markers):
• Lorenzo Ruiz after an alleged discovery of diisopropylamine in his runners American Cats June 25 after he won the title race at Los Alamitos . Racetrack.
• David Reid after an alleged discovery of venlafaxine in his runners killer June 25 after winning the race declared at Hawthorne Racecourse.
• Javier Morzan and Guadalupe Munoz Jr. following the alleged findings of metformin. HIWU said Morzan’s runner Lady Liv failed that substance test after she finished in third place in the claim race that began June 24 at Delaware Park while Munoz .’s runner Quinton’s Charming Person failed the test on June 11. (Quinton’s Charmer did not race or operate on June 11; HIWU administered the test out of competition.)
• Mary Pirone and Natalia Lynch after the alleged findings of altrenogest. HIWU says Pirone is trained Benny Jets failed the June 24 test after finishing fifth at Emerald while HIWU says runner Lynch Strike movement failed a test after finishing fourth in a declared race at Monmouth Park same day.
The coaches above face a two-year suspension and a $25,000 fine under HIWU’s prohibited substance rules and penalty guidelines.
As for the banned substances, Diisopropylamine is a vasodilator (a substance that promotes the dilation of blood vessels), venlafaxine (for humans) is an antidepressant that belongs to a class of drugs called selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, metformin in humans is an antidiabetic agent that controls high blood sugar, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that inhibitors of the so-called “active” sex hormone inhibitors are called altrenogestins. “.” or “season”) in mares.
BloodHorse notes that these are HIWU’s initial allegations. On June 4, coach McLean Robertson taking altrenogest was found to be using a banned substance leading to no sanctions when HIWU dropped the case. (On the evening of July 21, HISA and HIWU said they would soon release a joint statement on the decision, and BloodHorse plans a larger story about the decision.)
Earlier this month, HIWU lifted the temporary suspension of trainer Ray Handal over zeranol “based on information submitted by the insured and a review of relevant scientific information.” Handal’s attorney, Clark Brewster, noted that while they reported an adverse analytic finding, it also reported an atypical finding of a substance called zearalenone, which is derived from food… and likely the source of the metabolite zeranol, a banned drug.”
While the temporary suspension for Handal has been lifted, HIWU notes that it has not dropped the Horse Anti-Doping Notice (the overall case).
HIWU has closed its first case involving sanctions related to a prohibited substance. Coach John T. Brown was suspended for 18 months starting June 28 and fined $12,500 after his runner ran Rollin On Tequila tested positive for the banned substance isoxsuprine after finishing sixth in the May 31 declared race at Thistle.
