The Kentucky managers ignored five previous January 14 rulings issued against coach Joe Sharp in the state regarding a series of drug positives for levamisole from races at Churchill Downs in November 2019.
Those test results and others that followed that winter in Louisiana came after Sharp said he began using a deworming product containing levamisole in late 2019. Louisiana fined Sharp $1,000 dollars for each occurrence but did not order a suspension, unlike Kentucky, which fined him $500 and assigned him a 30-day suspension, a sanction Sharp appealed. Louisiana followed the International Association of Racing Commissioners’ drug guidelines in evaluating their cases, Sharp said.
The Kentucky administrators wrote that previous rulings had been vacated “due to the declassification of levamisole in August 2015 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.”
“They basically call it a false positive,” says Sharp.
The trainer said the latest action did not change the status of Sharp’s horses, after affected owners chose to lose their wallets to maintain conditions rather than run into problems. eligibility issues during appeals.
In describing Sharp’s appeal last January, Sharp’s attorney, Clark Brewster, pointed to a levamisole case involving coach Daniel Werre, who had a one-year suspension lifted by a Kentucky judge for levamisole in 2015, with the judge citing the KHRC’s inappropriate classification of the drug at the time. KHRC later reduced his suspension to one week and fined him $500.
During a meeting of the KHRC in the summer of 2015, the committee removed levamisole from its classification schedule. Dr. Mary Scollay, then KHRC’s equine medical director, explained to the trustees that levamisole converts to aminorex, making the levamisole classification relevant.
Sharp’s horses did not test positive for aminorex, Brewster pointed out last winter.
On Saturday night, Brewster criticized the KHRC for their initial actions, which he said by their own rules should never have happened. Sharp’s owners lost their wallets and a number of unqualified horses were transferred from the trainer, including Bruce Lunsford’s. Art collector .
Art Collector has won rated shares in 2020 and 2021 for coaches Tommy Drury and Bill Mott.
“I’m glad the result was correct, but it’s a huge loss not only for him, but for the sport, to let this happen,” Brewster said. “And who steps up and says, ‘Hey, we’re sorry about this?’ Or, ‘Is this not true?’ Who did it? That answer, we know, is none.”
KHRC officials have previously said they do not comment on regulatory matters.
Sharp, who has a steady 103 race wins and $4.2 million in 2019 from 652 starts, won 54 races in 2020 and 59 races last year with fewer starts. multiples, 355 and 386 respectively. He has had 675 career wins and a steady $28.1 million in earnings since starting coaching in 2014.
Sharp thanked his owner for being stuck by him through his appeal.
“It’s been a long couple of years, and we’re happy to put it in the background and appear on the right side of it,” he said.
