Rarely Detected Human Anticonvulsant Triggers Drug Penalties in Arizona

Turf ParadiseCoady

By

An owner/trainer at Turf Paradise is facing a $2,500 fine and 180-day suspension after a rarely detected anticonvulsant medicine that treats seizures and bipolar disorder in humans came up positive in the post-race testing of a recent 8-1 maiden winner.

TDN attempted to learn if owner/trainer Jim Bumgardner has appealed his penalties, but a Thursday email sent to the public information officer of the Arizona Department of Gaming did not yield a reply prior to deadline for this story.

According to a Dec. 3 stewards' ruling, when the Bumgardner-owned and trained Zoe's Papa C (Papa Clem) won a $10,000 maiden-claimer Oct. 28, the 3-year-old gelding had a concentration of approximately 1.26 ng/ml of lamotrigine in his blood.
Lamotrigine is listed as a Drug/Penalty Class 3A on the Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances list maintained by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI).

“The [ARCI] penalty guidelines call for a minimum penalty of one year suspension and $10,000 fine absent mitigating circumstances and a maximum penalty of a three year suspension and $25,000 with the presence of aggravating factors,” the ruling states. “Mr. Bumgardner has not had a medication violation since 2004. The stewards considered this a mitigating factor in this case and did not refer this to the Director of the Arizona Department of Gaming/Racing Division for further review.”

Lamotrigine positives are rare in North American horse racing and the drug is not generally considered as an effective performance enhancer, according to previously published reports citing veterinarians.

The two most recent lamotrigine cases are believed to involve a Mountaineer Park trainer who was fined $7,500 for a positive in 2018, and a Standardbred trainer at The Red Mile who had a one-year suspension and $5,000 fine in 2015 reduced to just a 140-day suspension because of the likelihood of accidental contamination by a stable worker taking the drug via prescription.

Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.

Copy Article Link

X

Never miss another story from the TDN

Click Here to sign up for a free subscription.