banned substance

Southern California-based trainer Milton Pineda has been banned for 15 years and ordered to pay a total of $195,000 in fines and legal fees after an arbitration panel found him guilty of seven rule violations under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Unit (HIWU)'s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (AMDC) program, according to a final decision dated Mar. 12. Between June 2 and July 4 last year, seven different Pineda-trainees tested positive for Diisopropylamine—a banned substance under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)—after running at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos. During...

On the surface, the case against trainer Jeffrey Englehart seems pretty cut and dried. He had a horse test positive for Clenbuterol, the bronchodilator that is on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) list of banned substances. Trainers found using banned substances can be suspended for up to two years. But Englehart, who races at the NYRA tracks and at Finger Lakes, is adamant that he never gave the drug to the horse in question. "We don't use Clenbuterol. Period," Englehart said. So is there more to this story?...

Trainer Mike Lauer is now a month past serving what he believes was an unjust 75-day suspension because a Thoroughbred under his care at Horseshoe Indianapolis tested positive last summer for metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes in people. With more 20 million patients taking it, metformin ranks as the nation's third-most-prescribed human medicine, according to the consumer healthcare website Healthgrades. Before Lauer's case made it to an official arbitration hearing, the 72-year-old conditioner with five decades of licensure was able to present enough evidence to the Horseracing Integrity...

Just one week after the Horseracing Welfare and Integrity Unit (HIWU) issued a public disclosure on its website that top Mid-Atlantic trainer Anthony Farrior had a horse test positive for the banned substance Metformin, Farrior's attorney Drew Mollica said that he has been informed by HIWU that the charges have been dropped. "The system worked and we are happy to clear his good name and his reputation," Mollica said. Mollica said HIWU's decision came about after a review of the split sample, which was requested by Mollica and Farrior. Mollica...

Following the Federal Trade Commission's approval to add iron dextran to the Banned Substances list under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program rules, the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) announced Tuesday that it will use the next 30 days as an educational period to give Covered Persons time to adapt to the new rule. Enforcement of the iron dextran rule will begin December 27, 2023. As a reminder, the use/attempted use, administration/attempted administration, possession, or trafficking of a Banned Substance constitutes an...

Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) Chief Executive Officer Lisa Lazarus and Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) Executive Director Ben Mosier released a statement late Tuesday to address the rights of Thoroughbred owners under HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program. The statement appears below in its entirety: "In response to recently published misinformation regarding owners' rights under the HISA Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, HISA and HIWU are compelled to again set the facts straight and reiterate our commitment to due process under HISA regulations. "Following an...

Trainer Jonathan Wong has been provisionally suspended after being alerted late Wednesday that the B Sample confirmed the presence of Metformin in a post-race test taken from his trainee, Heaven and Earth (Gormley). Heaven and Earth broke her maiden at Indiana Grand June 1 but subsequently tested positive for the prescription drug Metformin, a type 2 diabetes treatment classified as a banned substance by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA). During a conference call Thursday morning before representatives from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) and a judge,...

Trainer Marcus Vitali, whose career has been plagued by numerous suspensions and controversies, has been suspended for one year and fined $10,000 by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission after a horse he trained named Single Lady (Shanghai Bobby) tested positive for d-methamphetamine. He was also hit with six multiple medication violation points. The infraction occurred on Aug. 21, 2021 at Presque Isle Downs in a maiden special weight race won by the Vitali-trained filly. The horse is owned by Crossed Sabres Farm. The story was first reported by the Paulick Report....

Animal remedies banned for use in racehorses were seized during a raid of a farm in Monasterevin, Co. Kildare, on Tuesday, the Irish Field reports. The raid was conducted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine acting on their own investigations and information received. The horses at the facility are under the care of various trainers. "On Tuesday, 9th November 2021, authorised officers acting on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine carried out an enforcement operation supported by Gardai attached to the Kildare-Laois drug...