Ric Arthur

The news last week that leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has been suspended for 15 days and fined $500 by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission—pending appeal—after one of his trainees tested positive for the substance gabapentin after winning a graded stake at Presque Isle Downs last September, led to a collective head scratch. What exactly is gabapentin? "It is a drug that is used as an anti-convulsant in people. It is also used for neurotrophic pain—in other words, pain originating from nerves," said former California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) director, Rick Arthur. "For...