Suspension

Trainer Eddie Clouston, who was third in earnings and second in victories at the 2025 Mountaineer Park meet, has been suspended six months and fined $5,000 by that track's stewards stemming from a Class 1/Penalty Category A post-race drug positive for oxymorphone in the urine of a filly who broke her maiden by 8 ¼ lengths as the 3-2 favorite three months ago. Oxymorphone is a semi-synthetic opioid analgesic derived from morphine that is used in humans to treat severe or chronic pain, often when other pain medications are not...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Dates: 02/04/2026 Licensee: Johanna Urieta, trainer Penalty: 7-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 5, 2026; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has received official approval by the Federal Trade Commission for a series of proposed changes to its Enforcement Rules (Rule Series 8000), the group announced Friday. These changes will take effect January 19, 2026. HISA's updated Enforcement Rules are available in full here and include the following changes: Clarification that it is a violation to enter a Covered Horse or cause a Covered Horse to compete in a Covered Horserace prior to registering the Covered Horse with HISA (note that it is a...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Among this week's rulings, trainer Angel Sanchez-Pinero has been handed a two-year suspension and $10,000 fine after his trainee Gone Boy tested positive for the bronchodilator Albuterol (Salbutamol) after winning at Aqueduct on April 19. Albuterol is a banned substance. The ruling came from an...

Back in the summer of 2024, the ubiquitous type 2 diabetes drug metformin was having an oversized impact on the sport. As a banned substance, a metformin overage came with a maximum two-year ban and $25,000 fine. Among the seven metformin cases adjudicated by June of last year, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) had meted out three hefty suspensions including one for the maximum two years. The crux of the controversy was this: While regulators said that they had received intelligence metformin was being abused as a potential...

As part of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s Sept. 15 order staying the issuance of a $25,000 fine that had been imposed against Phil Serpe by an administrative law judge (ALJ) Sept. 12, the suspended Thoroughbred trainer was directed to file a brief by Oct. 16 that will serve as the first step in a "further review" that the FTC itself will undertake to adjudicate Serpe's year-old clenbuterol positive case. The case has so far been handled at the administrative level by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) announced Tuesday that jockey Paco Lopez has been suspended for six months, effective September 23, 2025, according to a press release from HISA. The release says that, "The suspension stems from Mr. Lopez's violation of the terms of his conditional reinstatement, related to a December 4, 2024 incident involving Mr. Lopez's use of the riding crop on the Covered Horse, National Law." "HISA remains committed to upholding the highest standards of safety and integrity in horse racing. We take any behavior that undermines...

Following a review of his ride from race two at Belterra Thursday, Aug, 21, current leading local jockey Albin Jimenez has been suspended for one year by the Belterra Park board of stewards. The race in question featured Jimenez failing to put forth his best effort aboard 3-5 Afleet Vintage (Afleet Alex) where he ultimately wound up second. The winner, Permit to Carry, was ridden by Summer Pauly. The stewards looked at the race following a request from Afleet Vintage's trainer Tommy Drury who was unhappy with Jimenez's ride.  ...

Flavien Prat has been suspended by the Saratoga stewards for three days as a result of his ride aboard race favorite Zulu Kingdom (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) in Friday's GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes. Though Prat crossed the line 1 1/2-lengths in front of runner up Luther (GB) (Frankel {GB}), he was ultimately disqualified from the win for causing what the stewards deemed as interference on the first turn of the one-mile race. Joel Rosario, the jockey aboard Luther, lodged an objection following the race and the...

Jockey Tyler Conner, who was seriously injured in a fall at Colonial Downs July 24, continues to heal but says he's done riding races. In a video update posted to social media, Conner wears a neck brace, explains the complicated nature of his injuries and how he's begun to regain feeling in his arms and legs following the accident. "I broke my C1, compression fractured my T5, bruised my spinal cord which they call 'central cord syndrome'," Conner says in the video. "So I was fully paralyzed for a small...

A member of the Internal Adjudication Panel (IAP) for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) on July 10 imposed a two-year suspension and a $25,000 fine on a veterinarian who has practiced on the New York circuit for more than three decades for "failing to submit over three thousand veterinary treatment records to HISA within 24 hours after examination or treatment of Covered Horses during the period from Jan. 1, 2023, through Mar. 7, 2024." The veterinarian, Michael J. Galvin, could...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 07/08/2025 Licensee: John E. Salzman, trainer Penalty: Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final decision by HIWU. Explainer: Medication violation...