Suspension

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Carlos Lopez has been suspended for a combined three years and fined $25,000 after two of his trainees-Major Lloyd and Emperor's Gold-tested positive for Diisopropylamine after finishing one-two in the second race at Mahoning Valley on Feb. 13 last year. The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) classifies Diisopropylamine as a vasodilator, which is a substance that dilates the blood vessels to allow blood...

Jockey Luis Antonio Gonzalez was suspended 15 days by the Mahoning Valley Race Course stewards Monday for a "failure to give best effort" infraction while riding an Ohio-bred 2-year-old shipper from Santa Anita Park who had broken her maiden in her most recent race in California by six lengths. Gonzalez was aboard the 7-5 favorite Rapida (Country House) in the eighth race at Mahoning on Dec. 26, a state-bred N2L allowance sprint. After stalking the pace from the inside to the quarter pole, Rapida surged to the lead under urging...

Charlotte Dujardin has said that she "fully respects" the decision to suspend her for one year after a video showed the double individual Olympic dressage champion repeatedly hitting a student's horse with a whip. Dujardin was provisionally suspended by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) on July 23--the week that the Paris Olympics started--as it launched an investigation into a video from four years ago showing her making what she described as "an error of judgement" during a coaching session. The FEI announced on Thursday that Dujardin had admitted...

Trainer John 'Shark' Hanlon has had his ten-month ban handed to him for bringing racing into disrepute reduced to six on appeal. Hanlon, who trains last year's King George VI Chase hero Hewick, was found by the Referrals Committee of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board to have acted in a manner that "caused significant prejudice to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of the sport of racing" in the removal of a dead horse from his yard earlier this year. Hanlon carried the horse on an open trailer which...

Trainer John 'Shark' Hanlon's 10-month suspension from training will begin on Dec. 1, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) Referrals Committee ruled on Thursday. The trainer of G1 King George VI Chase winner Hewick (Ire) (Virtual {GB}), Hanlon had appealed the IHRB decision with a potential deferral of the suspension until Apr. 1, but this request was denied. The Dec. 1 start date was the date given when his suspension was originally announced. The trainer was found to have acted in a manner that "caused significant prejudice to the integrity,...

Jockey Brian Hernandez, who was fined $1,250, will also serve a one-day suspension for the ride on Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in last weekend's GI Travers Stakes, reports Daily Racing Form Tuesday. Issued by the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and signed by NYRA steward Victor Escobar, the penalty was levied for using the crop seven times, one over the limit of six strikes. The Kentucky Oaks winner and Hernandez finished a close second behind juvenile champion Fierceness (City of Light) in the Travers. Hernandez, who is scheduled...

The suspension of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert from racetracks owned and operated by Churchill Downs Incorporated has been rescinded, effective immediately, CDI announced Friday evening. The decision was detailed in a statement from CDI CEO Bill Carstanjen: "We are satisfied that Mr. Baffert has taken responsibility for his actions, completed a substantial penalty and is committed to running in full compliance with the rules and regulations going forward. All parties agree that it is time to bring this chapter to a close and focus on the future. Mr....

Tony Martin, currently serving a three-month suspension, has been banned an additional two months and incurred a fine by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB). The additional suspension comes after his actions following Alphonse Le Grande (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire})'s Northumberland Vase win. Martin was originally banned for a six-month period--three suspended--for breaking anti-doping rules. Martin's sister Cathy O'Leary now holds his training licence, but Martin was present both before and after the race at Newcastle in the paddock, and appeared to be instructing rider Hollie Doyle. The trainer's...

Gabriel Maldonado, currently North America's winningest apprentice jockey with 86 victories, was suspended effective immediately at Delaware Park June 27 after a random drug test by that state's racing commission came back positive and the 25-year-old rookie allegedly admitted to using a prescribed opioid. Maldonado, 25, had ridden in seven races at Delaware on Wednesday, but was removed from six mounts there Thursday in the wake of the indefinite suspension and a $250 fine being issued that morning by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission (DTRC). The ruling stated that after...

Trainer Jonathan Wong's legal team has filed an application with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the agency to review an April decision by an FTC chief administrative law judge affirming an earlier Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) arbitration panel ruling which suspended Wong for two years and fined him $25,000 for a 2023 post-race metformin positive. Metformin is a type 2 diabetes drug that HISA has classified as a banned substance. The application for review asks the FTC to conduct a de novo review of chief administrative law...

The attorney representing trainer George Weaver has been informed by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) that a split sample taken from the horse Anna's Wish (Dialed In) has confirmed the earlier finding that the horse raced with the banned substance metformin during the Mar. 16 Cicada S. at Aqueduct. Trainers whose horses have tested positive for what HIWU considers banned substances face suspensions of up to two years. Weaver will be allowed to run horses that have already been entered, but cannot continue to enter horses and his...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has affirmed an earlier Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) arbitration panel ruling against trainer Jonathan Wong, suspending him for two years and fining him $25,000 for a 2023 post-race metformin positive. Metformin is a type 2 diabetes drug that HISA has classified as a banned substance. The next step in the appeals process would be a request for review by the FTC of the FTC administrative law judge's decision, according to a Horseracing Integrity and Safety Unit (HIWU) spokesperson. Wong will instead take the...