Suspension

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of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert from racetracks owned and operated by Churchill Downs Incorporated has been rescinded, effective immediately, CDI announced Friday evening.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...

Towards the end of December, the Sergio Morfin-trained Grazen mare Wishtheyallcouldbe was loaded onto a van from her stable at Los Alamitos to be shipped to Santa Anita for a $12,500 claimer. She would ultimately finish second. Isidro Paez was the freelance groom hired to care for the horse that day. In February, Paez had his license suspended for 90 days by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) for disorderly conduct "under the influence of Amphetamine and Methamphetamine" on Jan. 27, at Santa Anita. According to the stewards' minutes of...

Top trainer Robertino Diodoro has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) after he was allegedly found to possess the banned substance Levothyroxine. Levothyroxine is a thyroid medication. According to the National Library of Medicine the use of thyroid hormones for doping to enhance performance in human sports has long been controversial. There have been claims of abuse of these drugs, but they have not been prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Diodoro declined to comment and referred questions to his lawyer, John Holleman. At deadline...

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, an independent arbitration panel suspended trainer Jason DaCosta for 15 days (starting on Mar. 22) and fined him $1,000 after his trainee, Poker Partner, tested positive for Gabapentin when winning at Presque Isle Downs on July 18 last year. Gabapentin is a class B controlled medication under HISA that is an FDA human-approved anticonvulsant used to treat conditions like epilepsy, postherpetic neuralgia and in the...

On this week's TDN Writers' Room, trainer Rusty Arnold speaks out on his recent suspension and discusses environmental contamination at the racetrack.

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...

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has withdrawn his appeal of a three-day suspension for "for failure to maintain a straight course in the stretch and causing interference" aboard 11-10 favorite Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper), who successfully defended her title by winning the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park. There was no stewards' inquiry posted after Goodnight Olive's win. The Equibase chart noted that Goodnight Olive "drifted in, taking the path of Society [Gun Runner] near the three-sixteenths pole" before she "quickly opened clear and held safely."...