Citing the results of out-of-competition testing, Gulfstream Park announced suspensions Oct. 1 to five trainers the track said were in violation of the racetrack's clenbuterol rules. The five trainers are Georgina Baxter, Gilberto Zerpa, Peter Walder, Rohan Crichton, and Daniel Pita.
Gulfstream Park enacted the restriction on clenbuterol as a house rule at the beginning of its 2019/2020 Championship Meet to "address and implement improved safety, transparency, and accountability standards."
Clenbuterol is a medication that can be used therapeutically to assist horses with respiratory difficulties but is suspected to have been abused due to muscle development properties. This has led many regulators and some racetracks in North America to implement restrictions meant to curb its use beyond treating horses with lower airway disease.
Testing of nearly 100 Thoroughbreds previously raced by trainers indicted in March 2020 on performance-enhancing drug charges indicated that 77% showed the presence of clenbuterol, Dr. Scott Palmer, equine medical director for the New York State Gaming Commission, said in a teleconference last fall.
Five horses apiece from 10 randomly chosen barns at Gulfstream Park were tested, said Aidan Butler, chief operating officer of 1/ST RACING, the operator of Gulfstream. Five trainers returned clean samples while the five trainers who have been suspended returned a total of 12 positives. One trainer had four violations, another three, Butler said while not identifying the specific individuals.
The samples were tested at Kenneth L. Maddy Laboratory at the University of California, Davis, Gulfstream officials said.
Butler said it was a "huge bloody concern" that half of the randomly selected group of trainers violated rules.
"We did some more this week," he said of testing. "This is not a one-off. This is what we're going to be starting to do now. Out of competition is key.
"We're basically sick to death of people skirting the rules," he added. "We're not going to stand for this. We're pushing extremely hard now. Anybody that doesn't want to do the right thing is going to face the same treatment."
Horses already entered to race Friday by the sanctioned trainers were scratched, and Gulfstream announced they will not be permitted to enter any of their trainees for any race at 1/ST RACING venues until the completion of the suspension.
Assistants will not be permitted to run horses for trainers while they serve suspensions, Butler indicated.
"A lot of instances, it can be a vacation," he said, before adding, "That's not going to fly."
Walder told BloodHorse it was unfair for Gulfstream to scratch his horses entered Friday and Sunday when the track knew these suspensions were coming.
"They should not have entered the horses at all," he said. "As it is, I had an owner—a new owner in the game—fly in from Puerto Rico to watch his horse run only to find out his horse is scratched. Then he did not get a phone call or a text answered by the track to explain why. Why are we punishing the owners because without them, there is no game."
Walder also noted that when the hair samples were collected from the horses in his barn in July, he was told the window of detectability for the clenbuterol was Feb. 16 to July 6. He said he claimed a horse March 18 that tested positive.
"That's about a month the horse was not in my care," Walder said. "Where is the due process?"
The suspension for Baxter follows a 25-day suspension the trainer was issued in Florida last year for three medication violations.
BlOODHORSE: Baxter Serving 25-Day Suspension for Drug Violations
1/ST RACING also owns and operates Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields, and the Maryland Jockey Club tracks of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course.
Butler said it may not be necessary for the track to initiate testing at those tracks, as both California and Maryland have strict clenbuterol rules established by their regulators. "Florida doesn't," he noted.
To return to racing, the track indicated the suspended trainers must also submit to follow-up testing and have clean blood and urine samples. The 12 affected horses will be permitted to train as a part of their daily care and exercise routines.
The suspensions range from 10 to 40 days depending on the number of violations that a trainer has received and are effective as of Friday. Each trainer has been handed a $1,000 fine per violation which will go directly to support Thoroughbred aftercare initiatives.
"If they feel it is a mistake, we can pull hair and retest," Dionne Benson, 1/ST RACING's chief veterinary officer, said. "It's not like it is blood, where it is gone quickly."
Butler cautioned, however, that officials could opt to test a suspended trainer's entire stable.
"If they come back like we think they'll come back, they will completely get a vacation forever from us," he said.
Asked if veterinarians could also face sanctions for treating horses with clenbuterol, Butler replied, "Like anybody else on the racetrack, if we find anybody doing stuff they shouldn't be doing, there will be a price to pay for that, also."
