Residual medication used as a local anesthetic lingered in the system of 3-year-old gelding Miniconjou and showed up in a post-race test after the horse won his second consecutive start at Oaklawn Park May 6 for then-trainer Kelly Von Hemel.
The positive for mepivacaine reported by Industrial Laboratories May 26 and confirmed by a test of the split sample resulted in a $500 fine and a 15-day suspension for Von Hemel that runs from Dec. 9, the start of the next Oaklawn Park meet, through Dec. 23. Von Hemel waived his right to a hearing after split sample results came back and said he is accepting the penalty.
"Basically, the horse cut his head, and we stitched him up," Von Hemel explained. "We waited seven days to enter him, and every vet we talked to said that should be OK. There was nothing intentional."
The Controlled Therapeutic Medications Schedule published by the Association of Racing Commissioners International recommends a 72-hour withdrawal time for a single 0.07 milligrams per kilogram subcutaneous dose of mepivacaine, a numbing agent similar to lidocaine.
"The stable is slower this time of year, so we are just taking the days and moving on," Von Hemel said.
Miniconjou was disqualified from first, and purse money was redistributed, including winning earnings of $31,200 that, absent a positive test, would have gone to owner B-4 Racing. Windcracker was moved to first.
Previously trained by Allen Milligan, Miniconjou was claimed Feb. 18 by Von Hemel for Jake Van Oort, Ray Shattuck, and Scott Pope, and other partners for $30,000 out of a one-mile maiden claiming race at Oaklawn. The Mr Speaker gelding subsequently finished in front twice for Von Hemel when racing six furlongs. Miniconjou made his most recent start for owner Ron Groene and trainer Tom Amoss, running third in a 5 1/2-furlong $127,800 allowance race June 11 at Churchill Downs. He has been sidelined since.
Von Hemel has not had a medication-related penalty since May 2016, when two horses at Prairie Meadows tested positive for ractopamine, which turned out to be from contaminated feed. The feed mill had processed cattle feed treated with ractopamine prior to running the batch of Triple Crown 14% Performance Race Feed later purchased by Von Hemel, according to Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission rulings.
The trainer's horses Jello Shot Jodie, who won at Prairie Meadows May 21, and Hot Shot Socks, who was second in a race at the same track May 27, both were disqualified and the purse money redistributed because of the medication positives. Von Hemel was not sanctioned by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, which ruled Von Hemel was not responsible.
