Another Trainer Penalized From Penn National Scandal

Jose Salinas, one of 13 trainers at Penn National Race Course cited for giving intra-articular injections within the stand-down periods prior to a race or workout, has been suspended for 60 days and fined $5,000. Salinas was cited for having a knee and both hocks of the 5-year-old gelding Zoomster injected with a corticosteroid three days before a five-furlong claiming race on the turf June 9, 2023, at Penn National. During a hearing before a Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit internal adjudication panel, Salinas claimed he did not know the horse had been injected by racetrack veterinarian Dr. Allen Post Bonnell, a central figure in the injection scandal. The trainer also claimed no one witnessed the horse being injected and, according to HIWU documentation, that Bonnell is "too old, frail, and possibly addled, to have acted alone." The Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control program prohibits intra-articular injections within 14 days of a race and within seven days of a workout. Bonnell's records show he injected one of Zoomster's knees and both hocks June 6, 2023, according to the hearing report. The hearing panel not only found Salinas violated the injection rule; it also found he bore significant fault and negligence. Salinas additionally admitted in written testimony and in oral testimony that he acted as the "program trainer" for trainer Bonnie Lucas while she was serving a 30-day suspension during May and June of 2023. Zoomster was owned by Vedhya Jagnanan. According to HISA's investigation, Lucas had 39 horses under her care that received 60 prohibited injections from Bonnell. One of Lucas' horses that received an injection suffered a catastrophic injury and was euthanized in the race following the injection. To date, a total of 10 cases stemming from the Penn National investigation, including Salinas, have been resolved by HIWU. Two cases remain pending, according to Alexa Ravit, HIWU's communications director. Kentucky Vet Fined, Suspended for Banned Substance Kentucky veterinarian Dr. Benjamin Bealmear was suspended for four months and fined $4,165 after investigators with HIWU and the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation found two bottles of a compounded substance labeled "B Blend-Pelphery" in his veterinary vehicle. Testing of the bottles' contents showed they contained the vasodilator adenosine triphosphate. The compounded substance is considered a banned substance under HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program. Bealmear noted to HIWU that the product, compounded by Boothwyn Pharmacy, was produced June 29, 2022, and expired Sept. 27, 2022, and, therefore, the product pre-dated the implementation of the ADMC program May 22, 2023. Bealmear further argued that he had used the B Blend only on certain horses he had acquired as patients from Dr. Rick Pelphrey in late 2021 and produced veterinary records, pharmacy records, and presented the physical evidence of the bottles as proof that he had not used B Blend since Sept. 19, 2022. Bealmear did state that he conducted a search of his veterinary vehicle when the ADMC program was launched in an effort to purge any banned substances. He said he failed to remove B Blend because he assumed it was not banned. He told HIWU that none of the ingredients in B Blend are listed by name on the ADMC's prohibited list. According to ADMC rules, however, any substance not specifically on the prohibited list is still considered a banned substance. HIWU did determine that Bealmear bore a slight degree of fault and negligence for this violation. According to HIWU, the veterinarian should have inquired about its legal status under the ADMC program and should have removed it from his truck anyway because it had expired. Mitigating circumstances in Bealmear's favor include that he has been a licensed vet since 1992 with no disciplinary history, he readily admitted possessing B Blend and showed investigators where it was located in his truck, and there is no evidence he ever used B Blend on any horse under HISA's regulatory authority. Trainer Rodriguez Gets Third Violation in Two Years Trainer Darien Rodriguez received April 24 a 15-day suspension and a $2,500 fine for a methocarbamol positive in a horse he raced March 19 at Tampa Bay Downs. This violation is his third controlled medication positive within two years. The post-race blood sample came from a 4-year-old gelding named Everdoit, who Rodriguez trains for Patrick Rhodes. The gelding won a $23,000 claiming race at Tampa Bay Downs, his second consecutive win at the Florida track since Feb. 26. Methocarbamol is a muscle relaxant commonly used to treat a condition known as "tying up," which is severe muscle spasms that can occur after a strenuous workout. Rodriguez admitted to the rule violation and accepted its consequences. As part of the penalty, the $14,000 purse from the claiming race is forfeited, and the horse will be disqualified. The trainer also receives 1.5 penalty points, which gives him a total of 4.5 penalty points accumulated since Feb. 12, 2024. Last year, he was fined and suspended for a dexamethasone positive from a Dec. 13, 2023, race at Tampa Bay Downs, and then fined and suspended for another methocarbamol positive from a June 20 race at Delaware Park.