Five positives in Nick Canani barn

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Nick Canani, second-leading trainer at Arlington Park with 45 wins this meet, and a private trainer for leading Chicago owner Frank Calabrese, has been hit with five more positive tests for the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug etodolac.

In a ruling issued Thursday, Arlington stewards handed Canani a 30-day suspension and fined him $2,000 for the medication violations.

Canani was fined and suspended earlier in this meet when Copper Forest was disqualified from a win after testing positive for etodolac. Canani has continued on as a trainer while appealing that ruling with the Illinois Racing Board. Canani’s attorney, Art England, said Friday he would file an appeal with the IRB on the new round of positives. A hearing on the appeal can’t be heard until tests requested by England and Canani are completed on split samples taken from the horses who tested positive.

Etodolac is classified as a Class 3 medication by the Association of Racing Commissioners International, meaning it has a low chance of enhancing performance. Illinois has a zero-tolerance policy for etodolac, so there is no threshold level at which it is permitted in a horse’s system on race day. In humans, etodolac – marketed under the trade names Lodine SR and Eccoxolac, is routinely prescribed in humans for management of pain, fever, and medication.

The horses that tested positive for etodolac were Swains News, second in the third race on July 9; Exchanging Kisses, first in the third race June 10; Klassi Berti, second in the second race June 11; Miss M V P, first in the ninth race June 11; and Umma Umma, winner of the fifth race June 17. The stewards ordered the order of finish changed and the purse redistributed in the affected races.