Hall of Fame trainer Mott to appeal 15-day suspension

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was suspended 15 days and fined $1,000 for the finding of the drug Flunixin, also known as Banamine, and an overage of Lasix in the body fluid of Saratoga Snacks, who finished last in a New York-bred allowance race Sept. 20 at Belmont Park, according to the New York State Gaming Commission.

Mott is appealing the suspension. Had he not appealed, the suspension would have been reduced to seven days.

Mott said he was appealing the penalties because the levels of the medications were at least 10 times the allowable levels permitted to be given, an indication that something may have been amiss with the test. Moreover, he said the Lasix is given on race day by a veterinarian who works for the New York Racing Association.

“They allow you to give 10 ccs of Lasix, and we only give three ccs, and I was standing there when the [veterinarian] gave it,” Mott said Friday by phone from Florida. “My feeling is something’s not right. It’s not a slight overage.”

In 2014, the permissible level of Flunixin was 50 nanograms per milliliter. Beginning in 2015, it is 20 nanograms per milliliter.

“If it was a slight overage, you could say it stayed in the system too long or the horse metabolized it differently,” Mott said. “You might get a slight overage, but not 10 times.”

Mott will be represented in his appeal by attorney Drew Mollica.

“Justice demands and the facts will show there’s something wrong,” Mollica said. “This is like two solar eclipses in one day.”

At the time, Saratoga Snacks was owned by Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells. He since has been sold privately to Gary Sciacca, who was the original trainer of the New York-bred stakes winner.