02/15/2013 4:55PM

Nebraska trainer Veerhusen suspended for two years after dermorphin positive

By Matt Hegarty
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The Nebraska State Racing Commission has suspended a trainer for two years after one of the trainer’s horses tested positive for the powerful painkiller dermorphin.

The commission issued the suspension and a $1,000 fine Wednesday to Kim Veerhusen, whose horse, Cheatin Cowboy, tested positive for the synthetic opioid after finishing second in a race on July 15 at Horsemen’s Park in Omaha. Tom Sage, executive director of the commission, said Friday that the penalty was “the longest suspension that I know the commission has ever given out.”

In a stewards’ ruling last August, Veerhusen had been suspended through the remainder of the Horsemen’s Park meet, which ended Sept. 19 and fined $1,500. Both were the maximum penalties the stewards could levy. The horse also was disqualified from purse money in the $1,400 race.

Dermorphin, which is derived from a skin secretion of South American tree frogs, began appearing in post-race tests in several states in the summer of 2012 after laboratories designed a test to detect the drug. Multiple positives were called in Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Those jurisdictions have suspended the trainers from two years to 10 years for each positive.

Not including the latest positive, Veerhusen has been fined or suspended nine times over the past seven years, including positives for methocarbomol, a muscle relaxant; flunixin, a painkiller; and acepromazine, a tranquilizer. The other six positives were for overages of the commonly used painkiller Phenylbutazone.

Jack 8 months ago
Are you kidding me? read this story one more time "Veerhusen has been fined or suspended nine times over the past seven years, including positives for methocarbomol, a muscle relaxant; flunixin, a painkiller; and acepromazine, a tranquilizer" The entire industry should be ashamed. Until we have a national board to oversee the sport and stop letting political bodies in each state dictate suspentions and fines, we' ll all be better off...and bettor off...hahaha. No really, maybe I should start training horses in Nebraska, it seems the risk/reward ratio is quite high.
Randy Baker 8 months ago
Your cheating heart will tell on you,you'll cry and cry bla bla bla get rid of this clown
Anonymous 8 months ago
This suspension is nothing and not at all in line with other jurisdictions (check out Oklahoma). Nebraska racing is dying a slow death and much of the demise can be traced to crap like this. He cheated even after the dermorphin scandal broke because he thought he had a way to "beat" the test. A desperate cheater and he gets only two years. Nebraska should be embarrassed.
Gaye Goodwin 8 months ago
How about ZERO tolerance?? Throw this clown out of the industry forever.
kimmons2 8 months ago
Until the owners, trainers and racetracks clean up there industry it will continue to suffer!! Along with the horses that have no say in what happens to them! These people wither they be owners, trainers need to be prosecuted and banned from racing forever.. The End!!!
chad mc rory 8 months ago
Not long enough. This guy has got to go. And to close with a question... When do the courts step in with possession charges for this crap?
Horse Cents 8 months ago
It's interesting that the more exotic powerful painkillers get very severe penalties, while the more common ones get much less. Maybe not a bad thing. But here is something I don't understand. A trainer at Arlington, in just a two month period, May and June of 2012 had 10 positives for Prednisone. He received a fine for each of, 250,1000,250.500,100,500,1500,500,500,1000, which seems to have no rhyme or reason. I wonder how much was cashed in winning tickets. 10 Prednisone positives in two months on 10 different horses, all 10 won. No suspension listed.
wolves 8 months ago
who was the trainer?