Antonucci suspension rescinded in settlement

Trainer Jena Antonucci will not be suspended for 15 days under a settlement the trainer reached with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority in a case involving a positive test for the regulated painkiller lidocaine in a horse she trained, according to documents related to the case.

The settlement, which was reached prior to a ruling by the Federal Trade Commission on Antonucci’s appeal, will reduce the penalty in the case to a $200 fine. In addition to the 15-day suspension, Antonucci was facing a $1,000 fine.

The settlement agreement states that Antonucci’s legal counsel presented “additional evidence” that was not available during a hearing in front of an arbitrator in March that upheld the initial 15-day suspension. The agreement says the evidence “shed new light on the case.”

While the evidence is not explicitly identified in the settlement document, Antonucci’s attorneys submitted “proposed findings” to the FTC as part of her appeal which identified a potential source of contamination from a rider who had received a prescription for a cream containing lidocaine after sustaining a minor injury when he “hit a gate while riding.”

The proposal findings said that the rider, who was not named, testified that “he is certain there was contact between his hands and the covered horse’s face between June 13 and June 14.” The horse that tested positive, Bee A Queen, did so after a race at Gulfstream on June 14.

In her arbitration hearing, Antonucci had argued that the lidocaine positive could have arisen from contamination from a horse masseuse who had also applied a lidocaine cream to his own body. That contention was ruled “speculative” by the hearing officer who upheld the initial 15-day suspension.

Antonucci is best known as the trainer of Arcangelo, winner of the 2023 Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes. In her testimony, the trainer said she had not been penalized for a single medication violation during her 16-year training career.

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