Asmussen to appeal 30-day suspension for medication violation

Steve Asmussen, one of the leading trainers in the United States, will appeal a 30-day suspension approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission last week and seek a stay of the penalty, according to his attorney.

Clark Brewster, the attorney, said that Asmussen will file a petition in Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky seeking an appeal of the suspension, which was predicated on the post-race findings of the regulated medication acepromazine in two horses that won races for Asmussen in Kentucky in 2018.

Brewster said Monday that he will argue in the petition that the hearing officer who heard an appeal of the initial penalty erred in applying the “wrong burden of proof” in determining her ruling, and that Asmussen had followed well-known standards for administering the medication orally. The KHRC, Brewster said, instead applied guidelines concerning the intravenous administration of the drug, a sedative that is typically used to calm fractious horses or as an adjunct to performing minor medical procedures.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets.

“There are a number of issues here that I think are important to the industry and horsemen in general,” Brewster said.

In the order approved by the full KHRC last week, the commission wrote that the hearing officer “has met its burden of proving the propriety of the penalties imposed on Mr. Asmussen by a preponderance of the evidence standard.”

The horses involved were Thousand Percent, who won the second race on June 28, 2018, at Churchill Downs, and Boldor, who won the sixth race on Oct. 25, 2018, at Keeneland. Both horses were disqualified.

Asmussen appealed the ruling, and it had taken more than three years for the commission to rule on the appeal. The appeal hearing was held on two dates, Aug. 24 and Aug. 30, last year, according to the commission order.

Brewster said that the commission has indicated “that it will have no objection to a stay” being issued by the Circuit Court, which is based in Frankfort.

Asmussen is one of the most successful trainers in the sport, and he has a number of top-class stakes winners in his barn. He has started more than 2,000 horses in each of the past four years.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.