Baltas appeals one-year suspension

Trainer Richard Baltas has launched an appeal of a one-year suspension issued by three California stewards last month for violations related to the administration of raceday supplements at Santa Anita last April and May.

Last week, administrative law judge Edward Weiss conducted an appeals hearing. Weiss has until late February to present an opinion to the California Horse Racing Board, according to racing board executive director Scott Chaney.

The seven-member racing board can chose to accept, deny or modify a proposed decision, leaving a range of outcomes including a reduction in the penalty, or for Baltas to serve the entire suspension through Dec. 8. Baltas was also fined $10,000.

Baltas, one of California’s leading trainers in recent years, referred comment to his attorney, Steve Haney, who was not immediately available on Thursday.

Baltas was sanctioned after backstretch surveillance cameras in the Santa Anita stable area caught one of his employees administering the herbal supplement X-Treme Air Boost to Noble Reflection on the afternoon of May 8, hours before the horse was scheduled to start.

California trainers are under severe restrictions regarding medications and supplements that can be administered to a horse prior to a race.

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A review of video surveillance from Baltas’s stable at Santa Anita in April and May led the racing board to file a complaint last June alleging that unpermitted substances were administered to 23 horses in the trainer’s care on race days between April 15 and May 8.

X-Treme Air Boost, and another supplement, Cool & Calm, were administered to horses in April and May to prevent bleeding and to aid nervous horses, according to testimony presented by the racing board at a hearing in September.

Tests taken at the University of California-Davis, the state’s official testing laboratory, revealed the presence of higenamine and paenol in X-Treme Air Boost, the racing’s board complaint stated.

According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s website, higenamine is a stimulant that has been banned for use in athletes by the agency since 2017. Paenol is an anti-inflammatory, according to veterinarian websites.

Baltas has not had any starters in California since last May. He was not permitted to start horses at the state’s racetracks at the insistence of track and regulatory officials while his case was being heard last year.

Baltas, 61, was fifth in the standings at the 2021-2022 Santa Anita winter-spring meeting through early May of 2022.

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