Baltas entries not being accepted at 1/ST Racing tracks

Trainer Richard Baltas, who operates one of the leading stables in Southern California, faces an uncertain short-term future after a horse in his care was euthanized after suffering an injury last weekend at Santa Anita and another horse was a late scratch after being administered a substance not allowed within 24 hours of a race, according to people familiar with the matter.

Baltas did not return a phone call or a text message on Thursday.

In a text message on Thursday afternoon, Aidan Butler, the chief operating officer of 1/ST Racing, the parent company of Santa Anita, said Baltas is not permitted to enter horses “at 1/ST Racing venues or engage in timed works” pending the outcome of an investigation being conducted by company officials.

Baltas does not have any horses entered at Santa Anita on Saturday or Sunday. Baltas has one runner entered for Friday – Candy for Caramel in the eighth race. As of Thursday, the horse had not been officially withdrawn, but is expected to be scratched on Friday morning.

Last Saturday, the Baltas-trained Speedcuber was pulled up in the stretch of a turf race with a sesamoid injury. Speedcuber was euthanized on Monday, according to the California Horse Racing Board’s website. Speedcuber was the first horse in Baltas’s care to sustain a fatal injury since November, and the third in the last year, according to racing board records.

:: Win big at Santa Anita: Get DRF Past Performances, Picks, Clocker Reports and Betting Strategies.

On Sunday, the Baltas-trained Noble Reflection was withdrawn from the 10th race earlier in the afternoon after officials became aware the gelding had been administered a substance within the preceding 24 hours, according to a source.

The racing board is expected to launch an investigation into the matter surrounding Noble Reflection, but that process and a hearing that could lead to a potential sanction against Baltas is likely to take months.

California trainers are under severe restrictions regarding medications and supplements that can be given a horse within 48 and 24 hours before a race.

Through Sunday, Baltas, 60, ranked fifth in the current standings at the winter-spring meeting with 24 wins. Baltas has had 164 runners since the season began on Dec. 26, the third-highest among trainers at the meeting.

This year, Baltas has won five stakes – four at Santa Anita and one at Sunland Park in New Mexico.