Bauer, Foley suspended for drug positives
Two Kentucky-based trainers, Philip Bauer and Greg Foley, have been suspended by stewards for medication positives resulting from races run this summer at state tracks, according to rulings recently posted to the website of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
Bauer, who is in the midst of his best year, with 17 winners from 128 starts and $1.5 million in purse earnings, was issued a 30-day suspension for two positives for the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam, which is a Class B substance in Kentucky. Only three NSAIDs are permitted to be administered in Kentucky, and only one at a time, and meloxicam is not one of them.
According to rulings in the case, the two meloxicam positives occurred one week apart, so stewards treated the two violations as one because Bauer was “not notified” of the first finding. The stewards also said that this was the first medication violation in Bauer’s eight-year career.
Bauer waived his right to a hearing and will begin his suspension on Dec. 5, running through Jan. 3. The two horses that tested positive – Angkor, who finished third in an allowance/optional claiming race at Churchill on June 13, and Played Hard, who finished first in a maiden race at Churchill on June 20 – were both disqualified.
Foley was issued a 30-day suspension after his horse On Your Mark tested positive for a metabolite of acepromazine, which is used as a sedative, after winning an allowance race at Ellis Park on Aug. 1. However, stewards noted Foley’s “number of violations in relation to overall record,” and reduced the suspension to 15 days provided the trainer does not have a Class A or Class B violation in the next year. On Your Mark was disqualified.
Foley also waived his right to a hearing, and he will begin serving his suspension on Dec. 5. Foley has won 35 races from 216 starts this year, with purse earnings of $2.6 million, a career best. He has had horses in the last two Kentucky Derbies, finishing fifth this year with O Besos.
Purses on the Kentucky circuit have jumped dramatically in the past several years due to subsidies from expanded gambling in the state.