Blu Moon Ace disqualified from De Francis Dash for cobalt positive

Blu Moon Ace, the second-place finisher in the Sept. 16 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park, has been disqualified from the Grade 3 race because of a positive test for an excessive level of cobalt, the mineral that has been used under the belief that it can have effects similar to expensive blood-doping drugs.

Blu Moon Ace had a cobalt concentration of 58 nanograms per milliliter of blood plasma in a post-race sample, according to a Nov. 12 ruling from the Maryland Racing Commission. Several years ago, the Maryland Racing Commission, along with other racing regulatory bodies, adopted a threshold of 50 ng/mL as being indicative of a deliberate attempt to raise a horse’s cobalt levels.

Blue Moon Ace’s trainer, Kevin Patterson, was handed a 15-day suspension for the positive and a $500 fine, according to the ruling. He was also assessed four points under Maryland multiple-medication violation system, which can lead to higher penalties for a trainer if additional medication violations are assessed within a 12-month period of the first infraction.

Alan Pincus, an attorney for Patterson, said that the trainer has appealed the ruling, citing lab work on the initial sample that stated the concentration in the sample was approximately 54 ng/ml “plus or minus 7.9” ng/mL. That would introduce the possibility that the concentration was below the 50 ng/ml threshold, Pincus said. Maryland’s rules recommend a warning for a cobalt concentration between 25-50 ng/mL.

“Under this, you might have 46 nanograms, you might have 47, you might have 48, you might have 49,” Pincus said. “You can’t punish me for having over 50 nanograms if that’s not what it says.”

Pincus said an appeals hearing has been scheduled for February in front of the racing commission. Officials for the commission did not return phone calls.

Blu Moon Ace was one of only four horses to run in the Dash, finishing second by a neck to the winner, Chublicious, as the third choice. The 4-year-old gelding won the Maryland Million Sprint Handicap five weeks later, but he broke down in his next start, the Fabulous Strike Stakes at Penn National, and was put down.

Patterson has 38 wins from 90 starts this year, with earnings of $625,046. Since 1992, he has won 348 races from 1,117 starts, a strike rate of 31.2 percent. Patterson did not immediately respond to a phone message.

Regulators around the world began cracking down on cobalt use several years ago following rumors that the mineral was being administered to horses in large doses for its purported blood-doping effect. While there is little evidence that the mineral works in such a way, a large number of Standardbred horses and a handful of Thoroughbred horses tested positive for large concentrations of the substance in the lead-up to the regulations being passed. Positives for the mineral have been few and far between in the past several years, however.