Calhoun suspended 10 days for cannabidiol positive

Trainer Bret Calhoun has been suspended 10 days after a horse he trained tested positive for cannabidiol after a winning race at Ellis Park in Kentucky last summer, according to a ruling posted on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission website.

Calhoun, who has been starting horses at Oaklawn Park during the coronavirus outbreak, began serving the 10-day suspension on Tuesday, and it will run through April 23. The suspension included a caveat that he will serve an additional 20 days if any horse he trains tests positive for a Class A or Class B medication in the year following the date of the ruling.

The horse that tested positive, Touch Blue, won a maiden-claiming race on July 6 at Ellis Park. The horse was disqualified. Touch Blue subsequently won a claiming race at Remington Park in October. Calhoun also was fined $500.

Cannabidiol was recently added to Thoroughbred racing’s list of prohibited medications as a Class B substance and has become a common ingredient in a wide variety of supplements, despite little scientific evidence that it has a significant pharmacological impact.

Calhoun has 37 wins from 147 starts this year, and has regularly posted win rates in excess of 20 percent since the beginning of the millennium. He did not immediately respond to a phone message.

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