California trainers suspended

Prominent California trainers Carla Gaines and Peter Miller are in the midst of seven-day suspensions for medication violations found in their runners earlier this year, according to rulings recently published by the Horseracing and Welfare Integrity Unit.

Gaines and Miller had horses test positive for the tranquilizer acepromazine. They were each fined $1,000 and suspended one week. The suspensions end on Friday.

Gaines was cited for a positive found in a post-workout test taken on July 14 from Summer Lake, who has not raced since May 2022.

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Miller was cited for a positive found in Forgiving Spirit after the 4-year-old gelding finished second in an allowance race in which he was entered to be claimed for $40,000 at Santa Anita on June 11. Forgiving Spirit was claimed by George Papaprodromou from that race, but the claim was voided by the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority.

Forgiving Spirit has not raced since June 11. He was scratched during warm-ups from a race at Los Alamitos on July 9 and later ordered to be returned to Miller after the voided claim.

Forgiving Spirit was disqualified from the June 11 race. He earned $12,600 which has been ordered forfeited.

Portions of the purses of four other California races at Del Mar and Santa Rosa in late July and early August have been ordered to be forfeited by HIWU for medication violations.

Like No Other, trained by Andy Mathis, tested positive for the analgesic bute after an eight-place finish as the 8-5 favorite in a $16,000 claimer for non-winners of two at Del Mar. Mathis was fined $500.

Jorge Maravilla, based in Northern California, served a seven-day suspension that ended on Tuesday for a positive for gabapentin, which is used to treat nerve pain in humans.

The positive was found in a test taken from Stretch Run, who won a starter allowance at Santa Rosa on Aug. 4. The $8,400 winner’s share was redistributed.

The previous day, the Maravilla-trained Brookys Tapit tested positive for bute after finishing last of five in a conditional $4,000 claimer.

Maravilla was fined a combined $1,500 for the two infractions.

Trainer Cesar De Alba was fined $500 after Scary Fast Smile tested positive for dexamethasone after seventh-place finish in a field of 12 in an $8,000 claimer at Del Mar on Aug. 6. A $500 purse earned for participation was ordered forfeited.

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