Capuano won't be penalized for horse's trace cocaine positive

Stewards at Laurel Park in Maryland have cited “mitigating circumstances” in ruling that trainer Dale Capuano should not be fined or suspended after a horse he trained tested positive for a trace amount of cocaine after winning a race at the track in July.

The ruling, dated Aug. 31, states that an employee of Capuano’s barn was asked to provide a urine sample because of “his past history and the drug in question,” but the employee refused. However, the employee said he was in possession of cocaine at the time the horse ran, according to the ruling.

The ruling was first reported by The Paulick Report.

Capuano said on Thursday that the employee has been fired, and he credited the stewards with looking into the matter. He cited the trace level of the drug for saying that it was “absolutely” a case of environmental contamination.

“They investigated it thoroughly, and they came to the correct conclusion,” Capuano said.

The decision to absolve Capuano touches on a number of concerns in the racing industry over drug regulation and testing. Horsemen have long argued that zero-tolerance testing and more sophisticated testing methods have led to cases in which environmental contaminants are ensnaring trainers, leading to debates over the long-standing absolute-insurer rule, which holds trainers strictly liable for the condition of their horses.

In Kentucky, a recent case involving a trace positive for a regulated muscle relaxant in a horse trained by Graham Motion has resulted in a circuit court judge deeming the absolute-insurer rule in the state unconstitutional. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has appealed the ruling.

The Capuano ruling cites the absolute-insurer rule, but it later cites “mitigating circumstances” in the determination not to levy a fine or suspension. Cocaine is a Class 1 drug, meaning that positives for the drug can result in lengthy suspensions.

The horse who tested positive, Six Tonsafun, was disqualified from the race, the fourth at Laurel Park on July 22, with the purse forfeited. Six Tonsafun won the $23,000 claiming race at odds of 6.70-1, earning $13,100.

Capuano said he has appealed the ruling to the Maryland Racing Commission on behalf of the horse’s owners, Rob Ry Farm and Jayne Marie Slysz, who have objected to forfeiting the purse.

Six Tonsafun has run twice since that race, finishing fifth and sixth in higher-level allowance races at Parx in Pennsylvania and Delaware Park.