Judd Becker, the trainer and part-owner of a horse that finished first in a stakes race at Canterbury Downs in August, has been suspended 90 days and fined $2,500 after the horse tested positive for cardarine, a substance available at internet pharmacies that has only recently been classified as prohibited in Thoroughbred racing, according to officials. The horse, Bushrod, was disqualified from the race, the $100,000 Mystic Lake Turf Express Stakes. Bushrod later won a starter allowance race with a $100,000 purse at Kentucky Downs and finished fifth in the Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes at Woodbine in October, and it is believed that Bushrod also tested positive for cardarine following the Kentucky Downs race, according to racing officials. Becker has not started a horse since Oct. 13, 2018. He had started horses in 28 races in 2018 at the time he stopped training, with six wins and earnings of $240,776. Of that total, $178,079 was generated by Bushrod’s races. Following the Nearctic Sakes, Bushrod was transferred to trainer Kathy Mongeon, and his sole owner is now listed as Tim Rosin, who was a co-owner with Becker prior to the transfer. He finished third in a Claiming Crown race Dec. 1 at Gulfstream in his most recent start. The settlement agreement with Becker states that he waived his right to a hearing, and that an initial suspension of 180 days was reduced to the 90-day penalty due to his cooperation. The cardarine positive in Kentucky came to light last week when the state’s racing commission approved a proposal to make the drug a Class A substance, requiring the most stringent penalties. Commission officials said at the meeting in which the proposal was approved that a horse had tested positive in September for the substance. Bushrod’s only race in September was at Kentucky Downs. Dr. Mary Scollay, the equine medical director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, said Monday she could not confirm the identity of the horse because the commission is still awaiting the results of split-sample testing to confirm the presence of the substance. Cardarine was developed nearly 20 years ago as a potential tumor suppressor. However, rodents that received the drug in tests later developed cancer, and the drug was pulled from development. However, during testing, the rodents displayed highly unusual increases in stamina when under the effect of the drug, and Internet pharmacies have begun marketing cardarine as a potential stamina-building substance. The drug is not FDA approved. Racing officials with knowledge of the case have said that the only known positives for cardarine are the samples pulled from Bushrod. One official who studies racing medications said that it’s likely that the substance will turn out to be a one-and-done, given the rapid response by racing regulators to disseminate testing procedures and classify the drug as a Class A. “This may be one of those cases where we see it once and it just disappears,” the racing official said.