Delaware trainer suspended for drug violations

Trainer Rodolfo Romero has been suspended 90 days and fined $2,500 by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission after a search of his barn at Delaware Park turned up eight hypodermic needles, according to state regulators and a ruling against the trainer.

The syringes were discovered during a Sept. 29 search of Romero’s barn, according to the officials. The search was prompted by a finding of two painkillers in a post-race sample from a horse trained by Romero who won a race at Delaware on Sept. 12, according to the officials. The finding of two or more regulated painkillers in a post-race sample is a violation of Delaware racing rules.

Seven of the syringes have been sent to a laboratory to test the residue inside of them, according to John Wayne, the executive director of the Delaware commission. The eighth syringe was still in its packaging, Wayne said.

Wayne said Romero could face additional sanctions depending on what the tests reveal.

“That’s possible,” Wayne said. “It depends on what’s in there. There was residue in some of them that was definitely testable.”

Romero has waived his right to legal counsel, according to a stewards’ ruling. He also waived his right to have a split sample tested from the horse who had the stacking violation. That horse, Galiana, won a $75,000 stakes on Sept. 12 at Delaware by five lengths at odds of 1-5.

It is a violation in all racing states for a trainer to possess hypodermic needles. Romero’s suspension began Oct. 7, and barring any further penalties based on the lab testing, it will end Jan. 4.

Romero, a former groom for trainer Tim Ritchey, has a record of 20 wins from 202 starts this year, a strike rate of just over 10 percent. Last year, he had 18 wins from 238 starts.