Drysdale suspension stayed

Neil Drysdale's 45-day suspension for a drug positive had been stayed by the Illinois Racing Board.

A urine-blood sample taken from Drysdale's Flying Dash after he won the Hawthorne Derby on May 11 yielded a positive test for clenbuterol, the commonly used breathing medication, and metabolite of acepromazine, a tranquilizer. Neither drug is permitted at any level on race day in Illinois.

Arlington Park stewards disqualified Flying Dash Friday from purse money, suspended Drysdale, and fined him $2,500. The racing board stayed those rulings until July 19. At that time, further action - not yet determined - will be taken.

Drysdale's lawyer, Neil Papiano, appealed the ruling to the racing board late last week. Papiano contends, among other things, that the level of acepromazine discovered in Flying Dash was impossibly high.

Papiano said that Drysdale would not comment on the matter. The IRB would not comment on the particulars of the case.