Dutrow slapped with 14-day suspension

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. was slapped with a 14-day suspension and a $25,000 fine by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board for violating the terms of a suspension he served back in 2005.

The current suspension begins Thursday and runs through Feb. 28.

According to Carmine Donofrio, the NYSRWB steward, Dutrow was found to have had contact with his barn help during the time he was serving a 60-day suspension in the spring and summer of 2005. Trainers on suspension are forbidden from contacting their assistants.

"He was doing things he shouldn't have been doing," Donofrio said.

On June 1, 2005, Dutrow, who that year trained eventual Horse of the Year Saint Liam, Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Silver Train and stakes winners Offlee Wild and Sis City, began serving a 60-day suspension for two past medication positives as well as a claiming rules violation.

"They subpoenaed my help's phone records and my owner's phone records and they said I billed my owners when I was suspended," Dutrow said. "They're doing what they have to do I guess."

Last Thursday, Dutrow returned from a seven-day suspension for an overage of phenylbutazone, a painkiller, found in a postrace sample taken from Privy Seal, who finished fourth in the fourth race at Belmont Park on Oct. 15, 2006.

Dutrow has horses in New York, south Florida and Southern California. His horses in New York will run under the name of assistant Juan Rodriguez.