Ellis, suspension served, returns to training
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Ron Ellis is in the process of reforming his stable after serving a 60-day suspension earlier this year for a medication violation from 2016.
Ellis was reinstated last Friday and was in the stables Sunday morning.
“I’m working on getting some stalls,” he said. “We’ll see how many they give me.”
Ellis was suspended after Masochistic tested positive for the steroid stanozolol when second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in 2016. In California, steroids are not allowed to appear in post-race tests.
After nearly a year of hearings, Ellis was suspended and fined $10,000. He was forced to forfeit his stalls and disband his stable of approximately 25 horses before the suspension. Ellis said it was unclear how many horses he would train in the immediate future.
“It will take a while to get back to normal,” he said.
Ellis, 57, has won 1,123 races in his career, which began in 1980. He trained Declan’s Moon, the champion 2-year-old male of 2004, and Rail Trip, the winner of the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup in 2009.
◗ Jockey Rajiv Maragh will serve a two-day suspension Saturday and Sunday for causing interference in the second race on March 2.
Maragh was cited for his ride on Tell Your Mama, who finished second in a maiden special weight race for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles. Tell Your Mama drifted to the inside in the stretch, forcing eventual third-place finisher Malibu Model to be steadied. Tell Your Mama finished three lengths clear of Malibu Model in the field of five. There was no change to the order of finish.
Maragh, 32, is riding in Southern California on a full-time basis for the first time this winter, having previously ridden in New York. Through Sunday, Maragh has won 12 races and is tied for ninth in the standings.
