Five Southern California trainers fined

ARCADIA, Calif. - Five Southern California trainers have been fined for six instances in which their runners tested positive for excessive amounts of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories after races or workouts in recent months.

In three incidents, trainers were cited when horses tested positive for two non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. Only one such medication is allowed to appear in post-race tests, according to California Horse Racing Board regulations.

The positives occurred from mid-October to mid-January.

Mike Pender was fined $1,000 when Lombo tested in excess of the permitted level of flunixin in a workout at Santa Anita on Oct. 17. Flunixin, an anti-inflammatory, is well known as banamine.

Some horses are tested after workouts after they have been placed on an official veterinarian’s list for a range of issues, including unsoundness or bleeding.

Matt Chew was fined $1,000 when Streak of Luck, a winner at Del Mar on Nov. 19, showed the presence of the analgesic bute and flunixin.

Hector Palma was fined $1,000 when Ipray tested positive for bute and flunixin in a workout at Santa Anita on Jan. 16.

Antonio Garcia was fined $3,500 for two infractions. Sunny Sweet tested in excess of the permitted level of bute in a workout at Santa Anita on Dec. 27, resulting in a $1,000 fine. Tuscany Beauty, who finished 10th at Santa Anita on Jan. 11, tested in excess of triamcinolone acetonide, a corticosteroid. The Tuscany Beauty overage was Garcia’s third such infraction in a year, resulting in a $2,500 fine.

Jerry Hollendorfer was fined $2,500 after Mischievious Lass tested in excess of bute and flunixin when second in a race at Santa Anita on Jan. 5. The Mischievious Lass ruling was Hollendorfer’s third penalty for the same infraction in the last year.

Penalties for the presence of two anti-inflammatories are common on an annual basis, according to Rick Arthur, California’s equine medical director. He said the incidents have occurred at a higher rate in recent months.

As the positives began to appear in post-race tests, Arthur sent an email to practicing and official veterinarians advising them of the trend, he said Sunday.

“We normally get eight or nine of them a year,” Arthur said. “We had more than that halfway through the (fiscal) year.”

The racing board’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

Arthur described the rash of overages as “nothing nefarious, just mistakes.”

“Horses get a lot of pre-race medications.”