Gorder granted stay of 14-month suspension

Trainer Kellyn Gorder has been granted a stay of a 14-month suspension for two Kentucky rules violations and will be free to start horses until an appeal of the ruling is heard, according to Kentucky chief state steward Barbara Borden.

Gorder appealed the suspension shortly after it was handed down in late April, Borden said. A hearing on the appeal has not been scheduled, Borden said.

Gorder was suspended for 14 months after a horse he trained tested positive for methamphetamine, a Class 1 stimulant, and a related search of his barn turned up syringes and unlabeled bottles of medication. The horse who tested positive did so after a race Nov. 22 at Churchill Downs, and the search took place at Gorder’s barn Dec. 27 at Keeneland.

Gorder has denied that he ever administered methamphetamine to any of his horses, but he has acknowledged being in possession of a hypodermic syringe, saying it was an oversight related to the administration of an antibiotic solution to a horse in his barn last summer.

Gorder’s suspension was to have started May 1. His appeal of the methamphetamine positive likely will hinge on the concentration of the drug in the horse’s system. Gorder has said that the positive was for a trace amount of the drug, which is commonly abused by humans.