Handal suspended 22 days for painkiller violation

New York-based trainer Ray Handal began serving a 22-day suspension on Thursday for three violations of rules pertaining to the use of the corticosteroid dexamethasone, a regulated painkilling medication, according to records posted by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit.

Handal, who has 13 wins from 127 starts this year, was also fined $3,500, according to HIWU. The horses that tested positive were disqualified from their races.

Handal did not immediately return a phone call on Friday morning. The Paulick Report reported that the trainer said that a groom had mistakenly applied a topical ointment containing dexamethasone to the horses.

The HIWU records said that Handal admitted to the violations. He was handed a 15-day suspension for one of the violations, but that was reduced to seven days due to the admission. Another of the violations resulted in a 30-day suspension, but that was reduced to 15 days because of the admission for a total of 22 days.

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Two of the dexamethasone positives occurred in the same horse, Valtellina, after starts at Aqueduct on April 10 and May 16. The other occurred in Makeyourmoment after a race at Aqueduct on April 23.

According to the HIWU records, the first positive for Valtellina and the positive for Makeyourmoment were treated as one violation because Handal had not been notified of the first positive when the second was detected in post-race testing. It can take several weeks for post-race samples to be tested.

Handal had a previous violation for betamethasone, a regulated corticosteroid in the same class as dexamethasone, in May of last year. That violation resulted in a disqualification of the horse and the assessment of 1.5 penalty points.

In total, Handal has been assessed 4.5 penalty points over the past year. The total amount of penalty points accumulated over a two-year rolling period can lead to higher penalties for subsequent violations.

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