Horses trained by Foley, Lawrence test positive for metformin

Horses trained by Greg Foley and James Lawrence II have become the latest to test positive for metformin, the banned diabetes drug that is being studied by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority for its potential to contaminate drug-testing samples.

Foley and Lawrence will remain eligible to train despite the positives due to a policy announced by HISA in early June to defer any provisional suspensions for positives for metformin until the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium issues recommendations on how to regulate the drug. The process is expected to take several months.

Horsemen with positives for metformin have contended that human use of the drug has contaminated samples. In a statement released with the new policy change in June, HISA acknowledged that possibility but also said that it has received information that “some horsemen may be using metformin to try and gain a performance advantage.”

Metformin is the active ingredient in a number of medications used to manage diabetes in humans by lowering blood-sugar levels and stimulating metabolism. Prior to HISA rules that went into effect last summer banning the drug, it was treated as a Class B drug. Under both classifications, the drug was considered to have no therapeutic value in horses, and findings in post-race samples were treated as violations.

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While trainers were typically given suspensions of 15 to 30 days prior to HISA taking over drug testing and enforcement, HISA’s rules for banned drugs carry a recommended suspension of two years. Trainers with positives for metformin under HISA’s rules have been given suspensions ranging from 75 days to two years. In one of the cases, Jonathan Wong, who received the two-year suspension, was cited for providing “demonstrably false” and “untruthful statements” during his arbitration hearing.

Foley’s horse Camaro Z tested positive for metformin after running third in the $275,000 Audubon Stakes on June 1 at Churchill Downs, according to records posted by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, which enforces HISA’s medication policies. Lawrence’s horse Cherished Wish tested positive after running second in a maiden special weight race on May 23 at Penn National.

The horses that tested positive have been disqualified from their races. Under HISA’s policies, any positive test, whether for a regulated or banned drug, requires disqualification.

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