Juan Vazquez gets 15-day suspension for New York medication violation

Trainer Juan Vazquez, already serving a suspension from the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission that lasts until January 2025, will have to serve another 14-day penalty from the New York Gaming Commission if and when he returns.

Vazquez was suspended 14 days by the New York regulatory body for the finding of the therapeutic drug Albuterol, a bronchodilator, in the post-race samples of Esor, who won a maiden $20,000 claiming race on Dec. 30, 2021, at Aqueduct.

Esor was disqualified from first and ordered unplaced in the order of finish. His connections, which includes owner David Neilson, have to forfeit the $17,600 purse winnings for finishing first.

Vazquez was suspended under New York’s trainer’s responsibility rule, which reads in part, “no trainer shall start or permit a horse in his or her custody, care or control to be started if the trainer knows . . . that the horse has received any drug or other restricted substance that could result in a positive test.”

Due to the Pennsylvania suspension, the New York penalty will run from Jan. 27, 2025, through Feb. 9, 2025.

In July, Vazquez was suspended by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission through Jan. 26, 2025, for actions it deemed “grossly negligent, cruel, and abusive” regarding the horse Shining Colors, who was euthanized in January due to a severe case of laminitis. On Jan. 6, Vazquez shipped the 5-year-old mare from Belmont Park to Parx Racing. Three days later, she had to be euthanized.

From 2006-22, Vazquez won 774 races from 4,503 starters and his horses earned $17.8 million.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.