Judge says Arroyo can ride while drug tests are reanalyzed

DEL MAR, Calif. – A day after he was removed from his mounts by the board of stewards, jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. received a court order from a San Diego Superior Court judge on Friday allowing him to resume riding at Del Mar until recent drug tests can be analyzed by a California Horse Racing Board-sanctioned lab.

Attorney Bing Bush Jr. said that Arroyo tested positive for a prohibited substance on Thursday morning, but that a second test conducted the same morning did not show the presence of the substance. Late Thursday morning, the stewards removed Arroyo from his three scheduled mounts.

“This morning we went to court and basically advised the judge what was going on,” Bush said Friday morning. “We asked to let him ride until we get the final results from a CHRB lab. That will probably be several days.”

The stewards declined to comment on the matter Thursday, as did a spokesperson for the racing board.

In a ruling issued Friday, Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Stern granted Arroyo’s motion to allow him to resume riding pending results from the racing board’s lab.

According to documents Bush provided to the court, Arroyo had similar incidents in April and May when three preliminary drug tests showed the presence of prohibited substances, which were later “conclusively proven to be inaccurate” by the racing board’s official lab.

Thursday, Bush said Arroyo was informed by the stewards that he was suspended until test results were examined by the racing board’s official lab, which would have resulted in the rider being sidelined for several days. That decision led to Friday’s court action.

Arroyo, 43, won Wednesday’s $100,702 CTBA Stakes on the highly promising filly Bulletproof One. Through Thursday, the 12th day of the summer meeting, Arroyo had three wins from 41 mounts.

Arroyo, who was in the stables on Thursday morning, has been the subject of at least four rulings issued by the stewards since the current meeting began July 17. He was given a four-day suspension July 19 for causing interference in the second race on July 18. On July 27, Arroyo was given a seven-day suspension for causing interference in a race July 25.

Arroyo received court stays for both of those infractions, allowing him to continue riding until an appeal is heard.

In addition, Arroyo received two $100 fines for driving a golf cart in a restricted area of the stable area during morning training on July 25 and for failing to follow the instructions of a morning outrider on the same day.