Kafwain DQ'd for positive

ARCADIA, Calif. - Kafwain, one of the nation's top 3-year-olds, was disqualified Friday from his second-place finish in the $750,000 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on March 9 because a postrace urine test revealed an excess amount of clenbuterol, a bronchial dilator.

Under the ruling, made by the Louisiana State Racing Commission, Kafwain's owner, The Thoroughbred Corp., must forfeit the $150,000 runner-up purse. Trainer Bob Baffert was fined $1,000.

Baffert and The Thoroughbred Corporation did not appeal the ruling and request a test of the split urine sample because it would have prevented the colt from making his next scheduled start in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 5. Had a test of the split sample been taken, Kafwain would have been ineligible to race until the completion of the second test and a subsequent hearing. The test would have taken seven to 10 days, according to Tino Rieger, the commission's assistant executive director.

Kafwain was found to have 16.3 nanograms, or parts per billion, of clenbuterol in a postrace test. Louisiana rules allow up to 10 nanograms.

Baffert issued a statement saying the medication was discontinued a week before the race. "We'll take our lumps on this," he said.

With Kafwain disqualified from the purse money, the second-through fifth-place money was redistributed to Funny Cide, Lone Star Sky, Defrere's Vixen, and Badge of Silver.