Kelly Von Hemel suspended for beginning of Oaklawn meet

Kelly Von Hemel, a longtime trainer based in the Midwest, will begin serving a 15-day suspension on Dec. 9, the opening of the Oaklawn Park meet, after a horse he trained tested positive for a regulated anesthetic.

Miniconjou, a 3-year-old gelding, tested positive for mepivacaine after winning a May 6 starter-allowance race at Oaklawn. The horse was disqualified.

In an interview, Von Hemel said that the horse cut his head approximately 10 days prior to the race. Miniconjou was treated with mepivacaine at that time in order to administer stitches to close the cut, Von Hemel said, and he waited to enter the horse for a week after the treatment on his veterinarian’s advice.

Racing regulators advise trainers not to enter a horse until three days after a prescribed dose of mepivacaine.

“Obviously you try to go through every scenario, see if there’s any way you messed up, but we couldn’t find anything,” Von Hemel said. “We went over anything. He tested positive, and there’s nothing we can do about it. ”

Under the so-called “absolute insurer rule,” trainers are held responsible for the condition of their horses at race time regardless of fault.

Because the violation occurred at Oaklawn, the suspension will not start until that track’s meet begins on Dec. 9. It will run through Dec. 23.

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