Los Alamitos: Champion found to have clenbuterol overage

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – Freaky, the 2009 Quarter Horse World Champion, tested in excess of the permitted level of clenbuterol taken after his win in the Go Man Go Handicap at Los Alamitos on Sept. 11, according to a California Horse Racing Board complaint released over the weekend.

Racing board investigators recently served trainer Sergio Fiscal with the complaint. The case is expected to be heard by the Los Alamitos stewards in the near future. Freaky will be disqualified from the $100,000 purse, according to racing board officials. Fiscal could face a sanction, possibly a fine or suspension. A hearing date has not been set.

According to the complaint, Freaky had 12 nanograms of clenbuterol in his urine sample, well above the permitted level of five nanograms. Owned by Armando Aguirre, Freaky won the 400-yard Go Man Go Handicap by a head over Snitcher.

Clenbuterol, used to aid horses with small airway diseases, has since been banned for use in Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos because of numerous positives. The rule was adopted by the racing board in the summer and took effect on Oct. 14.

Fiscal, 27, no longer trains Freaky. A 6-year-old gelding, Freaky was transferred to trainer Paul Jones in late September, and has not started since the Go Man Go. Jones said on Sunday that he hopes to start Freaky in the Z. Wayne Griffin Director’s trials for the $750,000 Champion of Champions on Nov. 18. The Champion of Champions final is Dec. 10. Freaky won the 2009 Champion of Champions.

Fiscal was not available for comment. In September, after the Go Man Go Handicap, Fiscal said he began training Freaky in August after receiving a call from Aguirre. Fiscal said that Freaky was based largely at a training center in the central California town of Delano, a facility overseen by former racetrack trainer Concepcion Balderrama, and was shipped to Los Alamitos for races.

Balderrama briefly trained Freaky at Remington Park earlier this year.