Masochistic disqualified from purse money in Breeders' Cup Sprint
ARCADIA, Calif. - Masochistic was formally disqualified on Friday from a second-place finish in the $1,365,000 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 5 because of the presence of a banned steroid.
Santa Anita stewards Grant Baker, Scott Chaney, and Kim Sawyer presided over a brief hearing on the matter on Friday morning. They are scheduled to issue a ruling announcing the decision over the weekend.
“We will disqualify the horse,” said Chaney, who officiated the hearing.
In their ruling, the stewards will amend the official order of finish and prize money for the original third- through seventh-place finishers – Mind Your Biscuits, A.P. Indian, Limousine Liberal, Delta Bluesman and Noholdingback Bear. Each runner will be promoted one position, while Masochistic will be disqualified from all prize money.
Masochistic earned $255,000. Full details of the purse redistribution were not immediately available.
Race winner Drefong is not affected by the decision.
In Friday’s hearing, the stewards reviewed documents presented by the California Horse Racing Board, detailing that Masochistic tested positive for stanozolol in a test conducted by a laboratory at the University of California-Davis. The test findings were confirmed by a second lab on Dec. 16.
Masochistic is owned by Samantha Siegel and Will Shamlian and trained by Ron Ellis. They were not present at Friday’s hearing and have not contested the case, according to racing board investigator Jim Hamilton.
Ellis faces a possible sanction in the form of a fine or suspension for the positive. No hearing date has been set for Ellis, Hamilton said.
Masochistic remains in training and was a candidate for Saturday’s $100,000 Midnight Lute Stakes at Santa Anita until Ellis was informed on Wednesday that the gelding remained on a stewards' list for the BC Sprint positive.
Masochistic will remain on the list until a test shows the medication has cleared his system. A test was taken on Dec. 26, but Ellis had not received any lab results as of midday on Friday, he said.
Masochistic was administered the steroid stanozolol in late August in an effort to add weight and with the expectation that the medication would not be in the horse’s system by Nov. 5.
Steroids are not allowed to appear at any level in post-race tests. Pre-race tests showed the presence of the steroid at trace level, and the medication was still present in a post-race test, resulting in a violation.