McPeek moves on after naproxen positives

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Horseplayers who saw Auntie’s the One win a $65,000 maiden-special race last month at Keeneland may be surprised to see the 3-year-old entered for the same condition Wednesday at Churchill Downs.

A post-race urine test found Auntie’s the One to have metabolites of naproxen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication illegal for race day. It’s a Class C medication that mandated the Kentucky stewards disqualify the filly from the Oct. 19 race, with the purse redistributed accordingly and trainer Ken McPeek fined $500 without being suspended.

Another McPeek horse, Blueridge Traveler, was disqualified for the same offense from a victory the following day, Oct. 20, in a first-level allowance worth $66,559. McPeek was fined $500 for that violation as well.

Walking L Thoroughbreds is the owner of Auntie’s the One, a 3-year-old Exchange Rate filly who is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the second race Wednesday. Horizon Stables owns Blueridge Traveler, a 3-year-old To Honor and Serve colt whose only start since a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes in March is the Keeneland disqualification.

“We’re not happy about it at all,” McPeek said. “We would have fought it, but something like 95 percent of cases end up being lost after you have the split sample tested. It takes months to get it resolved, and you spend a lot of money and waste a lot of time. Instead of running these horses in the wrong condition all that time, we thought it best to just get it behind us.”

McPeek was penalized under the absolute-insurer rule, which deems the trainer responsible for whatever transgressions occur. He denied treating either horse with naproxen and said that some of his staff had been sick during the period in question and perhaps had taken naproxen, which then might have found its way into the horses’ systems.

A search of the website thoroughbredrulings.com found that McPeek, a trainer since 1985, has had just one prior medication violation warranting a disqualification. That involved the therapeutic medication diclofenac from Exceptional Ride in a June 2005 race at Arlington Park.