Metz, CHRB reach agreement in principle to settle bisphosphonate positive

The attorney for trainer Jeff Metz and the California Horse Racing Board have reached “common ground” on a settlement agreement in the adjudication of the finding of a bisphosphonate in the post-race sample of a horse trained by Metz following a race last September, the attorney said on Wednesday.

Darrell Vienna, the attorney, said that he and the CHRB “have been in discussions and I think we have reached common ground” in the provisions of a settlement agreement. He cautioned that the agreement could not be considered final until it is approved by the CHRB, which is scheduled to release an agenda for its upcoming May 19 meeting on Thursday.

The post-race positive for the bisphosphonate is the first believed to be adjudicated by a racing commission since the racing industry began cracking down on the rumored use of the drugs in mid-2019. Bisphosphonates are used to stimulate the repair of bone material, but allegations of their use in young horses headed to sale and their potential to weaken bone when administered to young horses led the industry to ban their use in horses younger than 4 years old.

The horse in the case, Camino de Estrella, tested positive following a race on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita. The then-6-year-old gelding was claimed out of the race by trainer Bill Spawr. Camino de Estrella has raced exclusively in the claiming ranks since winning a maiden race in 2017, and Metz trained the horse for two separate stretches of his career.

:: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Santa Anita Clocker Report

Vienna has said that an investigator’s report prepared by the CHRB contains a veterinary record of the horse being administered the bisphosphonate in 2019, when he was not under Metz’s care. The Sept. 27 post-race positive, Vienna said, was due to the fact that bisphosphonates can linger in a horse’s bone until the bone needs remodeling, sometimes for as long as 2 1/2 years.

Bisphosphonates are approved for use in horses 4 years old or older to treat navicular disease. The CHRB does not yet have a rule on the books explicitly classifying bisphosphonates, and the Metz positive is being adjudicated under the state’s “prohibited substances” regulation.

A spokesman for the CHRB, Mike Marten, said that the settlement agreement could not be released until it is considered by the board in closed session at the May 19 meeting.

Daily Racing Form requested a copy of the investigator’s report shortly after the complaint was issued by the CHRB. The request is being treated under the state’s Public Records Act, which requires the CHRB to have a response to the request by May 10.