Mr Vargas disqualified from Aug. 18 win

DEL MAR, Calif. – Mr Vargas, has been disqualified from a victory in a race at Del Mar on Aug. 18, Del Mar’s stewards ruled this week. Mr Vargas tested in excess of the permitted level of procaine, a Class 3 medication, according to the ruling.

Mr Vargas won the race by three-quarters of a length at odds of 5-1 under Joe Talamo.

The purse has been ordered redistributed, with owner Samantha Siegel and Talamo instructed to return their share to the track’s paymaster of purses by Dec. 18.

Brian Koriner trains Mr Vargas. A potential penalty has yet to be decided, stewards said. A recent hearing into the situation was solely to determine if the horse would be disqualified owing to the medication violation, stewards said.

Koriner said the issue resulted over required paperwork from his veterinarian, Melinda Blue, not being filed in a timely and proper manner. He said Mr Vargas was treated for an abscess about a week before the Aug. 18 race. Procaine is used in conjunction with penicillin to aid in treating illness or infection. It is legal to use, but requires paperwork to be filed.

A trainer faces potential punishment in a situation like this under the “absolute insurer” rule, which holds a trainer responsible for anything that goes on in their barn.

“If this was in a real court of law, and you were up for murder, and the real murderer walked in, you’d be off,” Koriner said Friday. “Melinda has offered to pay everything back for Samantha, everyone. She’s taken full responsibility.”

Koriner said he is dealing with the California Horse Racing Board’s main office in Sacramento regarding any potential penalty.

Mr Vargas has not worked since Oct. 12.

◗ Due to an editing error, an earlier version this story misstated who is deciding on any penalty for trainer Brian Koriner for a medication overage. It is the California Horse Racing Board, not the stewards.

◗ Patrick Valenzuela is scheduled to have a hearing with the racing board next week in an attempt to be relicensed as a jockey in California. He holds an exercise rider’s license and is working every morning at Del Mar. Valenzuela, 56, has not ridden in a race since Dec. 8, 2016, at Fair Grounds. He has won 4,372 races, including the 1989 Kentucky Derby, in a career punctuated by substance abuse problems.