Natalia Lynch handed four-year ban for drug violations

Natalia Lynch, a trainer based in New York, has been issued two separate two-year suspensions by an arbitrator for a positive test for altrenogest, an estrus suppressant, and the possession of a banned thyroid drug, according to a decision posted on the website of the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit.

The suspensions, which will start retroactively on July 20 – the date Lynch was provisionally suspended due to the positive altrenogest test – and run through the same date in 2027, were handed down by an arbitrator Thursday, according to a copy of the ruling. The arbitrator, Bernetta D. Bush, a retired judge, cited “several concerns about the veracity” of Lynch’s testimony during the hearing that led her to disregard any mitigating factors that would have reduced the penalties.

Bush also ordered Lynch to pay a $25,000 fine for each violation and assessed her a total of $5,000 in costs to cover portions of the expenses of the arbitration hearing.

According to Equibase records, Lynch began training in 2020. Up until her suspension, she had a record of 21 wins from 214 starts, with career purse earnings of $1.49 million.

According to the ruling, a gelding trained by Lynch, Motion to Strike, tested positive for altrenogest following a race at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on June 24. Altrenogest is allowed to be used on fillies or mare to suppress heat, but the drug is banned for use in intact males or geldings. The recommended penalty for a violation of the banned substance policy is a two-year suspension.

Also according to the ruling, a subsequent search by HIWU investigators discovered Thyro-L, a banned substance that is used to stimulate thyroid activity, in a car registered to Lynch’s mother. Thyro-L, which is known as levothyroxine, has been the target of a regulatory crackdown in racing due to its widespread use in racehorses without a prescription.

During her arbitration hearing, Lynch claimed that Motion to Strike could have been contaminated with altrenogest because a filly she trained, Mary Katherine, was stabled in the same barn. Bush found that contention “highly unlikely,” and she chided Lynch for initially claiming that the horses were stabled next to each other, when in fact they were separated by five stalls.

In the case of the finding of the Thyro-L, Bush similarly took Lynch to task for claiming that she had given the substance to her mother with instructions to dispose it, despite prescription records that contradicted her statements. Lynch also acknowledged that she had been told that trainers needed to get rid of any Thyro-L in their possession due to impending rule changes banning the substance.

“Trainer Lynch appears to have made many misrepresentations or inconsistent statements of fact which detract from the overall credibility of her testimony,” Bush wrote.

While altrenogest is commonly administered to female racehorses legally, some trainers have administered the drug to male horses in their care under the belief that it can build muscle mass and, alternatively, calm intact males. The illegal use of the drug has been the subject of several studies.

HIWU’s rules establishing the banned use of altrenogest in male horses went into effect on May 22. Shortly after the onset of those rules, a number of positives were reported for the drug. Regulators have said that the substance was rarely the target of post-race tests prior to the onset of the HIWU rules.

Coincidentally, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which oversees HIWU, released proposed changes to its rules on Monday that would reclassify altrenogest as a controlled substance when administered to intact males or geldings, with recommended penalties starting at a 60-day suspension and a fine of $5,000 for a first offense. Suspensions of 90 days and 120 days would result from a second and third violation within a two-year period.

The proposed changes have been sent to the FTC, the federal agency overseeing HISA. The FTC is required to post the changes on its website for a public-comment period prior to voting whether to approve the changes.

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