O'Neill's penalties put on hold

Trainer Doug O'Neill has received a stay from the California Horse Racing Board for a suspension and fine for a total carbon dioxide overage in Illinois last month, according to racing board chairman Keith Brackpool.

Brackpool said on Sunday that the stay will allow O'Neill "due process for his appeal."

O'Neill's suspension was supposed to start on Monday and continue through May 17.

O'Neill was fined $1,000 and suspended 15 days after Stephen's Got Hope tested in excess of the permitted level of total carbon dioxide following a seventh-place finish in the Illinois Derby at Hawthorne on April 3.

In a case of a similar infraction, trainer Jeff Mullins said Saturday that he and his attorney, Karen Murphy, were discussing the possibility of an appeal of a 30-day suspension and $2,500 fine for a total carbon dioxide overage that occurred at Del Mar in August 2008. The racing board announced Mullins's penalty on April 28. Mullins's suspension is scheduled to start on Sunday.