Penn National-based vet Bonnell accepts lifetime ban from HISA

Dr. Allen Bonnell, the 81-year-old veterinarian based at Penn National who was accused of hiding hundreds of corticosteroid injections to horses at the track, has accepted a lifetime ban from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, according to an agreed order posted Thursday afternoon on the HISA website.

Bonnell had been summarily suspended by Pennsylvania regulators early last November when investigators began uncovering evidence that he had failed to file paperwork on the injections covering the previous two years. The failure to disclose the injections allowed trainers to race or work their horses in violation of mandatory stand-down periods following administrations of the drugs.

In the agreed order, Bonnell will be prohibited from “participating in any capacity in any activity” involving Thoroughbred horses, and he also will be prohibited from “permitting anyone to participate in any capacity on his behalf.” Bonnell waived his right to appeal the order.

Bonnell is the third person involved in the investigation to accept a lifetime ban, following the trainers Bonnie Lucas and Kim Graci. Other trainers have accepted 30-day to 60-day suspensions for violations of the stand-down rules.

The investigation began when a regulatory official witnessed Bonnell inject a horse on the Penn National backstretch in late October. The official then checked whether Bonnell had submitted the proper paperwork and found that he had not. The ensuing probe revealed that Bonnell had injected “hundreds” of horses at Penn National without disclosing the administrations.

Bonnell had been a racetrack veterinarian for 40 years. After he was summarily suspended, he told The Paulick Report that HISA’s rules were “a nightmare because they came up with rules that just don’t make any sense.”

Regulators have been cracking down on the use of corticosteroids and other painkillers due to concern that frequent use of the drugs, especially near race time, was interfering with pre-race or pre-workout veterinary exams for soundness. Scientific studies also have shown deleterious impacts on joint structures from regular use of the drugs.

The Penn National investigation was the most wide-ranging conducted by HISA and its enforcement arm, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, since the launch of the authority in 2022. The investigation was initiated and co-conducted by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission.

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