A dozen Quarter Horses tested positive for the banned medication carmoterol in major stakes at The Downs at Albuquerque last September, the New Mexico State Racing Commission announced in a press conference on Wednesday. The 12 horses that tested positive – including Hezgothelook Z, the winner of the $3 million All American Futurity – earned $2,900,761 in four races on Sept. 2. All are trained by Toby Keeton and Heath Taylor, who were summarily suspended on Wednesday by the New Mexico commission for the positives. The suspension of Keeton was largely symbolic, since he was already summarily suspended by the Texas Racing Commission in late January for carmoterol positives found in some of his runners who raced at Lone Star Park last September.  Carmoterol is a bronchodilator not permitted to appear in post-race tests. As a Class 1 medication, carmoterol positives are subject to potential lengthy suspensions and substantial fines. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Cases involving the positives from Albuquerque are in the early stages of being adjudicated. The trainers involved will have the option to have a second sample taken at one of three pre-approved labs in the country, according to Ismael Trejo, executive director of the New Mexico commission. If the second tests are positive, hearings will be scheduled to determine an expected penalty. The initial positives were found in tests taken at Industrial Laboratories in Colorado, Trejo said. On Wednesday, Trejo said Keeton and Taylor could face decades of suspensions and large fines if the positives are confirmed, pending rulings by New Mexico stewards. “This could be career-changing for these people,” Trejo said. “They still have to go through the process. They are out of business for the time being.” Hezgothelook Z swept the three major futurities typically run at Ruidoso Downs last year, becoming the second horse to do so in history. With the positive for carmoterol, owners Leo and Norma Olivarez of Mission, Texas, who race as Guns Up Racing, may be forced to forfeit the winner’s share of $1.5 million. Leo Olivarez did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Wednesday. Earlier in 2024, Hezgothelook Z won two $1 million races at Ruidoso Downs – the Ruidoso and Rainbow futurities. The All American Futurity was held in Albuquerque after a series of floods struck the Ruidoso Downs racing surface last summer. Overall, seven horses trained by Keeton and five trained by Taylor that raced on Sept. 2 have tested positive for carmoterol, the New Mexico commission reported. Two other horses that ran in the All American Futurity – Mountainaire, who finished fifth for Keeton, and Brink Man V, who finished sixth for Taylor – tested positive. They earned $150,000 and $120,000, respectively, for their efforts. The first two finishers of three other leading races, and two other horses who were third and fourth, tested positive. In the $200,000 All American Juvenile, the consolation to the All American Futurity, the first three finishers – Aguila Rapida, trained by Keeton, and Superfli and Favorite Fire V, both trained by Taylor – had carmoterol positives. In the $1,041,017 All American Derby, the first four finishers had carmoterol positives. The first three finishers were Dashing Tres, Visa, and Shoeless, all trained by Keeton. The Marksman V, who finished fourth for Taylor, also had a positive test. Dashing Tres earned $437,227, while Visa earned $187,383. In the $250,000 All American Gold Cup for older horses, race winner Jess Good Wine, trained by Keeton, and Flash Bak, trained by Taylor, had positive tests. “Today, the cat has caught the mouse,” Trejo said in detailing the positive findings. Trejo said the Sept. 2 tests were the first time carmoterol was detected in samples taken from horses that raced in New Mexico. “It wasn’t until a few months ago that we received intelligence that would lead us in this direction,” he said. Flash Bak, one of the nation’s leading older horses, was one of 21 Taylor-trained runners euthanized last fall after contracting equine influenza anemia. Taylor was summarily suspended briefly by the stewards at the Downs at Albuquerque last October for the EIA positives out of concern for equine safety, Trejo said at the time. The suspension was dropped a few weeks later. Superfli, Favorite Fire V, and The Marksman V were also lost to EIA last fall. The eight surviving horses that tested positive on Sept. 2 have been placed on a stewards’ list and will not be able to race until the cases are resolved, Trejo said. He warned that those horses could remain on the stewards’ list for a lengthy period, particularly if any of the owners and trainers involved seek court action. “These horses could be sitting in their stalls for a couple of years,” Trejo said. Wednesday’s announcement is part of a continuing trend of carmoterol positives in California and Texas. Aside from Keeton, Texas-based trainer Juan Diaz Jr. was summarily suspended for carmoterol positives found in some of his runners at Lone Star Park last September. In California, prominent trainer Monty Arrossa had four horses test positive for the medication at Los Alamitos in late October and early November, including American Dreamin, the winner of the $1,046,800 Golden State Million Futurity. Unlike Diaz, Keeton, and Taylor, Arrossa has been allowed to continue training at least until California stewards reach a decision on the medication violations. The possibility of positive tests on the Labor Day program at Albuquerque had been the subject of speculation within Quarter Horse circles for several months, particularly when purse funds for the major races were not released last fall. Trejo said on Wednesday that all purses for races that day not involving horses that tested positive have been released. The delay in distributing purse funds was one of the reasons the American Quarter Horse Association delayed its annual presentation of champions that was scheduled for a ceremony at Heritage Place in Oklahoma City last month. If the positives for carmoterol are confirmed and the horses involved disqualified, Hezgothelook Z’s owners will forfeit the largest prize in Quarter Horse racing. When he crossed the finish line last September, Hezgothelook Z became the second Quarter Horse Triple Crown winner, joining Special Effort in 1981. The win by Hezgothelook Z took an immediate toll. Moments after the race, jockey Bryan Candanosa dismounted a visibly exhausted Hezgothelook Z about 100 yards away from the winner’s circle. Keeton said in the winner’s circle that Hezgothelook Z’s effort in the race “drained him” when challenged by eventual second-place finisher Kj Bad Moon Rising. After a winner’s circle ceremony, Hezgothelook Z was walked slowly to the backstretch test barn. Hezgothelook Z was not vanned to the test barn because both of the track’s equine ambulances were in use to transport Mountainaire and The Brink Man V back to the stable area. Keeton and Taylor said that day that Mountainaire and The Brink Man V were not injured and were vanned to the stables as a precaution after showing signs of fatigue. “The whole world saw a horse that looked somewhat in distress,” Trejo said of Hezgothelook Z. Taylor has faced lengthy sanctions in the past. He won the 2008 All American with Stolis Winner, but it was not until two years later that the result became official. Stolis Winner was found to have trace levels of caffeine in a post-race test. The positive was the subject of lengthy hearings until the New Mexico commission voted in 2010 to uphold the recommendation of a three-person panel that overturned a decision by track stewards to disqualify Stolis Winner from the win. Taylor was later suspended for five years in Louisiana for a Class 1 medication violation found in a post-race test at Delta Downs in 2012. After losing a court appeal, Taylor served slightly less than four years of the penalty before he was reinstated in early 2019. Keeton, Diaz, and Taylor finished 2024 in the top three positions in money earnings among Quarter Horse trainers. Keeton set a single-season record of $7,595,894, while Diaz earned $4,591,618. Taylor was third with $4,231,642, while Arrossa was fifth with $3,812,022. Those standings could look considerably different if the positive tests announced on Wednesday and in recent weeks result in numerous disqualifications. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.