Prairie Meadows suspended trainer Jacquot gets temporary reprieve

Trainer Gene Jacquot, who was summarily suspended by the stewards at Prairie Meadows on June 10 after his own Iowa-bred gelding See Me Now tested positive for the Class 1 substance cathinone after finishing third in the May 21 Gray's Lake Stakes, had his license temporarily reinstated on Friday, pending a hearing before the stewards on Monday..

The substance test, conducted by the Iowa State University of Veterinarian Diagnostic Laboratory, revealed the amount in See Me Now's system to be 3 nanograms, the equivalent of 3 billionths of a gram, of cathinone, a monoamine alkaloid found in the shrub catha edulis, more commonly known as khat. The substance is considered a natural amphetamine.

When informed of the positive test on June 7, Jacquot immediately contacted representing counsel Maggi Moss and had "his stable area, office and truck searched extensively by all three agents" from the Prairie Meadows-based Department of Criminal Investigation. Nothing illegal was found. In addition, Jacquot voluntarily submitted all of his stable staff to be "drug tested and none tested positive for anything."

According to his reinstatement notice, Jacquot, after missing "a week of training and four days of being unable to enter his horses", had his IRGC license returned and resumed his duties after the stewards received new information concerning this matter."